Gardening for Old Folks (Adaptative)

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have experimented using deep holes vs trenches. Normally tomato plants do not send roots any further down than about 8" to 10" deep. Here, the deeper you dig the hole, the colder the ground is. The ones that I planted by digging a hole 16" deep so I could have most of the stem buried would "stall" in their growth until the stem in the upper part of the ground grew enough roots to support the plant. The roots in the lower part of the hole eventually died off most likely due to being at too cool of temperatures. When the plants were pulled in the fall the roots were only about 8" deep even though the root ball was initially planted at a depth of 16".

The ones I planted by laying the plant in a shallow trench no deeper than 8" did much better right away and did not go through the stagnant growth period. When those plants were pulled in the fall their roots also were no deeper than 8" but were more numerous and spread much farther out from the main stem.

If your soil is warmer (at least 60°F) at deeper levels than my soil (sand) is then this information may not apply to your case.

That's good to know. I generally aren't burying mine more than 8-10 inches, and I put water walls on mine that heat the ground up around them. I doubt the soil is very warm here either at a deeper depth.

This year my tomatoes are going in my raised boxes, I will probably need a step ladder to pick them.

 

[cavemanrich]

All kinds of functional cedar houses. My biggest sellers are the bluebird, wren and chickadee houses. This is the busy season and keeping ahead of the orders can be a challenge, but I love working wood in a warm shop on a cold day!
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Many years ago DS for his EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT, manufactured a large quantity of bird houses with the help of his Troop Members. They then distributed them to the community. They set up a table in front of Church, of the Parish that sponsored our scouts. The peeps that took them were from Church, as well as those just passing by. The BIRD HOUSES were of course FREE. Installation of them was also offered to those that would need help. ( the Scouts would come by in group if needed) No one did need any help, since the Seasoned Citizens just said, "Oh, Thank You, I'll just have my,,,,,,,,,,,,, do it for me"
I don't have any digital pix of that available since it was a time when regular film cameras were the norm.

 

[CapricornFarm]

You can bury those stems, either straight down or trenched, and they will become roots, just pinch off the leaves up to where they are buried. Hopefully your frost date is soon?

April 15th. But i am building a big cold frame. Just framing in the glass left to do.

 

[CapricornFarm]

All kinds of functional cedar houses. My biggest sellers are the bluebird, wren and chickadee houses. This is the busy season and keeping ahead of the orders can be a challenge, but I love working wood in a warm shop on a cold day!
View attachment 1299975

Wow, i would have a great time with my woodburning on them! I need to build some birdhouses too.

 

[CapricornFarm]

X2 I had my wood shop partially setup, but needed the space for the brooder. I miss wood working.

You need a goat barn! Get busy RJ.

 

[Leahs Mom]

April 15th. But i am building a big cold frame. Just framing in the glass left to do.

Photos, Please!

 

[henless]

On Sat, I planted my sweet potato to get my slips started. I've never grown slips, so I hope it works. I also potted up my yellow pear tomato and tangerine dream pepper in bigger pots. I plan on putting those on the front porch to grow. I have an extra of each one that I'm going to give to my Mom for her to grow.

I got the ground broke up by the back porch. I'm going to plant my brandywine's here and my amish paste in the garden. I hope to save seeds from both for next year. I also put compost out around most of my fruit trees. My leaves on my fig trees are just coming out, but I already have little baby figs on my 2 older trees.


Today, DH & I put up my tomato trellis. I got the tomatoes, peppers and some herbs planted in this bed today. Also moved some garlic chives and flat leafed parsley over from my old herb bed.




As soon as we get the next bed in, I hope to put up arches for the last 2 beds. I want to grow my beans, cantaloupe, cucumbers and pumpkins on them. We never did get any rain this weekend, so going to be watering time on Monday.

 

[rjohns39]

I moved my tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach and broccoli into bigger pots today... Still two weeks away from being able to put outside. I'm thinking next weekend I'm going to take a chance with spinach and lettuce.

 

[igorsMistress]

I bought a grow light for my indoor plants and we are hunting for a light fixture I like so we can put in some more. I'm thinking some pendulum style track lighting would be nice.

Next weekend hubs is building the enclosed garden for me. I have some raised bed soil ready to go in with two types of tomatoes, dill, basil, and yellow bell peppers. I also have some sunflowers and Armenian cucumbers to plant from seed. This summer I'll gradually add/amend soil in the beds so I can plant a larger garden in fall.

 

[GardenTillers44]

My son is honing a few skills in the shop as well and made us this sign for the coop.

Moved some compost into the garden beds this morning and turned the girls loose to do some tilling while I start cutting next year's firewood. Yesterday was treat day for the flock. I found some clearance blueberries (their all-time fave) at the market and they were ready for them!