Vegetable Garden

[snackdaddy]

So who here likes to grow vegetables? Its getting warm earlier than usual around here so my tomatoes are off to an early start. Last year I had 6 tomato plants and they product a ton of tomatoes. I was making a lot of salsa, giving some away, and even ended up tossing some out.

I also grow Anaheim peppers. I like them cuz they're milder than jalapenos. I always have to have a couple zuchinni plants and red bell peppers.

Anyone got any good tomato growing tips? I fertilized the ground this year with some steer manure. I also do things like mix a little epsom salt with water and spray it on the tomatoes. They like the magnesium. I also put eggshells in the hole when I first planted them. The also like the calcium.

Anyone got any other tips they'd like to share. I'm always looking for ways to improve my garden.

 

[CGI_Ram]

You had me at salsa.

 

[RAMSinLA]

I like to grow a garden. I grow a lot of veggies in pots because of a massive gopher problem. This year however because of the cost of water in California I decided to take a year off. Maybe just a few tomatoes. I also have blueberries and raspberries galore. It's lots of fun.

 

[Angry Ram]

When I was like, 11 years old I grew tomatoes and cucumbers.

Sadly our garden beds go rotten and had to be removed. Termites are a shitty thing to get man, really shitty.

 

[Dodgersrf]

So who here likes to grow vegetables? Its getting warm earlier than usual around here so my tomatoes are off to an early start. Last year I had 6 tomato plants and they product a ton of tomatoes. I was making a lot of salsa, giving some away, and even ended up tossing some out.

I also grow Anaheim peppers. I like them cuz they're milder than jalapenos. I always have to have a couple zuchinni plants and red bell peppers.

Anyone got any good tomato growing tips? I fertilized the ground this year with some steer manure. I also do things like mix a little epsom salt with water and spray it on the tomatoes. They like the magnesium. I also put eggshells in the hole when I first planted them. The also like the calcium.

Anyone got any other tips they'd like to share. I'm always looking for ways to improve my garden.

Throwing away tomatoes! I haven't had a good tomatoes in 20 years. Tomatoes at the store taste like bitter water.

 

[ozarkram]

Planted some heirlooms this year. Trying raised beds using old tires. Buddy of mine had good luck with raised beds last year. Anyone tried this?

 

[snackdaddy]

I like to grow a garden. I grow a lot of veggies in pots because of a massive gopher problem. This year however because of the cost of water in California I decided to take a year off. Maybe just a few tomatoes. I also have blueberries and raspberries galore. It's lots of fun.

Yeah, I live in cali too. I use a timer for my garden. I set it to water 15 minutes every 4 days. Seems to work just right. And the plants like a steady watering schedule.

 

[beej]

I love gardening. Did you can any of that salsa? We make homemade pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, and salsa. we also started pickling Jalepenos peppers. There's nothing like going to the pantry in January and pulling out some home made salsa.

 

[RhodyRams]

have almost 350 sq ft of garden space, not counting herbs and flowers

All our beefsteak tomatoes are started from seed, but some nights still below 40 here, so havent planted anything outside except lettuce cabbage peas and other cold weather plants

 

[cracengl]

I'm about to have to replace my tomatoes. I bought them really early because they were on sale and ended up planting them early too. They're not doing too hot. I also put them in and covered with plastic, which would be good except the plastic is like a beacon for ants. So I'm trying to get rid of ants before buying any new plants.

For tips, I'd look into compost tea. It is supposed to work really good. And also pruning.

 

[snackdaddy]

I love gardening. Did you can any of that salsa? We make homemade pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, and salsa. we also started pickling Jalepenos peppers. There's nothing like going to the pantry in January and pulling out some home made salsa.

Lol, salsa never makes it to January around here. If my garden produces like last year I'll be trying my hand at canning. Although I hear you should move your garden around. I have a dedicated spot for it.

 

[snackdaddy]

have almost 350 sq ft of garden space, not counting herbs and flowers

All our beefsteak tomatoes are started from seed, but some nights still below 40 here, so havent planted anything outside except lettuce cabbage peas and other cold weather plants

I haven't had good luck with the bigger tomatoes. Early girls seems to produce the best for me. Romas too. Don't have to worry about cold around here. It was in the 90's last week. Back down to the 80s this week.

 

[Force16X]

my girlfriend raised the basics, tomatoes, string beans, zucchini, yellow squash, lettuce and red / yellow peppers.( i cant eat green peppers). i liked the salads much more than the store bought varieties. suprisingly enough, she purchased bags of topsoil and planted the zucchini , squash and beans in them *credit goes to the youtube video she watched*, and they grew outrageously fast (which is a good thing since i like both.)

 

[beej]

some pics of our garden early last year. plus you can see the red chicken coop in the background

asparagus and herbs in the smaller beds

 

[Dagonet]

Planted some heirlooms this year. Trying raised beds using old tires. Buddy of mine had good luck with raised beds last year. Anyone tried this?

Old tires will leach their chemicals into the soil, or so I've read. Makes sense to me. I was going to use them to grow potatoes in this year but after further research declined. Good luck to you regardless. I've never used raised beds, but am going to try a small one this year.

Your in the Ozarks I take it? You should have some good access to horse or mule manure? If so, that stuff is great.

 

[Dagonet]

my girlfriend raised the basics, tomatoes, string beans, zucchini, yellow squash, lettuce and red / yellow peppers.( i cant eat green peppers). i liked the salads much more than the store bought varieties. suprisingly enough, she purchased bags of topsoil and planted the zucchini , squash and beans in them *credit goes to the youtube video she watched*, and they grew outrageously fast (which is a good thing since i like both.)

Mix that soil with some cow compost manure. Just saying.

 

[Dagonet]

I haven't had good luck with the bigger tomatoes. Early girls seems to produce the best for me. Romas too. Don't have to worry about cold around here. It was in the 90's last week. Back down to the 80s this week.

I did good with big tomatoes last year. Parks Whoppers were the best. It was my first year using mule manure too. The Romas.... Good God.. It was like the Chinese invading North Korea. Millions of the suckers which was good. We used them to make salsa, pasta and pizza sauce.

 

[ozarkram]

Old tires will leach their chemicals into the soil, or so I've read. Makes sense to me. I was going to use them to grow potatoes in this year but after further research declined. Good luck to you regardless. I've never used raised beds, but am going to try a small one this year.

Your in the Ozarks I take it? You should have some good access to horse or mule manure? If so, that stuff is great.

Thank you for the info. Don't know why I didn't consider the chemical aspect. Gonna try it this year. I grew up within a few miles of an Allied Chemical plant so I will chance it this once. And we do have plenty of manure here in the Ozarks. lol

 

[Dieter the Brock]

Me and the boy are into gardening - we had ants that love to invade the beds last year so we bought these things called gro-boats - which you can see in the pix - they are that olive green and I have them sitting on rail road ties
They are awesome but expensive as sin - like $300 a piece, but after last years disaster it was a no brainer if we wanted to have a garden
We are growing beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and watermelons
We just got done with lettuces

So this year we are doing rather well with these gro boats

 

[snackdaddy]

I did good with big tomatoes last year. Parks Whoppers were the best. It was my first year using mule manure too. The Romas.... Good God.. It was like the Chinese invading North Korea. Millions of the suckers which was good. We used them to make salsa, pasta and pizza sauce.

I planted mostly romas and early girls. But I did try one big one. I don't even remember the name, but it said the tomatoes get up to a pound each. I remember it beginning with a 'P' so it coulda been the one you mentioned So far its the smallest plant and only has two tomatoes started. The others are starting to grow quite a bit. I could probably count 50 tomatoes on the each roma. They're still green, but the weather's gonna start warming into the 90's real soon. The heat usually gets them going faster.

You use any particular method for the big ones? Whatever I'm doing hasn't been working. I folded some manure into the soil with my rototiller before I planted. But whenever I do big ones like beefsteak or big boy they never turn out that big or produce that many. I even keep to a steady watering schedule with a timer. I hear they respond better to a steady schedule.