Tomato Planting Prep

GoDawgs · April 17, 2021

Today's project was to put in place the pallets that the tomato buckets will sit on. Because they rested on the sideboards of a raised bed last year and were up off the ground, they didn't rot and were fine to use again this year.

I needed lots of cardboard to lay under the pallets to keep grass and ants at bay so yesterday I scored a bunch of flattened cartons and beer flats from the liquor store in town. The owner had two shipments come in and she was glad not to have to deal with the empty cartons. One person's trash is another's treasure! I took them all. This morning I first ran a string for the 4x18' area and got the cardboard laid down.

Then Pickles helped get the pallets in place and I inserted brick pavers under them to keep the pallets off the ground. A second row of pallets just like this one was set up next to the house.

Last week Pickles had spotted these pavers on sale at Home Depot for half price so they were 4/$1, a real bargain! We bought enough for the pallet project and extra for future needs that might pop up.

The next step will be to wash and sanitize all of the tomato buckets. Then Monday we'll go fetch a pickup load of the potting soil, fill the buckets, arrange them on the pallets and plant out the tomatoes, weather permitting. That will be a big checkmark on the spring garden to-do list!

April 17, 2021	#1
GoDawgs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b Posts: 1,685	Tomato Planting Prep Today's project was to put in place the pallets that the tomato buckets will sit on. Because they rested on the sideboards of a raised bed last year and were up off the ground, they didn't rot and were fine to use again this year. I needed lots of cardboard to lay under the pallets to keep grass and ants at bay so yesterday I scored a bunch of flattened cartons and beer flats from the liquor store in town. The owner had two shipments come in and she was glad not to have to deal with the empty cartons. One person's trash is another's treasure! I took them all. This morning I first ran a string for the 4x18' area and got the cardboard laid down. Then Pickles helped get the pallets in place and I inserted brick pavers under them to keep the pallets off the ground. A second row of pallets just like this one was set up next to the house. Last week Pickles had spotted these pavers on sale at Home Depot for half price so they were 4/$1, a real bargain! We bought enough for the pallet project and extra for future needs that might pop up. The next step will be to wash and sanitize all of the tomato buckets. Then Monday we'll go fetch a pickup load of the potting soil, fill the buckets, arrange them on the pallets and plant out the tomatoes, weather permitting. That will be a big checkmark on the spring garden to-do list!