Sally's GF3 thread

[TwoCrows]

I'll be planting the tomatoes soon. Most will go uphill. Why, oh why, did I start so many 'maters? Well, because we eat a lot of them, duh.

You can never have too many "maters". I love them!

 

[Sally PB]

I made a frittata today. Home grown eggs, asparagus, onions, and garlic scapes from last year. Frittatas are my go-to when the egg skelter is about to tip over because it's so full. That, and adding to the water glassing bucket in the basement. But I was hungry. And the house is chilly, so having the oven at 400F was not an issue.

 

[Sally PB]

We did not get enough rain. Maybe a trace. That's it for the next 7 days.

I put 49 wire tomato cages in my uphill garden to get an idea of how much space they'll take. The area between the tomatoes and the peppers is for the spaghetti squash.

Tomato cages ain't made the way they used to be. Flimsy!

"All flimsy were the wire cages,
And the brome grass invades."

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

I was trying to stand them up, sticking the legs into the clay soil up there; bent more than a few, cussed more than once. Hey, @U_Stormcrow, is there a trick to putting tomato cages into clay soil?

I need to water it well. When it's wet, it's clay. When it dries out, it's cement. But the brome... either way, it just laughs.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Yes, the brome just laughs. I have it too. No, tomato cages SUCK. I have no idea what happened or when, but I have wire coat hangers that are stronger than a modern tomato cage. Probably have better luck with an angle grinder, some cattle panels, and some stakes. If you have a lot to do, might be better off getting woven wire fence and forming that into tubes as tomato cages instead of cutting cattle panels. Depending on how tall, and how heavy, your tomatoes are.

I like Romas and other relatively short, small fruit, tomatoes. I find the flavor more intense.

But NOT patio tomatoes. Skins too thick.

 

[Sally PB]

Brome, ah brome...

And that's as much as I got done. I need to get the tomato end of the garden done, as the grass has grown too close to where the plants will be. Once they're in, I can't be digging and tromping around.

I didn't even try to save the clump of dirt the roots were in, I just tossed it out into the field. It's either cement, if it's dry, or clay, if it still has some moisture in it. We didn't get enough rain to matter yesterday.

The interior of the garden where we spread wood chips is so much different. The contrast is amazing. Yes, it's heavy, but it hasn't dried out, and it's still workable. The top inch under the chips looks black and rich.

I've piled oak leaves up there in the fall and spread them out as mulch for as long as I've been working that soil. 5-6 years...? Time flies. The wood chips seem to be doing more, faster.

 

[TwoCrows]

Brome, ah brome...
View attachment 3512362
View attachment 3512363
And that's as much as I got done. I need to get the tomato end of the garden done, as the grass has grown too close to where the plants will be. Once they're in, I can't be digging and tromping around.

I didn't even try to save the clump of dirt the roots were in, I just tossed it out into the field. It's either cement, if it's dry, or clay, if it still has some moisture in it. We didn't get enough rain to matter yesterday.

The interior of the garden where we spread wood chips is so much different. The contrast is amazing. Yes, it's heavy, but it hasn't dried out, and it's still workable. The top inch under the chips looks black and rich.

I've piled oak leaves up there in the fall and spread them out as mulch for as long as I've been working that soil. 5-6 years...? Time flies. The wood chips seem to be doing more, faster.

Nice!

 

[Sally PB]

Thank you! I think I might be done for the day. That work is hard on the body.

One place that aches the next day really surprised me: my Achilles' on my left foot! That's my "shovel" foot.

 

[TwoCrows]

Thank you! I think I might be done for the day. That work is hard on the body.

One place that aches the next day really surprised me: my Achilles' on my left foot! That's my "shovel" foot.

Yes gardening, shoveling, raking, digging....it's rough on the body. You will feel it tomorrow!

 

[Sally PB]

Lunch/coffee break. I don't usually have coffee this late in the day, but I need a kick in the butt.

I have so much to do, I have to get more done today. I'm going to plant some tomatoes in my sandy soil garden (the downhill garden), and that will feel like nothing at all, compared to digging in the clay.

And, I'll get something else done.

One thing I've found that helps is music. MP3 player, ear buds, songs I like love, and I'm good to go for a long time. Singing along is good exercise for the lungs. Sorry/not sorry, neighbors.

Speaking of whom... in my play list are two songs sung by Jim Nabors: If I Never Laugh Again, and Momma, A Rainbow. The latter gets me a bit choked up.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

That's A LOT of work. Don't let the ignorant say otherwise. More than I will accomplish today, with certainty. I'm still looking to find the courage do gig some 4' holes in the ground and set 16' 4x4s in place. But it needs doing, so one more Arnold Palmer, and out I go...