The corn has been harvested (well halfway), the cover crops are getting cut and tilled in to break down, the cherry tomato seeds have been planted, it’s starting to look a lot like summer. I’ve got plans for a big wild cross grow out, some cherries on cages, then my slicers on single stem L/L, won’t be starting those for a while yet in order to hit the longest driest days (theoretically).

Hi! Habro Heart F3 seed is alive and well here in Northern Illinois

Homegrwoninillinois wrote: ↑Wed Apr 09, 2025 3:17 pm Hi! Habro Heart F3 seed is alive and well here in Northern Illinois

Am man, I’m nervous. Feels like sending one of my kids off to college on the mainland haha

Mark_Thompson wrote: ↑Wed Apr 09, 2025 4:55 pm

Homegrwoninillinois wrote: ↑Wed Apr 09, 2025 3:17 pm Hi! Habro Heart F3 seed is alive and well here in Northern Illinois

Am man, I’m nervous. Feels like sending one of my kids off to college on the mainland haha

She will be great! Don’t worry about it. With the multi cross what growth habit am I to expect again? Just want to place it correctly

@Homegrwoninillinois Normal indeterminate with kind of weak whispy oxheart type leaves. But also with the caveat that it’s only an F3 and one of the parents wasn’t stable yet, so who knows…

No worries. I’ll put it on the outside edge of my indeterminates. In case I end up with a shorty or something.

Harvesting trellis yesterday afternoon, gonna be needing it soon.

Having on site Bamboo to harvest is priceless.

Better yet, that’s at my dad/brother’s house. So they get the never ending headache of battling the spread, and I get to go cut when I need

Some Indigo Orange Supertress, another monster Guido at 1-5 oz, and Violet Heart. Still valiantly holding off the disease in spite of a few inches of rain last week.

Lmk if this is any more fun than normal still pictures, if not then I’ll save the couple extra minutes it takes me. Cherries almost ready for the ground, my big plot for slicers is the one I chopped and cardboarded.

Nice job with the video @Mark_Thompson .
Tell me about your cardboarding and tarping process. I assume to prep the ground with less (or no) labor weeding. How long do you leave it on? Any thoughts about cardboard vs tarp?

I'm just gathering the tarp and cardboard materials for a big weed onslaught at my Mom's garden, first time really leaning into the ground covering approach.

@bower I’ve usually got a pretty solid amount of cover crop and/or weed biomass, so I cut it all down either by hand or with the whipper snipper. Most times I till it in, then cover it to decompose. If I have amendments to put I’ll usually spread them then hand till them in with the cover crop residue.

I didn’t till the patch above, it’s pretty hard ground still, if I let the daikon roots in there rot for a bit it will probably be easier.

I’ve used plastic tarps, canvas painter’s drop cloth, and cardboard. They all seem to work about the same for me. I get the cardboard all for free so it’s been my go to lately. Usually leave it about a month then yank it. The other option is to put wood chips right on top, then cut holes in the cardboard for individual tomato plants. I’ve done that with success in the past too.

This year I’m thinking about doing some kind of living mulch between the tomato rows, just with the idea of keeping more living roots in the ground. Anyone have any experience with that?

Thanks @Mark_Thompson .
In my friend's greenhouse they had a lot of dill volunteering among the tomatoes. Big tall dill plants, didn't bother tomatoes at all.
For walkways I would think something like clovers might work? Maybe low enough not to have to mow?
I saw a video some time ago, about a farm that was using mallows between rows and then mowing them regularly for the N biomass in the compost. So something you mow can be good as well.
Thinking of sowing some clovers in the path area at Mom's, where the ground was cleared last fall.
I have some yellow clover that spreads quickly and sprawls but stays low to the ground.

Good thoughts. Grok actually recommended Creeping Thyme which I thought was a clever idea. I’ve got a bunch of clover seeds so probably end up with some combination

If you want to do a multi season approach with perennials, something like Creeping Thyme is great. I have Mother of Thyme here at the house, which spread quite a bit and is nice to walk through, as it comes up to your step but not over it.
Wild strawberry is low and spreads by runners, and we have other wildflowers or even weeds here that are fine for paths as a mixed group: a low growing Potentilla, Allheal (Prunella vulgaris), several creeping Speedwells, Hawkweeds that make flat rosettes perfect for walking on. You may well have some native species there that fit the niche too.

Got 32 cherries planted out in two plots. None that I’m super excited about to be honest, but that’s alright. Got my slicers started the other day. Probably end up at about 45 of those including a couple giants. Far more excited about that batch.

Some type of flower. Then Violet Heart really starting to pump them out. Also some volunteers, a bird dropping spread Tamarillo plant, and what I’m assuming is a Bosque Green Cherry that volunteered and has been doing great.

@Mark_Thompson your purple flower is Basket Flower Centaurea americana. It's an annual native that also happens to smell rather good.

@MissS Thanks, I’ve been throwing a bunch of flower mixes and “edible insectary” mixes out there, so really don’t know most of the things that are popping up.