We planted today

smoke king

Banned
With all the "extraneous" yard work-hedge removal, 120' of new fence, sealing the pool deck and getting it ready to open, I haven't even started! (in all fairness to me, Mother Nature seems a little "cranky" this Spring)

Hopefully, with temps supposedly soaring into the high 80's this weekend, I'll get it in and mulched. Tomatoes, Jalapenos, Habaneros, Cukes, bell peppers, sweet basil, dill, and chives (the chives from last year have sprung to life so technically they are already "in") and maybe, maybe tomatillos. I have limited space, and the last time they (Tomatillos) got pretty out of hand!

On the positive, I have 80% of the flowers planted, so at least that is about done!

Pheww! Can someone remind again why I wanted to be a "homeowner"?:yum:
 

SilverSage

Resident Crone
They are coming in fast and furious now!
 

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leolady

New member
FM -

my best tip for hot areas is mulch mulch mulch. use grass clippings, no grass? - use straw - 4-6 inches deep. helps enormously with keeping an even soil moisture and not cooking the plant roots. I often buy straw bales, run it through my "leaf shredder" to make it a bit finer.

IMHO, mulch is the garden's best friend almost in any type of climate. I leave it on year round and add to it when it gets thin. Grass clippings, hay, straw, leaves, wet cardboard, newspaper -- nothing is safe from my hands to keep the weeds out and the moisture in.

And after a couple of years of thick mulching year round, you get this absolutely gorgeous black crumbly humus teeming with worms!

I can't wait til my dad's chipper shredder is repaired so that I can use wood chips and finely shred leaves and other garden refuse.
 

leolady

New member
Well, I cleaned out my aerogarden last night. The last batch of basil had finally bolted and I'm ready to start a new crop.

I have been so busy with my outdoor gardens I have not had a chance to deal with learning how to garden with my 2 new/used aerogardens!

Any help would be appreciated.:blush:
 

High Cheese

Saucier
Those tomatoes look great! I'm jealous now, but in a few weeks I'll be overwhelmed with them myself.

I just removed the lettuce as it started to bolt so now I have an open row. Can't decide what to plant, any ideas?
 

buckytom

Grill Master
plant spinach or mesculun mix.

they'll grow so fast over the next month or so you'll have a nice salad of micro or baby greens to go with your first tomatoes.

harvest handfuls of entire tiny plants and trim off the root as soon as they put out 2 or 3 sets of small leaves.
 

Mr. Green Jeans

New member
I've used grass clippings for many years with great success. Right on with the mulch call Leo! One caveat though, if treating your lawn for broadleaf weeds do not use the 1st mowing as a mulch. Tomatoes are ultra sensitive to herbicides.
 

Leni

New member
I harvested my first tomato three days ago. I looked at it and decided that it wasn't quite ready. A little later I saw that it was on the ground and SOMEONE had nibbled on it. That did it! I cut off the bad part and used it in a salad. I've had problems with mice in my garden for the first time starting late last year after 25+ years of gardening in my community garden. Glue traps are great in the house but I really hesitate to use them in the garden. I'd catch the lizards and who knows what other good critters. Since I also have red tailed hawks in the area I can't use poisons. I don't like using them on principle anyhow. Any ideas folks?
 

High Cheese

Saucier
I take the tomatoes off the vine when they are 50% red. There's a real small window when they are ripe on the vine before they drop.
 

Leni

New member
For those gardening in really hot areas try using shade cloth to protect veggies from the hot sun. It gets up to over 100 in the Valley and the bell peppers and tomatoes will get sunburned. Discarded window screens also work. I have a friend who has a very large garden up in Lancaster which is high desert. She built a structure using pvc pipe, put mist nozzels along the top, and she has a neat air conditioning/watering system. She also set up an irrigation system using the same pipe. Her mist system brings the temperature down between 10 and 15 degrees which is great for plants growing in 120 degree plus weather.
 
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ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
I take the tomatoes off the vine when they are 50% red. There's a real small window when they are ripe on the vine before they drop.

wow. about the only time I've had a tomato drop is if it split (at the top) from too much sudden water and then only if it was over ripe. well, other than the odd one that managed to hide . . .
 

Leni

New member
The flavor doesn't really develop unless you leave the tomato on the vine until it is ripe or very close to it. I don't know if the villain is a rat or a squirrel. Right now I have 30+ tomato plants and although I don't mind sharing some this varmint is taking more than his fair share. I'm debating between traps or glue traps. The harvest is only begining here. The tomatoes are small but tasty.
 
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buckytom

Grill Master
if your plants are robust, or it's getting towards the end of the season, you can always snap off the branch that the still green tomatoes are growing on to help them ripen longer.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Bummer, Cheese! Did you not want to try insecticide?

Lee
 

Leni

New member
I dust my cabbage family plants with thuricide which is a natural disease of caterpillers. The creepy crawlies don't have a chance and you never see them.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
I dust my cabbage family plants with thuricide which is a natural disease of caterpillers. The creepy crawlies don't have a chance and you never see them.

Where does one buy thuricide, Leni?

Lee
 

Leni

New member
Today I harvested a dozen huge and very tasty tender carrots, a half dozen beets along with brown and red onions and yellow wax beans. The sungold tomatoes are producing and others are right behind them. I planted more carrots, beets, radishes, peanuts for fun and will plant more eggplant, okra, and leeks.
 

Leni

New member
Just saw your request Qsis. You can buy it at any nursery or place that carries nursery products. I like it because it is organic, a natural disease of caterpillers.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Ah, thanks!

Actually, I just posted the question tonight, a little while ago, so your reply was very prompt! :)

Lee
 

Leni

New member
Does anyone have a good way of keeping squirrels out of fruit trees? They got everyone of my apricots and donut peaches this year.
 
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