Love the chopped leaf mulch. It can be a hundred degrees out and I see everyone’s gardens dry and dusty and mine will be always steadily and constantly moist. The worms are drawn to it as it breaks down and feed the vegetables. I’ll keep adding different layers of assorted organic matter - horse manure, old hay, more chopped leaves. It makes a thick mat that keeps my garden moist on the hottest of days where I really don't even need to water very much, it draws the worms, it keeps the weeds at bay and hell - it looks neat and keeps the vegetables out of the dirt. Ruth Stout FTW! Hope y’all are having a good weekend. j
Just got putting down another 3" or so around my tomatoes. Agreed on all points... mulch is very much vital. Only thing is I found thick mulch can be a pain in the dick to scrape away from the soil surface when I need to add the dry fertilizer. I doubt it'd break down fast enough if I just scattered on top of the mulch
I havent added any fertilizer for a couple years now. Some of the areas in the garden that I’ve been mulching like I do for the last 10-15 years is like growing in pure compost. Between that and the worm poo I simply haven't seen any need but of course its taken a long time to get it to that point too. I do mulch with horse manure - so there is that as well. Maybe just add the dry amendments during your initial planting? j
Ideally that's what I'm working towards, but it'll take a good bit of time. These beds are pretty new, only a couple years organic/no till so far. I'm sure it'll take a good while before things start to balance out. Copious worm castings and the biochar I mixed in could get me there sooner rather then later. That 55 gallon aact brewer you guys coached me through building has helped significantly IMHO. Only type of watering I've done so far was with compost tea drenches this year. I think next year I'll slowly taper down my aact regimen and start moving towards nutrient teas. It certainly will be a lot easier to apply nutes as a tea instead of using dry fertilizer buried under the mulch.
Morning, guys! Was gently walking through the garden with my coffee again this am as part of my usual routine, occasionally pruning off a sucker or two. Accidently topped off one of my sweet 100 cherry tomatoes... broke the apical maristem and to my recollection I didn't have a sucker underneath it to act as a top-in-reserve of sorts. I think I unintentionally gave my tomato haircut that'lltake weeks to recover from. Note to self, ALWAYS leave a sucker or two on top just in case. Ugh. Tomato pruning is a new venture for me, so I'm still learning. Sucks to undergo such tragic lessons when my babies are the recipients of fuck ups. I know you guys will tell me not to worry, life finds a way and all that... I just don't like being the reason for failure haha. I'm sure it'll work itself out. On a side note... MAN oh man do some varieties get beefy stalks fast. Training em is almost an hourly venture because they quickly put on bulk so fast that trellising them around sharp angles risks snapping the stalk. I can definitely see why some of you don't even bother with much pruning... lot of risk, questionable reward. I dunno, just overthinking this as usual and as expected lol. Have a great day guys!
Alot of folks like going on vacation. We just want to be HOME. I walk around smiling here. Right on j,couldnt agree more! and as long as you dont mind working and getting dirty,anyone can do it
Yeah, I'm not envious at all. At least I can blame my problems due to my own carelessness... it'd be crushing if I had to deal with an infestation yikes
The morning hang out in the garden with coffee kinda helps the stress of all the many mistakes that I make around here.
The best training tip for cherry type tomatoes, which are determinates, is to hike everything up as soon as possible. Keep lifting branches up onto the highest hoop in the tomato cage they can reach. Then it grows up first, then spills out with growth. This will give you a better shape for growing and picking. I usually don’t defol these types at all. Topping can help speed up the time you get flowers and thus tomatoes. It’s actually a good move to try and do if you have more than one of a variety. That way harvest will get spread out. Besides everyone can’t wait for that first Tom. For indeterminate toms, keep the suckers in check if you want to end up with decent sized tomatoes. If not you end up with a ton of small tomatoes. Cheers Os
I like it out there early and late in the day but I’m in and around the garden off and on all day. There’s always something that needs attention or I’m looking for something I’ve lost. The daily grind.
It was 50° yesterday morning, I seen seen this doe over by the apple trees I just planted, we had a staring contest for 3 min Also , does anyone know what kind of mushroom this is? Found it in my compost pile.