My garden plans for 2022!

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Gardening is one of my absolute favorite things to do but this year will be bittersweet.  James helped with the garden so much.  I know I will be constantly thinking about him this year while I'm doing all the garden things.

For past 2 years, we did large gardens.  The 2020 garden did so well.  It was our best garden ever.  We tried again last year but it was a disaster.  We were just beginning our cancer journey in June right after we put the garden in.  Things were neglected & then, after a series of floods, the garden was pretty much over with.

I have a different plan for the 2022 garden.  Because I have the greenhouse now, I want to move the garden closer to that.  I'm also going back to raised garden beds.  I don't think I'll have the time & energy to do a big garden this year.

We tilled our new garden area last week!

But, first, a little garden backstory:

For the past 2 years, we’ve used our railroad tie raised garden bed.

That raised bed was kind of a garden disaster. 

We put plastic in the bottom as a weed barrier & I’m almost certain it fried our plants the first year. 

Last year was more promising, but I don’t think the soil was quite right.  The plants did better, but they were nothing compared to the very first year we had a garden.

This year, I decided to go back to the basics.

Here’s the recap of my 2018 garden!  Check out what I loved & hated about the garden this year!

The Big Reveal

Hey, Besties! I've been buzzing with excitement to give you a peek into my garden – it's like a little slice of paradise right in my backyard. Editing these photos felt like an eternity (I might've gone a tad overboard with the camera 📸). Still, I've finally narrowed it down to share with you!

Garden Expansion

This year, I went all out and expanded my garden using railroad ties – talk about a major upgrade! More space meant more green babies to tend to.

Plant Selection

I've got a soft spot for my local greenhouse; they're my go-to for plants. Starting from seeds? Maybe next year (fingers crossed!). For now, I'm all about those robust, ready-to-thrive plants.

Classic Choices

I kept it classic with tomatoes and peppers – they were superstars last year, and I'm all for a repeat performance. Plus, let's be real, my veggie palate isn't the most adventurous. But I did sneak in some squash (yellow & zucchini) for my hubby – he's the king of frying them up, and I might give them a whirl in the instant pot!

Tomato Varieties

Tomato-wise, I mixed it up a bit. I aimed for last year's champs but ended up with a different variety from the greenhouse. And then there's the San Marzano – a recommendation from my aunt that had me rushing back for more. Trust the family wisdom, right?

Pepper Picks

Peppers were a bit of a green blur – I'm not their number one fan, so I wasn't too picky. But hey, variety is the spice of life, or so they say!

The Wild Card

And then there was this little patch left – a garden's equivalent of "what's behind door number three?" My husband threw in the idea of planting green beans from last year's seed stash. It's a bit of a wild card, but guess what? They're thriving like it's their garden party!

Harvest Dreams

I'm already daydreaming about homemade tomato sauces and stuffed peppers. With this garden's size, I'll be a canning and cooking machine come fall. Bring on the harvest!

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned for more of Tiff's Garden Chronicles – it will be a delicious ride! 🍅🌶️👩‍🌾 

It’s never too early to plan for the garden!

Alright, so maybe it is too early, considering we have about 8 months before anything can actually be planted outside!

The only reason I’m even entertaining the idea of next year’s garden is because of a yard sale.

You see, I have this thing where if I find a good deal at a yard sale, I just can’t pass it up.  It doesn’t matter if I’ll use the stuff a year from now or maybe not even if all:  if it’s a bargain, I’m all over it.

It just so happened that I found a ton of seeds & planters for a bargain basement price in a large garage in August.

It didn’t matter that these seeds are not what I would have normally chosen for a garden.  They were super cheap & I had to have them!

Let’s take a look at what I bought:

Perennials!

I’ve been on the lookout for perennials to plant somewhere on our property.  Of course by ‘on the lookout’, I mean I saw them at the sale with the words ‘perennial’ written on the tag & I had to have them!  I have a pretty decent idea of where I want to put them, but nothing is rooted down yet!  Haha!

These aren’t something I probably would have chosen if I had a larger selection, but they’ll work.  Flowers that keep coming year after year without a lot of care?  I’m all about that!  Hopefully, they’ll make me look good because I’m really good at keeping flowers alive!

Annuals!

I just got done saying that I’m not a good candidate for keeping flowers alive, but here I am with the annuals!  I only got a few packets so I figured I could probably keep them alive.  One of the packets is sunflowers, which is a toss up for me.  I actually planted sunflowers from plants our neighbors gave us & they disappeared!  But, I had some sunflower seeds in the bird feed I had out & they turned into sunflowers, so I would consider that a success, even if I didn’t have anything to do with it!

Herbs!

I daydream about having a perfect herb garden & using fresh herbs while cooking.  Of course, I never use fresh herbs while cooking, but that’s beside the point!  I’m going to give these a go in the spring & see what happens.

Squash!

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of baking with squash, but it’s so ridiculously easy to grow that I had to buy the seeds.  I’ll definitely be on Pinterest trying to find squash recipes!

Watermelon!

Watermelon was one of those things that I wished I grew this year.  I just didn’t have the space for it, but I’ll be making space next year!  My husband said watermelon are difficult to grow, so we’ll see if they produce anything!

Tomatoes!

I had good luck when it came to growing tomatoes this year, so I’m hoping for a repeat next year!  I got a couple different varieties so I’m anxious to see what will happen!

Carrots!

I don’t know anything about growing carrots, but I’m going to try them!

Peas!

Again, these are something I wouldn’t normally pick out, but I’m excited about growing them!

Onions!

I actually don’t even like green onions!  I think they’re easy to grow, though, so I’m going to give them a try!  Maybe I’ll learn to love them?  Probably not!

Beans!

I like fresh green beans, so I can’t wait for these to grow!

A lot of these veggies are things I wouldn’t have normally chosen for my garden, but I’m excited to try to grow new things!  Of course, I’ll probably add a million more things to the garden (SWEET CORN!), but this is a good start!