Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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November 10, 2018 | #46 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Zone 6 Northern Kentucky
Posts: 1,094
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Congratulations on the purchase.
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Mark |
November 10, 2018 | #47 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2013
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 2,052
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What's that suspicious looking plant in front of your tote?
The long white pipe from the tote is an overflow so that excess water does not pool at the foundation when we get hard rains. |
December 23, 2018 | #48 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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I think I've grounded myself a little bit better and reality is soaking in. I'm thinking of only going 50x50 this coming year and then double or triple that the following year, which I can get a head start on in 2019. I'm just too busy at work and I still have raised beds at my primary home. I will definitely till the first year and see what I need for amendments ... take it from there. I might be able to get by with a weekend rental of tiller for next year.
My boss is allowing me to work from home one week and be on-site the following for the coming year - this will be of great help to me once the days get longer. I should be able to get a lot of trees downed by the end of Spring. I'll see what my '98 Dakota can do for pulling stumps so I might not need an excavator for that part (rent if I have to after I assess the need). I am leaning toward using a fencing contractor for a 5' chain-link fence around the garden area (future space included). I'll install 3' netting above that to keep the deer out, but not sold on that entire idea yet as there will be many post-hole digging projects that will get expensive if I hire the labor or rent equipment. I'd much rather have a tractor with a 3-point auger for that but maybe I can get'r done with a 1 or 2 man auger. If I time things right and prep in advance, renting might be the way to go for clearing the land. I will eventually need an excavator to do some demo and fill-in work. I will also still need a long term log-splitter, snow plow, mower, etc ... but until I build a house on the land I will do what I can to get by on the equipment I currently own. I have a truck and trailer and can bring things back and forth, if needed. I will definitely not need snow removal equipment until I really need winter access. Been looking at the BCS tractors (https://bcsamerica.com/), which can handle a lot of my wish-list items, but not all. They are still semi-manual and I am getting older. |
December 28, 2018 | #49 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: SE PA
Posts: 972
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Quote:
Texans..... Sounds like a dream come true, rhines. Congratulations. I'd offer my services as garden security specialist, but you probably have some lined up... |
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July 28, 2019 | #50 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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Just wanted to post an update on the property. Haven't posted much in recent months. I had a heart attack a couple of months ago which prevented me from doing too much work in the early Summer (It's all good, have a stent now, but I'll live for while). Finally got a tractor delivered this weekend and have gotten so much work done that I couldn't have possibly done otherwise, amazing. The wife made me get the cab option where I didn't feel I needed it for the extra cost, but it turns out that the dealer never invoiced me for it so it was free! Air-conditioned/heated with defrost and front/rear wipers. So very happy with it. No garden on the property this year, but next year should be amazing, THE SOIL IS SO NICE! Pulling out old huge cement anchored posts and benches for horses from the previous owner and clearing trees and stumps with ease. I started doing everything manually and made little progress, but the machine makes it such child's play not sure that I could have done as much in a month than I just did this weekend alone. I had 5 weeks off from work, but unfortunately, the dealer took 7 weeks to assemble and deliver the tractor so I missed a lot of free opportunity, but I shall take advantage of every weekend from this point forward. Clearing a spot for a garage that will house the tractor and my other toys, then will clear the spot for the house to build next year. Temporarily, the tractor fits under the pavilion by inches of height to spare. I'm back to work now so I only have Saturdays to play and get things done! |
July 28, 2019 | #51 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,794
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rhines, I'm sorry to hear about the heart attack! Those stents are great though, my mom got one and is going strong 20 years later. Very pleased you are finally getting to dig about on that lovely ground. Cheers!
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July 29, 2019 | #52 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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Glad you made it through the heart attack.
Nice tractor too. The cab was a wise choice. |
July 29, 2019 | #53 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Near Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 1,940
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Glad you are feeling better - wow, a cab with AC! No stopping you now!
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July 31, 2019 | #54 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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Thanks for the well-wishes. Of course as I expected the dealer found out about their error ... LOL. I knew they would. We are still going through negotiations before I sign a new (corrected) contract even though I already have a signed sales contract on a delivered tractor and I have used the tractor for a full weekend already. I'm a reasonable person and don't want anyone to lose their job over a mistake but I won't pay a dime more than I was originally expecting to pay. For some reason they seem to be asking for much more than that and it is not acceptable - I might just tell them to come pick it up and cancel everything if we can't see eye-to-eye. Not the 1st issue I had with this dealer in the whole buying process and really fed up with them altogether. It's my sales guy and his poor communication skills that caused everything. Even during delivery, the driver was unloading it at the wrong address and I had to chase him down to stop it as it was coming down the ramp with nobody at that house home. Thankfully I happened to hear the truck back-up beepers and went to investigate (after already waiting for the delivery truck for 2 hours).
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August 1, 2019 | #55 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: SE PA
Posts: 972
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That sounds like a lot of fun...what a mess. A lot of time missed and now they want more than agreed? You better get up there and finish whatever needs doing this weekend.
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August 30, 2019 | #56 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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Just another quick update I've been spending a lot of time (when I am home) clearing smaller trees away from the larger trees so I can safely get in and cut. Many areas are very crowed with clusters of 3-6" diameter trees that are 40' tall surrounding the larger diameter trees making it difficult to get in safely with a chainsaw to take down the lager tree. Today I spent a couple hours clearing away another cluster from a spot that will eventually be part of my driveway. I noticed a somewhat larger tree very close to the target tree in the center and after clearing some of the smaller ones out that tree appeared to be very rotten and decaying. I raised my grapple up high and gave it a few love taps and thought to myself, this one is going to come down easy, it has a rotted core. A couple more taps up high and noticed that it broke off low on the truck. I gave it a big push into the cluster of smaller trees and backed up quickly. The main trunk hit the ground and there was an outpouring of thousands of hornets.... I am so thankful that I had a cab on that tractor! They chased me around for several hundred feet as I brought the debris to my burn pile. I let them settle for about 30 minutes and cleaned out some more of that area, they'll relocate somewhere else, I just hope I am not outside of the cab on the backhoe when I rediscover them.
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