2026 Garden Thread

[begreen]

Has everyone received their seed catalogs? Any new picks to be tried this year?

Our indoor gardens are doing well. We are getting a good crop of lettuce every few weeks and non-stop basil. And it looks like we will be picking a few tomatoes soon too. These are Siam which is the best variety I've grown so far indoors. They stay much more compact compared to Tiny Tim.

 

[djlew]

Happy to see this up! I got some new grow lights for my citrus and other seedlings. I said this in the 2025 thread that my pomegranate looks dead, but it officially started to get new branches! I was very happy with that. My apricot seedling is leafing really well. I'll get some pics. No blooms yet on the Meyer Lemon but I need to give it some food and the better lights will help. Still haven't tried one of those lemons, apparently they are a pretty high standard in culinary settings.

I have some cherry and almond scionwood coming in March. I still need to move my raised beds to my front porch. I have a lot of cleanup in the yard to do as well for the meadow. Of course I was sick during a pretty mild week here. I'm not doing much other indoor gardening. I'm still deciding whether or not I want to start seeds or direct sow since most of what I want to grow veggie wise are pretty fast growers - cukes, lettuce, etc. We'll see. Going to be a busy start of the year for us here in our garden and orchard.

 

[begreen]

No blooms yet on the Meyer Lemon but I need to give it some food and the better lights will help. Still haven't tried one of those lemons, apparently they are a pretty high standard in culinary settings.

We're harvesting Meyers and Satsumas now and will for the next month or two. The Meyer is definitely a mild lemon. It's a hybrid of a citron and mandarin/pomelo. We like them a lot. Ours is not blooming yet.

 

[djlew]

We're harvesting Meyers and Satsumas now and will for the next month or two. The Meyer is definitely a mild lemon. It's a hybrid of a citron and mandarin/pomelo. We like them a lot. Ours is not blooming yet.

Awesome! My tree is still young, probably only 2-3 years old. I heard it was really mild, not like one of those lemonade ones you can eat like an orange, but really really good. And somewhat rare at stores, unsure if it's because of the whole "Meyer vs. improved Meyer" thing but I do not see them around at all but are common to grow in home orchards from what I can tell.

 

[TreeCo]

Our collards took 19°F last night. We have about 100 plants. Some the cold got to which removes them from the gene pool from which we will be saving seed from June 2026. We are growing 'Utopia' collards which is a genetic mix of 20 or so heirloom collards. This is a group project we are involved in. Collards are a 'superfood' and we try to eat about 100g. per day or every other day. Photos to show the variability of our crop. We select for over winter hardiness, vigor, aphid resistance and taste. They taste very similar but the 'blue' ones are just a bit milder but the aphids love them. We don't like to spray so we'll be weeding out the blue ones. (Called blue but not really blue.) Collards are insect pollinated and cross over a very long distance so we can't grow multiple types without them crossing up. Zone 8A here so no tomatoes over winter and no Meyer lemons.

 

[begreen]

Have you grown Portuguese Collards? (Couve Tronchuda). A friend is growing them locally and loves them. She says they are milder and a bit sweeter than traditional collards. They are an essential ingredient in their national dish, Caldo Verde.

 

[Whitenuckler]

I like this concrete "box" the stove is on

 

[TreeCo]

Have you grown Portuguese Collards? (Couve Tronchuda). A friend is growing them locally and loves them. She says they are milder and a bit sweeter than traditional collards. They are an essential ingredient in their national dish, Caldo Verde.

This is the first I've heard of them.

There's a type of collard called 'cabbage collards' and I've got seeds for a couple of cultivars I'll be starting soon. Cabbage collards are said to be milder and sweeter, too. They have a little more yellow in the leaves Vs dark green.

 

[begreen]

They're sometimes called Portuguese Kale.

What Is Portuguese Cabbage: Portuguese Cabbage Planting And Uses

Whether you call them Portuguese cabbages or Portuguese kale plants, this leafy green crop is still the most popular vegetable in Portugal. For more information about the Portuguese cabbage variety and tips on growing it yourself, click the following article.

www.gardeningknowhow.com

 

[TreeCo]

We grow and freeze a years worth of broccoli that we start from seed. Will be starting this years crop in a couple of weeks under LED grow lights right here near the woodstove and computer. (15' from each) We are comparing the cultivars Waltham 29 and Goliath. Vastly different cultivars. We've got 30 beds 50ft. long and 40 inches wide dug with a Meadow Creature 'Farmer' broad fork to 16 inches deep.


Here's a larger photo of the garden:

 

[begreen]

That's an impressive garden. Looks great. The Meadow Creature broadfork is made by a friend. It's good to see the results.

 

[djlew]

Garden looks awesome!

Sidenote, meant to ask this earlier @begreen or anyone else who grows citrus really. How often do you fertilize your Meyers? I've been careful but try to follow the bag instructions. I have been trying out Dr. Earth's fruit tree fertilizer. I also try to water with my fish tank water that hasn't been treated with any chemicals. It definitely seems happy enough, but wondering if it wants a boost. It is indoors and obviously potted, so that makes a difference I'd imagine.

 

[begreen]

I fertilize our citrus plants monthly on the first of the month using Down to Earth Citrus fertilizer.

 

[djlew]

Awesome, I know they are typically heavy feeders, so that adds up. Thanks!

 

[begreen]

The Siam tomatoes are ripening up nicely now.

 

[djlew]

Gave the meyer some food about a week ago and behold... getting some potential blooms/growth!

Also, progress on the apricot from seed.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Those Siam tomatoes are gorgeous, @begreen. How do they taste?

It's exciting when citrus blooms in winter, isn't it, @djlew ? My Brown's select satsuma and key lime both just opened a few blooms. I didn't notice a strong fragrance for the lime, but the satsuma is a delight. I'm curious about the Meyer lemon.

I had tomatoes in a planter on my sunporch this fall, but the vines were failing, so I let them go after I harvested the last fruits. Just today I refreshed the soil with some freshly sifted compost and a coco coir/perlite/vermiculite mix that I made for starting onion seeds a few weeks back, and I started some old salad mix seeds just to see if they'll do anything.

Outside I have cabbage and leeks in the garden that may or may not survive the low temperatures this weekend. I'll be happier if they get a nice covering of snow, but nothing has started yet, and things are beginning to look more like sleet and freezing rain in our area unfortunately. I didn't protect anything because in part I'm experimenting with my few plants just to see what they can survive.

 

[djlew]

Those Siam tomatoes are gorgeous, @begreen. How do they taste?

It's exciting when citrus blooms in winter, isn't it, @djlew ? My Brown's select satsuma and key lime both just opened a few blooms. I didn't notice a strong fragrance for the lime, but the satsuma is a delight. I'm curious about the Meyer lemon.

I had tomatoes in a planter on my sunporch this fall, but the vines were failing, so I let them go after I harvested the last fruits. Just today I refreshed the soil with some freshly sifted compost and a coco coir/perlite/vermiculite mix that I made for starting onion seeds a few weeks back, and I started some old salad mix seeds just to see if they'll do anything.

Outside I have cabbage and leeks in the garden that may or may not survive the low temperatures this weekend. I'll be happier if they get a nice covering of snow, but nothing has started yet, and things are beginning to look more like sleet and freezing rain in our area unfortunately. I didn't protect anything because in part I'm experimenting with my few plants just to see what they can survive.

Welcome back to the thread DG! It really is exciting. I bought this Meyer with blooms and it dropped most of the fruit, expected but still a bummer always. This is the next set! Got this plant in March 2025.

You seem like you're still keeping busy!

 

[begreen]

Those Siam tomatoes are gorgeous, @begreen. How do they taste?

They are full-flavored, but slightly tart, not like sweet millions. They taste better and sweeter in the summer when soil potted and in the sun. They are slow ripening. One needs to be patient and pick later, maybe 2-3 weeks after they have turned red, especially when grown hydroponically.

 

[begreen]

Welcome back to the thread DG! It really is exciting. I bought this Meyer with blooms and it dropped most of the fruit, expected but still a bummer always. This is the next set! Got this plant in March 2025.

You seem like you're still keeping busy!

Looks good! It should provide a small harvest this year. And next year, look out. These plants can be overachievers. This is like our satsumas. Last year just a few oranges. This year we have around 20!

 

[djlew]

That's amazing! I am really excited. I can't be alone here but the worst part about initial orchard planting is the wait for everything. Once some things start to get established, staggering plantings makes the patience a lot more tolerable.

I need to see some pics of your trees. I know you at least used to have peaches, etc. but not sure if you still do? I am so eager to see if I get some blossoms this year. I am not expecting fruit, nor do I want any besides maybe 1 or 2, but the red haven blossoms are gorgeous. That, and the anticipation to see if they wake up after this brutal winter. It feels bad to be stuck inside... dreaming of the warmer weather and fruit... I need to get a pic of my orchard, the contrast between the dormant wood and snow is really pronounced and cool.

 

[begreen]

I don't have great pictures of the fruit trees. If you remind me, I will take some when they are in blossom.

We have a few peaches, several apples, some plums, and pears. Most are older trees except for the peaches. We have a pluot, but it is not in a good location and has been struggling with our drought summers. I may move it. The peaches are pampered. I need to have them in a sheltered enclosure due to peach leaf curl. This is before last year's harvest. Pruning peaches is different and important both for shape and health. I learned is to prune them fairly aggressively. They now get two prunings. One in early spring and another right after the fruit is picked. This leads to less, but larger fruit and less risk of branch breakage due the weight of the peaches. This poor guy split in half and I had to bolt it back together again and tape it up due to excess weight too far out. Amazingly it survived and thrived the next year.

 

[djlew]

Absolutely stunning, I am going to remind you because I know these trees are for fruit but I really fancy when they are in bloom. Absolutely gorgeous tree! Late in the 2025 thread I posted a pic of my peaches, I am going to start shaping them before bud break. Really excited for the spring.

 

[begreen]

That tree got quite a pruning last August. We'll see how it does this year. It's a fairly young tree still.

 

[djlew]

I posted a pic of my catnip last year - and we moved it as well as our other scattered herbs into a centralized "herb garden". They grew really well last year. We had nice leaf coverage during fall that I have to imagine provided some nice insulation, mixed with a small spell of warmer weather, and I am already seeing some signs of life on the catnip, lemon balm, and peppermint. Just some tiny sprouts at the bottom. I know they are the early birds most of the time. It's the little things that make it feel like spring is close.

On the topic of warmer weather, yesterday was the first day it felt nice to be outside and not slip and slide from the big snow/ice storm we got a few weeks ago. I went to check on the orchard and it looks like a couple of my peaches took some wind and cold damage. Only one looks mildly concerning. It's my smallest one. Worst case, I will cut it back and use it to cleft graft my scionwood coming next month and see if it works.

It is also coming time to spray the fruit trees. I have yet to get a good spray schedule going - but my local agriculture extension has some good information on what to use and when. I am trying to be organic, perhaps naive. I know a lot of people fail with organic peaches and fruit in general. I didn't have many issues last year with the peaches, but the apples had a woolly aphid issue.

Last but not least of my world salad... I am also going to start some peppers indoors. We'll see how it goes. Still a lot of work left to do to prep the garden and orchard for this year!