What are you planting this year?

[Julie]

I think that I'm going to stick with determinant tomatoes this year. I'm trying a new adventure and am going to put my garden out to our field in the corral. The water is irrigation water so it's just a one time fee. The calves look like they are fertilizing it real well.
Anybody have any ideas on how to get rid of moles? I've got moles in my grow boxes and they just about destroyed my garden last year.

[signseeker]

I'm going to try some old standby tomatoes and some new ones. I truly want tomatoes coming out of my ears.

I heard someone call in to a gardening radio show about moles and I think there's some kind of smoke bomb or something you can put down there and nail 'em.

[phylm]

I think that I'm going to stick with determinant tomatoes this year. I'm trying a new adventure and am going to put my garden out to our field in the corral. The water is irrigation water so it's just a one time fee. The calves look like they are fertilizing it real well.
Anybody have any ideas on how to get rid of moles? I've got moles in my grow boxes and they just about destroyed my garden last year.

Haven't tried this on moles yet, because they haven't moved into our garden area, but whenever woodchucks decided that our green peas were a tasty treat up north, we sought out both ends of their holes. Then, with an armful of old rags, and a gallon of gasoline, we would stuff a rag down each hole, pour some gas on it, and shovel and tamp down some dirt on it. Presto! Goodbye, rodent! You don't light the gasoline, just soak the rag with it, and the fumes do the work. We tried the smoke bombs that were advertised to get rid of them, but they were just an excerise in futility.

I have seen some mole traps advertised, as well as some whirly-gigs on poles that thump in the wind, and are supposed to discourage them. I'm skeptical about both.

Wish I could post a photo of my husband standing beside his patch of 24 tomatoe plants last spring. They towered over him--more than seven feet high. A bird built a nest in them. They were indeterminant, and I have more tomato canned than we can eat in five years!

[prairiemom]

I just got my Baker Creek catalog yesterday and I only got to look at it for about 5 minutes. Saving it for the bleak weeks in Jan so I can get through the rest of winter. It really fills my heart with garden lust. :001_tt1:

We don't have moles, but we have pocket gophers. For that we just put a barrier up--buried 1/2" mesh hardware cloth. Worked like a charm. It was so satisfying to see their tunneling end right at the garden fence. (Pocket gophers seal up their holes and dig double tunnels--a false one and a real one--so we've never been able to do the gas them out thing.

[Julie]

Wish I could post a photo of my husband standing beside his patch of 24 tomatoe plants last spring. They towered over him--more than seven feet high. A bird built a nest in them. They were indeterminant

That is what my indeterminants do. I tried to tie them up with string last year but they got too heavy. My cages are not tall enough. How did you stake them up. I do like the indeterminants but my husband was overwhelmed with the size of them and how hard they were to manage.

[phylm]

That is what my indeterminants do. I tried to tie them up with string last year but they got too heavy. My cages are not tall enough. How did you stake them up. I do like the indeterminants but my husband was overwhelmed with the size of them and how hard they were to manage.

Hubby used cages and put 6 foot metal fence posts down through them. When they start up over the cages, he tied them to the posts with baler twine.

[signseeker]

6' fence posts stick out of the ground 4 feet, right? Is that the highest you went? Or do you mean the posts are actually sticking 6 feet out of the ground?

[cHeroKee]

6' fence posts stick out of the ground 4 feet, right? Is that the highest you went? Or do you mean the posts are actually sticking 6 feet out of the ground?
I think phylm forgot to tell you that they welded 4 six foot post end to end and then drive then down in the ground about 15 feet. Just to be safe. :l0 (43):

[phylm]

LOL!!

They only need to be in the ground 6 or 8 inches to hold the tomatoes. Yes, the plants went beyond the top, but we let them lop over. Had enough tomatoes.

[Earthling]

When my cat was alive he kept out the moles. One winter was a cold one and he stayed in the house a lot - come spring the lawn/yard was a mess from them. After that we encouraged him to go outside all winter. Don't you just love cats! :l0 (50):

Our tomatoes also get huge. We got some of the wire mesh they put down to pour cement on top of - made it into cages - works great - very sturdy!

[Julie]

I have cats too and I can put sticks from my raspberry bushes down their holes and they go away to another place and then sneak back when I'm not looking and the cats don't seem interested in them. I'm going to have to get real aggressive this year with them though.
Phylm- what variety of tomatoes do you plant?

[hiccups]

I have cats too and I can put sticks from my raspberry bushes down their holes and they go away to another place
:eek: I'd go away, too.

[signseeker]

But would you sneak back when she's not looking? :yesnod:

earthling- You mean re-bar? My dad used that across the tops of two tomato cages on top of each other. His motto was, "This is gonna' last through the Millenium!" :frown2:

[Earthling]

not rebar. It is standard concrete wire mesh - has about a 5-6" opening which makes it nice to pick the tomatoes. You need a heavy pair of lineman's pliers to bend it into a circular cage. That also gives you 5-6" of prongs to put in the ground. We put them next to each other so they give each other support. Train the tomato as it grows to stay within the cage. Our tomatoes got over 6' high. The wire comes in about 5-6' widths.

[hiccups]

But would you sneak back when she's not looking?

Only for revenge.

:rofl: I had a 5 minute laughing fit when I read Julie's post last night. Not sure why I was that tickled, but there you have it.

[signseeker]

I'm still unclear about what, if anything, people do to support the tomatoes beyond a height of 5 or 6 feet. :skep:

[phylm]

I'm still unclear about what, if anything, people do to support the tomatoes beyond a height of 5 or 6 feet. :skep:

Um-mm, you can snip off the tallest growth, and the plants will put out more side shoots that will produce well. Or, you can just let them lop over. Not a big problem. A bigger problem is getting them to grow that large, hon.

[cHeroKee]

I'm still unclear about what, if anything, people do to support the tomatoes beyond a height of 5 or 6 feet. :skep:
Might want to use the 10' deer fencing. Cut to make a circular cage around the plant.

[Cassiopeia]

I am not planting a darn thing! I hate gardening, and I really don't care much for veggies either.

My husband on the other hand...is a Master Gardener. I tease him that gardening is his first love and I am his second. This week he planted Spinach and Kale (oh joy...). Yes, he gardens year round. Because we are a two income family (by necessity) he does the cooking, and he is on a health kick...sigh.

If it grows in our climate (and even if it doesn't) my dh will try to grow it.

I know I should be grateful...and if he could grow Chocolate in the garden I would be! Of course, there was the "chocolate mint" he planted for me once...THAT was cool...the whole mint garden he made for me was cool. Peppermint, spearamint, chocolate mint, lemon balm...and on and on. Ok, I confess having a Gardner for a husband does have it's perks.

[Earthling]

I am not planting a darn thing! I hate gardening, and I really don't care much for veggies either..

I love an honest woman! :l0 (63): Now why couldn't God have made chocolate do what veggies do for our bodies? sigh . . .

[signseeker]

A bigger problem is getting them to grow that large, hon.

Haven't had that problem. We have really good soil at our place. Makes me look better than I really am. :l0 (52):

[signseeker]

So has anyone started seeds or made seed orders or done anything yet?

I need to put an order in. First I need to inventory the seeds I have. I'm planning to plant a lot of the 1/2 used seed packets that I've got in the bank.... getting things straightened out and organized. I'm going to plant more lettuce/brassicas this time and start rotating beans through the garden area, keeping track of where I plant everything. I also plan to buy a lot of the 20cent packs from WalMart. And plant some potatoes from WalMart - I should buy them pretty soon to let them start to sprout.

Last year was not a big canning year for some reason, I guess I was feeling kinda' blah about it most of the time, but this year I hope to do a lot.

[hiccups]

I don't know for sure what all I'm planting this year, but I do not I'm not planting zucchini or yellow squash after last year's epic losing battle of the squash bugs.

[arbilad]

I ordered a non-hybrid seed pack from Internet Grocers. It has most of what I want, but I may still buy some additional seed packs as soon as stores around here start selling them. Anyway, I thought that the seed pack was a pretty good value.
High on my list of what to plant is pumpkins, tomatoes, and peppers.

http://www.internet-grocer.net/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=1400

[arbilad]

BTW, has anyone ever used a drip irrigation system? How hard is it to use? My garden didn't do as well as it could have last year because it is a community garden plot, and I couldn't always get over there to water it. That's bad in an arid climate.
I was hoping to set up a drip irrigation system on a timer. How hard is that to do? For a twenty by twenty plot is it something that I'm going to spend hours setting up? Even if it took me hours to do, I might do it because it would save me daily trips. Then I'd just go by to weed, and you don't have to do that daily.

[mgriffith]

So has anyone started seeds or made seed orders or done anything yet?


I'm still looking over all the seed catalogs. Buy something from one, everyone else gets you on their mailing list too!

I'm planning on putting in a bunch of bush beans this year and potatoes, along with the normal romaine lettuce and some other stuff...maybe some corn again.

Mark

[Julie]

I was hoping to set up a drip irrigation system on a timer.
I put some soaker hoses on a battery timer that I bought at Lowes last year. It worked great and I didn't worry about that garden spot getting watered.

[phylm]

I don't know for sure what all I'm planting this year, but I do not I'm not planting zucchini or yellow squash after last year's epic losing battle of the squash bugs.

Try some pyrethrum maybe? Organic insecticide. I'm growing mine.

[Dolcezza]

who was asking about tall tomato plants over 5 feet? When they are very tall, one can build a little pergola type roof so they can go up, then over, then trail down. In some websites I saw tomato plants being planted upside down and they trail happily and look good, too - plus they don't get as many slugs, rotten roots or most earth bugs!

[Ligure]

BTW, has anyone ever used a drip irrigation system? How hard is it to use? My garden didn't do as well as it could have last year because it is a community garden plot, and I couldn't always get over there to water it. That's bad in an arid climate.
I was hoping to set up a drip irrigation system on a timer. How hard is that to do? For a twenty by twenty plot is it something that I'm going to spend hours setting up? Even if it took me hours to do, I might do it because it would save me daily trips. Then I'd just go by to weed, and you don't have to do that daily.


Just do it. It's worth it. That is if you can afford it. Aside from the timer, they are really coming down in price. I strongly advocate getting a battery operated timer. I tried the battery operated timer that has a schedule and it made the garden successful last year.
On drip irrigation: Depending on your preference I would get inline emitters. You can find stuff at http://www.dripworksusa.com/ for the fashionable easy kind or at your local Home Depot.

Ligure

[prairiemom]

26 different catalogs this year. But I'll be ordering from my favorites: Totally Tomatoes, Baker Creek, Seeds of Change, Territorial Seeds and Meadowlark Seed Company.

Totally Tomatoes has the best selection and prices for heirloom tomatoes
Baker Creek is the best catalog by far, just the prices are a little steep.
Seeds of Change they have a couple herb seeds that I want.
Territorial has the best prices and the best selection of heirloom brassicas outside of Baker Creek.
Meadowlark because it is run by the DECA club at our local high school.
This year I will also order from Shumway because they are the only ones that have Jerusalem Artichoke, which I want to plant.

[phylm]

I mentioned "Jerusalem Artichoke" to a sister who is well prepared and living on their prep and what they produce, and she had never heard of it. After I explained what they are, and how rapidly they propagate, once established, she's going to order some, too.

So am I, as we are starting our gardens from scratch this year. The Jerusalem Artichokes are going to be planted in the corner of a fence, though, because they will consume a garden area in a few years. They are truly a survival food, though.

[arbilad]

What do you guys think of this hose timer?

http://www.mrsoakerhose.com/timer.htm

[Noahs ARK]

What do you guys think of this hose timer?

http://www.mrsoakerhose.com/timer.htm


VERY cool. I'm starting to pay more attention to solar-operated stuff. This is definitely something I'd buy!

[Noahs ARK]

I had to research Jerusalem Artichokes. I've seen them in the store, but knew nothing about them.

One article says they grow wild & multiply, but have to be dug up and moved or they aren't as good the next year. I wonder if we couldn't just add compost to keep the soil good vs digging & moving?

This is the info I was looking for -- Jerusalem artichoke will grow in most garden climates. It prefers dry sunny locations, but will tolerate partial shade.

Now that I know they can tolerate partial shade, I may try planting some.

[signseeker]

I bought some of the 20cent WalMart seeds. I bought mainly lettuce/carrot/broccoli stuff that I don't have saved seeds for. Two things I noticed... the 20cent seed display was about 1/3 the size of last year, and the veggies made up only about 25% of the display.. the rest being flowers. I bought all the sweet corn seeds.

I'm going to try to have a dedicated "salad patch" and see if it will come up each year... I swear I posted that already, but I couldn't find where...

I have a sac of potatoes that I'm going to let sprout and plant next month... my experiment with planting "store-bought" potatoes... we shall see...

[tracie]

I'm still unclear about what, if anything, people do to support the tomatoes beyond a height of 5 or 6 feet. :skep:

In South Louisiana, we routinely had tomatoes growing to 6-7 ft. We use either wood tomato stakes. If tomatoes are planted in between the posts of a clothes line, you could run a wire or string to the clothesline wire.

[Noahs ARK]

I'm going to try to have a dedicated "salad patch" and see if it will come up each year... I swear I posted that already, but I couldn't find where...


My mom has a dedicated cherry tomato patch. Every spring the 'volunteers' come up and she has beautiful plants. I don't think she's bought a cherry tomato plant in years.