What are your garden projects for 2016?

8 years ago

Most of us have plans for many projects, but we do not complete most of them. I thought shedding a little light on our planned projects might be an incentive to complete more of them and report them here. My plans include:
Growing artichokes as a perennial - I have 3 artichokes that were still thriving in the fall; I covered them with 18 inches of mulch (1 with shredded limbs and 2 with leaf compost). Now they are under 20m inches of snow.
Grafting scions from my saanichton fuzzy kiwi onto my anna hardy kiwi vines. Last year my hardy kiwi vines produced about 2 gallons of fruit. My saanichton fuzzy kiwis have not yet bloomed. I expect blooms this year. I am going to prune both types in late February and save the fuzzy scions for grafting in May.
Grafting stone fruits. I have a moorpark apricot, a burgundy plum, a stella cherry and 2 elberta peach trees. I am trading for chilean and rainier cherry scions, goldcot and harcot apricot scions, and bubblegum plum scions to graft an my stone fruit trees. I am trading rooted anna kiwi [plants for them.
Build a worm station for every 100 square feet of garden. Worm stations improve the garden soil.
Harvest my worm castings from my worm factory for mixing with my potting soil.
Make my on potting soil from potting soil from Lowes (on sale), peat moss, composted manure, course sand and worm castings.
Make and test hanging milk jug containers for growing cucumbers.
Build a outdoor work table from treated lumber.
Build a garden planter box 28 inches long X 12 inches high X 13 inches deep. Use treated lumber and put plastic cover inside to prevent leeching.
Improve my edible landscaping using bright light chards and beets among my landscape plants.
Please add some of your planned projects and comment on mine. I will post updates with pictures.

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Comments (3)

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Appalachian Ironworks of Va.
8 years ago
That sounds very ambitious and exciting! I'm hoping to uncover my 3 yo Celeste fig and find something survived, it has died to the ground 2 years in a row. I would love to see my yearling damson plums have survived too, although I have more seeds in the fridge sprouting (fingers crossed). Looking forward to mending some soil (pure sand) to grow beats, chard, and carrots this spring. Who would expect to live on a sand dune in the middle of the Appalachians Ha! But it's true. Blueberries, persimmons, and pawpaws are on my radar this year! And starting asparagus! And raising meat rabbits. Have fun!
Charlie
Original Author
8 years ago
Today's projects are: 1) Prune my anna hardy kiwis. The kiwi vines are about 10 years old and made about 2 gallons of fruit last year. Here is the "before" picture. 2) Prune my fuzzy kiwis. I don't include a picture, but I have a male and two females running over my pergola. They are about 3 years old and have not yet bloomed. 3) Prune my two blackberry bushes (Apache and Arkansas prime 45) "before" pictures shown. Since one is a prime, it will be pruned at ground level, while the Apache will be pruned to about 4 feet. 4) Build a light stand for my germinating seeds (leeks, broccoli raab, cherimoya, sugar apple).
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Charlie
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Update on my 2016 projects. Over-wintering my artichoke appears to have failed, as none of the 3 artichokes has emerged from the ground. Found a contractor who charged a reasonable price and did great work. Completed the walks on April 16, 2016. I will post pictures. So far I have planted beets, broccoli raab, bright-light chards and mustard greens in my raised bed. I made 2 batches of potting soil from potting soil purchased from Lowes on sale during the winter, humus and manure and peat moss. A I also added in some potting soil from last year. I am using it to grow Basil and water spinach. On the positive side, I decided to build some concrete walks through my
north-side landscape and from my patio to my outbuilding.

What are your garden projects for 2016?

Comments (3)

Appalachian Ironworks of Va.

Charlie
Original Author

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What are your garden projects for 2016?

Comments (3)

Appalachian Ironworks of Va.

CharlieOriginal Author

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CharlieOriginal Author

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Charlie
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Charlie
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