What did you do in the garden today?

[Timmy59]

How did you trellis them? I've have several cages, but not enough. I was thinking of stringing them up this year. It looks like you have a cattle panel down the middle of a bed just. Did they train nicely to that?

That is a 5 ft x 10 ft x 24 inch tall raised bed, 2 of them did tomatoes.. There is a cattle panel running down the center which the plants were tied to or brought to.. I do not prune much, very little actually.. The beds looked like jungles, they allowed nothing else to grow under them.. It hides the fruit but, we hauled in the maters and suffered very little loss.. One plant IIRC a beefsteak was prone to blossom end rot but all others thrived delux.. The counter you see was an every other day thing, the wife threatened me over tomatoes.. But we got plenty of eats.. Good eats too.. If you'll look back behind the kid and pup you can see the 2 tomatoes beds on 9-17 still kicking tail..

 

[Timmy59]

It looks like an abundant supply of collards is at hand this afternoon. If I am thinking about a potential harvest - it might be that this White Crested Black Polish Hen may just have the same thing on her mind today. Well the cold temperatures lately may have enhanced the flavors of these greens.

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LOL, I had some lettuce go past use and it was about 2 ft tall so the chikens got it.. Nothing left but the green stump..

 

[BReeder!]

69 days to the Equinox. 81 days to April 1st, which is when I usually plant seeds for my tomatoes and peppers.

Thank goodness I have chickens so that I have something to "nurture" this time of year!

Depressing... I to well not be staying seeds until April. I'll plant potatoes outside in April and probably some greens that don't mind it being a but cool still. I'm praying the garden doesn't flood again in May. I'm assuming it will though so I'll be planting the potatoes in raised rows and keeping them on the slightly higher south side of the garden.

 

[igorsMistress]

Good evening gardeners. Today was productive. Got one patio cleaned off, pulled out all the broken paver pieces I was using to keep the chickens away from plant roots and sorted the good from the bad. Planted the bell pepper and poblano plants and moved some ornamentals out to the sun. I found some marjoram seed today I want to plant a few around the lemon tree as they are good companions. Got all the bulk trash in one place except one thing and moved some mulch. This weeks after work projects will be moving some mulch and then the west wall of the garden for the expansion, then removing a wall from the xeriscape area to soften things up a little bit. Everything has to be concrete or metal here or it doesn’t last and that makes for a lot of sharp edges. Then hopefully the last eight pavers for the walkway will go in next weekend. There are a few I need to pull out and fix and we’re going to pin them in place with small rebar rods. Hopefully that’s all the heavy lifting jobs done before it gets warm, although we’re expecting 77• one day this week. Way too early for that.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Disease always gets our tomatoes here. Last year I planted about 30 plants and didn’t even get enough of the larger tomatoes for fresh eating. This year I’m planting 80+ plants in fresh soil and I’m going to plant later and try to do a better job pruning. Hopefully I’ll get a good crop this year.

 

[WthrLady]

How did you trellis them? I've have several cages, but not enough. I was thinking of stringing them up this year. It looks like you have a cattle panel down the middle of a bed just. Did they train nicely to that?

I do cattle panels at 8 feet long with two steel Tposts, one on each end. I train and tie. Works a dream.

 

[chickengr]

Disease always gets our tomatoes here. Last year I planted about 30 plants and didn’t even get enough of the larger tomatoes for fresh eating. This year I’m planting 80+ plants in fresh soil and I’m going to plant later and try to do a better job pruning. Hopefully I’ll get a good crop this year.

a few years ago my tomatoes got some fungus disease. I chopped some sage and put it around the stalks. I cut the the plants and watered little in the morning and little in the evening. a week later they turned green again. now I plan to plant some sage around tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini.

 

[pennyJo1960]

a few years ago my tomatoes got some fungus disease. I chopped some sage and put it around the stalks. I cut the the plants and watered little in the morning and little in the evening. a week later they turned green again. now I plan to plant some sage around tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini.

What a great idea I have a active plant that is perennial may have to put in the pot with the tomato

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Just had to brag about this little handful of tomatoes. My last harvest of tomatoes bc tonight we get our first real freeze (possibly only lol). These are black vernissage I started from a free seed pack last ..idk Feb/March. They have been such champs. They survived a hailstorm, 2 hurricanes (a cat 4 and then 2), and blistering heat and swampy humidity in between. They produced the ENTIRE time. I'm blown away.

Wow, those are some winners! Hope you saved plenty of seed! Heck, I'd buy a few from you if you're interested in parting with a few, even though I'm in NW Mississippi. I have a bit of a tomato obsession and can't help myself. Are they an open-pollinated variety, or a hybrid?

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Disease always gets our tomatoes here. Last year I planted about 30 plants and didn’t even get enough of the larger tomatoes for fresh eating. This year I’m planting 80+ plants in fresh soil and I’m going to plant later and try to do a better job pruning. Hopefully I’ll get a good crop this year.

Last year was my first year trying hard pruning and WHAT A DIFFERENCE. It felt painful at first to be pinching off so much healthy growth (especially if I got behind and had good-sized branches to prune off,) but the plants were SO much healthier and productive. The increased airflow and zero contact between leaves and dirt really diminishes opportunities for problems.

I also trellised on just string like they do in greenhouses for the first time, even though mine were outside. I had EMT poles running along the tops of 6' tall t-posts and ran string between that and stakes in the ground, clipping the tomatoes to it as they grew. Loved it!