2023 Garden Plans

This topic has 115 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 1 month ago by chocomouse.

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February 7, 2023 at 1:14 pm #38347
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
Time to start thinking about what plants to put in the garden for 2023.

UNL is looking for some candidates in Nebraska to test gardening practices, not sure if I'm going to sign up for it. It's a two-year test program.

Thinking ahead to starting seeds indoors (around the end of March), I've already got some Amish Paste seeds for 2023 and some Porter (an indeterminate roma-type tomato that was developed for Texas climates so it may be more heat-tolerant.)

I need to find some First Lady seeds, other than Reimer I don't know who carries it. The original First Lady seems to have been replaced by First Lady II and/or First Ladies. I tried both some year-old First Lady II seeds and First Ladies last year, wasn't sure which worked better.

I'll go with Fourth of July again, that turned out to be the most productive tomato in the garden again last year. The Celebrity and Rutgers were disappointing, the Italian Heirloom were good, but were really slow to grow, probably due to the cold weather we had the week after I put the plants in the ground. I'll probably do some Rutgers just because Diane likes them.

I'll do eggplant again, mostly because I like seeing them grow, we don't really eat a lot of eggplant. The white ones were really productive, the miniature purple ones were disappointing, I may try a full-sized variety.

We didn't like either of the melons I grew last year, so I may switch back to Athena. I've been thinking of doing some spaghetti squash, I really like it and Diane is at least willing to eat it, though I think she prefers pasta.

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February 8, 2023 at 6:21 pm #38358
chocomouse
Participant
I just put in my order for seeds of delicata squash, yellow summer squash, and what I think might be the honey nut squash BakerAunt loves so much. Yesterday I planted more lettuce and spinach in the sunroom.
February 8, 2023 at 6:28 pm #38361
BakerAunt
Participant
My husband is getting a nice crop of lettuce and some spinach from his gardening box and pot on the enclosed porch. He appears to have learned how to use the grow lights effectively.
February 8, 2023 at 10:11 pm #38362
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
I tried spinach in the Aerogarden, it was good but I didn't get very much, it isn't a thin-and-return crop that takes well to extended hydroponics, I guess.

My snow peas seem to be slowing down, I think I'll get one more relatively small picking from them. A lot of the leaves are dying off, I don't know if that's normal or if there's some issue with the plants. It has been over 100 days since I planted them, maybe that's just their expected season.
February 9, 2023 at 7:22 am #38364
chocomouse
Participant
Mike, that's how my peas behaved back when I grew them in my big garden. They'd keep producing, as long as I kept picking, but only up to a certain point. Then, they just turned brown and died; reached their life expectancy, I guess.

I've not tried growing spinach in the Aerogarden, but it doesn't do as well under the gro lights or in planters on the deck as lettuce does. I think it is not a 'cut and come again' type of growth.
March 29, 2023 at 8:07 pm #38869
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
I got seeds started indoors for 7 different types of tomatoes today:
Amish Paste
Italian Heirloom
Celebrity
4th of July
Rutgers
First Ladies
Porter

I also started some broccoli, some spaghetti squash and some cantaloupe. I thought I had more of the small white eggplant seeds from last year, but there were only 2 in the package, so I need to go find more or do something else.
March 30, 2023 at 8:22 am #38872
chocomouse
Participant
Good to see my 2 favorite tomatoes on your list, Mike -- Amish Paste and Celebrity. I buy all my veggie starts, except for direct sow things and sometimes a couple of experiments. I've started a lot of annuals and perennials this year, and will start herbs tomorrow. I'm also trying winter sowing - not impressed so far; it's been labor intensive.
March 30, 2023 at 9:22 am #38873
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
The last two years the most productive tomatoes in the garden were the 4th of July ones, they're not big (somewhere between ping pong ball and tennis ball for size) but they're productive. I think I got my first 4th of July tomato on about the 6th of July last year, there have been years when I got them ahead of the 4th. And they were still setting fruit when the frost hit in October.

First Lady was replaced by First Lady II a few years ago and now it seems First Ladies has replaced First Lady II. I had both First Lady II and First Ladies last year, neither performed as well as I was expecting, but I think that was true of quite a few tomatoes, and not just in my garden, even the growers at the Farmers Market reported issues.

Italian Heirloom has been a great sauce/juice tomato here, they're about the size of a medium apple.

My Celebrity didn't do well last year, but I think that's because we had a cold snap down into the upper 30's 3 days after I transplanted everything and it affected many of the tomato plants.

I plant Rutgers because my wife likes them.

Porter is a new one for me, it's supposed to be a good hot weather tomato, developed in Texas.

I've given up for now on Mortgage Lifter and Brandywine, too much cracking in the shoulders and not very productive the last few years.

I've still got one row in the seedling tray unplanted (not counting the one I've got reserved for a white eggplant like Burpee White Knight if I can find the seeds), but I'm not sure what I'll put there. The varieties of tomato seeds available in local stores seems more limited this year, even the garden supply store didn't have a wide selection.
April 5, 2023 at 10:31 pm #38925
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
I decided not to start another row of tomato plants or one of eggplants, so I did two rows of leeks.
April 6, 2023 at 6:38 am #38926
navlys
Participant
I think you should plant strawberries. Went to a local produce stand and purchased freshly picked (Florida) strawberries! They were the best tasting sweet berries that I've had in years. After refrigerating them they were still good but not as amazing. Just a thought!
April 6, 2023 at 9:04 am #38927
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
Strawberries are a lot of work, and unless you grow a lot of them, a small payoff.

The strawberries that I've gotten at the farmer's market in recent years have been the really tiny ones, sweet but pricey and scarce. And to be honest, I'm getting a bit disenchanted with the quality of the produce at the farmer's market, aside from sweet corn and melons. I'd rather visit the 3 fruit and vegetable stands nearest us.
April 13, 2023 at 5:45 pm #38998
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
Most of my seedlings are up, I'm going to wait until Monday and then replant the few tomatoes that haven't come up by then. My spaghetti squash and melons are just starting to come up.

We're participating in the Nebraska Urban Soil Health Initiative project with the University of Nebraska this year, I'll have a 100 square foot section of the vegetable garden that is part of the test protocol. I took soil samples over the weekend, will add in the compost they're supplying before I transplant anything, and will monitor it for 2 seasons, with 2 more soil samples. They had around 500 people volunteer to be part of the project, far exceeding their expectations and causing some budget revisions. Part of the project is to grow a specific variety of zucchini that they're supplying seeds for and measure yield, so everyone has one plant in common. I'm going to grow the zucchini in the aisle between two rows of tomatoes. It's supposed to be something of a 'bush' variety, as much as that's possible with squash.

And although it isn't strictly part of the garden, I got the gas grill ready for the season, removing the cover, cleaning all the removable parts, replacing the grease tray and cranking it up to full temp for 15 minutes. Now I'm ready to go buy some steaks!
April 13, 2023 at 6:18 pm #39000
BakerAunt
Participant
My husband started the tomato plants today, so now we wait to see if they come up. There will not be any transplanting until later in May. We are in a warm spell right now, with temperatures yesterday and today hitting the low 80s in the afternoon. However, next week is forecast to be much cooler. I'm ok with cooler, as long as there is no freeze. After all, it is supposed to be spring.
April 13, 2023 at 7:16 pm #39002
chocomouse
Participant
I don't start any of my vegetable seeds indoors, I either plant the seeds in place, or buy starts. I have started lettuces in planters, to be moved out onto the deck when the weather is right. I'll start herbs inside this weekend. And this year I've started a lot of flowers, with more seeds to plant. I did a very little bit of winter sowing, in clear plastic containers this year, and I'm eager to see when Mother Nature does her thing and the seeds sprout. I don't plant anything outside until Memorial Day. Although, maybe things will be different this year. It was 86 here today, a record for this date. Next week will be a lot cooler here, also, although it appears temperatures will stay above freezing from now on. I'll be traveling a lot for the next 6 weeks, so hopefully all my starts will survive some neglect.
April 13, 2023 at 8:19 pm #39003
Mike Nolan
Keymaster
In something like 6 of the last 8 years, we've had temperatures in the mid 30's with wind chills in the 20's after the 20th of May, so I will not be in a hurry to transplant anything outdoors. The plants generally benefit from a few days of hardening off, anyway.
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