Current status of planting (pics) - Page 2

Suze · March 11, 2008

I hope to start getting some plants in tomorrow as time allows. Of course, I'll start with the ones I have backups for first *gulp*.

Nice looking setup, Jay - very organized.

babylark · March 12, 2008

I had a tree taken down. I posted green firewood on freecycle and some guy came and cut it up and took it all away. He's using it to supplement his heat. I was glad it was gone and didn't have to pay the expensive tree guys to cut it up..

Great looking garden by the way. I guess I'm lucky to have horses that make LOTS of manure for me. The pile composts nicely all year long. It's black and gooey by Spring. I have several truck loads to move to my house soon.

BVGardener · March 12, 2008

duajones, I overlooked your question....sorry about that. I started out planning on growing 300 to 400 plants but talked myself out of it and will grow something like 150. Essentially what I'm doing is only growing one of each variety instead of two plants so I'm not really reducing the number of varieties. I really wanted to try and focus on building the garden soil and improving the gardens overall and thats hard to do with tending so many plants.

In 2009 I'll probably grow about 300 and then in 2010 I'm planning on growing what I would call the Superbowl of tomato growouts.

Jay

duajones · March 12, 2008

Im in awe of you guys that grow so many plants. It makes my little garden seem so insignificant.

BVGardener · March 12, 2008

Forgot to also add:

I'll be taking a day off from work tomorrow to work on the gardens and my agenda will be to.....

Finish reinstalling the garden fence
Trim back the brush along the property line in back of the garden and along the one side.
Start distributing the soil amendments and complete half the rows for growing tomatoes.
Fill one compost bin with leaves to be used as mulch.

I might add that I almost never complete a garden agenda.

Jay

BVGardener · March 12, 2008

No such thing as too little or insignificant. They way I look at it, less is actually more. Why? Because when you grow less plants, the more time can be spent observing how the plant performs and what it's specific growth characteristics are like. Closer attention can be paid to a few plants as opposed to growing a large number.

Jay

creister · March 12, 2008

I can only grow about 35 plants and that is more than enough. I had talked myself into only 12 for this year, then 22, and ended up going with 34. Probably would have grown more if I had a place to grow them.

That has got to be a lot of time working 150 tomato plants. I do believe you are correct when you say less is more. One day, I'll make myself try that with tomatoes.

BVGardener · March 17, 2008

Well, I'm holding my breath....the wind gusts today have been incredible. I did not plant anything this past weekend due to the really bad weather we are suppose to get late tonight and tomorrow. Planting was suppose to take place Wednesday. But my wife just called and said that a super strong wind gust came and ripped the plastic completely off of the one side of the hoophouse - the side the tomato plants are on.....dwarfs and all. So who knows what shape the plants will be in

This might just be end up being one of the smallest gardens yet for me....we will see.

Jay

dcarch · March 17, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by BVGardener

Well, I'm holding my breath....the wind gusts today have been incredible. ---------- But my wife just called and said that a super strong wind gust came and ripped the plastic completely off of the one side of the hoophouse - the side the tomato plants are on.....dwarfs and all. So who knows what shape the plants will be in
This might just be end up being one of the smallest gardens yet for me....we will see. Jay

Sorry to hear about the problem.

You may want to play with velcro as an idea. I don't know how you attached the plastic cover. Nails and staples make stress points in the plastic and rip. Velcro distributes the stress. I have been using velcro in many of my projects.

dcarch

duajones · March 17, 2008

I am holding my breath as well, very windy today and we have a wind warning in effect tonight with gusts to 55 mph expected. Then possible strong thunderstorms and wind tomorrow.

Hairy Moose Knuckles · March 17, 2008

I'm with you guys. It's too wet to plow here. Plus, the wind is just awesome. My plants are ready for the ground, but I don't know when that will be.

kimpossible · March 17, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by BVGardener

Well, I'm holding my breath....the wind gusts today have been incredible. I did not plant anything this past weekend due to the really bad weather we are suppose to get late tonight and tomorrow. Planting was suppose to take place Wednesday. But my wife just called and said that a super strong wind gust came and ripped the plastic completely off of the one side of the hoophouse - the side the tomato plants are on.....dwarfs and all. So who knows what shape the plants will be in

This might just be end up being one of the smallest gardens yet for me....we will see.

Jay

How did your plants fare? I was wondering what type of soil you have (looks like alot of sand?)

BVGardener · March 18, 2008

The verdict.......no casualties. Everything is fine. I resecured the plastic on the one side and had that done by 11:00 last night. I probably could have left the plants in the hoophouse but gave them all a drink of water and moved them to a storage building These plants must be planted tomorrow. They are getting huge.

dcarch, I attached the plastic with roofing nails that have a round plastic piece the nail goes through instead of the typical metal. The main reason I used these is that I had a large quantity left over from a project many years ago and decided to put them to use. The achilles' heel of the hoophouse yesterday was the fact that after I had moved it, I never totally finished it as it previously was - I never reinstalled the clear panels that go between the two ridge poles.....just too much going on right now. And so I'm sure one of those 50 mph wind gusts came down at the right angle and when it hit those "cupped" halves of the hoophouse, something had to give. Velcro is a good idea.....would be nice to be able to peel back the plastic and resecure. My original plans was to take a 1"x2" furring strip and wrap the bottom and top ends of the plastic one or two times and then secure the furring strip with screws. That would also distribute the stress points evenly. But you know how it is when you get in a hurry and go the quick route.

Kim, I essentially have beach sand....only finer grained and in it's natural state, void of any nutients. It's not that way everywhere on my property but most of it is - a real struggle to build up with compost.

Everyone else survive the winds thus far.

Jay

BVGardener · March 18, 2008

The storms just hit a couple of minutes ago.....it's pretty rough out there.

Jay

creister · March 20, 2008

Those storms were very rough indeed. They passed through here on Monday into Tuesday morning. Apparently, several powerline poles were snapped in some 70+ mph straight line wind. At one point, the weather man was tracking 6 super cells on radar. Luckily, most veered away over rural areas. We did get 3.5 inches of rain.

March 12, 2008	#17
babylark Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lebanon, PA • Zone 6a Posts: 145	I had a tree taken down. I posted green firewood on freecycle and some guy came and cut it up and took it all away. He's using it to supplement his heat. I was glad it was gone and didn't have to pay the expensive tree guys to cut it up.. Great looking garden by the way. I guess I'm lucky to have horses that make LOTS of manure for me. The pile composts nicely all year long. It's black and gooey by Spring. I have several truck loads to move to my house soon. __________________ I can not be held responsible for anything typed above, as I believe my Corgis have learned to type!

March 12, 2008	#20
BVGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 542	Forgot to also add: I'll be taking a day off from work tomorrow to work on the gardens and my agenda will be to..... Finish reinstalling the garden fence Trim back the brush along the property line in back of the garden and along the one side. Start distributing the soil amendments and complete half the rows for growing tomatoes. Fill one compost bin with leaves to be used as mulch. I might add that I almost never complete a garden agenda. Jay

March 11, 2008	#16
Suze Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 3,027	I hope to start getting some plants in tomorrow as time allows. Of course, I'll start with the ones I have backups for first gulp. Nice looking setup, Jay - very organized.

March 12, 2008	#19
duajones Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Corpus Christi,Texas Z9 Posts: 1,996	Im in awe of you guys that grow so many plants. It makes my little garden seem so insignificant.

March 12, 2008	#22
creister Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Abilene, TX zone 7 Posts: 1,478	I can only grow about 35 plants and that is more than enough. I had talked myself into only 12 for this year, then 22, and ended up going with 34. Probably would have grown more if I had a place to grow them. That has got to be a lot of time working 150 tomato plants. I do believe you are correct when you say less is more. One day, I'll make myself try that with tomatoes.

March 17, 2008	#23
BVGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 542	Well, I'm holding my breath....the wind gusts today have been incredible. I did not plant anything this past weekend due to the really bad weather we are suppose to get late tonight and tomorrow. Planting was suppose to take place Wednesday. But my wife just called and said that a super strong wind gust came and ripped the plastic completely off of the one side of the hoophouse - the side the tomato plants are on.....dwarfs and all. So who knows what shape the plants will be in This might just be end up being one of the smallest gardens yet for me....we will see. Jay

March 17, 2008	#26
Hairy Moose Knuckles Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Zone 8 Texas Posts: 172	I'm with you guys. It's too wet to plow here. Plus, the wind is just awesome. My plants are ready for the ground, but I don't know when that will be.

March 18, 2008	#28
BVGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 542	The verdict.......no casualties. Everything is fine. I resecured the plastic on the one side and had that done by 11:00 last night. I probably could have left the plants in the hoophouse but gave them all a drink of water and moved them to a storage building These plants must be planted tomorrow. They are getting huge. dcarch, I attached the plastic with roofing nails that have a round plastic piece the nail goes through instead of the typical metal. The main reason I used these is that I had a large quantity left over from a project many years ago and decided to put them to use. The achilles' heel of the hoophouse yesterday was the fact that after I had moved it, I never totally finished it as it previously was - I never reinstalled the clear panels that go between the two ridge poles.....just too much going on right now. And so I'm sure one of those 50 mph wind gusts came down at the right angle and when it hit those "cupped" halves of the hoophouse, something had to give. Velcro is a good idea.....would be nice to be able to peel back the plastic and resecure. My original plans was to take a 1"x2" furring strip and wrap the bottom and top ends of the plastic one or two times and then secure the furring strip with screws. That would also distribute the stress points evenly. But you know how it is when you get in a hurry and go the quick route. Kim, I essentially have beach sand....only finer grained and in it's natural state, void of any nutients. It's not that way everywhere on my property but most of it is - a real struggle to build up with compost. Everyone else survive the winds thus far. Jay

March 20, 2008	#30
creister Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Abilene, TX zone 7 Posts: 1,478	Those storms were very rough indeed. They passed through here on Monday into Tuesday morning. Apparently, several powerline poles were snapped in some 70+ mph straight line wind. At one point, the weather man was tracking 6 super cells on radar. Luckily, most veered away over rural areas. We did get 3.5 inches of rain.