Tomatoes

These aren't our first tomatoes from the garden, but I think they are the largest we've had. This is the plate I put on the dinner table this evening. The orange was my favorite. It's an heirloom variety that I started from seed, called Orange Oxheart. It is one of the best tomatoes I've ever had, I think. It was almost completely "meat" with very few seeds compared to other varieties and sweet flavor. The red one is also an heirloom, Cherokee Purple. I purchased seeds from Baker Seed Company in Mansfield, MO.

The tomatoes have all done well, with the exception of a short infestation of tomato horn worms. They were disgusting and almost destroyed two of the four plants. I was diligent about checking them daily - sometimes more than once a day, to pull worms off and remove any egg sacs I found. I also used DM. I'm not sure what is was that actually worked, or if they just went away. Thankfully, though, the plants survived and we've been enjoying tomatoes for a few weeks now. I'm going to miss them when they are gone.

I'm already looking forward to next year's growing season. Since we've moved, we are going to have to do quite alot of work in the backyard to get it ready for planting. It will be fun to see how it progresses.

Garden Lessons #1

This year was my very first gardening experience. I've never even been able to grow a house plant successfully, so I tried to keep my expectations low in an effort to avoid disappointment. I discovered, thought, that the garden has been so rewarding even though we've struggled and even failed with a few things.

We are getting ready to move, so I thought that before we tore the garden up for the summer, I'd jot down a few things I want to remember when we replant at the new house.

• Start seeds much earlier next year. Use newspaper to make potting cups and begin in early spring.
• Six inches of soil wasn't enough. All my plants grew, but they are root-bound. I have beautiful green plants but don't feel like they are yielding as much produce as they should. Not sure if this is the reason or not, but I'll plant deeper next season.
• I like the square foot design and will do the raised bed system again.
• I need one whole square for zucchini and squash.
• I like the tomatoes in buckets. Next year add more draining holes and place buckets on casters so they are easy to move.
• Horn worms are disgusting and they will devour tomatoes and peppers...quickly!
• The DE (ditamaceous earth) worked to prevent other pests. I used it about once a week. If it wasn't the DE, then I just got lucky. Other than the hornworms, I've had no other pest problems.
• Start composting.

Baby Tomatoes

My first tomatoes!

The tomato plants are my favorite, so I decided to give them a whole post of their own.

I'm so excited to have fresh tomatoes of my own right outside my back door!  Yum!

I have five plants in the back yard in large plastic tubs.  We drilled holes in the bottom for drainage and filled them with the same mix we used in the garden boxes.  However, I did add one scoop of fertilizer in the center of the bucket about 10-12 inches below the plant.   We bought wire fencing at a hardware store to make our cages, which fit wonderfully inside the buckets.

I found heirloom plants at Wal-Mart and Nixa Hardware.  I've got a Cherokee Purple, Brandy Wine, Mr. Stripe, Orange Oxheart and a Yellow Pear.  The pear isn't doing so well, but everything else looks great.  We've got baby green tomatoes on all plants and a ton of flowers.  Mr. Stripey has grown to the top of the cage already, which is four feet tall!  The Orange Oxheart isn't too far behind.

I did start some tomatoes from seed and those plants are up on the deck.  I didn't start them soon enough, so they are alot farther behind.  I'll know better next year.

    

 Brandy Wine      Mr. Stripey & Orange Oxheart

Garden Pictures - May 18

Today has been a busy one.  It is the last week of school, so I've been busy in my classroom trying to get it cleaned up and paperwork finished.  Jackson had a baseball game earlier this evening, so I've barely had time to get the garden watered.  I've had a few people ask me how the garden is doing, so I thought I'd try to get a few pictures posted so you could see.

To put it all together, we took the big clumps of grass out with a shovel and then laid weed cloth down.  Doug made the boxes out of untreated 2x8 pieces of lumber cut into 4' lengths.  He used deck screws to screw them together, and that was it.  The lumber was about $6 for an 8' board.  So, each box cost approximately $12. 

We filled the boxes with Len's mix of cotton burr compost, rice hulls and a potting mix.  To this we added the specified amount of Len's Essential Elements, which is the nutrition for the plants.  I like this mix because it utilizes mostly cotton burr compost, which is a byproduct of the cotton industry.  Rice hulls are a byproduct of the processing of rice.  Our hulls actually came from the Riceland plants in Arkansas.  We are recycling natural products, which benefits everyone.  The cotton burr is also a good source of nitrogen. 

Putting them together and filling them was very easy.  Doug built the boxes and I did all the mixing.  It took less than 2 hours to finish them both.

This is a shot of the two 4x4' squares we put together.  Don't build anything larger than 4' wide if you can help it, because it becomes hard to reach across.  You can see here the PVC frames we will use with a plastic covering in case of frost or extremely bad weather of some sort.  It could also be used with shade cloth in the heat of the summer if need be.  We used T-posts and electric conduit for a frame where we will add wire fencing for vining plants a little later.   The fencing we bought has 7" squares, so you can easily reach through.  We'll attach it to the frame with zip ties.  

        

The first picture shows the first bed I planted.  I used garden twine and nails to mark off my one foot squares.  In the second box, I decided it wasn't that big of a deal and I could just "eye-ball" it.  So far, we've got summer squash and zucchini, cucumbers, okra, broccoli, bell peppers, oregano, cilantro, basil and rosemary.  I also sprinkled a few marigolds here and there to ward off a few pests.

The battery in my camera died before I got shots of the tomatoes.  I have five different varieties of heirloom tomatoes that I am really excited about.  They all are growing really well.  My bean plants got hit pretty hard by the storm last week, though.  They are up on the deck and I'm not sure if they'll make it or not.  We'll see what happens.

One of the things I wish was different is the fact that there is grass growing right next to my boxes.  I would prefer there to be mulch or a walkway of some sort.  However, we are just renting here and I am trying to avoid as much expense and investment into the property as possible.  This will do for now.  Maybe next summer, we'll have a new house and an improved gardening system. 

Square Foot Beginner

Well, I've never been good at growing things - not even house plants - let alone vegetable gardens.  However, in an effort to be more organic, healthy and frugal, I've undertaken a gardening adventure.  A good friend of mine and I attended a gardening workshop with Len Pense late last fall.  We were interested in learning about gardening with organic, raised beds.  

We did just that as we listened to what seemed to be a "too good to be true" plan of gardening.  It involved raised beds filled with a growing medium that Len had created.  We looked at Len's beautiful gardens and heard about amazing results.  However, Len builds his beds with concrete blocks.  My friend and I were a little concerned about how were were going to transport and build these beds by ourselves.

With a little more investigation, we also found Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew.  It seemed like a plan very similar to Len's, but with beds that were easier to build.  So we decided to blend the two plans by building beds according to the Square Foot method and using Len's formula for a growing medium.

So far, I've got two 4x4 foot beds with frames built for plastic covering as well as the climbing plants on the north side.  I ventured out of the plan and used plastic tubs to plant my tomatoes in, which are staked and will be caged a little later on.  I also had my husband build long, narrow boxes for the deck.  I have a frame on the deck, which I'm hoping to use for climbing plants, which hopefully will provide us with some shade later on in the summer.

I'm thrilled with the results so far!  I've planted just a few of this and that to see what works best for us.  In the 4x4 boxes, I've got broccoli, okra, summer squash and zucchini, bell peppers, oregano, basil, cilantro and thyme.  On the deck, there is more of the same plus zinnias and green beans.  The beans took a beating in a storm a couple days ago, so I'm not sure if they'll recover or not.  We'll see what happens.  

So far, I am loving this project!!  Everything looks wonderful and it has been so easy!  If I can do this - ANYONE can!  It hasn't been a cheap project, but I think that in time it will pay for itself in groceries.  I'd love to add more even this year, but since we are renting I've decided to wait.