Best thing I did this year for my garden....

[MarinaRussian]

Convinced my husband to build me a way bigger and roomier greenhouse, that fits about 120 plants

[Elizabeth]

I had 4 new brick walls built in the front and back yard, creating terraces so I have more flat areas for planting. I now have room for asparagus and artichokes in the front yard in a spiffy new bed and beans can go along a E/W fence in a newly leveled terrace. Some areas of the yard were just too dangerous to garden in as the slope made for slippery footing.

I had concrete paths laid all around my raised beds in the backyard - it is such a joy to walk on smooth concrete instead of gravel - no more weeds in the paths and I can use a wheelbarrow!

Now that the hardscape is done I'm having a pro come in to tune up and modify my sprinkler system to address the terraces and areas that don't seem to get enough water. He's also going to re-do the irrigation in my veggie beds - I have been using laser drip line I added to converted sprinklers but I have to replace the lines every few years because of the mineral build up, plus the lines pop out of the underground connectors from time to time, meaning some beds get overwatered and the ones down the line go dry. When I discover it I have to dig down re-attach it and flush the line. I have used laser line in my veggie beds for many years, but I'm getting so tired of repairing and replacing all the time. He's going to install a different kind of system for me that hopefully will be less fussy to maintain. He's going to run irrigation to all of my potted plants, no small task as I have more than 100 pots of various sizes scattered about the property. The improved irrigation system will save me many hours of hand watering each week. We only get 9" of rain a year, almost none of it May-September so counting on rain isn't an option.

I had some boring, fire-blighted ornamental pear trees removed to make space for fruit trees. I have added an avocado, two low-chill cherries and a nectarine. I think my next addition in a newly freed area will be a mango.

[FarmerShawn]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Planting green onion root ends so I never have to buy green onions again !

I never heard of this! Can you tell me more? How much end? How do you plant them? I sure like the concept - I just never even imagined such a thing could be done.
Shawn

[PA_Julia]

For me it was the electric toothbrush used in pollination.
I have copious amounts of tomatoes growing thanks in large part to this.


Julia

[Riceloft]

Originally Posted by PA_Julia

For me it was the electric toothbrush used in pollination.
I have copious amounts of tomatoes growing thanks in large part to this.


Julia

I've been giving my plants a good shaking twice per day to similar results. More tomatoes are setting than ever before!

[Fat Charlie]

Huge, huge year for me. In order:

1. Planted 4 apple trees (Cortland, State Fair and two Honeycrisps).

2. Doubled the garden by adding two more 4x8 beds.

3. Joined Tomatoville.

4. Went past doubling the garden by sorting out my 5 gallon bucket containers and making a dozen of them.

5. Sorted out irrigation.

[buckeyegirl]

Put in four 4' x 12' x 12" raised beds (yay!) and started my own tomatoes from seed hoping to add two more raised beds next year!

[FarmerShawn]

I haven't decided if it's the best thing or not, but I added a 20' X 100' greenhouse I got second hand. It's been lots of fun, and I'll have tomatoes almost a month earlier than I ever had before. I have also bought drip irrigation supplies, which works wonders in the greenhouse, but I need more time to get it set up in the fields. I found Tville, and thanks to that, I started over a hundred varieties of tomatoes. (I thought last year was bad, at 26 varieties!) I still love soil blocks for starting seeds, and have been delighted to discover the benefits of starting multiple seeds of beets ans onions in the same block, for vastly increased efficiency in space and time. Now that school is out, I might even have time to get a bit caught up around here...
Shawn

[Crandrew]

Originally Posted by FarmerShawn

I never heard of this! Can you tell me more? How much end? How do you plant them? I sure like the concept - I just never even imagined such a thing could be done.
Shawn

I buy mine at the store and cut them and leave around 4 inches of base/root. Place in a cup of water and will get at least 3 crops out of it. They grow back within 2 weeks.

[RebelRidin]

Converted the entire garden to raised beds filled with topsoil and compost, and fitted it all out with custom trellises and drip irrigation.

I am enjoying it tremendously...

Planting out on March 1 instead of April 1.

Adding a lot of alfalfa pellets to each bed and mixed in to feed the worms so the worms could feed my plants.

Ted

[Jeannine Anne]

The green onion thing works great if you primarily use the green part most of the time.

XX Jeannine

[QAGuy]

Added lots and lots of coffee grounds.

I went to my local eatery (we're there 4-5 times a week so everybody knows us) and asked for coffee grounds. They had a 5 gal bucket for me every day. After a few days, I had plenty.

Would someone please explain the green onion thing as if you are talking to a toddler who is still wetting his diaper.

Ted

[Mudman]

Best thing I did was bought a garden sprayer.