2026 Garden Thread

[cydnote]

Having a farming background and my love for Trees, I have combined the two for my next venture. Technically not garden, but rather Orchard, I decided to try to grow peach trees from seeds. After doing some research and watching some YouTube videos, and subsequently failing, I tweaked the method and tried my own. Early September of last year I cracked some pits to retrieve the seeds. After visually sorting them, I packed them in some moistened cedar shavings (with the idea that they have some natural bacterial/fungal resistance), put them in the back of the refrigerator in a sealed mayonnaise jar. This was an attempt to replicate the chilling hours (cold stratification) required for germination. A few days ago they started to sprout and my method turned out to be successful as 29 of 31 sprouted. I spent the morning potting them up and we’ll see what happens from here!

 

[mkadl]

My pineapple started in the spring of 2021. I am getting a new one. It started showing the fruit in August, had to buy a grow light this year the plant was too big in the 3' pot to put anywhere, but the basement. (I was told). I read yesterday squirrels love pineapples. I don't know if I will put it outside or not. I dont want to lose 5 years of caring for it.

 

[cydnote]

My pineapple started in the spring of 2021. I am getting a new one. It started showing the fruit in August, had to buy a grow light this year the plant was too big in the 3' pot to put anywhere, but the basement. (I was told). I read yesterday squirrels love pineapples. I don't know if I will put it outside or not. I dont want to lose 5 years of caring for it.

Probably not a lot of practicality to many of these endeavors, but I get a great satisfaction from interacting with nature this way. My intent was never to make my county the peach capital of Iowa, but if I successfully grow these, my next step may include grafting onto the root stock of these plantings. They say the best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago and the second best time is now. Over the years, I have started butternuts, walnuts, Hickory, mountain Ash, Kentucky coffee tree, and several Oaks from seed. My buddy and I often joke that the next owner of our properties will probably cut them down and plant two more rows of corn but if those before us hadn’t planted trees, we wouldn’t be enjoying them now, and I plan to to carry that on until I can’t dig a hole anymore.

 

[Frog]

Having a farming background and my love for Trees, I have combined the two for my next venture. Technically not garden, but rather Orchard, I decided to try to grow peach trees from seeds. After doing some research and watching some YouTube videos, and subsequently failing, I tweaked the method and tried my own. Early September of last year I cracked some pits to retrieve the seeds. After visually sorting them, I packed them in some moistened cedar shavings (with the idea that they have some natural bacterial/fungal resistance), put them in the back of the refrigerator in a sealed mayonnaise jar. This was an attempt to replicate the chilling hours (cold stratification) required for germination. A few days ago they started to sprout and my method turned out to be successful as 29 of 31 sprouted. I spent the morning potting them up and we’ll see what happens from here!View attachment 166487

White peaches I assume? My Grandparents then mom and dad had a large orchard on our farm, Jonathon (I love), Granny Smith apples, and pears. We lost the pear trees first, strong wind when they are loaded caused branches to break and the trees went downhill from there. I used most of that wood for smoking pork. The peach trees sofferedn same fate. We still have a few apple trees, as the kids don't seem to have an interest in carrying on, so no point planting more. It is sad to look at the orchard now, and the memories of being a kid.
Our garden has downsized too, as we can much anymore. Sweet corn is a high-demand item among family, friends, and local boy scout troop. I'll plant 6 acres this year.

 

[JEFF420]

My pineapple started in the spring of 2021. I am getting a new one. It started showing the fruit in August, had to buy a grow light this year the plant was too big in the 3' pot to put anywhere, but the basement. (I was told). I read yesterday squirrels love pineapples. I don't know if I will put it outside or not. I dont want to lose 5 years of caring for it.

i visited a pineapple farm in Puerto Rico around 2011. 18 months in the ground until harvest! I couldn't believe it.

 

[JEFF420]

I work for a veggie seed company if anyone has questions or suggestions. My job actually allows me to suggest other companies products if what we have isn't the best or we just don't have it.

THEY LET ME BE A TRUE AGRONOMIST

I will have having somewhere near 20 acres of early pipeline peppers this year! They are my favorite crop to deal with. New oranges and yellows (these typically have lower disease resistance then a green to red) we are jacked up about.

Will start seeding in the greenhouse around mid to late march.... and will have Watermelons in the grow in Arkansas by May 10th. I can't wait.

 

[PineClone]

Planting day was last wednesday for our little side-hustle. Total of 1080 hanging baskets (calibrachoa).

 

[JEFF420]

Planting day was last wednesday for our little side-hustle. Total of 1080 hanging baskets (calibrachoa).

View attachment 166505

oh hell yes, i'd love to learn more!!!

Wanna try bell peppers??

 

[Kinch]

oh hell yes, i'd love to learn more!!!

Wanna try bell peppers??

if I ever got a large hoop greenhouse, would definitely plant bell peppers. If you have a market, per square feet they can raise the most revenue.

 

[PineClone]

oh hell yes, i'd love to learn more!!!

Wanna try bell peppers??

Not unless the markup on bell peppers is 80%! Honestly, we've considered the idea of growing something else when the greenhouse is sitting empty, but we haven't found anything that is worth the effort. We have about $7 into each basket and we sell them for $35. And we'll be raising prices next season just because our product is way better than anything you find at the box stores. We sell from our front yard for 4 weekends leading up to Mother's Day and then we're done.

We tested the concept by growing 400 baskets on the ground in our pasture. Once we determined that there was a market for them, we bought a used 30x90 greenhouse $3500, disassembled it and put it on a trailer and reassembled it in our pasture. This will be our third year with the greenhouse.

 

[Kinch]

I work for a veggie seed company if anyone has questions or suggestions. My job actually allows me to suggest other companies products if what we have isn't the best or we just don't have it.

THEY LET ME BE A TRUE AGRONOMIST

I will have having somewhere near 20 acres of early pipeline peppers this year! They are my favorite crop to deal with. New oranges and yellows (these typically have lower disease resistance then a green to red) we are jacked up about.

Will start seeding in the greenhouse around mid to late march.... and will have Watermelons in the grow in Arkansas by May 10th. I can't wait.i

My favorite watermelons is an heirloomk called Oh So Sweet. They adapted very well to Iowa summers and selective seed harvests

 

[JEFF420]

My favorite watermelons is an heirloomk called Oh So Sweet. They adapted very well to Iowa summers and selective seed harvests

those rind patterns are 1000% in right now. people love them. also, we have had meetings about the impact of tiktok trends and the false information around seedless watermelons. lol

seededs have more brix (sweeter) and generally better against disease resistance.

Syngenta and Enza zaden have a large portion of the large acres in the southeast

below is Cracker Jack (league leader)

 

[cydnote]

White peaches I assume? My Grandparents then mom and dad had a large orchard on our farm, Jonathon (I love), Granny Smith apples, and pears. We lost the pear trees first, strong wind when they are loaded caused branches to break and the trees went downhill from there. I used most of that wood for smoking pork. The peach trees sofferedn same fate. We still have a few apple trees, as the kids don't seem to have an interest in carrying on, so no point planting more. It is sad to look at the orchard now, and the memories of being a kid.
Our garden has downsized too, as we can much anymore. Sweet corn is a high-demand item among family, friends, and local boy scout troop. I'll plant 6 acres this year.

Actually I have two varieties of yellow peaches, Red Haven and Contender. There is very little difference in taste, juiciness, or size but the Red Havin's mature 10 days to 2 weeks earlier. I tried some RH seeds first using a couple different methods and they rotted before germinating. I expect there could be some cross pollination between the two in my seeds, but peaches as a rule come as close to any of the fruits as being "true to seeds".

 

[WIBadger]

I purchased an herb growing kit called an auk yesterday (it looks like basically a hydroponic kit with a grow light) and it will be arriving soon. It’ll be nice to have fresh herbs (assuming it works), but more than that I’m just excited to have more green in our apartment while it’s in the single digits outside

Link to the website but I can’t say how good it is yet since I haven’t tried it.

 

[Kinch]

View attachment 166507

those rind patterns are 1000% in right now. people love them. also, we have had meetings about the impact of tiktok trends and the false information around seedless watermelons. lol

seededs have more brix (sweeter) and generally better against disease resistance.

Syngenta and Enza zaden have a large portion of the large acres in the southeast

below is Cracker Jack (league leader)
View attachment 166508

I hit reply too soon. I selected on two traits and over time my family was able to consistently grow 35 pound melons that were much sweeter than seedless. Over the next couple years I plan to add a third trait, texture and see what that does. Very interesting information you provided. The rind pattern on mine is somewhat like Cracker Jack. FYI: my time on the vines is 45 days.

 

[Kinch]

Amish in southeast Iowa are getting ready to start their greenhouse tomatoes in a week or so. Also, this cold snap has allowed them to get an ice harvest.

 

[cycloner29]

Amish in southeast Iowa are getting ready to start their greenhouse tomatoes in a week or so. Also, this cold snap has allowed them to get an ice harvest.

Going to plant some Amish Paste Tomatoes this year. Tired of romas as they are a determinate and they just haven't produced the past few years. I've also gone no-till as I put on a lot of mulched leaves on my 15' x 21" garden this fall. I aslo have to fix a planter box as I noticed the bottom on one end dropped down a bit.

 

[Kinch]

Going to plant some Amish Paste Tomatoes this year. Tired of romas as they are a determinate and they just haven't produced the past few years. I've also gone no-till as I put on a lot of mulched leaves on my 15' x 21" garden this fall. I aslo have to fix a planter box as I noticed the bottom on one end dropped down a bit.

What do you do with your tomatoes?

 

[cydnote]

Amish Paste is the only variety I've planted for more than 10 years--and from saved seed since they can't cross pollinate here. They are later to mature than many others but the wait is worth it to me. Once they start producing they won't quit till hell freezes over. They have firmness of a roma but have also won some taste competitions Because of space restrictions I've grown them in the same location for multiple years and with proper mulching (I use grass clippings) to prevent soil splashing on the plants during rains their disease resistance seems sufficient even without spraying, at least here.

Cydnote for laughs: My FIL brought me some tomato plants of a larger fruit variety because he wanted a tomato slice "that would cover his whole hamburger". I refused to plant them so my wife potted them up and to my satisfaction they died before producing fruit. After having them out for burgers one day, I noticed (and noted) that he cut his burger in half to ease eating at which point I pointed out that two slices of the Amish Paste would have given him the same result. Never complained since and never turned them down when offer and always compliments their flavor.

Excellent fresh, great for canning whole, and make a "thicker" juice. I liken them to keeping smaller crappies--they taste the same you just need to catch more of them!

 

[cycloner29]

Amish Paste is the only variety I've planted for more than 10 years--and from saved seed since they can't cross pollinate here. They are later to mature than many others but the wait is worth it to me. Once they start producing they won't quit till hell freezes over. They have firmness of a roma but have also won some taste competitions Because of space restrictions I've grown them in the same location for multiple years and with proper mulching (I use grass clippings) to prevent soil splashing on the plants during rains their disease resistance seems sufficient even without spraying, at least here.

Cydnote for laughs: My FIL brought me some tomato plants of a larger fruit variety because he wanted a tomato slice "that would cover his whole hamburger". I refused to plant them so my wife potted them up and to my satisfaction they died before producing fruit. After having them out for burgers one day, I noticed (and noted) that he cut his burger in half to ease eating at which point I pointed out that two slices of the Amish Paste would have given him the same result. Never complained since and never turned them down when offer and always compliments their flavor.

Excellent fresh, great for canning whole, and make a "thicker" juice. I liken them to keeping smaller crappies--they taste the same you just need to catch more of them!

When do you usually put them in the garden? I realize frost dates play into it.