Planting Tomatoes

Our tomatoes got a late start.
Oh, they were sown on time,
I just didn't get around to transplanting them until last week.
Hopefully, they'll have enough time to become laden with fruit!

A post-hole digger was used to make the holes for the seedlings.
In this clay, it helps to have something mighty sharp
to pierce through the surface.

With each planting, several amendments were added
to give them a good start.
Here, you can see eggshells, turkey poop (the fertilizer of choice),
coffee grounds and some super-rich compost.

Each supplement was added before transplanting the maters
to their permanent homes.

The tomatoes were planted up to the first set of leaves.
They can also be trenched,
laying them on their sides to encourage more root growth.
Since I wanted to do as little digging as possible,
I chose the traditional method of planting.

Newspaper was used to surround the stem,
and then mulch was added on top.
This is one way to keep weeds at bay,
while maintaining moisture and temperature.

With only 8 tomato plants set out,
it shouldn't be too difficult to keep them watered in.
Because the soaker hose isn't doing its job,
they will have to be hand-watered.
In the fall, the entire garden layout will be changed,
and a new form of irrigation set up.



With the stake-a-cages already in place,
the tomatoes will have ample support when they start their climb.

A few peppers and eggplant transplants were also added to the garden.
Several were placed in the recently created raised beds.

I also decided to plant a couple in the straw bales.
These bales are pretty well spent,
but I thought it would be fun to see how they did.
The straw is simply moved to the side,

and the plant is inserted, pushing the straw back into place.
Since the kale and lettuce did so well in the bales,
it will be curious to see how these do.

 

 In case you decide to use a post-hole digger,

just keep one thing in mind.

Move the soaker hose out of the way first!

My aim ain't what it used to be.

Lesson learned...