My garden is finally finished. Yesterday and today I planted
31 tomato plants, 24 Honey & Cream Corn stalks, and a patch of Leek. I
mulched the walkways and under the tomato plants with the grass I cut a few
days ago. The grass had started to break down and it was really hot inside the
pile. Besides, it stank like a rabbit cage. Anyone who ever raised rabbits
knows the aroma. I seeded the corn indoors on May 25th. Today, when I planted them, the plants were about 5 inches tall. I usually seed them outdoors, but they take a long time to sprout. This year, indoors, they sprouted after 3 days.
I pushed a toothpick into the ground beside every tomato
stem for protection against cutworms and I put those conical tomato cages over
each tomato plant. Then I pounded stakes into the ground and wrapped the whole
thing with plastic, as I did with my pepper plants a few days ago. I keep the
wraparound for a few weeks, until the plants are established. The plastic
protects the plants from those strong winds we sometimes get, but it won’t do
anything should we get hail. Then I’ll have to run out and throw a tarp over
the garden. The same happens if we get frost, but I think we should be safe
from frost now. Hopefully, we won’t get any hail.
I bought one of those hanging bags for tomatoes from the
Dollar Store for two bucks. They sell them everywhere else for $8.00. I planted
a Celebrity tomato. I hope it’s worth it and those tomatoes better be the
damndest best tomatoes I’ve ever grown. You get detailed instructions, but what they
don’t tell you is how heavy the planter is after you fill the bag with soil and
add one gallon of water.
I bought an 8ft hanger for $10.00 at Canadian Tire. They
were on sale. Being on the cautious side, I pounded two rods in an angle into
the ground to support the hanger. After filling the bag the rod was still
bending. I hope it doesn’t bend so badly that the container with the plant
touches the ground. I wonder how many people buy this upside-down planter and
use it only one year. The idea is quite good and logical, but is it worth the
trouble? The planter needs to be watered every day. That already sounds like a lot of extra
work.
I seeded quite a few peppers and tomatoes into flats
indoors, but this year I will keep close tab on the plants and see how well
they produce. If they don’t grow and produce to my satisfaction, next year I
won’t bother growing my own plants indoors. If you hit the right time you can
buy plants pretty cheap. I paid $1.19 for 6 tomato plants and the same price
for 6 pepper plants at Canadian Tire when they began selling plants for the
season. It was still early (the long weekend in May), but I kept them in our
sunroom and all the plants have grown and they were of a good size when I
planted them. Tall plants are fine. I strip the bottom leaves and plant the
root ball deep to let the plants develop roots along the buried stem. That way
the plants will have a good foothold in the soil. After the sale Canadian Tire
was selling their vegetable plants $2.39 for six. That is still reasonable. And
the plants are of good quality.
Most of my seeded vegetables have sprouted. Today, I could
almost watch the Beans popping out of the ground. Since it was quite warm, I
watered the garden as I planted. I used a watering can instead of a hose. It
takes a long time but it does a better job. Last night I had a sprinkler going
for a few hours to really soak the ground. It was quite dry. I use raised beds
and they tend to dry out faster than if you just plant on flat ground.
So now I need warm weather, some soft, steady rain at
regular intervals, no hail, no huge downpours, no strong winds, no more frost,
and I should have a fine crop of vegetables.
Just in case it doesn’t turn out that way, I have my
tarps, my burlap, and large pots on hand, ready to be used at a moments notice.
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