The squash seem to be doing better so far than the tomatoes.
Posted on 05/15/2009 4:19:04 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Nothing tastes better than vegetables and herbs picked fresh from your own garden.
It is now the middle of May and many Freepers are starting gardens for the first time this year. And there are those lucky Freepers whose gardens are well established at this time.
Our Freeper community is full of gardeners, each with varying skill levels from Master Gardener to novice and I hope all of you will stop by this thread each week and share your experiences.
I didn’t put in a roof vent because I couldn’t figure out a way to seal it from the rain and wind. I made the outer benches using 3/8 X 4” Redwood bender boards in layers and then put slats for a surface. The center bench was a old 5’ redwood hot tub cover on a metal frame I had a muffler shop build. They made it in 2 parts so I could get it through the door and I bolted it together inside the GH...
Consider yourself added.
The squash seem to be doing better so far than the tomatoes.
The Topsy Turvy has 3 plant holes around the circumference of the planter. So I drilled 3 holes around the circumference of the buckets. I also tried a bucket with 4 holes. More bang for the buck.
My wife says that depending on the Wal-Mart they may now be recycling them. But it is worth a try.
You can score empty pastry buckets from the bakery section at the local grocery store, as well...
I’m not sure what your growing zone number is, but did you know there are winter-hardy banana trees that grow high in the mountains?
Musa Orinoco (edible) and Musa Basjoo (inedible) can survive winters, with some extra precautions.
Great minds, and all that... :-)
Why do you use a lid? Does that help prevent soil from drying out? Also, do you drill some small drainage holes in the bottom?
Here in SW OH we are just marginally zone 6, our frost free date is May 11th.
Majority of my planting will happen this weekend, that is if I don't decide to build an ARK first. Lots of rain this spring. Weeds and grass love the moisture.
My vegetable garden is minimal. I focus on ‘maters” and peppers, although I have about 4 dozen of each to set out. (once it quits raining) I grow everything from seed.
The newer hybrid tomatoes are really good at being pest/disease resistant, but the trade off is in taste. Despite the hassle of old heirloom stock I prefer their ultra old fashioned flavors. Rutgers is one of the best.
Great photos and happy gardening.
Check the Earth Box forum for lots of great gardening tips...
If I ever run out from Jason’s Deli, I’ll hit up Wal Mart. I might check them anyway for the lids. Jason’s just throws the lids in with the rest of the trash, but they stack the buckets outside the dumpsters.
I wonder if I need to convert the buckets more like the Earth Box? I don’t really have a water reservoir in these buckets, but the drain/overflow holes are about an inch off the bottom, so it can hold some water. But the soil is down there too.
I have Earth Boxes, and they are amazing. I also grow in 3-5 gallon containers, and have had success with tomatoes, peppers, tom thumb peas and cucumbers. The secret is to water from below, so that the nutrients are drawn up into the plant instead of washing them away by top-watering. Use a potting mix that wicks well, like my favorite, Pro-Mix.
I guess it doesnt have to have a lid. If I do another one this year, which is likely, maybe I’ll try it without the lid.
But on the five I have so far, they all have lids, with 1/16th inch holes drilled above each plant. So I just fill the lid with water each morning and it drains down into the bucket. I guess it keeps weeds from growing out of the top of the buckets.
And about an inch up from the bottom of the bucket, I drilled several 1/16th inch drain holes. So it can hold some water in reservoir, but not much so the plants can’t drown.
The very best tomatoes, as far as I’m concerned, are Rose de Berne. I wish I could grow a whole acre full of those, have enough to eat all summer and can 100 quarts too. I just love them. One year I had some extra and canned them and thought they were fabulous. They were very soft and melt in your mouth as canned tomatoes, some people might not like that but I do.
I liked the Black Prince when I had some two years ago in a CSA. The Church I tried because I used to correspond with Chuck Wyatt and read that they were his favorite variety.
Last year we had a lot of rain and our tomato/pepper garden flooded. I had gone all hog and had 38 tomato plants, three eggplant, and several pepper plants, all started from seed. We got three eggplant fruits and some peppers. The tomatoes never recovered from the flooding in spite of digging drainage ditches and having a sump hole. It was awful.
Hopefully this year will be better, but you never know! That’s the “fun” of gardening! LOL
We’ve had a lot of rain too. Put in various cool weather plants about a month or so, barely any of them came up. Haven’t been able to put anything else in. Hoping to get the bulk of the rest of it in this weekend, if it’s not too wet. I still have potatoes and onions waiting to go in. We have tilled up another patch this year for corn and more. This was the 1st year we started (too early) tomatoes from seed. We have over 50 plants.
So, my question is what do I do with the baby asparagus plants? When do they become 'crowns'?
Wow. Love the pics of your garden and granddaughters. Hope my garden does as well as yours looks.
I didn’t know about that!
My growing zone is like a warm 6, bordering on 7. (South Jersey). Although I have almost no ground.
My brother and I have converted to growing our own tomatoes from seed too. Heirlooms. Taste is superior, IMO, and we can save our own seed from year to year. We also haven’t had the problem with blight as much as we did when we bought tomato plants.
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