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Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.

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Old May 6, 2018   #46
SQWIBB
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Fantastic, what a great garden.
Your one bed is about the size of my entire yard.
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Old May 7, 2018   #47
taboule
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Thanks everyone.

Nan, I also thought about a groundhog, at a previous house we had they were always digging up the yard. Never saw them once here, not that they're not around. I'll just be more careful going forward, and will try to close the bigger gaps in the fence. Luckily I always grow more than I need.

20180505_111025_resized.jpg

DW used to chide me for starting so many plants. She was happy on this occasion that I had the extras.
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Old May 7, 2018   #48
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The new beds look awesome. Good thing you have extra tomatoes!
Around here you can usually tell what animal bit something by the type of cut they made. Rabbits make a diagonal cut. Moose leave a chewed end. Not sure about groundhog and others, as we don't have em. I hope it stays away from your garden, whatever it is!
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Old May 9, 2018   #49
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Thank you always Bower for your encouragement. I'll forge ahead and be careful about tightening up my perimeter, enjoy what I have, then not worry too much about the critters.

Now I thought I was overdue in tackling a critical part of the project: watering. I've gotten used to drip irrigation in my previous gardens, permanently setup with timers -anything to decrease my labor and maximize production, by ensuring good, timely and dependable watering. For the first two boxes, I couldn't wait to start planting, so had them filled and got in the ground as soon as I could, before setting up the irrigation. I didn't forget that step ;-) Now that all bed frames are done, it makes sense to lay out at least the under-ground plumbing before filling the beds with dirt -much easier ;-)

Turned out the connection into the already filled bed (the L) was tricky. I had to move some of the dirt, even uproot a poor little lettuce that started feeling at home, so I could snake in the water pipes.
first-cut.jpg

I saved the strip of grass I had removed, then jammed it back in to cover the pipe. How fun would it be if it was any easier?

after.jpg

I briefly considered using the flexible black tubing typically used in drip irrigation -I had an ample supply of tubing at hand, and it would have been much easier to snake in under the frames and into the beds. But then I opted for the heavier duty pipes shown: 1) I didn't have the nicer fittings (screw-in, removable, vs press-in elbows and tees) and didn't have time to order and get them delivered, and 2) I wanted a heavier duty system, something I could leave permanently under full pressure if needed. I wanted that flexibility.

to be continued...

Last edited by taboule; May 9, 2018 at 10:38 PM.
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Old May 9, 2018   #50
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After developing my technique on that first connection, the second one got easier. Vertical risers left long and proud, to be cut later when making the final connections within each bed. I wanted to get the harder part of connecting the various boxes together first, and get them ready for filling with compost. The above surface part of the system can follow anytime thereafter.

getting easier.jpg

One thing I checked for when I started the project is the in-ground sprinkler system (for the lawn). I guessed that the beds may end up covering at least one or two heads -but couldn't tell where they were. We were still getting cold/freezing nights when I decided I had to know -and turned on the system. Indeed, one of the rotors was inside one of the boxes -and I had to deal with it. Simple enough I'd dig it out and relocate it outside the bed -I didn't simply want to bury it

sprinkler.jpg

I had this planned and picked up some parts yesterday from the Depot -with 1/2" fittings. It turned out this rotor is massive, with 3/4" inlet. Powerful system, the rotor head is a full 3" under the surface when off, in hard packed dirt and thick lawn. Yet it pops off with a thick cap of mud and packed grass after being buried for 7 months. The pipe was about 10-11 in deep in the ground, with many pebbles around.

Back to the store tomorrow to buy more parts and continue the layout.
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Old May 10, 2018   #51
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Wow, you are making such pretty and practical gardens, great job!!!
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Old May 10, 2018   #52
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I admire your neatness. You garden pretty & I garden ugly, but the maters are tasty either way.

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Old May 19, 2018   #53
taboule
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b View Post
I admire your neatness. You garden pretty & I garden ugly, but the maters are tasty either way.

Nan
Nan, what you see is one side of me, here's a pic of the older/previous garden a week ago, before I started prepping it for planting. It won't be as neat, but as you say, the tomatoes dont care.
61 Nahant.jpg
It's at an older property, far from here, so will only plant there easy stuff, mostly tomatoes for my sauce supply. Already put in a couple dozen plants and a couple of bags of seed potatoes. Not done yet.

Back to this garden however: landscapers have been busy catching up with all their customers as we've had lousy weather and everyone is behind. Finally promised me to come over today and finish filling the boxes. Forecast however was for rain saturday and thunder showers sunday. I prayed for a break in the weather as I wanted to get the beds filled, so I can continue with my plantings. My babies were getting crowded with cabin fever in their solo cups.

Day started sunny and nice, the guys showed up and finished by noon. About 10 yards of compost in 3 beds, filled to the rim (as I expect settling.) Then as it started raining, I went out and planted 16x toms in the far bed. I got soaked to the bone, but it felt good.
finally.jpg

tbc...
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Old May 19, 2018   #54
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These were planted a week ago, now growing like crazy, big and wide with stiff stems.
SOTW.jpg

It looks like lots of room between them, but they'll fill it out in no time.
getting bigger.jpg

Here's Brassica Row, with peas on the fence edge in background, beans in foreground.
brassica row.jpg

tbc...
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Old May 19, 2018   #55
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Last work I did before filling the boxes was to setup the underground plumbing for drip irrigation. Each bed has its own independent supply, with shutoff valve, for maximum flexibility in setting separate watering schedule per bed (if needed.)
water lines.jpg

A bit overkill probably but it was fun and better than office work.
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Old May 19, 2018   #56
Harry Cabluck
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Nice work, very nice layout. Impressive.
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Old May 25, 2018   #57
taboule
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Thanks Harry.

Long weekend starting in another couple hours for me, planning to finish all planting and put in the drip irrigation. We're expecting a couple days in the mid 80s.

More trouble the past week. A very stout tomato plant (SOTW I think) snapped right at the base, from strong wind I suspect. First time ever that i saw something like this, very strange. Still connected by a thread, and curious to see if it lives -it's wilting already but can recover. I have many more to replace it, but cant get myself to pull it out it was so robust and healthy.

Worse, most of the small cucumber plants have been attacked by a small beetle like bug that ate/perforated all the small leaves. At least half a dozen plants will probably
die. It happened fast, in just 2-3 days that I didn't notice.

On the good news side, we already harvested 2 salad dishes from the lettuce, i missed that taste.

Last edited by taboule; May 25, 2018 at 03:08 PM.
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Old May 26, 2018   #58
Banadoura
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Those are some awesome garden pictures Taboule, love your raised beds!

quick question, don't tomatoes require at least a foot in depth? If you kept the grass beneath, they won't be able to dig deeper with their roots this year.

Last edited by Banadoura; May 26, 2018 at 09:58 AM. Reason: question
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Old May 26, 2018   #59
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Looking good.

Worth
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Old May 26, 2018   #60
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Roots can go through moist compacted dead grass.


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