What are your garden plans for 2022?

Johanna Sol wrote:

I just planted a bare root jujube. I was ready to call the nursery on April 30 as it had not shown any leaves and it was their guarantee that their trees leaf out by May 1 - wouldn't you know, I saw the first ones on May 1st!

I'm in a different ecosystem, and may not have the same variety, but I've noted that my baby jujube which are alas, still in pots, are *very* slow to leaf out, so this may be a characteristic of the plant. For the last 3 years, I've looked at them and thought - "they didn't make it" or "they're barely there - maybe 2 leaves" and the next thing I look at them in June and they're fully leafed out.

Flora Eerschay wrote:Last year I abandoned almost all of my garden, except for a fish pond which I created. I learned a lot about aquaculture and I only focused on a tiny area around that pond (really small one).

This year the pond will need much less attention, and my plan is to get serious and grow edible plants and actually eat them. Last year a lot of tree fruits went to the compost pile or whatever. Snails were getting fat eating my strawberries. Not this year!
Although snails will probably seize strawberries again. But not all of them!!

Update in the beginning of the summer... I created another, bigger pond :D
I did rescue my strawberries and ate quite a lot of them, now there are other fruits. I tried to cook snails but I didn't eat them. I probably need a friend who would also like to try it, but everyone is grossed out instead.

I already have quite a few fig trees, Jube jube, Asian pear, blueberries,  persimmon, elderberry,, next year I want to plant more figs, apples, peach, pears, plum, blueberry, jube jube and elderberry. I’m not certain which of them will produce, but either way I like the form. I also want to plant a few dwarf Japanese white pines, they are pretty joyful for a specimen tree. All of these I have already built mounds for. I also want to plant a few ironwoods and Amur maples, maybe a dogwood or 2.

I’m growing a popcorn called reventador, for seed, hopefully I can plant en mass next year. Things have been extremely dry so hopefully I can get seed from it, as it’s non irrigated.

Hopefully by that time I will have chickens roosting in the trees, laying in the forest, I have 12 chicks, that hopefully can make it passed predation. They are fighting chickens, one of my previous birds, I had seen fighting off a hawk, while she had her chicks. It’s always a big gamble if they can survive. I also want 4 more laying hens, making a total of 11, giving eggs to my family. A new coop for those birds, that will make 3 laying hen coops, 2 large fighting chicken coops, a brooder, and a coop for larger immature birds.

Make more mounds, make more trenches, burn more fires, make more charcoal, burn more soil…

Hi just to update. So far I have caught 4 groundhogs- all removed to a very large conservation area with no houses near by. As soon as I know there are no more, I plan to put used cat litter down the holes and put a very big rock on top. Some of the damaged plants are coming back and I have pulled the others up. Replanted with bush beans and other quick crops.

Jori Love wrote:I can't wait to garden this season! It's my last season here before I move and I'm determined to make it my best yet. Some of the things I'm excited about are:

2. A new to me tomato variety called Annarita that is supposed to store up to 6 months on the vine. We grew a huge chunk of our food last year but struggled to process and store it. I'm hoping this one will be happy hanging in a cool, dark laundry room.

Jori, can you update us on how Annarita worked out for you, I'm interested to try it next year. What is the flavor/texture like with some of the "room-ripened" fruits?

It's the end of a year (a very crazy year) and I felt like looking back and seeing what worked and what didn't work! The weather was crazy, my husband was disabled and unable/barely able to walk for much of the year, and I just didn't have time. That's okay, thought. The joy of permaculture is that a lot of things can wait a year when life throws curveballs that you have to juggle instead of doing what you want to do. But I did get some things done!

(1) Building just one new garden bed. We're slowly trying to transform a patch of salmonberry/bindweed/blackberry into a garden. It happens to be in one of the few full-sun areas of our property.

Did it!

(2) Trying to grow watermellons. I'll probably fail, but the kids really want to try, so we bought seeds and will give it a whirl!

Didn't even try planting the seeds. It was such a cool, long, wet "spring," It was late-winter weather until July 5, and I had no hopes for watermellon!

(3) Putting more time and love into our existing garden beds (adding in compost a-la Ruth Stout method), and keeping out the buttercup.

I did try! I managed it on a few garden beds...the others are very full of buttercup--eek!

(4) Growing more carrots, peas, radishes, and tomatoes to make the kids (and me!) excited to be in the garden

Just harvested some more carrots two days ago! We didn't get many tomatoes (thanks to that wet year), but

(5) Squash, beans and corn for staple foods, and because the kids really, really want corn on the cob.

The wet year gave us a few beans and 2 tiny ears of corn....

(6) More potatoes! They're so easy, make so much nutrient-dense food, and there's such a lovely sense of security in having a lot of calories just waiting in the garden if you need them!

Major success here! even with the crazy weather, the potatoes did fantastic. I had 6 separate gardens of potatoes, totaling at least 100 sqft, and we're still harvesting lots of potatoes!

Oh! And I made a new thread for 2023's goals, if anyone wants to ponder the future a bit over there: https://permies.com/t/207239/garden-plans

We have, like so many others, had a bizarre year. Summer has barely started (we should have had a good month and a half by now)... i did have amazing winter and spring peas and the garden didn't dry out and die when i was away in the winter like it usually does. But the early corn failed (got knee high and put out tiny ears), the mulberries simply didn't fruit, and i have at least 6 different batches of okra starts in the ground that refuse to grow, they've been stalled for up to 3 months now.
On the other hand beans and long beans are going great, passionfruit are having a good year, chinese greens did well, and I'm having success growing bottle gourds, which I've never been able to do here. I also have gorgeous cherry tomatoes (usually they're a winter thing here, by this time of year bugs are so bad I've ripped them out). Go figure. Second batch corn also looks more promising.
The extra garden time i was hoping to have didn't materialize this year. Next year isn't looking much better in this regard.... but one thing at a time.

My plan is simply to do *something* garden-related every day. I don't know how much of the garden will be fenced, weeded, and prepped by spring, so I have no plans about how much to plant.
The one new seed I bought to try was Spilanthes (toothache plant).

I did something garden-related more days than not. Most days, it was just 5-10 minutes of something before my toddler's attention pulled us somewhere else. Those increments at least put a small dent in my list of garden tasks. Very little was planted and even less was harvested. Deer found their way into the garden and ate the plants before they could produce. My daughter's favorite thing was our small raspberry harvest. Every day, she went to check the canes for ripe berries and got so excited when she'd find one. The great thing about permaculture is that we still have *something* to harvest even when I don't get around to planting many annuals. I trudged through the knee-high weeds to pick blueberries, asparagus, and herbs. It felt like I was foraging instead of gardening!

Spilanthes didn't sprout. I've bought new seed to try again since it seems like such a neat plant.

Nikki Roche wrote:
Spilanthes didn't sprout. I've bought new seed to try again since it seems like such a neat plant.

hey, I bought a start of that this year that's been doing okay! It's a bit of a sparse, raggedy plant, doesn't get bushy where I live, but it's a fun novelty plant (for me, like stevia). My daughter recently went to a place where they made fancy cocktails involving it, so I guess that's a possibility too...

I am rebuilding my high tunnel this winter. I am also expanding my garden by some 200 sq ft….maybe a little more.  I also have hopes of putting in around 4000 sq feet of sunflowers.

Carla Burke wrote:First things first, here - repair the damage done by all the free-ranging birds (turkeys, ducks, and chickens), and Kola(aka: the pain in my buck). So, my 100+ garlic that I planted in fall, will be replaced with spring garlic. Then, there are the saffron crocus & strawberries they have decimated. I'll see what can be salvaged, replant those, hopefully expand and then, protect each crop, as I go.

Repairs happened, spring garlic did not - but I did put in a fall batch - and protect it better. It's doing great, so far, so... next year, maybe a crop! I managed to save I think 2 of the saffron crocus, bought 40 more, and of all of them, I think a very precious few survived the Christmas arctic temps. ~sigh~ The strawberries were pathetic barren,, only producing a handful, over the whole season. Pffft.

Carla Burke wrote:We're going to be expanding & improving the beds I started 2yrs ago. More perennials. The asparagus beds are set for expansion, and we will be adding Jerusalem artichokes, and 3 types of actual artichokes (2 are perennial, but won't offer a crop for a couple years, so an annual variety is going in too, so we can hopefully have some this year). I'm going to try just throwing some wildflower seeds out, to see what sticks, too.

Nope. Didn't happen. I reassessed the placement of these gardens (who doesn't 2nd guess themselves, when several years go by, and, 'NADA'?), the gardens are being moved to a spot that's sunny year round (not just in the summer), and will be enclosed in a cattle panel greenhouse - more on that, to come, in Nicole's '23 thread.

Carla Burke wrote:I'm going to give willows another try (I love our birds, but DAMMIT, they are killing my edible landscaping attempts!), I've got Chicago Hardy figs and pawpaws to go in, and start guilds for, and I think, somewhere, I have some bare root blueberries ordered, as well as rhubarb, grapes, and an Arkansas Black apple. This year, my peach tree gets a net, too. I want to know what my peaches TASTE like! We have a brand new beehive waiting to be moved to its new location, and (hopefully) filled with a new swarm, to enjoy and pollinate all my growing efforts.

Of all of this, only the bare root blueberries have survived. We had an emergency with my favorite & breeding-plan-cornerstone goat doe, and (in a panicked effort of trying to save her, by clearing the stanchion, so I could examine her - but, sadly, she didn't make it), John literally threw all the plants off, and about 10 ft away. We lost nearly everything I'd planted & nurtured - over 200 tomatoes plants, 50 or so various pepper plants, the figs, the paw paws, and... well, I managed a huge harvest of 3 heat-deformed tomatoes, and maybe a scant pint of cherry tomatoes. The bees never even got ordered.

Carla Burke wrote:With both of us spending the better part of this whole month basically bedridden, it's really driven home the facts of life:
We're not getting younger, and we're already disabled.
Each time we get sick, it takes us longer to recover.
Low/no maintenance is crucial, if we're going to stand a chance of aging in place.
So, annuals will be minimal, but I want to do sweet potatoes, red-skinned potatoes, tomatoes, pickling cukes, a handful of herbs, some squash, and maybe some gourds.

Ahhh, the sweet potatoes... They're alive and growing, in my bathroom! We had a cold snap, in November, and I brought them in (in the 5gal buckets I planted them in, to protect them from the chipmunks - which meant they were not on the stanchion, and survived the massacre). I never harvested them, because I couldn't figure out where to cure them, in our then 60°F house. So, I left them in the soil, hoping for the best. Now, with the new woodstove, the house is MUCH warmer (YAAAAYYY!!!), and curing them would be easy - but they've begun growing, again! Now, I'm feeling very indecisive about them, lol. So, 2023 was a massive - and expensive - gardening & orchard failure. BUT!!! We otherwise had a wonderful year with lots of family and friends visiting. I found most of the produce we wanted at the Mennonite markets, so I was able to put up plenty of dried & canned items, to get us through, and I'm definitely not giving up!

Michelle Heath wrote:

Michelle Heath wrote:Plant, build and experiment.

I've officially ran out of room for more beds in my garden area and the bed in the backyard isn't enough so the big thing will be fencing off a new garden area.  Luckily my hubby received 300' of fencing in a trade recently and we should have enough posts without buying more.  While I'm usually a "jump right in with both feet" kind of person, the new garden area will  be layered with cardboard and sheet mulched this year.  I plan to grow potatoes, pumpkins and melons in it this year as they will have plenty of room to spread out.  My goal is to form raised beds in the fall or early spring next year and hopefully get started on the market garden.  I'm also attempting to turn a metal building frame into a greenhouse though I don't forsee having it ready to use before fall.   My goal is to have a growing bed along one side and benches for starting seeds on the other.  I'd also like to incorporate a cold frame into it as well but with the way I'm thinking of positioning the greenhouse, the ideal spot would be in the very end and awkward to get to.  Growing some "new to me" crops and experimenting with new ways to grow those I'm already familiar with.  My goal is to maximize space and extend the season as much as possible.

We had a large tree taken down near our house and what was once my shade garden will now be in full sun, so lots of plants will need to be moved as soon as possible.  I've picked up 12x12 pavers on clearance for three years in a row and now have enough to build a patio off of the small deck in the back.  Also scored some free brick that will be used in the patio as well but it will take two more trips to get it all here.  We will be tearing down an old outbuilding and possibly using the salvageable lumber to build a potting shed/playhouse for my daughter.  The chicken house is currently being used as a garden shed and needs some repairs/improvements.  I'd like to get chickens again but the coyotes are rampant here.  I have some really old roofing tin that is rusty and full of holes and planning to use it and metal posts to create a compost bay.

So I have a rambling (and likely incomplete) list for this year.  My biggest challenge is that my body is middle-aged and my mind still thinks it's in its 20s.

Wow!  Things didn't exactly go the way I anticipated three months ago.  The idea of just sheet mulching the new garden this year fell through when I realized I needed more room for tomatoes.   Was able to scrounge up enough concrete blocks to make a 4'x10' bed.  My husband lucked upon a pile of free used blocks and we managed to grab enough for two more beds.  The downside is removing the mortar but when I calculated the cost of new blocks it seems we saved over $150.  

Still trying to decide where to place the greenhouse and the patio idea will have to wait as the garden takes up most of my time now.  The outbuilding is still standing as the poison ivy leafed out before we could get a start on it.  The tin I planned using for the compost bin was too far gone but found some metal sheets that came from a outbuilding at my in-laws that the wind destroyed, so I did get the bin finished.

Oh and my mind is finally starting to realize that my body is getting older.  Not to say that I'm not doing as much as I always did, but that I'm actually doing things smarter like make two trips than attempting to haul/carry everything in one.

So we're planning to tackle the outbuilding after our daughter returns to school and hopefully get the rocks from the shade garden gathered up and moved before the poison I've starts to leaf out.  Greenhouse still isn't together though we did sell some timber and the guy was nice enough to push out about 7 black locust trees that we need to cut for posts and poles.  The area where they were at is the ideal location for the greenhouse and we plan on burning some of the stumps and branches on the site as I'd like to eventually have a few planting beds in there.   The new concrete block beds did great!  I planted beans in the holes of the 12" blocks and all of them did excellent as well as the strawberries I put in the ends.  I incorporated biochar into about 2/3 of the holes and into the last bed.  Still need to fill holes in the bed made with 8" blocks and thinking of growing alpine strawberries in them.  Never got around to trimming bushes and chipping what we could, so need to put another layer of cardboard down in the new bed before the grass starts greening up.

My main problem is that I began to get overwhelmed around the middle of August and with all of us constantly passing colds back and forth, I lost the motivation and energy to do much more.  My husband does pitch in and help when I ask, but for the most part I do it all on my own..  I'm still kicking myself for not concentrating more on fall crops but hopefully 2023 will be better.

I got lots of things to grow in the past year as planned, feeding wildlife, domestic animals and my family!
See how productive this small piece of land can be!

Nicole Alderman wrote:
Didn't even try planting the seeds. It was such a cool, long, wet "spring," It was late-winter weather until July 5, and I had no hopes for watermellon!

Speaking of a wet spring... I found the dandelions did quite well bawahaha (attaching picture to use as my profile). Most of the rest of my gardening attempts were very much enjoyed by the slugs. The Magnolia Tendrils behind me did quite well though (the Sugar Ann snap peas in the garden proper - not so much)!

Jennifer Paulson wrote:

Nicole Alderman wrote:
Didn't even try planting the seeds. It was such a cool, long, wet "spring," It was late-winter weather until July 5, and I had no hopes for watermellon!

Speaking of a wet spring... I found the dandelions did quite well bawahaha (attaching picture to use as my profile). Most of the rest of my gardening attempts were very much enjoyed by the slugs. The Magnolia Tendrils behind me did quite well though (the Sugar Ann snap peas in the garden proper - not so much)!

I love those purple magnolia tendril peas! I used to just grow Cascadia and Oregon Sugar Pod II, since those are known to do well in our area. And, they've always done well. But, one year my daughter picked out the magnolia peas from the seed catalogue, and WOWSERS, did those grow amazingly! They grow so tall and produce so well, and they make purple peas (and, purple is my favorite color). There's seriously so much to love about those peas. I'm so glad my daughter picked them out, and I've grown them every year since.

I wish I could find a bean variety that did that well for me. I buy the shortest season poll beans I can find, but they're always sad. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong...