[naturelovingfarmer]

Feel free to post your vegetable garden plans for this year in this thread.

Mine are extensive and since I'm the first poster, I'll go first.

Last year we built a fenced garden with 12 raised beds, a Ruth Stout Bed, a hand dug well, a compost bin, and a potting bench. We also have an herb garden in pots on the back patio. Our fenced garden is about 1/4 acre. But Our total growing area is 2.5 acres.

This year we ordered our seed from Baker Creek Heirlooms, which has some of the best vegetables available in North America. I didn't get any vegetables my grandmother couldn't enjoy herself, as she has Hashimoto's Disease, which causes her to have many allergies to food. This whole garden this year is stuff she can eat and enjoy. I tried my best to make it a variety in terms of flavor, texture, and nutrition. That's why there are so many exotic vegetables from Asia in the list below. They're related to ones we know she can have and just have different tastes and textures and colors. The goal was to give her a wide variety. The only thing we're not sure she can eat are the beans, but I need legumes for my medically necessary diet which is high in fiber.

We got:

Chinese Sweet Basil
Dark Purple Opal Basil
Lettuce Leaf Basil
Black Coat Runner Bean
Free Seed Variety 1
Ruby Queen Beet
50-Day Choy Sum
Yellow Heart Winter Choy
Chijimisai
Blue Borage
Yod Fah Chinese Broccoli
Free Seed Variety 2
Red Rubine Brussels Sprout
Nero Di Toscana Cabbage
Kyoto Red Carrot
New Kuroda Carrot
D'Elne Celery
Slo-Bolt Cilantro
China Jade Cucumber
Italiko Rosso Dandelion
Elephant Dill
Green Lemon Balm
Tigger Melon
Marvelous Mix Mint
Japanese Pink Mizuna
Komatsuna Spinach Mustard "Old Tokyo"
Heavy Hitter Okra
Mitsuba or Japanese Parsley
Easter Basket Mix Radish
Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach
Zucchini Golden Squash
Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard
Beni Kodama Watermelon

[macgro7]

Aha!
Firstly this thread was started on my birthday - 7th of Jan!

I'm planning to grow some new varieties of tomatoes - mostly large ones - which are resistant to blight.

I still have some black/purple potatoes (as well as other varieties) which still need to be dug up! I will plant some more of them this spring, but not too many. Perhaps in containers?

More varieties of summer squash - courgettes in many colours, pattypan squash, etc.
Winter squash - old trusty Blue Hubbard and tiny orange pumpkins (forgot the name).

What excites me the most is ARMENIAN CUCUMBERS. Have been waiting for them since last summer, but it was too late to plant. My seeds are waiting to be planted!!!

From perennial plants, I have planted 50 raspberry plants (autumn and summer), 50 strawberry plants, 10 new currant bushes, 5 new gooseberry bushes, 4 new plum trees (including damsons), 2 apples, 2 pears.

Also around 200 seedlings (some bought and some collected) for bonsai trees - japanese black pine, Scots pine, Japanese and European larch, oak, crabapple.

I'm taking cuttings of everything that's green atm - mulberry, quince, ginkgo, cedar, lots of other fruit and potential bonsai trees!

[Penninehillbilly]

 NLF, [size=78%]Wow! Quite a list.[/size]
Sorry about your grandmother, had to look up Hashimotos disease, sounds awful to deal with.
I have 16x 15ftx 4ft beds, though we heeled some sapling into 2 of them some years ago, still there and now roots are too big for me  to dig out  . Must make a determined effort.
Your list sounds very exciting, sadly I'll stay with boring safe thing on our north facing  hillside,
Basics of potatoes, onions, brassicas and hopefully beans if I can keep the slugs and deer off (thought the rabbits were getting taller!).
Jerusalem Artichokes are just getting going, some in polytunnel as well.
Tomatoes, well I have lots of packets of seeds, nothing exciting :-(.

[Fleecewife]

Macgro and NFL you are both so experimental.  In the past, every year I have tried a few new varieties of various veg to see how they do in my rather challenging veg patch, but now I can't dig at all so we are reducing what we grow to only what I know will grow, what we will need, none to give away, and I am growing just varieties I know will work.  I have to grow most veg inside my polytunnel because of the unfriendly weather here.  However, my tunnel is currently occupied by my small flock of hens for Bird Flu Lockdown until about April 1st, so all my winter crops have been destroyed in spite of carefully protecting them, or so we thought.  It also means I have to start tender crops inside the house under artificial light and in a heated propagator, and nothing can be planted out until the hens are back to free ranging.


I grow just 2 varieties of potato this year, one red (Setanta) and one pink (Carolus), I don't like dark coloured potatoes because our soil is beautifully dark so it's hard to see them when lifting the tubers. I shall grow just one variety of white flowered runner bean (Moonlight), which I found was deliciously tender and prolific last year. I only grow sugar snap peas, not the podding variety. Tomatoes: Mountain Magic, Cocktail and Setanta are all Blight resistant so do well on our ex-potato farm where there has been plenty of Blight around.  Last year I grew a new Jerusalem artichoke which is about 3 feet tall, it's not Dwarf Sunray but an American variety imported by 'Incredible Vegetables'.  I'm not convinced I actually like Jerusalem artichokes - I would far rather have the globe variety but we're too cold here, or that was the case when I tried them before.  However, I think the climate is changing fast enough that I shall give Globe Artichokes a go this year.  Otherwise I just grow onions, garlic, shallots, carrots, beetroot, broad (fava) beans, climbing French beans, courgettes, squashes, pumpkins, perhaps cucumbers but they tend to succumb to spider mites most years, chillies and peppers and of course lots of salads and greens. For the winter I grow leeks, kale, purple sprouting broccoli and perhaps some Sprouts and crinkly cabbages.  I think that's it.  We used to grow sweetcorn but the mice always got to it just the night before it was ready.  Once my supposedly ratting puppy gets the hang of catching mice and rats, perhaps I shall try sweetcorn again as I love them straight from the plant 


I truly love sowing seeds and watching them emerge.  It doesn't seem to matter to me if they don't all survive to maturity, something my husband doesn't understand. I love potting on too, even planting out, but weeding I hate, except earthing up the potatoes - on a lovely summer day, sunhat on, hoe in hand, birds singing away, working along the rows - happiness 


I must remember to design a scarecrow this year, Worzel Gummidge lookalike perhaps?

[Penninehillbilly]

I'd forgotten root veg, carrots and beetroot have done well here, but again basic varieties, at 1,000 feet and north facing, I've given up on trying new things.
I grew the spuds under goat bedding, so much hay in that it's basicly the 'Ruth Stout system, with added nutrients. Spuds lifted easily and clean(ish). Going to try it on more crops this year.

[Fleecewife]

You're the same height and aspect as we are PHB.  We have the added fun of howling winds and blizzards sometimes into May.  Do you have a polytunnel?

[Penninehillbilly]

FW, yes we have a p/t, should be 30x25ft, but we put the hoops closer together, making 25x25.
Just to the west is a laurel hedge, but mixed thoughts on it, takes most of the wind strength, before it grew tall enough i used to watch the cover go up like a balloon, but it was planted long before I had goats/sheep, always worry whether they would pick up any windblown leaves. To the north are fir trees. About 10M to the East is a holly hedge, bit high, to the east of that is the veg garden, so while the holly is a good windbreak/nesting site, it does take the sun off some of the veg early on spring afternoons.
First cover was put on tight and lasted many years,  we put the 2nd one on, not as tight, and has splits in the plastic, and like everything round here, OH never quite finished the ends, could be better.
Just now got the hens in, not a blade of green apart from a few daffs with old freezer trays protecting them.
Last year had a lovely crop of mixed salad leaves right into winter.
So frustrating.
Oh and J.f'Atrichokes do brilliantly well in there. Till rabbits got in and finished first lot off. 

[chrismahon]

Nothing complicated for us this year. No experiments- just trying to get a decent crop of everything we tried to grow last year. We tried second sowings of beetroot and beans and they failed- too hot here, but they both freeze well so we'll stick to an early crop and then get the weed membranes back on. Parsnips and leeks failed completely and the carrots were pretty poor as well. Despite 3 years of composting, the beds are still are not very fertile, but I did spot a few worms, so they must be improving. We did get some excellent potato crops, then failed with the storage- forgot the curtain over the window and lost a lot because they went green. Tomatoes are somewhat 'pot luck' because it's too easy to lose them to hail damage if I forget to put the debris netting over them, but we did get too many last year.


Once we've got the basics right we'll be more adventurous.

[naturelovingfarmer]

Aha!
Firstly this thread was started on my birthday - 7th of Jan!

I'm planning to grow some new varieties of tomatoes - mostly large ones - which are resistant to blight.

I still have some black/purple potatoes (as well as other varieties) which still need to be dug up! I will plant some more of them this spring, but not too many. Perhaps in containers?

More varieties of summer squash - courgettes in many colours, pattypan squash, etc.
Winter squash - old trusty Blue Hubbard and tiny orange pumpkins (forgot the name).

What excites me the most is ARMENIAN CUCUMBERS. Have been waiting for them since last summer, but it was too late to plant. My seeds are waiting to be planted!!!

From perennial plants, I have planted 50 raspberry plants (autumn and summer), 50 strawberry plants, 10 new currant bushes, 5 new gooseberry bushes, 4 new plum trees (including damsons), 2 apples, 2 pears.

Also around 200 seedlings (some bought and some collected) for bonsai trees - japanese black pine, Scots pine, Japanese and European larch, oak, crabapple.

I'm taking cuttings of everything that's green atm - mulberry, quince, ginkgo, cedar, lots of other fruit and potential bonsai trees!

The best blight resistant tomato is Mortgage Lifter. Plants love water and get 6-8 ft tall if you stake them. Then expect sweet juicy 3 lb fruits.

[naturelovingfarmer]

I'm not convinced I actually like Jerusalem artichokes - I would far rather have the globe variety but we're too cold here, or that was the case when I tried them before.  However, I think the climate is changing fast enough that I shall give Globe Artichokes a go this year.  Otherwise I just grow onions, garlic, shallots, carrots, beetroot, broad (fava) beans, climbing French beans, courgettes, squashes, pumpkins, perhaps cucumbers but they tend to succumb to spider mites most years, chillies and peppers and of course lots of salads and greens. For the winter I grow leeks, kale, purple sprouting broccoli and perhaps some Sprouts and crinkly cabbages.  I think that's it.  We used to grow sweetcorn but the mice always got to it just the night before it was ready.  Once my supposedly ratting puppy gets the hang of catching mice and rats, perhaps I shall try sweetcorn again as I love them straight from the plant 

Jerusalem Artichokes are not true artichokes. They're related to sunflowers.

[Fleecewife]

I'm not convinced I actually like Jerusalem artichokes - I would far rather have the globe variety but we're too cold here, or that was the case when I tried them before.  However, I think the climate is changing fast enough that I shall give Globe Artichokes a go this year.  Otherwise I just grow onions, garlic, shallots, carrots, beetroot, broad (fava) beans, climbing French beans, courgettes, squashes, pumpkins, perhaps cucumbers but they tend to succumb to spider mites most years, chillies and peppers and of course lots of salads and greens. For the winter I grow leeks, kale, purple sprouting broccoli and perhaps some Sprouts and crinkly cabbages.  I think that's it.  We used to grow sweetcorn but the mice always got to it just the night before it was ready.  Once my supposedly ratting puppy gets the hang of catching mice and rats, perhaps I shall try sweetcorn again as I love them straight from the plant 

Jerusalem Artichokes are not true artichokes. They're related to sunflowers.

Yes I know, having grown the taller varieties for years, which sometimes flower here, although my new dwarf ones didn't this year.  It's too windy here for tall Jerusalem artichokes, and so far has been too cold for Globe Artichokes, but I have been persuaded by another TAS member to try them again.  I'm realising that it's probably not worth growing the Jerusalem (corrupted from 'Girasol' = sunflower) type if I don't actually like them all that much 

[Penninehillbilly]

FW quote-I'm realising that it's probably not worth growing the Jerusalem (corrupted from 'Girasol' = sunflower) type if I don't actually like them all that much  [/size]


But the goats love the leaves/ stems ☺.
I just add a couple to a stew/casserole  for added  taste/texture.

[Fleecewife]

FW quote-I'm realising that it's probably not worth growing the Jerusalem (corrupted from 'Girasol' = sunflower) type if I don't actually like them all that much 


But the goats love the leaves/ stems ☺.
I just add a couple to a stew/casserole  for added  taste/texture.

That's what I use them for too - in stews, not feeding to goats as sadly I don't have any of those (I love goats) 
I wonder if the Hebs and Soays would like the tops too?


Sorry, I don't know why the quote hasn't come through properly but it's tea time so I'm not going to try to fix it 

[Anke]

FW quote-I'm realising that it's probably not worth growing the Jerusalem (corrupted from 'Girasol' = sunflower) type if I don't actually like them all that much 


But the goats love the leaves/ stems ☺.
I just add a couple to a stew/casserole  for added  taste/texture.

That's what I use them for too - in stews, not feeding to goats as sadly I don't have any of those (I love goats) 
I wonder if the Hebs and Soays would like the tops too?


Sorry, I don't know why the quote hasn't come through properly but it's tea time so I'm not going to try to fix it 

Seeing my Shetland on their hindlegs perusing the hedges (despite loads of grass in thefield!) has convinced me years ago that they are more like goats... and would therefore probably demolish my Jerusalem artichoke plants given the opportunity. But I do love them, so they are not fed to either goats or sheep until I build up a good enough sized stash of tubers to fill a decent sized bed. Unfortunately mice and voles are connoiseurs too...

[NickRJ]

Well as we are in a new location, different country, different climate I have decided to actually keep a running log of the veg and ornamentals we sow so that I can actually monitor a little more "scientifically" our successes and failures. Dates sown, how sown, propagated etc.  When I was living in the suburbs of London/North Kent I had fifteen 8'x4' raised beds and a couple of 4'x4' beds which I had laid permanent paved paths between which was a godsend at keeping the weeds down as with a full time job and commuting it meant the veg garden was easier to look after. I also had a good sized greenhouse courtesy of freecycle. I just kept a basic eye on rotation but over the years worked out roughly what worked, what didn't. As I write we have snow on the ground and a cold wind coming off the slope behind us and an outside temperature of 1 degree. The conservatory where I have started my initial batch of seeds in heated propagators is enjoying sunshine but it is hovering just above 10 degrees and I am waiting to take delivery of a few more  heated propagators as it seems I will need them to get things off to a good start here. I do so hope we'll be finished with the snow soon and I can actually get out and turn over the soil. A greenhouse or polytunnel are on my list of "must haves" in the coming months. When we arrived the barns were packed with pallets so one of my first jobs was converting some of them into compost bins. I now have six with one dedicated purely to leaf mould (photo pre leaf mould bin!). I am really looking forward to getting the crops started this year and the new challenges we will have to meet along the way!