Gardening / Homesteading

[Ann]

Use tomato cages (I use them for more than tomatoes) or a stake + some twine or plant tie take to hold them erect.

Are you planting in the ground or in containers, @CarpetCrawler? And, are you only growing tomatoes, or other vegetables?

[Foxx]

I use rebar grid for my tomato cages. Gives more room and is cheaper than buying cages. Old Martha Stewart trick.

[CarpetCrawler]

23 hours ago, Spartacus said:

buy heirloom varieties that aren't GMO modified

 

I bought a variety called Celebrity, a hybrid determinate that has a longer production time than most determinate varieties. They're supposedly pretty disease and pest resistant, also the fruit is not as big as heirlooms, i was worried about them getting too big.

 

13 hours ago, Ann said:

Use tomato cages (I use them for more than tomatoes) or a stake + some twine or plant tie take to hold them erect.

Are you planting in the ground or in containers, @CarpetCrawler? And, are you only growing tomatoes, or other vegetables?

 

I'm planting in 5 gallon heavy duty growing bags. I liked what i read about drainage, root aeration, portability, and how they supposedly keep the roots nice and warm too (which supposedly they like.

 

I'm just starting out with 4 tomato plants in a cheap plastic mini greenhouse thing i bought on Amazon. I also got some small bags and figured i'd try growing some basil and cilantro and thyme or dill or something. I also heard it's good to grow marigolds with them for pest control.

 

As far as cages, I was going to use Foxx's hack below. What can i say? Mediocre minds think alike

; ))

 

11 hours ago, Foxx said:

I use rebar grid for my tomato cages. Gives more room and is cheaper than buying cages. Old Martha Stewart trick.

 

I saw this and liked the idea, https://homesteadandchill.com/how-to-make-sturdy-tomato-cage

i was going to buy some this weekend. do you add anything else? Any twine going across or any other tricks you use??

 

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by CarpetCrawler

[Foxx]

10 hours ago, CarpetCrawler said:

... As far as cages, I was going to use Foxx's hack below. What can i say? Mediocre minds think alike

; ))

 

 

I saw this and liked the idea, https://homesteadandchill.com/how-to-make-sturdy-tomato-cage

i was going to buy some this weekend. do you add anything else? Any twine going across or any other tricks you use??

 

 

I stake my cages and use gardening twine to tie to them, as my tomato plants regularly grow to 8' or better (up over the top of the cage and back to the ground again). If I didn't stake them, they would tumble over.

[The Guy In Pants]

Garden is coming along nicely. Beans and peas have decided to race each other to harvest. Lost some beet plants to high winds the last week or so. Potato plants are nice and green, about to put another inch or two of topsoil around their base to keep the potatoes from coming through the top as the grow. 

 

In an effort to keep my wife's mind on other things; I went to Academy and found a couple nice zero gravity chairs and an outdoor umbrella. I went to Lowes and got some concrete retaining wall block and some bags of gravel and put together a fire pit. Pulled the old hammock out and set up a little relaxation place in the yard near the garden around some of the flowers I planted earlier in the year. Its a nice little "oasis". In fact; I ended up following asleep in the zero gravity chair Sunday afternoon so it passes the test. 

 

I love going out to the garden and just being out there. Not sure if I mentioned this before but, I have a cousin who lives in Oregon now. She is a "natural healing/essential oil/ masseuse/ bunch of other natural things" person. She told me one time that if I am ever feeling anxious, angry or just off, to take my shoes off and walk outside or dig into the earth with my hands. It works. I believe that is because the earth and we are connected from creation. Of course; a skeptic would say "thats just your mind making you feel a certain way because of what you believe". 

 

I don't think so. Just being out there in the garden and working makes me feel so relaxed. I usually have my pods in and listening to music out there unless its really early in the morning or later at night. Those times its nice to listen to nature as they wake up or they are preparing for the night. 

 

Anyway; the world is &#%$ing crazy and it'll make a person angry and depressed. Get outside and away from people. It's medicinal. 

 

 

[Spartacus]

3 hours ago, The Guy In Pants said:

Garden is coming along nicely. Beans and peas have decided to race each other to harvest. Lost some beet plants to high winds the last week or so. Potato plants are nice and green, about to put another inch or two of topsoil around their base to keep the potatoes from coming through the top as the grow. 

 

In an effort to keep my wife's mind on other things; I went to Academy and found a couple nice zero gravity chairs and an outdoor umbrella. I went to Lowes and got some concrete retaining wall block and some bags of gravel and put together a fire pit. Pulled the old hammock out and set up a little relaxation place in the yard near the garden around some of the flowers I planted earlier in the year. Its a nice little "oasis". In fact; I ended up following asleep in the zero gravity chair Sunday afternoon so it passes the test. 

 

I love going out to the garden and just being out there. Not sure if I mentioned this before but, I have a cousin who lives in Oregon now. She is a "natural healing/essential oil/ masseuse/ bunch of other natural things" person. She told me one time that if I am ever feeling anxious, angry or just off, to take my shoes off and walk outside or dig into the earth with my hands. It works. I believe that is because the earth and we are connected from creation. Of course; a skeptic would say "thats just your mind making you feel a certain way because of what you believe". 

 

I don't think so. Just being out there in the garden and working makes me feel so relaxed. I usually have my pods in and listening to music out there unless its really early in the morning or later at night. Those times its nice to listen to nature as they wake up or they are preparing for the night. 

 

Anyway; the world is &#%$ing crazy and it'll make a person angry and depressed. Get outside and away from people. It's medicinal. 

 

 

it's called grounding - and it works to restore natural energy to your body

[Foxx]

Prolly get some plants in the ground today. Still quite early to do that but the temperature forecast looks to be pretty favorable going forward.

[Ann]

4 hours ago, Foxx said:

Prolly get some plants in the ground today. Still quite early to do that but the temperature forecast looks to be pretty favorable going forward.

Really? We always plant for Mother's Day, so are late this year.
 

[Foxx]

25 minutes ago, Ann said:

Really? We always plant for Mother's Day, so are late this year.
 

The usual recommended time frame is right around Memorial Day, give or take, weather dependent of course. We did have a frost warning here this past Monday so if vegetable plants went in then, it wouldn't have been to good.

 

I utilize the greenhouse right up until actually putting plants in the ground and being that I have a job scheduled for next week, with the forecast being favorable, in the ground they are going.

 

Tomato plants are over a foot tall, even after being transplanted deeper to larger pots a couple times.

[Ann]

12 minutes ago, Foxx said:

The usual recommended time frame is right around Memorial Day, give or take, weather dependent of course. We did have a frost warning here this past Monday so if vegetable plants went in then, it wouldn't have been to good.

 

I utilize the greenhouse right up until actually putting plants in the ground and being that I have a job scheduled for next week, with the forecast being favorable, in the ground they are going.

 

Tomato plants are over a foot tall, even after being transplanted deeper to larger pots a couple times.

What a difference 60 miles can make!

[MothersMilk]

I've been looking through this thread and can offer some suggestions... hope this helps some folks out. No order at all to my comments.

 

The black cow bagged stuff is garbage. Don't be afraid of genuine horse manure, it doesn't smell bad and is very gentle but very nourishing. A lot of horse farms/horse rider operations will give it away for free... you do the work. Well worth it. Any natural manure actually but chicken manure can be a bit "hot" so use that one sparingly. Rabbit is another good one.

 

Bonnies plants, sold all over, are sketchy. Avoid their, especially tomatoes, better... bigger, drought resistant versions. If you buy them there Are a few good ones, especially the "German Queen". You can't go wrong with that one. There is one other good one but the name escapes me... these are the heirloom versions.

 

Don't worry about bugs when you are just planting herbs for the most part. They are just weeds that taste good to us. Bugs aren't attracted to them as they smell and taste bad, to them anyways. With other plants just use neem oil.. it is a fungicide, herbicide, and  will deter most bugs. Natural product and is readily available at most garden stores. It really works and is a natural product so you don't have to worry about any poisons... organic approved if you are in to that.

 

A good way to get a stake/stakes that will last is to go to somewhere like walmart and just buy however many stakes you need in the form of their cheap bamboo tiki torches. If you don't want the torch throw it away or... you have a table torch as a bonus. Bamboo is sturdy as hell so it will last and if the bottom part somehow rots after a year or two... cut it off and then you will have a 5' stake.

 

Got epsom salt? Use it. Plants Love it... all kinds. It's not just for soaking a sore ankle... it is magnesium, will help reduce yellowing on established plants, bushes, palms, trees, etc. If you have this take a look at the back panel. Just the plain one, no lavender or any of the variations lol. Google it and you will see... most people don't know about this from my experience.

 

I've got blisters on my fingers...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Just Joshin]

8 hours ago, Ann said:

What a difference 60 miles can make!

I am about an hour south of Rochester and my farmer father-in-law swore by Memorial day.  I try to beat that by 7-10 days.

 

Peas, onions and potatoes in thus far.  If the weather forecast holds, want to be done by next weekend.

 

 

[Foxx]

Got all my vegetables in yesterday. Need to stake the tomato cages today.

[CarpetCrawler]

4 hours ago, Foxx said:

Got all my vegetables in yesterday. Need to stake the tomato cages today.

Making my remesh cages later this afternoon 

[Foxx]

34 minutes ago, CarpetCrawler said:

Making my remesh cages later this afternoon 

I generally overlap two squares and use mechanics wire to secure it.

[CarpetCrawler]

8 minutes ago, Foxx said:

I generally overlap two squares and use mechanics wire to secure it.

 

My containers are smallish, i might have to overlap 3??? 

 

I have some pretty strong nylon wire wraps, I'm hoping that will be secure enough, if not I'll get some of that wire, thanks.

[Foxx]

30 minutes ago, CarpetCrawler said:

 

My containers are smallish, i might have to overlap 3??? 

 

I have some pretty strong nylon wire wraps, I'm hoping that will be secure enough, if not I'll get some of that wire, thanks.

Yep, size them as needed. As long as the nylon is UV resistant, they should work.

[Boyst]

Did a garden this year for the first time in forever.  Much smaller than I used to grow (was 60 yards by 100 yards) and only growing broccoli, cale, potatoes, onions, scallions, tomatoes, eggplant, carrots, catnip, and arugula. 

 

My raised bed is nothing but composted cow shit. It's glorious.

 

Next year I am doing another large one. Already prepping the soil.

[Hitbyaparkedcar]

Putting one in the ground for the first time in years. We did hay bales several times over the past five years or so, but we're doing a 60x30 this year. We have very good soil that's been fallow for a long time.

[Ann]

Planting today. I am gonna cheat on the basil (which will be my only herb) and tomatoes (which will be my only fruit/vegetable) and buy some already potted large plants after this wedding. I have a buncha bags of potting soil, planters, and flats of flowers, vinca, spikes, and two sherpa coming over today to do my bidding (hey, it's their wedding). I will just buy what I need to fill in the blanks once I see what is missing.