Garden Lessons Learned

[ET]

It has been an interesting education with growing a garden without my good friend who passed away. This included scanning the internet for information to help with certain issues. There has already been talk with my new friend (Widow) of doing this again next year because of the response from many other friends who were happy to see the garden tradition being carried on. This fall we will be utilizing a garden soil kit to really prepare the soil for next year. Also the addition of a few other plants such as peppers is being considered now that we have a better handle on spacing and plant needs.

The one thing that really worked well for controlling damage (tomatoes) caused by birds was placing CD’s on string allowing them to move freely (spinning) with any breeze. Claire read an article on this approach to try that sort of made me skeptical at first and was amazed at the results. But we still had one culprit chewing on the lower tomatoes that we caught the other day in a trap. Mr. Possum had his last free meal in the garden. He did get a pass and was released elsewhere.

There has been a decent quantity of vegetables preserved for the winter months, a lot learned and a time for past reflections while gardening. All is well and look forward to another garden venture next year with some added expectations. Life is good.


Ed

[hydrodog]

Glad the garden came out well for you. They are alot of work but the payoff is good.I learned my interest in gardening from an older couple who used a team of horses for all their work,even though they have been gone for 30 years I think of them every time I am out in my garden.I picked the first tomatoes this past week and reports from around the area of late blight setting in was troublesome to say the least.It is on the tomato plants now and usually within two weeks all will be lost. Something to consider for the garden in the dormant times are catch crops and cover crops. They take up nutrients and keep them from being lost,especially the nitrogen. I cover crop my gardens with cereal rye, winter peas, purple top turnips and forage oats. In the spring when the crop is knee high I mow it down and let it set for a week and then rotovate it back in. For your soil test check with your local agriculture extension office which is usually associated with the agriculture college in your state.

[ET]

Hydrodog

It has been an exceptional year for tomatoes but the blight has also played havoc with the plants here. Basically using a copper based antifungal spray has helped with some damage control slowing down the blight progression providing time for the tomatoes to mature enough to the ripening stage. After the plants are done they will be ripped out and discarded instead of recycling in the compost bins.

Interesting that you should mentioned about a fall planting as we are considering winter wheat. My deceased friend never ever did this before and just threw compost onto the soil in the spring. Being mainly a sandy soil we are also looking at a treatment of Dolomite Lime as the garden has never had this treatment. Again before proceeding with anything a soil test kit will be used to evaluate the soil.

Crop rotation will also be employed. Even though a medium garden of say 35ft x 75ft crop rotation should be helpful. If anything gardening is not just putting plants into the ground and expecting good results. As you’ve indicated a fair amount of work is needed and the payoff is good.

Your mention of using horses brought back some fond memories of my early youth as I had some exposure to this with farm life. Today horses for farming are only seen on Old Mennonite or Amish communities and that’s hard work for all involved. There have been a lot of changes over the years but basic gardening is still enjoyed by me over store bought items. No taste comparison whatsoever over ripe fresh picked vegetables.


Ed

[Deleted]

Ed, glad your garden was successful and you have plans to continue on again next year. I learned alot of new and better things every year in the garden, seems the only thing that remains the same from year to year when it comes to gardening, is the hard work and the amazing veggies you yield. Congrats and good work!

[hydrodog]

The days of using horses are behind me now. I now use a kubota and a 6' rotovator. My garden is 2.5 acres and I wholesale to a few sellers at the farmers narket in Lansing. I have 200 tomato plants this year all of which are heirloom open pollinate and a few varieties have some natural resistance but not very much. Last week it was in the low 50's and raining and then that evening we dipped into the mid 40's and from experience I knew that blight would show its ugly face. This year I have been using a copper soap product called Cueva,prior years I used a copper ammonium complex. Tomatoes being a tropical plant do not like 50 degrees and rain. Oh well,take the good with the bad. One of the best things I purchased has been a mulch and drip tape layer from buckeye tractor,it lays plastic and drip tape all in one shot,pretty slick.On the subject of a cover crop cereal Rye develops a mass of fiberous roots and scavenges alot of nutrients over the winter,just dont let it fully head out before tilling it in.Before adding lime be sure of your PH. Happy gardening. Ray

[ET]

Ohioguy

Thanks for the compliment on the workmanship.
You’re right about the learning and adapting new techniques. Then there is the satisfaction when you’ve accomplished a nice return yield.

Next phase is desired method for preserving. As I enjoy a stick to your rib chili later when the weather gets colder and you’ve had an exerting day the chili hits the spot.
So to simplify the preserving we are cooking a tomato sauce with basic ingredients and then pouring into a heated jar and just sealed. As the run of tomatoes continues we will do about 5 jars at a time so no last minute overload.



The one thing Claire agreed upon for next year’s garden was that 80-tomato plants are too many. I had an opportunity to remind her of my earlier recommendation of less plants but didn’t have the heart to pull the trigger of such a reminder. Right now she’s scrambling to not let too many tomatoes go to waste as she hates wastage. Friends and neighbors are getting a real treat this year.


Ed

[ET]

Hydrodog

WOW 200-tomato plants and who knows what else on the 2.5-acre garden. Man that must keep you busy during the growing season whereas I just visit the garden every 3-4 days for general maintenance.

Yeah there’s been a fair bit of rain as even the lawns when not watering haven’t turn brown this year. Our early blight surfaced when it got humid and hot. For treatment I used a product called BORDO which is a copper based spray.
Thanks for sharing the additional info to keep in mind when selecting a game plan for the next crop.

Just 1-question if I may is, what spacing are you using between tomato plants for allowing acceptable air flow? This year I was using 3ft spacing between plants in the row and 2ft spacing between the rows. The plants where offset between the rows so plant in adjacent row lined up with gap between the plants in next row. This was to allow good air flow between the plants. I was contemplating of increasing row spacing to 3-feet.

Ed