Today I want to show you what I have done about staking my tomatoes.
As you can see above, I have taken the frames for the shed floors, screwed them together, and drove them into the ground, in-between the plants. That way I can tie the plants to the frames from both sides.
When I planted the tomatoes, I kept the root ball out of the center so I could stake it there. Also, I staggered the plants a little so they wouldn't shade each other too much.
The black cloth on the ground in the left-hand corner will be moving to the other side of this row. I plan on shading the plants a little in the afternoon so they don't crack. They will still get the heat, so they will do well, I believe.
The next step is to tie the plants to this frame. Then I can trim off all the leaves that we don't need. That way the plants can put their energy into the tomatoes, instead of plant.
Hopefully, I will be able to document that procedure this weekend. But, I am wanting to have a few people over for ribs and strawberry shortcake...so that my keep me busy.
I found some nice strawberries yesterday, so I plan on making jam, too. They smell perfect! That is how I pick strawberries...by the smell. They have to smell real strong, or they won't have much flavor.
Plus...when choosing berries, pick the green cap up so you can see the center of the berry. Does the red go all the way to the cap, or is there white? White means they are not ripe all the way through.
When you make jam, it needs to be 3/4 of the recipe, ripe fruit, and 1/4 under ripe fruit to make it set right. I am very picky about my strawberry jam.
My school of thought on Jams and Jellies are the fruit needs to be over ripe, but not spoiled. It makes the sweetest jams. Fruit that is good-ripe for eating is not ripe enough for really good jam.
Also, how I chop up the fruit is important. I cut strawberries with a knife into a small dice. After the jam has cooked a bit, I take a potato masher to the prepared fruit. It makes a better texture, and easier to spread.
On other fruits and veggies I use an old fashioned meat grinder. That is what I use to make my hot pepper relish, apricot jam, peach jam, and plum jam. The texture is perfect. At least in my not-so-humble opinion it is. Hope this info works for you. Pictures to follow.
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Today I took pictures of my new plants...like the Cripps Pink apples...
...there are three of them. I guess it will be a long time before i see any apples.
These are my new pomegranate plants. Again...a long time before I get fruit.
Look at those tomato blossoms...yummy summer goodness to come. I love to see those healthy stems, so hairy, fat, and perky.
If you look closely, you can see a bunch of soon-to-bloom buds all over this pepper plant. It seems that the peppers had a rough start, but have since recovered nicely. Something ate the leaves a bit, but it seems to have stopped. I have lizards in this garden and they eat the bugs so maybe they have the problem under control. Works for me. Bad Dog is a lizard killer, so it better stay in the garden...if it knows what's good for it.
This bed is full of 'greens'. They are ready to eat now. Tender, sweet, and spicy. I have arugula, and Mesclun. I even pulled up a small radish and ate it right out of my garden. What a lucky Gal I am!
Today I fertilized all my plants with the worm tea. Now that the tomatoes are blooming, I want to make sure they have all that they need to make the best tomatoes ever!
I am very happy with the progress of the plants. In a week, I can eat a little of the salad greens and maybe some radishes.
Today I want to plant more zucchini and some beets. I have a few 'bald spots' in the West wing. Seems the ants or birds or something ate most of my zucchini sprouts and I need gobs for my zucchini bread.
Also, I am glad to report that I am getting some sprouts from the pile of pomegranate scraps I threw compost on last fall. They will make a nice hedge to block my neighbor's ugly garage door barn. I would love to have at least 5 shoots I can transplant.
Also...I have two sprouts from my Cripp's Pink apple seeds. I would love to have at least 2 of those trees. I think they would make most excellent apple pies. Especially if they are in the individual pastry cups (I showed how to make in the cooking section last fall).
Anyway...at this time in the garden, we are waiting for things to start producing. It seems like it takes forever...but once it kicks in, I have a feeling that I am going to need help. A lot!!!
That is what I am hoping for. So much veggies that I just have to sell them. AND I make bunches of money and live happily ever after.
It could happen!!!! Besides, it's my fantasy, I can dream it any way I want to.
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Here is a picture of my idea of how to use up these metal posts. Originally, they were frames for the flooring in my sheds. We decided to go another way. I plan on putting another cross-beam to the posts. That way, it will be real sturdy, and I can tie the tomatoes to the cross-beams with twine. I always like to re-purpose things. It is just how my brain works...what can I say...
This is the 'greens' bed. Kale, arugula, Swiss chard, Romaine lettuce, and some micro greens. I can hardly wait for my salads.
Four kinds of carrots and three kinds of radish...still a little slow in the carrot department. But you can see the little hairy shoots in the fore ground.
See the bloom in the center? Promises of those big, beefy tomatoes. Sandwiches, salads, sauces, catsup, salsa, the best spaghetti sauce, ever! I can already taste them...what a lucky girl I am!
Here are some pictures of some new seedlings I started in some cups. More beefsteaks and some yellow tomatoes.
These are those Cripps Pink apples I like so much. I found some sprouted seeds in the apple. So you know me, in the pot they go.
I know this is out-of-focus, but I just wanted to mention that I am hoping to get a few Granny Smith apples off of this tree this year. I just wanted to show the blooms, but it seems the leaves got in the way. At least that is what is in focus.
See...a few days without my camera, and I need to be re-trained. Not really. Just an old Pollock joke, come to life. I am allowed...I am Polish. Maybe even royalty...but that is just a rumor. It was never proven. A girl can hope, right?
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Today I want to show you how I plant tomatoes. I have said before that if you look close at the stems of seedlings you will see "hairs". These "hairs" if treated properly will turn into roots. That means you either plant it really deep, or on it's side...sort of.
If you plant it on it's side, close to the surface, the Sun will heat the soil and cause the seedlings hair/roots to grow faster. The more roots, the more water it can take in and the more fruit it can accommodate. That is the theory, anyway.
First, dig a hole deep enough to accommodate the root ball. Plus about another inch or two.
Then you pinch off all but the very top 2-3 leaves.
I know it looks kind of naked...but it doesn't hurt them. I forget why you take them off...I am guessing so it doesn't rot the plant under the dirt.
Then, wrap a piece of newspaper around the stem, up close to the top.
Once the root ball is in the hole, dig a trench for the stalk and lay it in the trench.
I then took a handful of worm compost and put it in with the root ball.
Now cover it up with dirt. You want the paper ring to be half way in the dirt. The paper is to keep the cutworms from cutting your plant off at ground level.
This is the best way I have found to grow tomatoes. Hope it works for you too.
I decided to start some more seeds today. I wanted to have more plants in case the ones I have now get damaged. Besides, I thought maybe I could sell some plants later on. I also wanted to try starting seeds in these egg trays.
The plan is to start them in here and transplant them into the cups later. This way, they won't take up so much room at the start.
These egg cartons are full of my starter mix. I took a skewer and poked holes in the bottom of each cup so the water would drain out. Each 'cup' side is sitting in a 'lid' side. One lid was cut off and set under the cup side that is left. I also have them set in a bag covered box. This will make it easier to carry around and stops it from leaking water.
Today I planted 24 beefsteaks, 12 pablano peppers, 12 jalapeno, 12 serrano, 12 yellow jubilee tomatoes, 8 fennel, and 12 polish linguisa tomatoes. Let's see how these work for starters.
I just want as many tomatoes as I can get. It is my desire to be able to share them on many levels. As plants. As fruit. As food.
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During the day, as long as it is not too windy or cold, this is where my "seedlings" bask in the sun. My prized beefsteaks are on the right.
As you can see, they have grown a lot in 17 days. The beefsteaks are 17 inches now. The stalks are as big as pencils. All this makes me VERY happy.
These are the cherry tomatoes...at around 10 inches.
These are the paste tomatoes at around 8 inches. I think these are the most delicate tomato plants I have ever seen. The leaves are thinner. I am hoping they are prolific and makes great salsa.
Looking back at my last post here, it seems they have grown very fast in 2 1/2 weeks. The beefsteaks seem to have doubled in size. This makes me very happy again...or still.
Then we have the peppers. They are really slow growing. I am so glad I started them early. But even most of them are around 6 inches.
These are my new batches of hot pepper relish and salsa. My mouth is already watering. Two more weeks and in the ground they go. At least that is what the Farmer's Almanac says.
Maybe by then, my beefsteaks will have blooms. Wouldn't that be nice? I am so excited. LOL.
Just a reminder: These are not planted in dirt. They were started in peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite. After two weeks they got more of that mix with some worm castings thrown in, on top. I put 3-4 handfuls of castings in a jug and fill it with water. That is like feeding them vitamin water. I am hoping that it helps to keep the diseases down, and makes them grow like crazy.
It is supposed to, anyway.
I shall keep you posted.
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I took pictures of my "Table plants" yesterday. These are my beefsteak's.
These are my Pepper plants...they take longer to sprout.
These are the Polish Linguisa tomatoes. Paste tomatoes. I am thinking...great salsa too. More meat, less seeds and juice.
These are the Super sweet 100's...for salads. I also like yellow pear tomatoes for salad. Maybe I will get a few volunteers from my East wing. I did not plant any...yet.
I put my hand in there for some sort of scale. My hands are wide, but have short fingers. You can see that the plant is pretty big.
This is what they looked like a week ago. That might even be the same plant. I forget cause I turn the tray a couple times a week to keep the plants growing straight. They want to grow toward the Sun.
I guess that the worm poo is working! I need more worms! I need compost! I need more boxes ready to plant! Whatever is a Gal to do? Worms and dirt!
Every Gals dream...LOL.
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Here are my beefsteak tomatoes. Today.
They looked like this on Tuesday when I put the worm castings on top. Not bad for 5 days.
What you see here is a five gallon bucket, 2/3 rds full of worm castings (poo). If you look in the right hand lower corner, you will see the much lighter in color...new bedding for my worms.
I have been preparing the coconut coir for the worms by adding coffee grounds and egg shells. Coconut coir is the outside of coconuts that is ground up. Worms like to eat it. I extracted my worms one by one and relocated them to the new bed. I will be using the "poo" to mix with my starter pot mix to apply to the top of my cups of tomatoes. It is two weeks since I planted the seeds and they now need fertilizer. Plus, I read that using worm fertilizer on seedlings, helps the plants to be more disease resistant. Last year I had such a bad time with store bought plants I ended up with next to nothing. THAT is why I chose to start my own plants this year.
This is the new bedding. You can see a few worms, but they are camera shy. The dark spots are from the other bucket.
I am hoping to have enough worms this year to be able to fertilize everything with them alone. Last year I made compost tea and it worked OK but not the way worm tea does. I want to save it for my tomatoes and if there is some left over then I will use it on the other veggies. Or I will get more worms. That would be ideal! I was told that using the worm tea on tomatoes, a Lady got 400 pounds per plant. I am not sure I believe that, but I could maybe 100 pounds per plant...maybe. I have 22 beefsteaks, 12 Polish Romas, and 7 cherry tomatoes, that adds up to a LOT of tomatoes! Come on worms!!!
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