Seed selection and garden plans for 2023

[William_Oliver_123]

Last year, I added a fresh strawberry bed and four red raspberries on sale at the end of the season.

 

[saysfaa]

I just placed my order...

Everything other than this order will be...

That part about not buying any more (with a few exceptions) - didn't last long.

In sorting out the companion planting details, I found more flowers to add.

My plants need pets.

 

[Callender Girl]

I LOVE your philosophy! You are clearly a person after my own heart. After all, more is more, and why would that ever be wrong? (If you know why, please don't tell me!)

 

[LaurenRitz]

I am at a new location, so just setting up my first gardens. I know I'll be growing out my spaghetti-squash x zucchini / pumpkin hybrid this year, and working on my dry bean mix.

Since I am in an entirely new area I need to work on adaptation. My plants have been adapted to dry, sandy soil and low humidity, so they need to start adapting to clay and high humidity.

It may take a few years, but since these landrace groups have ancestors that came from similar areas it should be relatively simple.

 

[LaurenRitz]

My plants need pets.

Yep. Pets and friends and frienemies. They need ALL THE THINGS!

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I always put in a Baker Creek order each year. I'm blanking on all of the million things I ordered (the post above me is very relevant to my life lol), but off the top of my head, I'm really excited about the ground cherry seeds I ordered. I've never grown them or eaten them before but I plan to grow them alongside my tomatoes since I believe they are also a nightshade. I also ordered some huckleberry seeds, as I'm trying to grow more perennial berries. There aren't many fruits I can grow in my zone, so berries it is! I also have a blueberry bush. I planted a dwarf peach tree last fall as well, so we'll see how it develops this year.

Anyone else order anything unusual from Baker Creek this year?

 

[Callender Girl]

I have ordered from Baker Creek in the past but nothing yet this year.

Don't know what zone you are in, but I am in Zone 5A and have had great success growing blackberries and aronia berries. A pear tree that was planted decades before I got here always produces well. And, there are a gazillion mulberry trees that make tons of fruit I really don't enjoy. Few of the fruit trees I've added have done well.

Some years ago, I added a Reliance peach tree that has been bountiful but had a bad year in 2022. Hoping for better this year.

Good luck with you peach tree and ground cherries!

 

[CedarLane]

DH loves ground cherry pie! They are sour so don't try to cut the sugar too much. If I mix them with apple in a pie, they don't require quite as much sugar, and DH still loves it.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I have ordered from Baker Creek in the past but nothing yet this year.

Don't know what zone you are in, but I am in Zone 5A and have had great success growing blackberries and aronia berries. A pear tree that was planted decades before I got here always produces well. And, there are a gazillion mulberry trees that make tons of fruit I really don't enjoy. Few of the fruit trees I've added have done well.

Some years ago, I added a Reliance peach tree that has been bountiful but had a bad year in 2022. Hoping for better this year.

Good luck with you peach tree and ground cherries!

I'm sorry but I am somehow just seeing your reply now.

Thanks for the useful ideas of other fruits I can plant! I am in zone 6b so I would guess the plants you mentioned would do well in my zone as well. Blackberries might be the next one I try since you mentioned them!

I believe my peach tree is a dwarf Contender variety. I've purchased that type of peach locally and have used it successfully for canning (it does not brown while in the jar), so that's why I chose that variety. I really hope it goes well. I talked to a local peach farmer about pruning last season and he took me back to the trees to show me how it should look, so I hope I can get it right. My dad has a tree that never seems to do well, and I think it's because we didn't prune it properly from the beginning.

Good luck with your plants as well!

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

DH loves ground cherry pie! They are sour so don't try to cut the sugar too much. If I mix them with apple in a pie, they don't require quite as much sugar, and DH still loves it.

Sorry for not seeing your reply until now!

I did not know you could make ground cherry pie! That is great because I love to bake. I also like things that are a little tart. I often make apple pie, so it's great to know I can add some of those to make it a little special.

Is there a specific ground cherry recipe you follow or can you just use a general fruit pie recipe and sub the ground cherries?