|
Post by ET on Jul 26, 2015 16:13:46 GMT -5
Really pleased to see that Mother Nature is starting to put color to the tomatoes. Peppers are growing to a nice size with no signs of rot that has been experienced in the past. Potato plants are really growing large and bushy. Even with a small row we should see a nice crop to enjoy. The garden is producing everything exceptionally well. Life is good. Ed
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2015 16:25:53 GMT -5
Do you trim your tomatoes do they don't look like huge bushes? I might be asking you for your phone number or email my wife and I have allot of questions. She's frustrated with our garden, part of it is because of the weeds and not taking care of it. I'll till around the veg and then we don't get near the plant with our hands so that is our fault. Plants look good just lots of weeds. Rabbits were bad but not any more dog keeps them out. The tomatoes are full just haven't ripened just yet. Great looking garden!
|
|
|
Post by rambler on Jul 26, 2015 16:43:26 GMT -5
Ed, you could open a fruit and vegetable stand with all that. You got the garden action well in control
|
|
|
Post by al53 on Jul 26, 2015 17:28:05 GMT -5
Ed..very very Impressive...tomatoes and potatoes look great...peppers are doing well also...I had the rot before and a farmer told me to add Calcium to soil to stop and prevent it...I got a liquid cal\mag additive and that ended it...
Sgaush looks like its realy growing out...looks real healthy....
Al
|
|
|
Post by mrbuck on Jul 26, 2015 17:50:49 GMT -5
That ia a really beautiful garden . It must have taken a lot of hard work . Chris
|
|
|
Post by ET on Jul 26, 2015 18:35:27 GMT -5
78Riverrat
The tomatoes I grow are indeterminate so they require staking and suckering. The suckering only allows one main stem of growth. The trimming of the lower branch leaves is to remove blight infested leaves and to provide more nutrients to the fruit once fruit starts to set. Determinate tomato plant requires no suckering and appears more like a bush plant.
I’m a bit fanatical about weeding and like seeing clean ground. I do this about every 3-4 days with a shallow blade hoe. I don’t waste my time chasing weed roots. Basically I hoe the garden that is 35 x 70ft in about 40-45 minutes. Also by trimming the lower leaf branches of the tomatoes I get better access with the hoe for weeding around the plant. About 2-3 times during the season I Roto-Till between the rows to help it keep clean from weeds and to loosen the soil for better absorption of rain water.
IMO the real key is soil preparation and planting technique. The holes for the plants were dug deep enough to allow a table spoon of Epson salt to be put in and covered with a light layer of dirt so that the roots from the young plant do not make direct contact. 3-weeks before planting horse manure was applied at the last Roto-Tilling before planting. That’s basically the whole story and Mother Nature looks after the rest.
I don’t mind if you want to communicate by email and try to answer any questions you might have but I think you will get better answers and more options if you share your questions here.
Rambler
No vegetable stand as a lot of this is spoken for by my lady friend. She gets a lot of enjoyment sharing with her friends as I do with some of mine to a lesser degree. Definitely more than enough to go around.
Al53
Appreciate the tip on calcium for the peppers. At least I now have a way to combat rot if it should appear or better yet before it appears. The way the Squash is now growing is just unreal. Not even sure how far the vines will reach.
MrBuck
It has taken some dedicated work to get to this level and I’m enjoying the success being achieved. My lady friend and I often have a good conversation during my visit and often talk about my deceased best friend and her late husband. We often wonder how he would react to our successful garden endeavor in his absence, chuckle. At least we can now smile and laugh when we remember him. Ed
|
|
|
Post by rambler on Jul 26, 2015 18:47:25 GMT -5
Fanatical is the understatement about weeding! I've had good luck with bone meal as a calcium booster.
I don't mean to push this but that Neptune's Harvest and adding backstrap molasses is the bomb!! My tomatoes are huge and have gotten rave reviews on the flavor. I always pick after 2 or 3 days of no watering.
I can tell you with certainty your late friend would be most proud of that garden.
|
|
|
Post by ET on Jul 26, 2015 19:50:41 GMT -5
Rambler thanks for the kind words. I don’t see you pushing anything but conveying what works for you and results achieved. I agree about not picking for a few days after rain or watering as I do the same.
Thanks for the tip on bone meal as a calcium source.
Ed
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2015 20:07:13 GMT -5
Thanks ET, We have some work on our garden and hopefully it will work out. I'll will post as many questions as I can!
|
|
|
Post by squeeze on Jul 27, 2015 10:39:40 GMT -5
Fanatical weeding is right! My garden is about 1/4 that size, and Im pulling about 2 full 35gal trash cans a week in weeds and loosing ground on the fight. last few years Ive been using mulch around the garden, I think the weeds are even worse. After this year, I think im pulling the mulch and going back to those ground cloths and plant through them. I keep saying no more garden, its just too much work, But then every spring, I get excited about the garden.
|
|
|
Post by ET on Jul 27, 2015 15:59:41 GMT -5
Squeeze Welcome to Gardener’s Anonymous. Here we confess our weaknesses associated to gardening. Ed
|
|
|
Post by ET on Aug 5, 2015 14:57:37 GMT -5
Not much to add as all is going well. Just a couple of pics to enjoy. Ed
|
|
|
Post by rambler on Aug 5, 2015 15:37:48 GMT -5
Does the scare crow work?
|
|
|
Post by ET on Aug 5, 2015 16:48:12 GMT -5
Does the scare crow work? Not really. Just added decor for looks and passing conversation with garden onlookers when they visit. Ed
|
|
|
Post by rambler on Aug 5, 2015 17:00:11 GMT -5
Does the scare crow work? Not really. Just added decor for looks and passing conversation with garden onlookers when they visit. Ed Put a speaker in it and spook some people out of there panties lol
|
|
|
Post by ET on Aug 5, 2015 17:53:52 GMT -5
Not really. Just added decor for looks and passing conversation with garden onlookers when they visit. Ed Put a speaker in it and spook some people out of there panties lol Now that is tempting. Ed
|
|
|
Post by rambler on Aug 7, 2015 13:25:08 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by al53 on Aug 7, 2015 14:23:42 GMT -5
I just bought a 50 pound bad of Alf pellets...I make a tea with them along with kelp meal and compost...I use a 5 gallon pail paint strainer and put 2 cups of each in the bad...suspend it in a 30 gallon barrel and bubble it for 24 hours....the last few hours i add molasses as food for the microbes...then I water the plants an save enough to spray them just before dark...its like magic...
the stuff thats left in the bag I just scratch in the soil and it composts there...I do this from day 1 be surprised what it does...it gives a lot of fruiting sites on the plants...also repels insects and diesease...it ramps up the plants carbo production and every thing is so sweet...
I get the alf pellets at tractor supply and the kelp meal at a feed store ...its use as a supplement for cows and horses..its all organic ...it is magic to the garden...
|
|
|
Post by rambler on Aug 7, 2015 17:27:11 GMT -5
And what's more, I just bought a gallon of that Neptune's Harvest, free shipping. Along with a couple bastard files for knurling Tomorrow it's down to the feed store for another gallon of black strap molasses. Good stuff.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2015 19:04:29 GMT -5
Our garden is doing well for the second run at this gardening thing. Wife has pulled a couple squash, plenty of cherry tomatoes, and plenty of peppers. Waiting for a few more things to start producing but everything is doing okay for our second garden as husband and wife! 6 years of marriage and locked in for life! Maybe in 10 years we'll have gardening figured out.
|
|
|
Post by ET on Aug 8, 2015 5:33:23 GMT -5
And the learning about gardens for me continues.
Ed
|
|
|
Post by rossman40 on Aug 8, 2015 11:58:56 GMT -5
One of the best set-ups I can remember was a neighbor of my grandfathers that was also a hardcore fisherman. He had a nice bench (complete with running water, canopy and electric) to clean his fish that was slightly uphill from his garden. All the water from the bench would drain into the garden. Then all the remains from the fish would get buried in the garden or go into a compost pit and covered with a layer dirt to keep the flies and smell down. He also let some of the neighbors use the bench and being on the Illinois river everybody fished so there was no shortage of fish. The bench was also used to clean the vegetables from the garden. Although it's been almost 50 years, I can still remember the taste of a BLT sandwich made with off the farm bacon and then lettuce and a slice of a beefsteak tomato, that was bigger then the slice of slightly toasted Wonder bread, from that garden. When the bacon ran out a sandwich of a tomato slice, some mayo, and some salt and pepper was even tasty to us kids. It makes a run-of-the-mill restaurant BLT pretty pale in comparison.
|
|
|
Post by rambler on Aug 8, 2015 12:16:39 GMT -5
Ken, Couldn't agree more!! Nice natural fish emulsion too!
|
|
|
Post by al53 on Aug 8, 2015 15:13:36 GMT -5
i tried the natural fish emulsion many years ago...got buckets of bluegill and fileted them...run the body parts in the blender and used in the garden...WOW..I had more critters digging in the garden..lol..coons..mink..cats...my dogs...but stuff grew like crazy once it started to de compose...the next yer is when it was really a benefit after it composted good into the soil...I had beefsteaks as big as softballs...and best crop of eggplants ever...
now any fish parts just go in the compost piles and rot a season..and used the next year
|
|