finally got most of my tomatoes out

[JRinPA]

It has been too hot and humid for me this past week to really want to work outside, but it seems like I've been out every day. I got my slicers in at the comm garden along with most of my peppers. I still hadn't gotten the old backyard garden planted with my sauce tomatoes, though, and it nearly end of May...so I went out to do it this afternoon and was just stunned by the heat, bright sun, and lack of wind. I kept at it, but, had do this, had to that, back and forth, walk in the house, decide to get a drink, go back out and can't find the vise grips. Back to the house, etc.

Last year I had pole beans in the garden, and the 7ft tall cages were still up, and still covered in bean vines... So one a time I pulled them (rebar zip tied to cages, vise grips for twisting and pulling the rebar) and immediately retreated to the shade under the pear tree (still have not thinned the pears), and crushed/pulled those bean vines off. I found one bit of hard won data to pass on - pole bean vines wind tight on the CRW wire, but are notably easier to break off if you start at the bottom of the cage. As I broke off the lower part, the next grid was easier, it loosens up somehow, the way they grew against gravity. Working from the top down, each grid is just as hard as the last. So break the vines from the bottom - up. I was thinking a drill with a wire brush might work well too, but I got in a rhythm and just did it with bare hands.

After they were all done, I sprayed the cages with bleach. Read about it long ago, never did it before. It has been two years since these cages saw tomatoes, as well. We'll see if it matters - I have my doubts. They'll still get start blight in 2nd or 3rd week of July like always. I did rinse out the sprayer well after using bleach in it. I hope water was enough, I didn't use soap.

Then I realized it is now or never to trim the arbor vitae behind the garden. I can't use an electric trimmer too well on them, or it will cut holes in them that won't fill back in, the way arbor vitae grow. There are two kinds, the old coarse yellow/green American and another, greener, softer one, that were replacements from when my dad burned a few originals down with the burn barrel (and a jerky chip-shouldered neighbor called his drinking buddies at the fire department to make a stink even though it was fully extinguished). They are a nuisance as a property fenceline and I hate them but they are the only fence there. So I used a sickle, bypass pruners, and a scissor/squeeze pruner. Eating and breathing thule pollen the whole time. Got them back somewhat, took at least an hour.

Finally I started raking the garden. Three raised rows. When pulling the cages, some plants I never saw before were there grown into the cages with big pea type pods. SEEK app called it "wild radish". Is it last years daikon? I put daikon in as a cover crop last fall. The roots were shaped right. I'm thinking this is what it looks like the second year? Another plant in there is being called "common mugwort" by SEEK. Sounds like something from harry potter. I pulled it all and tried to get the roots dug out. That stuff is all over the comm garden, too, and in an asparagus patch over there. I have no idea how to get rid of it there. I pulled all of it last year during a rain, and wood chipped it heavily, and it came back seemingly worse.

I then shredded all the raked stuff and arbor vitae trimmings and by time that was done, it was getting dark. So much for planting tomatoes this afternoon... I took the broadfork and re-bucked the rows back to nice and airy. Then it was dark. Supposed to rain all day tomorrow; I really wanted to get the tomatoes in today.

So I got a headlamp and bug spray and turned on the front light. I took 9 wheelbarrow loads of good 5 year compost (sitting in my driveway and blocking the jon boat since early May) down to the garden, depositing three loads on each 12 ft row. This was all done with headlamp. No backyard light. The 9 yo halogen bulb went dead well over a month ago; walmart LED spotlight bulb broke in half during the replacement and lodged in the light fixture. I was not able to remove the broken LED base that night with two sets of pliers, and I have not been up the extension ladder since.

I raked the now composted rows kind of level with a hoe (the rake got...damaged...in a stress relief event a few hours before). I have 12 cages and 5 sauce types. I figured 4 ft on center for the in row cages. That made the front and back cages have to stretch a bit off the raised row ends but that is okay. I got the centers figured and planted 3-4 tomatoes at perimeter for each cage, same types sharing a cage. So I will probably double/triple stem each plant until I get overwhelmed. Then pray for early frost to put me out of my misery.
4 cages per row
Row 1 Costoluto Genovese x3 then Fauxpice in back
Row 2 Mtr Delight x1 then AP x2 then Fauxpice in back
Row 3 Estiva x 3 then Fauxpice in back

I only had six estiva but they are huge, so they are only 2 per cage while the others are 3-4 and the Mtr Delight had 5. All the tomato plants were "pre trenched" in lengthwise-cut milk jugs.

We shall see how the costoluto Genovese do this year. I considered putting the CG across the front on all three rows but changed my mind. It didn't seem "fair" to the others? Fauxpice go in back because they stay on the vine just fine, and they seem to have a sparse foliage when they get too much sun. This is planting in the dark logic, the hot, windless dark. I dreaded going in the hot house, that was half of it. It was still 76F outside when I came in before midnight and still 80F in the kitchen even though I had the fan sucking through since dark. Fireworks were going off around dark, and it is really dry around here, so of course there was a fire truck tearing through town just after dark. Surprise, surprise.

I don't have the cages on yet, they are in the yard for now. I'll probably cover the tomatoes for a couple weeks with agribon to let them establish well, then install the cages when they are really starting to grow in mid June. Get them setup right away with one stem on each vertical wire and relentlessly prune all suckers after that.

I'm just glad it all got done, probably be sick tomorrow from the stupid thule pollen.

[Seven Bends]

It has been too hot and humid for me this past week to really want to work outside

It has been a weirdly miserable spring here. Threat of rain most days, lots of drizzle and sprinkles and brief showers, just enough rain to ruin lots of gardening days and make it impossible to till, but not enough to be useful. And the gray damp days are interspersed with 88-91 degree days with bright sun and high humidity, too hot to work comfortably, especially when you've become accustomed to drizzle. I've had trouble getting the garden in this year, still working on it. I'm behind by several weeks.

Another plant in there is being called "common mugwort" by SEEK. Sounds like something from harry potter. I pulled it all and tried to get the roots dug out. That stuff is all over the comm garden, too, and in an asparagus patch over there. I have no idea how to get rid of it there. I pulled all of it last year during a rain, and wood chipped it heavily, and it came back seemingly worse.

Common mugwort has invaded our community garden plots in recent years. It's a horrible weed, hard to dig out, with devious roots that plunge deep and spread far. When you try to dig them out, the roots break up into small pieces, each of which can root a new plant. I definitely wouldn't advise shredding it unless you're going to burn it or you're absolutely sure your composting will kill everything. I bag it all and put it in the dumpster.

Sounds like you had a very energetic and exhausting day at your garden! Good determination. I've stayed past dusk to the point of needing my phone flashlight to work the combination lock on the way out, but I haven't resorted to headlamps or major lighting yet!

[Cranraspberry]

I am hugely behind as well this year. None of my squash, beans or cucumbers have even germinated yet, yikes.

[JRinPA]

I don't think I put the mugwort from my back garden through the shredder., but with all the grass clipping in my home compost right now, the pile was at 150F yesterday. It doesn't matter though, It is in the neighbor's yard real bad, too, and running under the fence, so there will be no getting rid of it.

I don't know what to about it over at the comm garden, that is the real problem. The new gardener that originally told me it was mugwort thought it was great to have, because it is medicinal...pretty sure I heard the word "bong" mentioned. I had to point out to her that the mugwort was in an asparagus patch...for years that was a $5 a day spring asparagus patch, now it is "common mugwort". Apparently great for bongs.

[JRinPA]

@DC
You better get sprouting...
What's up with that, did you forget to buy a calendar? I bought a basset hound puppy calendar for cheap, just had to wait until March for the sale price. Nothing important happens in January or February, so no loss.

I decided to gamble this spring and started pole beans pretty early in soil blocks, but only about half germinated, enough for my trellises. My seed was rough looking. Bush beans I direct seeded and got about 80% up, then added some fill in soil blocks as well. I wanted to get them both in early because they are at the comm garden this year, and that place gets hammered by bean beetles. My eggplant seems destined to get put in the wide row between the bush beans - I left it covered for weed suppression for just such a purpose. I will do one picking of bush beans and then allow the eggplant to grow, that is the plan. Probably put beets in place of the beans, I guess, maybe some lettuce.

The mini butternuts and special cucumbers I seeded in soil blocks and about half germinated, some balked, and some just rotted. I have two minis planted out for weeks. I also started other cucumbers so I have...maybe 8 of mine plus two special out, again for while now, but they are going slowly so far. My regular butternut and spaghetti squash was direct seeded, and my grey zuchini was soil blocks that really took off when I put them out. They grow so fast.

I just need to follow through and start the succession crops for zuchini, lettuce, cucumbers. And truly need to follow the multitude of cucumber growing tips that I gathered up. Feeding yeast, single stemming, never let one turn ripe on the vine, etc.

[JRinPA]

Today was a nicer sight than yesterday...

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[JRinPA]

@Seven Bends
I hope you get some nice weather to get everything in. Midsummer's night is only 4 weeks or so away...

I know I had a bad spring, maybe it was the weather too. I never had a broken tooth before, that was the beginning of april until early May when it was pulled, then another week and a half that I wasn't convinced that the next molar was also broken. For a good week now, everything seems okay. I haven't been fishing all year, my mouth started hurting the day before trout opened. Bought new line and never put it on. Two weeks back I helped my brother work on our boat (fixes he didn't work on all winter while the boat was at his house) for two days, and then the next week he snuck off and went fishing without me. I found out when the check in lady at the lake told me about him being there. I cannot tally how many hours I have helped him with his stuff, and I still have no back light since early April because I help him for 3-4 hours, end up cooking something, and he has to leave, but he never holds the ladder for me to work on the light for 10 minutes. But he can go fishing without me. Real cute.

Yeah I am wits end, lantern flies, allium miners, and now, mugwort.

But I did get the gardens in pretty early this year, other than this original backyard garden. Endless time into the gardens this spring, more than ever, it seems.

The last few years, I seem to detest the sun much more than I used to. I started wearing a straw hat outside to garden...I hate hats, and then that is way hotter than going bareheaded, as soon as sun is behind clouds. So I'm constantly taking it on and off. I, my body, seems to get kind of panicky, when the strong sun comes out in anything above 70F. The thing is, I never had to deal with such a strong sun at home in the late afternoon/evening until the neighbor's had their huge oak tree cut down. As long as I can remember, that produced plenty of late day shade for the house and yard. With that gone, plus having a garden over at the comm garden where there is zero shade, I feel like I've taken in more rays in the last 5 years than all the previous combined.

Looks like that was it for the rain, ended 5 minutes ago here. Time to go out and work in the garden, I guess.

[JRinPA]

Pics from two days back, the sauce tomatoes are now well trained, one vine every 6". Where there were too many vines, if they had gotten away and already set flowers, I broke the stem off above the truss, leaf, and next leaf on the new stem. Basically terminating that stem while leaving a truss and two leaves, and tying that up in between somewhere.

From here on out it is just enforcing their lanes and culling new stems. In some cases it will be allowing a new strong stem while terminating the old above a set of flowers. The fauxpice in the back, they are small fruit so I'm not worried about limiting stems for them. Just keeping them in their cages.

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[JRinPA]

At the comm garden I have 20 feet of tomatoes on the west side of an A-trellis, plus a few more feet on the east side. But most of the east side is sweet peppers and a rogue volunteer potato.
Left to Right, inside each 5 ft section

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That big russian pink roz krupny is the only variety showing some early yellow disease at the bottom, and it is on all four of them.

The early tomatoes were the ones that got frozen in the cloche tunnel - only one big beef was worth planting, but I put two in anyway. They went in somewhat early but did not have the size and health I was looking for. It will be interesting to see how much earlier they put out red tomatoes versus the rest.

[JRinPA]

Some on the west side have an extra vine strung up across the middle of the A-trellis. Not too many, maybe 8 extra vines from those 20 plants. There is room because the peppers are short, but I don't want it all to fill in such that the peppers are shaded too much.

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[AKgardener]

Amazing

[JRinPA]

I accept that.
LOL

This year I need to learn how to can a proper Diced Tomatoes. I can't believe I still buy any tomatoes, but the Del Monte Diced Tomatoes, Garlic, Basil, and Oregano is so good with zuchini and at times can still get it for a buck can.

[Yak54]

Looking good JR ! In a few more weeks you should be getting ripe tomatoes, then the avalanche of ripe fruit will begin.

[MissS]

Your 6.63 Faust is from the 11.65 Faust which was the 2022 World Record. You have some great genes there!

[Shule]

I am hugely behind as well this year. None of my squash, beans or cucumbers have even germinated yet, yikes.

I was overwhelmed, too. Normally I try to grow between 30 and 110 kinds of tomatoes, as well as like 10 kinds of watermelons and maybe other stuff. This year, I planted 2 kinds of tomatoes. Then I planted another kind late, and we got what appears to be at least four kinds of volunteers. And there are the volunteer wonderberries. To be fair, I did plant peppers, too, but I experimented with direct-seeding them and didn't get any plants.

The tomato I planted late is unstable, though; so, each plant should be somewhat different.

[Cranraspberry]

@Shule it has been such a strange year. Between the late start and the extreme heat/drought it’s a very different July than I’m used to. Nightshades are doing okay (well except for the much earlier onset of fusarium), but cucurbits are really struggling. I’ve only harvested one zucchini so far (tiny because I had to pull the plant due to BW) and zero cucumbers. All my non-resistant to BW cucumbers died before giving any fruit, and even a couple of the resistant ones had to be removed due to signs of BW.

I really hope you get some tasty tomatoes from the plants you have going! I just started backup seeds for 50-ish DTM determinates last week. Once the fusarium plants are done I was hoping to get something from those. The biggest problem I see is that they’ll be pretty shaded by the large tomato plants around them (if those survive), but we’ll see. I have 42 Days, Red Racer and Maglia Rosa started (that last one is later and indeterminate, but a lot of folks recommended it so giving it a shot).

[JRinPA]

The last two weeks, since the rain began, had finally started the usual bottom up leaf yellowing and die off. It held off for quite a while with all the dry weather. Some years it begins in late June. But most of that is happening at the comm garden. The back yard tomato in the tall cages look great. They don't get the pounding all day sun, and they do have more shade during the middle hours, due to more depth of foliage.

Here are pics from two days back.

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Yesterday I picked the first ripe Big Beef from the cold damaged, early starts at the comm garden. Forgot about it and left it out in the truck bed until this afternoon. So I sliced that up and I'll tell ya, it was a good tomato. Not good for a hybrid - a good tomato in the open division. I think the nice and dry, well, over dry weather for spring and early summer is going to pay off on these first tomatoes. Plenty of rain the last two weeks or so, but before then it was so dry.

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Today, there were two costoluto genovese on a first truss that had reddened...I immediately checked the bottom and yes, BER. I got about half of them salvaged for two bread's worth. They were okay, not bad, considering cutting out the rot. But...just looking at them, I can already feel their vulnerability. Birds are going to pecking them soon and they collapse so quickly after damage. So I'm really going to stay on them, get them off as soon as they start looking nice. And make a canner load as soon as I have enough. I just don't see how I will have the time. I would really like to do some diced tomatoes this year, tomato basil garlic oregano like the del monte cans. Unfortunately I just got the basil started. I had sowed basil seed, a lot of it, right under the drip tape on the raised rows of the back tomato garden. I thought I saw some sprouts one day, then it got so hot and dry...there is little to nothing growing back there. So today I took the 3/4" micro soil blocks of basil that I started a few days back, and transplanted some into rain gutter buckets. The rest I will try to transplant tomorrow, in the back garden, where the sowed seed failed.

Overall though, it looks like maybe the rotation scheme will work pretty well.
year 1 - Beans in back garden on 7ft cages. Butternut on A trellis at comm garden. (((backyard house shade trellis...could be peas or I guess tomatoes
year 2 - Tomatoes in back garden on 7ft cages. Beans on A trellis at comm garden. Butternut on A trellis in backyard house shade.
Rotate that back garden with the 7ft cages yearly between pole beans and sauce tomatoes. Repeat ad infinitum. On tomato years like this, plant a row of bush beans and pole beans at the comm garden. Harvest the bush beans for freezing, then wipe the row after one picking (about a week staggered this year). By then pole beans are coming in season and keep me in fresh beans until the bugs destroy them. But when the beans are here, I can just plant pole beans that will survive for the whole season. Will keep the bean beetles away from the yard, only growing beans at the house on odd years. Will keep the squash pest problems down, only growing at the house every other year. And I probably only need sauce and canning tomatoes every other year, so maybe peas on the house shade A trellis for spring to recharge the soil. And give the garden patch a rest from tomatoes every other year, to keep down disease. I actually bleached the extended height cages as well.

Those plants are super green for being mid July. I did break off some bottom leaves, and have tried to keep it to 10 stems per cage, one on each upright wire. But I don't like to break off leaves, breaking a leaf branch makes a big hole in the plant. I totally agree that is a disease vector, doing that plant to plant. Not like suckering of a little tiny stem sprout.

[JRinPA]

Those backyard tomatoes still look great. I am concerned about this coming rain, though.

Over at the comm garden I pulled some cabbage, all but 2 heads. So pulled 3 big heads and a half rotted one. Picked any tomato with good color. May have to pick more tomorrow. Got my peppers and eggplant tied up, and caught the corn block #4 dropping lots of pollen so I collected some.

But the tomatoes, they are really shaping up in a big way over on the comm garden A trellis.

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Yeah I took one tray down to pick tomatoes... Ended up with 3 full trays with the peppers in the end of one.

[Uncle_Feist]

Those backyard tomatoes still look great. I am concerned about this coming rain, though.

Over at the comm garden I pulled some cabbage, all but 2 heads. So pulled 3 big heads and a half rotted one. Picked any tomato with good color. May have to pick more tomorrow. Got my peppers and eggplant tied up, and caught the corn block #4 dropping lots of pollen so I collected some.

But the tomatoes, they are really shaping up in a big way over on the comm garden A trellis.
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Yeah I took one tray down to pick tomatoes... Ended up with 3 full trays with the peppers in the end of one.

What an awesome crop!