Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Weekend Update 2007-08-20 Cool Weather and Odd Compost Gleanings
It's over five feet long, producing cute little tomatoes and very
thirsty. Nothing has ripened yet from here, though.
The Japanese Tomato Rings, on the other hand - have been producing very
well. Seems I have two different type of squash I'd never grown before
in the top of the JTR, as seen below:
The Yellow squash I'd never grown before, though they do taste good.
Could be a seed from a hybrid, I'll have to look back in my seed
catalogs to see if my yellow squash were F1 hybrids. The acorn squash
(I'm guessing) has never been grown or even bought/forgotten/tossed into
the compost heap that I remember, so it'll be interesting to see if the
fruits mature and what they become. I have a couple of others that are
growing in the older of the two compost heaps, and one that made it into
my asparagus - which will be removed one way or another - since it's
shading out my favorite veggie.
After looking over what's planted where, it seems I'd planted the black prince in the garden, and the roma around the 19"JTR. So much for using popsicle markers, next time I'll use different color pots... and markers... and maybe a tag or two.
Meanwhile my other tomato newbie: Matt's Wild Cherry are popping up like
crazy. They're the perfect size for Barbies and Bookcover Boys the world
over. I have one plant in a small Folgers Coffee container that's stayed
rather small, another in the garden that's a little larger, and one in a
5 gallon planter that's out of control. All taste great. I added about
one can of coca-cola to one watering for each plant (one can per plant)
and 2 liters to the JTR's. Turns out you don't need to use the soda,
it's the sugar that other beneficial organizms utilize, as well as the
tomato plant itself. I would not recommend pouring a can of coke right
on the plant, or even on the roots, but pour a diluted solution around
the plants directly into the JTR should be fine, though). from http://www.backyardgardener.com/tomato/experts.html
"...Tony Kienitz, author of The Year I Ate My Yard, suggests spreading a
half pound bag of sugar over the garden and covering it with a thick
layer of organic compost. He says the sugar kicks all the beneficial
soil microbes into high gear, which then help control the damaging
nematodes. Likewise, try drenching the area you intend to plant with a
solution of one-half cup sugar in one gallon of water. Other sources say
the sugar dries the nematodes out. ..."
Also found a link
regarding using coke along with dish soap at http://www.citynews.ca/blogs/frankieflowers_2423.aspx
along with some other home recipes worth a perusal.
That's all for now, hopefully next weekend update will be on the weekend. We're getting up to the beginning of the school year at work, so that's where most of my energy's going, but grateful to have a family that loves the garden as much as I do to come home to.