2026 gardens

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SONNY

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A bit early to think about gardens for 2026 but it is good to start getting seeds/supplies on order or in hand! Our onion plant order went in Nov. 1 so that has been taken care of. Most of our seeds will be saved seed. Sweet potato plants will also be home grown in the greenhouse here. Regular potatoes will be the leftover basement stock if we have enough by planting time,--- if not we will buy a 50# bag of Kennebec and 10# bag of Red Norland (early eating).
tomatoes and cabbage will be started in the greenhouse. Last year I started a lot of plants, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, broom corn, etc. and all worked good. Greenhouse was a good investment in time to build since I already had scrounged up all of the materials to make the 12' x 24' unit. ---- would have gone to 36' but wasnt sure I had enough material to go that far.
What are your plans for 2026???
 
About the same as for 2025. I want to make a smaller garden since age is not only catching up to me it has passed me. Potatoes now come from the grocery store. We are dropping pumpkins and squash this year but may change mind just a bit. It is hard to find a decent winter squash around here. We have a small greenhouse, 10 X 14 which grows enough for us. Plants are actually started inside in the porch using heat mats and lights. 2025 isn't quite over! Carrots and parsnips still in garden covered by leaves. Will last until spring. Dig some whenever weather cooperates. Next year is always going to be better. Right? Vern
 
Everything here been gone for 2 months. We are eating what we processed and stored in the basement. Have a few winter squash,---didnt plant many this year, --- still have a few canners to take the seeds out of.
Going to plant a row at the farm in the crp for the deer in 2026. Planter missed part of one pass when they planted the pollinator mis 3 years ago and nothing much has filled in so a friend and I are going to put in a deer plot and see how goes.

https://imgur.com/a/IA54pQK
 
My weed garden got cut down last fall....So plowing and discing in order this year to kill the weeds and stuff...I am shooting for 2027 and a 1 acre garden...I miss having a big garden,though it is a lot of work.....Green beans in the store stink....and getting expensive, like everything else....
 
We can greenbeans here and they turn out just like fresh. --- open a jar, dump it in a pan add a little bacon IF ya got any or deer burger and cook til hot and eat! --- beans nice texture ---- NOT mushy --- just great beans.
Still have shell beans in one freezer from several years ago,-- still great eating! Baby limas , red beans, and lazy housewife beans shelled and frozen.
The greenbeans laying in the stores look gross to me . Always full of steams and leaves ---- knida like something from outer space!!! LOL!!! Cant beat your own homegrown greenbeans that are picked fresh and processed right then! OR cooked and eaten.
Looking at a small greenhouse,---not in great shape but maybe useable to move in next to my 12 x 24. Jury still out on that project.
Got the pumpkin seeds dried down now so a little more drying and I will box them up til planting time. A percentage of the seed wont grow cause its not matured but its just going into the deer plot so dont matter. --- later I wall do a germination test to see about what percentage actually sprouts and go from there.
 
Man, I froze blanched green beans and unblanched green beans in vacuum bags and they were both mushy. I am jealous and will have to research before next year's crop
 
we freeze them in ziplock bags, ---- just press as much air out as you can and they are just like off the plant.
I dont think much of the vac idea for seal and store.
 
ajhbike said:
Man, I froze blanched green beans and unblanched green beans in vacuum bags and they were both mushy. I am jealous and will have to research before next year's crop
Click to expand...
What variety do you use?
We’ve been using Agway Provider for 30 years and we’ve never had a problem with mushy beans. The get blanched for 5 minutes, then into ice water, then into freezer bags.
 
Wow, 2026! And here I am just trying to figure out what I'm doing next spring. You are way ahead of the game!
It's such a great project. We'd love to see the final results.
 
If anyone lives near Maysville, KY. I highly suggest heading over to the Southern States store for a great selection and prices on last years garden seeds. They have 2 small fed bunks nearly full of left over garden seeds from last year for $1.00 per bag. I stopped at the Paris, KY. store and they had a few but nothing like the one in Maysville. I'm sure certain other ones may have a great selection too.

I may have gotten a bit carried away, but most of what I bought will be used at the County Farm Park next spring. Mostly popcorn and ornamental corn for our Harvest Days. All kinds of beans & peas, sweet corn tomato seeds, and some birdhouse gourds and some sunflower seeds. Way more than I can remember because I was looking for specific seeds.

Everything I got last year grew great as the viability of most seeds is 3-4 years.
 

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You need to get supplies now before the herd gets there later! already some seed varieties are in short supply and they sell til its gone and thats it for another whole year.
We have everything now for our season planting. Most is saved seed so we buy very little. Later a couple stores here have the usual "cheep racks" in and sis goes thru them and adds a few things but the saved seed is our main way we go.
Plants will be started in the greenhouse so thats covered.
 
Save a few flower seeds but not vegetable seeds. Most are hybrids which I have no desire to mother for six generation to stabalize in to open pollinated seeds. Seed companies which want to stabalize a hybrid generally use 3 years in US and three years during our winter in southern hemisphere to do so. Vern
 
My wife grows heirloom tomato varieties. For many years, she saved seed to use the following year. Each year the plants seemed to have less vigor and production than the previous season. This year I suggested she purchase “fresh” seed. We’ll see how they do this coming summer.
 
the varieties probably could run out in time---- never noticed any change in ours. We plant in different ground every year and clean old vines off after harvest and compost them down. both tomatoes and sweet potatoes. Dont want to plow old vines under! bean plants get pulled and burned as does all other lighter plants.
 
the guy that brought some tomato plants over last year wants to go with 20 plants this year instead of 10 like last year so he will be starting them from seed again this year. He was going to order the seed IF i would plant the plants since he dont have any place to grow tomatoes.
I will have a few of my own that I will start in the greenhouse later.
Not sure how the onion plant deal is in Texas, ----have to wait and see!
 
A bit early for gardens in Michigan but I have a related project in the works. Last year I noticed dozens of white pine seedling that has sprouted on the north side of my garage - apparently from seed that had blown in from nearby trees. I decided to transplant the seedlings into containers and was happy to find each one of them having survived our rather harsh winter. My plan is to give them a dose of Milorganite shortly and grow them in the containers for a few years.

After that they will be planted adjacent to some Colorado blue spruce trees that have fallen ill to a most dreaded attack of needle fast, which kills off growth from the bottom up. Not much in the way of practical treatment for the malady, so they will be replaced. Big issue around these parts is to keep the deer from munching on the pines, so plenty of welded wire fencing will be in order when they get moved to their permanent homes. Eastern white pines are our state tree and back in 1990 I planted 1,000 of them along with 1,000 spruce trees. Smartest thing I ever did! So sad to see the spruces fading away, though but not all of them are affected. Life goes on.
 
Unfortunately, my experience has been that most, if not all, of the spruces will eventually develop the needle cast fungus.
 
Don McCombs said:
Unfortunately, my experience has been that most, if not all, of the spruces will eventually develop the needle cast fungus.
Click to expand...
Very sad and widespread and that's the reason for my pro-active replacement efforts. I've been replacing them with fir trees, but they must also be protected from deer, whereas not so with the spruce trees. My favorites are larch - a deciduous, fast-growing conifer that thrives in low, wet ground but the buck deer love to tear them up when cleaning up the velvet from their antlers. I've installed wire welded fencing around them to protect the vulnerable trunks. Once they get big enough, they can take care of themselves. Love the soft needles, too. I got some of them years ago from our local conservation outlet free of charge, because nobody wanted them. Seemed they thought they were dead but little did they understand that the leaves (needles) fall off each autumn like other deciduous trees.
 
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