It was a wonderful week in the garden! Lots of sunshine and lounging around the backyard for Lucy the puggle princess. If there is one thing she loves to do this time of year it’s sun herself. 😉
Our tomato and pepper plants arrive and so those were planted…
Along with basil and a few more dwarf sunflower seeds in the garden beds.
I also started my cucumber, zucchini and squash seeds in containers.
This year my pumpkin of choice is the Musquee de Provence. Isn’t she a beauty? Not only is the pumpkin pretty tasty but it has a hard shell so it’s great for display purposes as well.
So far in the garden beds I’ve planted onions, lettuce, radish, garlic, potatoes, sunflowers and fava beans.
I’ve never grown sunflowers mingled with potato seeds before but I’m hoping it looks cool {and attracts bees}. Only time will tell I guess.
Lucy and Sybil, they make such a good team. These two, they are practically joined at the hip… and it’s absolutely adorable.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone,
~Mavis
Lisa Millar says
I spent the afternoon pulling one of my gardens apart!
So refreshing to see your beautiful space with all the new plants growing (and the lack of weeds!)
And yes – that pumpkin is a beauty!! Mine didn’t do so well last season… only got about 4! Never mind.
Your garden is really looking fabulous!
Mavis Butterfield says
I LOVE the lack of weeds! 🙂
Mel says
Do you plant tomatoes at the soil line of the pot, or do you trim the bottom leaves and bury the stem? Do you think it makes a difference?
We did the latter, but we have very hard clay soil, so it took us a full day to get 25 tomatoes and 5 tomatillos planted last weekend. We also bury a bunch of stuff in each planting hole, and each plant had already been growing in a half gallon pot, so these were serious holes. We skipped these steps last year (just planted from the nursery-sized pots, and slightly buried the stems but didn’t add amendments at planting), and it was a terrible tomato year for us, so I hope the elaborate planting pays off this year.
Dawn says
I always trim the bottom leaves and bury as deep as possible. It gives them a better root system since roots grow all along the buried stalk.
Farmer Phyl says
Mel sometimes adding amendments to the planting hole rather than they whole garden bed causes water to puddle around the roots. The amendments hold water but the hard clay becomes like an impenetrable bowl so the water won’t drain out. That may have played a part in poor tomatoes last year. It’s a lot of work and takes time to turn clay into loose crumbly soil; but it can be done. You could try planting daikon radishes in the early fall. They are like drills in the soil, growing down about 1-2 feet. In the spring, cut through the shoulder of the root, leaving the root in place to eventually decompose and become compost. Then just plant around the radish roots.
Mel says
I don’t think that’s the issue–the trouble actually occurred only when we didn’t add the amendments. Every year we’ve done it, they’ve done great. Last year, when we didn’t do this, the plants were small and unproductive.
The two plants that did okay last year were the ones I started from seed, so they were being transplanted from larger pots. My theory is that our clay is so hard, that by filling the planting hole with amendments and potting soil from the half gallon pot they were started in, we are effectively creating a large pot-size area in the ground. By the time the tomatoes fill that area, their roots are strong enough to deal with the surrounding clay.
And yes, we do use cover crops to loosen the soil. Clay is only present in a few areas, so my guess is there’s decent soil about 2.5 feet down, and that may be preventing any drainage issues.
Mavis Butterfield says
Like Mel, I bury them deep. 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
I bury the stem and YES, I think it makes a difference.
Mel says
Thanks! I think it helps ours as well. I had already transplanted them 1-2 times into larger pots as they started under grow lights, and I buried the stems then as well. Each transplant seemed to really accelerate growth. By the time I transplanted and buried the stems, the existing roots were already far beyond that any of tomato seedlings I’d ever bought.
bobbi dougherty says
What is the name of that hen house and is it expensive??
Thanks,
Mavis Butterfield says
You can find them at Omlet.us I got mine on sale for $404 delivered. They have different sizes though. We had the big one in the past and loved it.
Janice says
What is the container you have the three tomato plants in? I’ve never seen anything like that… Looks like they are perfectly packaged for transport…
Mavis Butterfield says
You mean the green clam shell packaging? The plants were mail order and arrived that way. Maybe google plastic clam shell for tomato plants and search under google images to find some and order.
Janice says
Very interesting. I learn something new from you on a regular basis! I’ve never order plants by mail order – only seeds… Not something I ever would have thought of doing. Very clever!
Tracy says
Mavis, may I ask the source of your tomato plants?
Mavis Butterfield says
The tomato and pepper plants were a gift from the peeps at P. Allen Smith. 🙂 They came from Sakata Seed corporation. I am testing out 6 varieties of plants {4 tomato and 2 pepper} in my garden this summer.