NOTE: Garden tips on planting our giant tomato plants and how to tamp the soil over your seeds for better germination. Free garden ties, clay soil, staggerin…
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PLANTING TOMATOES AND GARDEN TIPS READ DESCRIPTION BELOW
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Compacting your soil makes all the difference.
We had a few days of mid 90s as a relief from our mid 100’s these last few days. But it was too short. We will soon be pushing 110 plus.
John: It is just cheaper to grow your own tomatoes than to buy them. Plus you grow the ones you want not just what the stores sell. Starting the seeds 60 days before I plant them gives me a jump on my harvest and a lot more fruit during the season. There are a lot of farms growing beautiful crops in central Virginia in red clay. The clay you and I have is almost impossible to grow things in. No air spaces. A lot of compost creates the spaces in the soil that the roots need. Tamping is important.
We have been working this garden site for 9 years and have been growing on it for 7. The soil was so poor we had to improve it for 2 years before we could grow anything. We had a garden at our home for 28 years before we started using the river garden. Before we bought our home we had a garden for 8 years. I have been growing vegetables since I was 8. That was 63 years ago. Thanks for watching.
Mark: My bride really hates weeds and is the best weeder bar none. Weeds do sap the stength of any plant and you get more production when they are weed free. The garden is almost 1/3 planted. I worked down there yesterday. After this weekend it should be about 2/3 done. It is hot and dry for a change. Lower 90’s.
Lark: Marketmore has been around since 1968. There have been many variations ot it since then. 1970, 1972, 1976, 1980, and 1997. Marketmore 76, which we grow, it the most widely grown cuke in the country. We have tried them all and consider Marketmore 76 the best and it is an heirloom seed. I My favorite for taste and texture is Calypso F1 hybrid Pickling cucumber. Cuke beetles do not like marigolds so try and plant a couple near you cuke vines. You get more fruit when grown on fencing material.
That clay looks about like what we got here minus the ever present limestones all through it! Very impressive tomato patch you got, and the irrigation too. Like that hoe you made, and thanks for the tamping tip. Never planted tomatoes from seed straight into the ground yet, but your demonstration makes it look easy. Thanks!
datoken: Nice comments like yours make it all worth while. My goal was to help people who were just starting out in gardening. I talked to Imstillworkin and Bobby about my idea and they both thought what I wanted to do was needed on Youtube. There main comment was people show their gardens but not what it took to get to the finished product.
Between you, Imstillworkin, and bobby, I’ll have this stuff down in no time!!… thank you Bernard.. I really do appreciate your videos
Chuck: I just marked the hoe they way I wanted it and put it in a vice and cut it with a hacksaw blade in a scroll saw. I broke a few blades doing it. A grinder would get it too hot.I then put the edges in the vice and hit it with a hammer to give it a little flare. Then I smoothed down the edges and rounded the point with a hand sander. Don’t let it get too hot or it willl lose the steel will lose the temper. This hoe was probalby made in the 40’s so it had good steel in it.
Denise: My bride is a little camera shy.
Bobby: It is a lot easier for me to do this on our 1500 sq. ft. garden. Your big greenhouse has more square footage must less your gardens outside. That would take a lot of compost or organic matter. That is why I say that all farmers could not do this because there is simply not enough material on the planet for them to use. I am just doing my little part on keeping the landfills less full and improving my little spot on this earth. Our 5 lot place at the river is about 2/3 of an acre total.
That’s a beautiful garden spot. I’m trying to get my soil worked in like yours. I’d be happy with 8 inches of good stuff above the clay. But I need to step up the addition of organic matter and compost. It’s just hard to find that stuff around here. I might have to go into the woods and start raking leaves.
Mrs. Navajopa made another cameo. Yea!
Great tips Bernard. I need to make a hoe like that. Very creative idea there!
Chuck
Looks good. You got a plan man. Good job!
Navajo you are such a wealth of knowledge. Good luck with the garden, you have it setup really nice. Even have a Bride for doing weeding 😉 -Mark
WOW, that is a lot of tomatoes! And a lot of work. I am growing the ‘Market More’ for the first time this year. It was recommended for Wisconsin. Thank you for the handy tips.
We have been staking our tomatoes and peppers for 40 years and tying them up with pieces we cut from panty hose.
looks good, I like the poles
imstillworkin: The only good thing is that when we have a dry summer it does hold water and keeps our plants from dying. With all the rain you get trenches are your only bet because you know the clay particles have no spaces for the water to move through. It was good to finally get something planted. We both worked the whole 3days we were there and my knees are telling me today it did not like what I did. I hope to go down tomorrow and do some more. Pray for dry in S.E. Virginia
The ones I grew last year were taller. All of the rain and cloudy days kept them from getting any larger.
That sure is an instant garden. My garden out back has the same problem with the clay bottom and sides. It’s like gardening in a bathtub. Even though I have a three foot deep ditch running right next to it, it doesn’t drain. I had to dig some little trenches to get the water to run off the top of the garden and into the ditch.
Those tomatoes look great. Thank you for sharing.