Vegetables

Got my garden going went out and got me a scare crow sort of--we found him over at Greg house and we decided it would be just the thing to scare off the deer--right now the only it's scaring off is the dogs every time they see him they go nuts--raising hell--running up to him and barking like crazy--we had to duck tape one of his arms on--it was snapped off on the way over I guess--had to find some old rebars to make him stand upright--I'm using black plastic fabric this year to cut down on weeding--and watering--also I'm using my old concrete wire for tomatoes--been extra cold lately and the tomatoes stopped growing--the nights got down into the forties--didn't cover anything up but thought about it--

we call him Bruce--have no idea where that name came from--just another thing off the top of our heads--haven't seen any deer or rabbit signs either--but will be watching for them from now on--unless Bruce is doing his job--

Compost (Notes)

"Soil Sweetness"-- ground Limestone--Agronomists speak of the range of acidity according to a scale  -of 0 to 14, The soil is acid or "sour" below 7 and alkaline or "sweet" above 7. As a general rule, it is not a wise to apply lime unless the soil test shows below 6…However, if you prefer not to bother with a test and you know your land has not been limed for several years --or ever--put on 50 pounds per 1000 square feet…

What this will do: 

1.) Correct the acidity

2.) Supply calcium and magnesium.

3.) Speed the decay of organics..

4.) Liberate plant food

5.) Increase fixation of nitrogen.

6.) Improve soil texture

Perennials (Notes)

Tomato time

Sitting out my garage watching the dogs do their little games----Looking around I found a new place I could plant some tomatoes--of course the longer I sat there the more grandiose idea came to me--DIGGING the hole is probably going to be the worst --effort and bending over seem to give me chills and fever--just thinking of how I'm going to it--I don't actually get chills and fever--18 " inches deep and 20 inches square--add two shovels of pet moss and make up some soil using topsoil 1/2--nature's helper--1/3 and some good potting compost from Home Deposit--with fertilizer added--then I add lime--sprinkling--0-- 40-- 0 phosphorus--and a generous amount 1 and 1/2 hand fulls of 10-10-10 mix all the ingredients together--get the plants and set them out usually 3 plants to the hole--I can only say I'm already tasting them now--big and juicy--sometimes I don't put all the same variety in the hole--mix but they do require care and pruning--pruning them to two stems that I'll keep going the whole summer--watering--for sure and watching for sign that the plants give me visually--will keep me on my toes--that's one of the reasons--I'm planting it near my seating area--visually if you go thru your garden area--at least once a day--you solve and can take care of a lot of problems before they happen or while their not overwhelming--if it gets to the point it's overwhelming you haven't been visiting the garden on a daily basis and you're kidding yourself--by not doing it--it's worth it--believe me--a vegetable garden walk--insects and diseases work night and day--so stay on top of it by walking thru it--look for the following--they will surprise you-- how well they can hide--one minute they aren't there then they are--before you can stop them they can rid you of a lot of leaves--

the next pictures is for the plant itself--when looking at it you will notice from day to day it's habit of growth and it's color--watching the color will tell you how well your gardening chores are doing--so look over the following pictures and study your plants by them

I've grown Tomatoes in all different ways but the one I've been sticking with--as of now is the hoop system and below is the way I do it--I haven't been pruning the tomatoes in the hoops but this year I'm going to do my best to prune to a two stem system--keeping suckers out--and making sure of watering and feeding because I'm going to be real close to these guys--

when I make my wire hoops I usually count off eleven squares and then cut off the and leave the the long pieces so i can use them to wrap around the last wire--I might need a picture here so I'll try and locate one or you try it and you'll see what I mean--the bottom wires I also cut them off so I can stick the sharp pieces left in the ground but I also use stacks to hold up the wire hoops cause as the season goes along the tomatoes and hoops get heavy and wind can play havoc---

Before planting you should mix two cupfuls of dolomite lime into the planting media--it will prevent "Blossom end Rot" which is caused by lack of calcium…also other factors are not enough water and too much nitrogen…

I usually give my plants one gallon of water a day during the growing season--I make up a fertilizer solution by using dry fertilizer--one high in phosphorus--5-10-5--about a half pound--it makes almost two gallons of liquid fertilizer--I put this on the plants once a week--

RingsIf you want all rings there same size,allow 5' 3 " of concrete reinforcing wire with 6" mesh for each ring.Count 10 squares (5 Feet), cut next 6" section in half. Bend and crimp this 3" extension to form ring; cut off other 3".  Also secure with a 6 or 7 foot stake as the year goes along the tomatoes plants get so big that a big wind will blow them over but with the stake --they want--no pruning is necessary --I try to keep branches inside hoop--watering and fertilizing water everyday at least a gallon per plant--fertilizing I do one a week--