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Title: Home gardening, the easy way
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Published: May 12, 2012
Author: me
Post Date: 2012-05-12 13:04:48 by PSUSA2
Keywords: None
Views: 312
Comments: 21
The price of food being what it is, I decided to put in a home garden. But, digging up sod just plain sucks. I did some, and I am putting that to use in a compost pile for next year. But I knew there had to be an easier way. So, here is what I did. I had some contractor-grade trashbags and split them on the sides so they open up into one sheet. These I placed on the sod and put weight on the edges and corners to hold them in place, in order to kill the grass and leave bare soil. Obviously, a tarp or other plastic sheeting would work too, but I didn't have a tarp. I guess I only had to wait 2-3 weeks for that to take effect. Probably closer to 3 weeks. In the meantime, I had already seedlings growing. Those I grew in small plastic cups, which also happened to match the diameter of a small auger I had that is used with a cordless drill to dig the holes for planting. It makes it real easy to just empty the cups into a nice hole of the same size. I didn't cultivate the soil, I just planted directly into the cleared area. Also using well ventilated #10 cans for tomatoes and peppers. They seem to be doing well. And if people can use 2 liter soda bottles and get a crop, I'll just have to water them every day. And, a pack of seeds goes a long way.
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#5. To: PSUSA2 (#0)
We grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers in 5 gallon terra-cotta pots. I tomato plant per pot, one pepper plant per pot, and three cucumber plants per pot. It works well for us and we don't have to deal with digging, weeding, etc. Of course we do not can anything (although we make fresh salsa) so we only grow as much as we can eat, which amounts to two tomato plants, 6 cucumber plants, and two pepper plants. Even that's hard to keep up with when they are going strong. At those times we eat tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers like mad men and have to give some away so they don't spoil. I'm thinking about growing garlic next year.
A better alternative to hard sided pots are soft sided growing containers made of a permeable fabric. Olefin is the most common. Most of my garden is grown using that type of container or raised beds, and I grow quite a bit - usually around 20 tomato plants, melons, and a variety of peppers, lettuces, herbs, etc., .... I love the appearance of hard pots and do have quite a few of them as well but they are mostly for the pretties. Oh, and tomatoes work better in a larger container - I use ten gallons as a minimum although Roma Tomatoes and a couple others will produce in a 5 gallon if you over fertilize with a good organic fertilizer. Gardener's Supply Co. sells a good variety of the soft sided containers and you can buy them direct from the manufacturer as well with a growing number of other outlets to boot.
HOMEGROWN TOMATOES:
There is no substitute for a ripe tomato freshly picked from your own bush. I made a 5 variety salsa last year that people were wanting to buy from me.
I'll be right over with a bottle of Red :) I did some Romas last year, made some sauce, parboiled them to remove skin, then strained to remove seeds, added a little garlic, onion, italian seasoning, etc., even my 20 something twins couldn't get enough, just YUM !! This year I'm trying Pomodoro, an Italian favorite for salsa, and sauce. They grow in grape like clusters.
Another one to try if you can find it is San Marzano Redorta. You can buy them online from Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes and you can buy the seed online from Tomato Fest. They are larger than the plum tomatoes (about twice the size of Roma) and the best for cooking that I have found - and I have grown 50 to 100 different varieties over the last 20 years.
Thank You !! I've been looking for a site like that for some time :)
#19. To: Lysander_Spooner, Original_Intent, gardeners, 4 (#18)
If you can find Louisiana Pear tomatoes, give them a go. When I gardened, they were some of the best, most prolific plants I'd ever seen...even through the heat of our Texas' summers. For the fall crop, I'd just cut all the plants down to about 4-6" keeping the roots intact, and let'em rip for an even better return.
Glad to help. Laurel is good people - I've spoken with her on the phone, and when there was a goof in one of my orders she bent over backwards to make it right. If you do plant buying and such online then a good reference to know about is "Garden Watchdog". It is part of the "Dave's Garden" website and gives ratings of the best, and worst, online and mail order seed and plant companies. I was happy to find that all of my favorites were already in the top 20 - and that includes Lauel. ;-)
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#7. To: F.A. Hayek Fan (#5)
#8. To: Original_Intent, F.A. Hayek Fan, PSUSA2, Obnoxicated (#7)
#9. To: Lysander_Spooner (#8)
#11. To: Original_Intent (#9)
I made a 5 variety salsa last year
#16. To: Lysander_Spooner (#11)
(Edited)
This year I'm trying Pomodoro, an Italian favorite for salsa, and sauce. They grow in grape like clusters.
#18. To: Original_Intent (#16)
San Marzano Redorta. You can buy them online from Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes
Replies to Comment # 18.
#20. To: Lysander_Spooner (#18)
End Trace Mode for Comment # 18.