2022 Farmhouse Yard and Garden Goals

Here are the nine things we hope to accomplish this year in the farmhouse yard and garden landscaping. Everything from trying a new thing (grow bags!) to dreaming up a greenhouse.

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While I've made general goals every year of the life of this website, I've never really made specific garden goals.

This year there's quite a bit on the list of things I'd like to get done around the farmhouse property, so I thought I'd share them here for a couple of reasons:

• First, it's fun to have a record of goals to revisit and see what you've accomplished.
• I also want to take you on the whole process of some of these major goals because I know how helpful it is to see the steps to take and what works or doesn't work.
• And finally, there's inspiration in seeing what others are dreaming about and it often spurs us to think of projects or goals we'd like to work on as well.

With this in mind, here are the nine things - plus a bonus project it would be nice to get done - I'd love to accomplish this year in our yard and garden.

Be sure to let me know in the comments what your goals are so I can be inspired by you, too!

2022 Yard and Garden Goals For The Farmhouse

1. Use portable garden grow bags

I bought these grow bags last year thinking I'd use them for fall planting. Obviously I didn't - but I had enough room for fall plants in the raised beds, so maybe I didn't need them?

My idea here was to test out the bags and also to expand my planting area with non-permanent beds.

Specifically I'd like to grow potatoes in a few of them - I haven't been successful growing potatoes in a trash can and I wanted to see if it was better in the bags.

In another two I'd like to try basil. Last year was the first year in a long time I can remember the basil didn't do well in the round rock bed. It was shaded too much by the tall clematis and sunflowers I think.

That leaves 5 more bags to try with peppers, dill, white sweet potatoes, and maybe more strawberries.

If you've use these bags, any tips will be appreciated!

2. New area for seed starting

Oh, this is so hard. I had the perfect area to start seeds in our cottage laundry room - they were close enough that I couldn't forget about them and it was warm and dry (for both the seeds and me).

I do not have a place inside the farmhouse to start trays of seeds with a grow light. I have tried in the garage after we moved to the property, but even though it's finished and I used a heat mat, the warm-loving seedlings suffered.

I've been researching and asking other gardeners what they do and I think I need to keep with the garage, but make a temporary greenhouse inside the garage to try and keep the plants a bit warmer.

Right now I'm looking at this inexpensive green house with decent reviews (unlike others I looked at) with attached with grow light strips and a seedling heating mat on one of the lower shelves (one reviewer said that gained 10 degrees of heat even on the top shelf).

I'm also thinking we may have a table with a light with just one tray of warm-loving seedlings that need more care inside somewhere it can fit (which right now may be our bedroom...).

Eventually, I'm hoping this next goal will solve this problem permanently:

3. Start Planning a greenhouse behind garage

I don't think I've ever shared this space - with the overhang, electrical, cement floor, and southern exposure it seems a perfect place for a greenhouse.

Plus, as soon we have a patio or something closer to the house, the table and chairs will move there and there won't be any use for this area, really.

I don't think we'll get this done this year (considering the rest of this list...), but I want to start drawing out a sketch so we can have an idea of the size of windows and door we'll need.

That way if I see used windows or a door sometime, I can check to see if they'd work for us.

4. Rethink round raised bed plantings

For the last three years after finishing the round rock wall raised bed, I have planted basil in it as well as zucchini and sunflowers.

The first and second years the basil did fine, but last year the center clematis reached a bigger, wider height and between that and the tall sunflowers, cast too much shade on the basil. It did not do well.

I still really like this area for sunflowers, so I think I'll move the basil and maybe the zucchini.

I also grew a couple of tomatillos in here and they really didn't do well either, so I will move those to an area of the cattle panel trellis.

5. Back door path and seating area completed

If this list were in order of importance, this area would be #1 - it's such an eyesore!

But it would be a weedy, muddy mess of an eyesore if it weren't for the plastic, so there's that.

My plan here is to create a path from the back door to the driveway (which will need steps up to) and then the area between that path and the sunken garden (I'm standing on the path of it in the photo above) will be a seating area made out of...something.

I'm not sure yet if it will be more broken concrete or if we will use actual pavers. It depends on if we have enough concrete that will work. Well, and how much actual pavers cost, lol.

Eventually, I want the walkway covered from the driveway to the door and then string outdoor lights over the to-be patio. Wouldn't that look great?

6. Cement steps for sunken garden from walk and drive

When we had to dig out the lawn for our foundation, it created a sunken garden.

We used rocks from the dig (yep, all of these rocks - plus a few boulders - came from the dirt and around the property) for the walls and edging, but we need permanent cement stairs formed and poured.

This won't be a DIY project, so it's just a matter of finding someone to do them. We also have some driveway cement issues to take care of and that needs to happen this year, too.

7. Deck and/or patio for new kitchen door

I'm so excited about this project even though I don't really know what it will end up looking like yet. But to have an eating area right off the kitchen will be SO nice.

Plus, this is eastern exposure, so it's nicely shaded in the evening and it tends to be less windy here (we get a LOT of strong winds on warm afternoons - like blow everything off tables kind of wind).

I know I don't want a modern looking deck here and I'd prefer a patio just for the low maintenance. But it's 2.5-3 feet to the ground, so we'd either need to build up the area with dirt or have some large, wide steps similar to what we did in our last backyard.

But I'd also like some cover that wouldn't block all the light, like a pergola with clear panels on top. Then maybe it could look like a side porch that steps down to a patio?

I'm still collecting ideas and I'm not sure how much of this will be DIY, but again it's probably #3 or #4 on the list, so should at least get started this year.

8. Deer resistant plantings around new areas

I will need to plant around all these new areas and they need to be deer resistant.

I'm learning with what I've already planted and found that it's really at the beginning and end of the season that the deer bother things labeled "resistant" if they are going to.

There were many things they didn't bother (like the coneflower and salvia above) and I will be doing a lot of repetitive plantings, but that's fine. I'd like to find a way to live together in harmony to a degree.

9. Continue planting roadside hedgerow

This photo above cracked me up when I looked at it - how on earth were you supposed to see the tiny things I had already planted in our roadside hedgerow?

So I added some arrows to give you an idea, lol.

The large tree to the left is a flowering plum. I planted two more along the fence line evenly spaced so eventually this won't be the lone plant here.

The arrows are showing where I planted:

• 2 evergreen privets (non-invasive)
• 2 crepe myrtles
• 2 rhodedendrons, 'English Roseum'
• 1 ceanothus, 'Victoria'

To save money I'm planting a few things a year since it's a huge fence line. But I really would like to have a barrier for the road and electrical/internet boxes while keeping it pretty with something flowering all season.

This year I'm looking to add elderberries, viburnum, and a couple of taller evergreens.

It's a work in progress for sure and won't be a hedgerow for many years to come, but you have to start somewhere, right?

Bonus maybe: Left side porch new planters

This is a bonus item since it's not something that has to be done this year, though I'd love to figure out some sort of planters around the porch on this side.

First it would balance the plantings on the other side, which is important to me visually.

But mostly, it would make it safer for us to not have a rail there and we really like the porch open without a rail.

So there are the nine to ten things we hope to get done in 2022!

Creating this list makes it seem like a lot to finish in one season, but some of these things are in the works already (getting a new seed starting area) or that we really need (steps and pathways), so I really do see us finishing the majority of the things on the list.

The few bigger projects, especially the deck, may not get done, but I see them at least getting started.

And like with all the goals I set, it's the steps forward that matter to me no matter when it's actually accomplished!

I'd love to hear what garden tests, projects, or plantings you'd like to get done this next season - AND if there's anything I can do to help you get there!

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