2026 Gardens!

[CloverKnollFarms]

It's time. I'll be starting my tomatoes and peppers next week. I actually brought two serrano pepper plants indoors last fall, and they are growing new leaves.

This year I'm improving my seed starting operation. Last year my seedlings failed due to lack of light. This year I built a grow light stand and I'm going to be using soil blocks instead of plastic cells.

I'm reducing my sweet corn crop from 2000 plants to 1000. No more succession seeding. Last year succession seeding hurt pollination and also allowed racoons to have a full month to attack the field (I have a new method to control them too) I'll harvest it all the first week of July. Building a wire mesh tunnel for pole beans, not bush beans like last year. Growing more tomatoes and peppers for salsa canning. I'll still be planting about 300 pumpkin vines, but we will have blocky orange ones, pale orange baking pumpkins, blue and white pumpkins too.

The garden is seeded to winter rye at the moment. I plan to start about 40 plants indoors in 2" soil blocks.

What do y'all have planned?

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

It looks like they are forecasting El Nino this summer... I'm planting all early maturity plants this year, and starting seeds early. Hopefully I can beat the drought if it comes

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

We added a 10'x20' gothic arch greenhouse to get starts growing earlier in the season. Half of it is planted and doing better than expected.
Outdoor Temps at night in the low 20's, but placing light weight insulating row covers over the raised beds in the greenhouse has kept the soil at 40 to 44°F. So the thermal mass is keeping the temps above freezing overnight inside the insulated row covers.
Very pleased with the greenhouse so far.
My wife has commented that after a tractor, the greenhouse is the first thing we should have installed 15 years ago.
So for anyone reading this you need a tractor first! LOL So you can till your garden!

 

[Oaktree]

Next couple of weeks I'll start thinking about starting tomato, pepper, etc. seeds inside. Waist-deep snow on the ground, daytime highs barely reaching freezing, ain't nothin' getting planted outside anytime soon!

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I’m broadcasting an acre of clover this week for frost seeding, into some winter rye I planted last year.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Zone 8A now... Used to be referenced as 7A up until about 2-3 yrs ago.

Wife and I have our tomatoes about 8" high. I think it's about 75 tom plants. Plus the lettuces, cabbages etc. Targeting a March 15-30 deployment for brassicas. Tomatoes and corn I'll put in the ground about early April but checking the 10 day forecast before doing it.

Fall onions and garlic are doing pretty well. Strawberries are feeding the deer nicely ...

Fixing to plant some taters and maybe garden peas.

Not in the garden but we are adding 20 more blueberry bushes to our farm and 6 more apple varieties. I propagated some figs (10) and those are going in the ground soon too.

All that after we finish pruning our current blue berry bushes about an acre's worth. About 3/4 way done on those. Then I'll move to the peaches/pears (approx 50 trees) and then the grapes about 1/4 acre of those.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Planted into soil blocks today

 

[MossRoad]

We usually start our indoor seeds around Good Friday. But I'll be planting carrots and other root crops in the greenhouse pretty soon.

 

[bigtiller]

I am going to try my luck this year with planting about 2 dozen Bur Oak trees from the nuts that dropped from the one in the back yard.

Problem is, I have no idea of the best way to do it. But I know I will need to do something to protect them from the deer.

We have about a dozen of them visiting regularly in our 28 year old spruce windbreak.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

We usually start our indoor seeds around Good Friday. But I'll be planting carrots and other root crops in the greenhouse pretty soon.

These were just tomato and peppers, they can start 8 weeks before last frost

Cucumbers will be later

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Planted into soil blocks today
View attachment 5104495

Tomatoes are an inch tall today!

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Hot peppers typically take 2-6 weeks to germinate... This year it took 6 days. Clover that I broadcast on Feb 26th is sprouting.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm worried for our fruit crops in this area. Supposed to be 70s this week, then hard freeze next week. If the trees bud out before the freeze, the crop will be lost.... again.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Spring crop is in the ground. 2 kinds of lettuce, spinach, arugula, kale, swiss chard, peas, onions and radishes.

I have started some tomatoes and cukes for planting later in April.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I credit my heat mat and new led lighting for the success with seed stats this year. Last year I had a cold tray sitting next to a window

 

[DJ54]

I credit my heat mat and new led lighting for the success with seed stats this year. Last year I had a cold tray sitting next to a window

Love my homemade germination chamber..!!

 

[walnutman]

Put up a Mueller Steel greenhouse a couple of years ago.