My Little Tomato Garden A Photographic Journey

[alelover]

It seems the older I get the smaller my garden gets. Planted some Sweet and Genovese basil, a few Kirby cukes and of course tomatoes. San Marzanos, cherries and Better boys. Here are a few pics. I'll add more as the season progresses. Got started about a month late this year. They've only been in the ground 3 weeks.

See ya in a few weeks after we grow a little.

 

[beer-b-q]

Nice little plot... I like your irrigation system...

 

[alelover]

Thanks. It was cheap but it's effective.

 

[realtorterry]

   Looks fantastic

 

[roller]

Looks good...I have 12 plants myself and picked 16 tomatoes from them yesterday. It was the first big pick. Nice and red. I know that you can`t wait.

 

[pineywoods]

Looks great I'll look forward to more pics as they grow

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks great! Our season is just about over here down here. Have to wait until Nov. to plant more tomato's.

 

[alelover]

Thanks. How's your garden doing Piney?

 

[big twig]

Tomatoes look great. You can't get better tomatoes then ones you grow yourself!

 

[Bearcarver]

Nice tomato garden!!!

I only have 3 plants, as usual.

Nice irrigation system too!

I got a Buddy (big Bud drinker) who put a piece of 3" PVC in the ground, down to the roots, at each tomato plant.

He pours water in those PVC pipes---Works great! 

I told him to put ALL Budweiser in one of them, to see what happens. He was thinking about it.

Bear

 

[scarbelly]

Looks great man - My garden is getting overgrown with weeds - need to get out there and clean it up

 

[alelover]

Actually Bear I was at my friends on Memorial weekend and they always pour the beer over the rail on the deck into the rose bushes to empty the glass for the next tasting. Nicest rose bushes I've ever seen. Might work for maters too.

 

[chefrob]

It seems the older I get the smaller my garden gets.

LOL! yer not alone.........nice plot!

 

[venture]

ale, my garden got a lot smaller this year because I am getting older and the ups and downs are getting harder for me..  If I had your huge and beautiful back yard, I might make a mistake and plant more than I could do.  I have a more traditional drip system, and I wish my garden looked as good as yours.

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[tyotrain]

 

[alelover]

It's 2 weeks later now. Here's what we got. Remember I started a month late this year.

 My cukes.

Looking East.

Basil. Sweet and Genovese.

A little Bearview on the Genovese.

This is so irrigating.

See ya in a couple weeks.

 

[captturbo]

Where's the hot peppers? Like Smokin' Al said, our tomato season is winding down here in SW Florida. I still have several Cherokee Purple plants in containers producing but the heat is taking it's toll. The rainy season just won't kick in to break the heat.

As for using beer, I pour beer on my compost piles ... after I personally filter it.

 

[Bearcarver]

LOL---BearView of a plant !!  ---I almost missed that comment !

Thanks Scott !!

Bear Part #1

Now could one of you many Florida boys (like SmokinAl & CaptTurbo)please explain your tomato season---or seasons????????

I don't get it---I'm used to sneaking the little seedlings in just before Mothers' Day, and then keeping fingers crossed for NO FROST, so they don't get killed, so you don't have to plant again.

Then the end of our season comes in Fall when the leaves turn colors & start to fall, and the early frost puts a stop to the growing & ripening of the tomatoes.

You guys are confusing me with your season ending around June, and talking about planting again in November---What gives?

Thanks,

Bear Part #2

 

[captturbo]

It is a different world down here Bear. I grew up as a farm boy in NE Ohio and the family always had two acres of garden. We often did extend the toms past the first frost or two by covering the plants.

Now for down South:

I like to plant the tomatoes in late October or early November. The Summer heat and humidity usually breaks here in October so it's the time when I start getting some seedlings started. In truth you could probably carry tomatoes year long even through the Summer with the use of shade cloth but the heat and humidity brings on a battle with white flies and blights. If you stay on top of things with spraying you might keep a few going. Not Worth the effort to me.

Another battle which we Dixie gardeners have to fight is the rootknot nematodes. You higher latitude ground scratchers don't have this misery because you have good hard freezes of the ground to kill them off.

I can grow amazing in-ground gardens from Fall through Winter while the nematodes are dormant but for my Spring planting the nematode sensitive plants which include the maters, eggplants, and the okra have to be grow in containers. The eggplant and okra do well through the heat of  Summer so that is what I grow during that time.

Fall is the best time of all for us. That is when we plant the salad crops, greens, broccoli ... you can almost name it. In any case we have had two Winters of all time record breaking cold and it was a lot of work saving everything by putting lights under covers to keep the freeze at bay. This global warming is trying to freeze us to death?   

 

[Bearcarver]

Thanks for the run-down Capt !!!

Very interesting!!

Bear