What are you growing in your garden this year? 2021 gardening thread

[bbhaag]

So I know we have a home and garden sub but OT seems to get more attention so I thought I would start a general gardening thread for the 2021 season.

I have to admit I was partially inspired by SunnyD's thread and saw the pics posted so I thought it would be nice to start a separate thread dedicated to general gardening for 2021 were anyone can post pics or ask questions as the season approaches. I know with the warmer temps across the Midwest a lot of people have spring fever.

I will kick it off by posting some pics of what my wife and I already have going. We started a lot from seed this year tons of peppers both hot and sweet, a few different types of tomatoes, and some basil.



Today it was nice enough that we were able to get outside and plant a few different things. Two different types of asparagus(Jersey Knight and Mary Washington), some yellow granex(Vidalia)onions, and my wife broadcast some radish and snow pea seeds in the raised garden boxes.


I know some of you are avid gardeners so feel free to add pics of what you already have going or what your plans are for the 2021 season!

 

[RLGL]

WEEDS!!

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Weeds grow like crazy in my yard, so I'm consistently spraying or pulling them.

But aside from that, a good 5 years ago or so we bought a mango tree - and of all things I've been protecting it like a child. It's the one thing that we make sure to give a heat-lamp if a freeze comes around.

That said, Texas just got our deep freeze, so majority of my shit is dead anyhow.

 

[FelixDeCat]

I would like to grow tomatoes.

 

[kt]

This year we'll be growing mostly what we did last year:
Tomatoes (3 different types)
Basil
Zucchini
Radish
Peppers (hot and sweet)
Cucumber
Sweet corn
Strawberry
Snow peas
String beans

 

[Jeeebus]

We had a lot of "cold" days this winter (i.e. around 60 degrees) so I'm expecting a pretty good mango and lychee crop. My guess is we'll get around 500 lbs of mangoes, much less on the lychees. Plenry of otjer stuff growing good now in the yard

 

[bbhaag]

The weather here in Central Illinois is shaping up to be a beautiful April so I thought I would post a quick update for those anxious gardeners out there.

My wife and I transplanted the tomatoes and peppers into larger pots a couple of days ago. The tomatoes went into 1 gallon containers and the peppers were planted in 4.5" pots. This should give them the extra room they need before they go into the garden come early May. There is also some Basil that we put into 3.5" pots.


We also started some Kohlrabi, Kale, and Celery from seed a few days ago. It always amazes me how fast Kohlrabi and Kale germinate. These might just stay in the plug trays and get transplanted directly in the garden in a few weeks.


So anyone else got some stuff going or is it still a little to early in your area?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Groundhog food, apparently.

 

[kt]

Our strawberries are ready for picking, we'll have some later today for dessert. Put sweet corn seedlings in the ground last week along with eggplants and tomatoes. Zucchini seeds (golden zucchini and yellow scallop) we put in the ground last week are already forming nicely. Those corn rows take up half our planting space, so can't fit much else in there without overcrowding the garden. The kids insisted on having that much corn, so can't say no to that.

 

[Jeeebus]

So anyone else got some stuff going or is it still a little to early in your area?

That looks great. Quite the operation you have going.

We've got a lot going on. Just harvested a bunch of peaches and carrots. Japanese Plums are all ripe right now. Have about 30 lbs of bananas that I just chopped down and we have another stalk getting pretty close. Veggie garden still going strong but we're pretty much on the tail end of what will grow. Papayas are basically year-round. Probably a dozen pineapples or so that will be ready in a month or so. But most importantly, it's almost mango time!!! Still looking like a good year with 12 - 14 trees loaded up.

 

[bbhaag]

Our strawberries are ready for picking, we'll have some later today for dessert. Put sweet corn seedlings in the ground last week along with eggplants and tomatoes. Zucchini seeds (golden zucchini and yellow scallop) we put in the ground last week are already forming nicely. Those corn rows take up half our planting space, so can't fit much else in there without overcrowding the garden. The kids insisted on having that much corn, so can't say no to that.

Nice sounds like you might be a little bit south of me. It's still going to get to cold here to put stuff in the ground. Just out of curiosity what varieties of sweet corn do you plant? Last year we did around 450 foot row and the results were mixed. They were heirloom varieties though like Peaches & Cream and Kandy Corn.

This year we are thinking about going with some hybrids from Syngenta. Here's a link to the different varieties they offer do you have any experience with them?

Sweet Corn (Commercial Fresh Market) | Syngenta Vegetable Seeds US

www.syngenta-us.com

 

[bbhaag]

That looks great. Quite the operation you have going.

We've got a lot going on. Just harvested a bunch of peaches and carrots. Japanese Plums are all ripe right now. Have about 30 lbs of bananas that I just chopped down and we have another stalk getting pretty close. Veggie garden still going strong but we're pretty much on the tail end of what will grow. Papayas are basically year-round. Probably a dozen pineapples or so that will be ready in a month or so. But most importantly, it's almost mango time!!! Still looking like a good year with 12 - 14 trees loaded up.

Thanks! It's a lot of work but we enjoy it. Those are just the varieties we can't find in the store. We plant even more once live plants start coming in. Here's a quick vid I took last year of the garden. It's going to be even better this year!

I'm so jelly of that pineapple! haha I don't know if you remember but I've been growing a few over the past couple of years but here in Illinois it has been difficult. Just not the right climate for them....sigh...

Those carrots look great to! What's your secret??

 

[brianmanahan]

We've got a lot going on.

omg where is this

i must move there

 

[Jeeebus]

omg where is this

i must move there

Southeast Florida (Fort Lauderdale area)

 

[Jeeebus]

Thanks! It's a lot of work but we enjoy it. Those are just the varieties we can't find in the store. We plant even more once live plants start coming in. Here's a quick vid I took last year of the garden. It's going to be even better this year!

I'm so jelly of that pineapple! haha I don't know if you remember but I've been growing a few over the past couple of years but here in Illinois it has been difficult. Just not the right climate for them....sigh...

Those carrots look great to! What's your secret??

I do remember the pineapple thread! Ya I have to imagine Illinois is not ideal for growing subtropical fruit. Most of our pineapples (and our papayas too) are actually from Hawaii. The pineapples are Kauai Sugarloaf which is white and super sweet. Caribbean/Central American papayas are the most prevalent but smell like puke to me. I can't stand them. The Hawaii ones are fairly pleasant.

Carrots are not easy to grow down here. They don't get as sweet without the cold but we manage a fair crop every year. I don't even remember the variety but it's tricky finding one that grows good in the heat.

 

[Starbuck1975]

I have strawberries, kale, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, various peppers, arugula, lettuce, zucchini and pumpkins going. This is my first year growing from seed, have a little greenhouse operation going since last month using a south facing window. I am enjoying it and may invest in a mini greenhouse to increase my seedling capacity next year.

 

[nisryus]

Wife got some tomatoes, green onions, and squash going in pots. But we planted three fig tress (one celeste fig and two brown turkey) around the yard.

 

[MrSquished]

Stuff like this

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I've never had success with what little gardening I attempt.

Tried small fruits like Strawberries, tomatoes, etc.. All that ever ends up happening is either some kind of disease self-kills it or bugs or birds pick away at it before it's even fully ripe.

How do you keep up with general treatment of fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, etc?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I've never had success with what little gardening I attempt.

Tried small fruits like Strawberries, tomatoes, etc.. All that ever ends up happening is either some kind of disease self-kills it or bugs or birds pick away at it before it's even fully ripe.

How do you keep up with general treatment of fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, etc?

For me the main thing is plant where is mostly sun but some shade
Keep various animals out. Plastic deer netting works good enough but some still get in.
Never had to apply a pesticide other than that organic soap stuff for spot treatment.
Bag or two of compost or composted manure and that’s it.
Watering is key during the hot months, miss one day and veggies get sad.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Nothing sadly. I have a small garden about 120 sqft total over 3 boxes. Just too busy this year to deal with it. I'll throw some weed fabric down and leave it be until next year.

 

[Kaido]

I've been meaning to get into it forever. I got a factory-second Orta self-watering seed starter:

Self Watering Seed Starters

Keep your seedlings alive and reduce your plastic footprint with Orta's terracotta self-watering seed pots! Zero waste, compostable packaging.(Shipping pkg too!) Regenerative gardening starts with seeds, and we make seed starting easy. Handmade in California.

ortakitchengarden.com

Plus an LED grow light:

https://www.amazon.com/JUEYINGBAILI-Spectrum-Dimmable-Brightness-Succulent/dp/B0838XNJS2

My goal is to grow tomatoes indoors (it's cold where I live right now) & then transition into a hydroponic system at some point, maybe with an Arduino system.

 

[kt]

Nice sounds like you might be a little bit south of me. It's still going to get to cold here to put stuff in the ground. Just out of curiosity what varieties of sweet corn do you plant? Last year we did around 450 foot row and the results were mixed. They were heirloom varieties though like Peaches & Cream and Kandy Corn.

This year we are thinking about going with some hybrids from Syngenta. Here's a link to the different varieties they offer do you have any experience with them?

Sweet Corn (Commercial Fresh Market) | Syngenta Vegetable Seeds US

www.syngenta-us.com

We are in southern California, so it's warm for us almost year round. Last year was the first time for us planting corn. We had some success last year with only 2 x 10ft rows and this year we decided to go with 8 x 10ft rows of corn. We planted Kandy Korn (hybrid) and Early Golden Bantam this year. Those hybrids from Syngenta looks good, I might give them a try too.

 

[Scarpozzi]

We don't start planting in the ground until mid April or early May here due to frost. I'm going to build a proper greenhouse eventually....my only issue is that my real land is a 20 minute drive away.

We've got maybe 8 raised beds in our back yard. That's for onions, squash, peppers, cucumbers, basil, mint, strawberries, other herbs, tomatoes. Then we have 50' rows out at our other land where we grow half runners (green beans). We may do potatoes. I really don't know what all my wife's started. She's got trays and trays of stuff germinating now.

For the raised beds, we use cow panels and fence posts to hold them in place. I just cleaned all the posts up a few weeks ago to remove the old tomato vines and get everything prepped for May/June when the plants grow enough to be tied off. I think we put up about 70-80 quarts of green beans and maybe 50-60 quarts of tomatoes... I pickled a bunch of peppers and plan on doing some more. They turned out great.

FYI....if you're going to do any canning, make sure you start looking for lids now. Ball lids have been very hard to come by. We paid a premium...$1-2 markup per 12 pack just to get some.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I've been meaning to get into it forever. I got a factory-second Orta self-watering seed starter:

Self Watering Seed Starters

Keep your seedlings alive and reduce your plastic footprint with Orta's terracotta self-watering seed pots! Zero waste, compostable packaging.(Shipping pkg too!) Regenerative gardening starts with seeds, and we make seed starting easy. Handmade in California.

ortakitchengarden.com

Plus an LED grow light:

https://www.amazon.com/JUEYINGBAILI-Spectrum-Dimmable-Brightness-Succulent/dp/B0838XNJS2

My goal is to grow tomatoes indoors (it's cold where I live right now) & then transition into a hydroponic system at some point, maybe with an Arduino system.

Seems like a lot of hype around these. My mom bought a couple of those from Costco. Used it a few times to grow a few tomatoes and lost interest with all the refills, etc. For overall very little output.