Come On Folks...

Pictures, let's get that film rolling !!!!! 2 inches to 2 feet, let's get some pics of all those beautiful maters, or soon to be maters. It's 75 degrees in New Jersey, and after about 10,000 feet of snow, I got the Hee-Be-Jee-Bees. Basically, I have Jersey Cabin Fever, so I went out today and started cleaning up the backyard for my NEW garden, ahhhhh, now this is Spring to me. And to the Snow God's, I'll break bread with you all come December, so take 5, will ya!!! So folks, get some, if ya can, of your pics on a thread, so we can see what ya'll have in store for the upcoming or 365( I'm Jealous) growing season. Happy Planting and Gardening. Danny

Danny --- Don't forget your sunscreen ..... If I may suggest try "Glory" this season.

It's a wonderful day in Jersey Dan isn't it???? I will have my hubby download some pics tonight. Mind you, they are just itty bitty babies!!! I ordered some transplants just in case.. ;0

Maureen

Seems to be a nice day today for the first day out from plant lights to the porch for my tomato and pepper seedlings.

Here you go - the second garden of our long season down here. Got it going a little late due to a few problems, but we have a row of 4 types of radishes, a row of beans, 4 pepper plants, some six month old herbs on the right and 22 tomatoes. - Flip

Flip,Vashur, Mother of Tyler & T-Plant, good start, and everything looks and sounds great !!! This thread is a pick-er-up thread, for some of us that had the Snow and Rain/Cold/Damp Blues for about the last millennium-LOL. Sharing thoughts, pictures, and true feelings, a great way to rid oneself of the Winter, and every-day, same ole', same ole', Blues. Keep em comin', pics and comments, as well as venting, get it out, off your shoulders, the additional weight that is. Spring-Time is here, finally, I hope...stay tuned. Danny

Flip,

"Second garden"??? Sweeeet!!

Wow, Flip. Your place is so neat and tidy! (I have a great appreciation for folks who can do "neat and tidy", since it's far beyond my grasp! ; ) )

I just potted up a bunch of little ones yesterday. I used paper pots for these guys. I made a bunch of pots just after Christmas (during a fit of "gardenitits") and they work just fine, but I didn't make nearly enough and I'm too lazy to make more, so I broke down and bought some plastic ones for potting up the next lot. : )

Rhonda

Jefe,

Yessir, it's my second one since last October. I actually started a new one in Feb but had a couple of problems so I had to start over. BTB, I didn't forget your method of staking you recommended. You'll see the wire I strung across the path of 4-5 tomato plants so I can give it a try. Stay tuned y hasta la vista!

Rhonda, your baby toms are lookin' good! What kind are they?

Flip

Rhonda,

How do you like those paper pots? Do they stay together pretty well? There are some things that don't like to be transplanted (such as squash, Datura's, etc.) that would work well for them. Any tips?

****
Flip,

Definitely will stay tuned on the staking method.

Jefe

Thanks Flip! The toms pictured are: Lumpy Red, Druzba, Abe Lincoln, Rutgers, Brandywine (the larger ones at the far right) and...hmmm...something else there beside the Brandywines. I think Cherokee Purple, but I'd have to go check and I'm too lazy at the moment. : ) The bigger ones will be going into Wall-o-waters fairly soon.

Jefe: the paper pots are pretty good. Better than peat, IMHO. They hold together fairly well with just a bit of masking or packing tape. They dry out fast, so I keep them jammed together in a tray, or wrap them in aluminum foil to conserve moisture. They work great for stuff that doesn't like transplanting, like cukes and morning glories, if you put them inside a plastic pot. That way they keep their shape, but can be popped out without disturbing the roots.

They're really good when you can't afford anything else, and better than peat for the hard-to-transplant things, but a lot more trouble than plastic for general use, which has the added advantage of being usable again and again.

Rhonda

This picture will show you that spring has really *sprung* around here. I live in the city but I have a very large back yard area. The near garden is where the tomatoes and peppers will go this year. I have flower beds on two sides of it and a strawberry bed at the end you can't see. You can see the corner of my larger garden peeking out behind the daffodils.

Here is a baby Sun Sugar planted on 03/05/2005, growing under lights, and anxious to get outside:

Hey, Flip, great looking garden!! I'd suggest putting a second row of beans right along the one you've got -- they do fine in a double row for me, and a second planting would give you an extended harvest.

OK, back to tomatoes.... :-)

critter - you have a good point and I have some room. Like you say, a second row of beans will give me a better supply for a while. Thanks - By the way - isn't Frederick near Gaithersburg? I used to travel on business there 2-3 times a year. Flip

Here are a couple of photos I took last evening. Brought them into the house, dark and windy outside. Actually the one of the large Early Cherry tom, llooks like it is in a windstorm. Guess I moved the camera, but didn't have time to take another. I is about 12" and has quite a few open blooms. DonnaS

Here is a slightly better picture of my flat of my largest tomatoes, which I will put out in the garden as soon as weather gets a little better. the holes are dug and filled with my shreds, my compost, steer manure in layers, with a little Planters 11 and organic 9-3-4, a bit of Epsom Salts. The fellow who works for me sometimes dug the holes a week or so ago. I plant only 10 plant, about 8 or9 varieties. the holes are 24" deep and 12" or so wide. Has worked pretty well for me for several years. DonnaS

Donna: those are lovely BIG plants! When did you start them?

Today I had scheduled my 6-week-old baby toms to go out in Wall-o-waters, but there was an inch of snow on the ground this morning, so that kinda put me off the idea. ; )

Also, they really aren't big enough yet. My largest ones are just 6" tall, and the others are in the 4" to 5" range. They probably won't mind waiting another week; they have more patience than I do. : )

Rhonda

Rhonda, I planted my early tomatoes in WOWs on Saturday. I waited another week, giving them 7 weeks from sowing, and they were still only 5 or 6" tall. I didn't plant them very deep, just buried maybe an inch of stem, and mulched around them with fresh grass clippings.... they look pretty happy!

And yes Flip, Frederick is just about 20 minutes north of Gaithersburg on 270..... I guess you no longer have to travel up this way, but if you're ever in the area, give me a holler! :-)

Well Danny, if this is going to be the tomato picture thread for this spring/summer season, I'll post this one here. It's one showing some of my first tomato flowers - on Lemon Boy.

Critter - I made 25-30 trips up 270 to G'burg from DC between '92 and 2002. There's a big IBM site right off 270 where I used to go. Doing something different at work now but you're in a great area! It's beautiful up there. - Flip

Flip, this is the place, and your mater as well as your garden, are looking good. Pics are right around the corner for me, out of the ground now, I'm going to purchase an inexpensive digital camera on Thursday. stay tuned, and keep those pics coming. Danny

Here is my attempt....or contribution to the pics. Notice the cages? My sweet DH thought he found a great buy at a farm supply store and bought these to surprise me. It was a surprise. Did not have the heart to tell him (ssshh, junk, I am afraid) that they are too flimsy. As you can see, I will be using my new tomato cages this year with a smile on my face, and a grumble under my breath -I can see it now, uncontrollable is in my destiny -at least for this year....LOL got to love him though.

Cindy

Cindy, they look great, as well as the whole garden, what I can make of the rest of it from the pic. Very nice, and keep your fingers crossed, those cages look great from my view. How far apart do you plant your maters?
Danny

Here is a piece of my garden. Grapes, beefmasters, early girl, and Better Boy are the big ones and they have all set fruit. The two grape plants are just loaded with little green maters. Won't be long now. I picked 9 maters off a patio plant today and a handful off a husky red cherry. Sure were good. I later planted two Mr. Stripeys, two Glory, two Bush Goliath, and one Parks Whopper. This batch should be about 40 days behind the first set. First time grower and everything seems to be going pretty good. If it wasn't for all the help I've received, both directly and indirectly from reading all the archives, I'd probably have one sick looking little plant with no tomatoes. Thanks to all. These were all purchased plants but I'm getting ready to start some from seeds for our second season. Ed

I picked some cherry mators and a couple of Betty Boys today and took them to work. I love to grow them but don't like to eat them unless they are used for cooking. Never liked fresh tomatoes. Weird huh!
Jan...

aCindy, why don't you do what i do pound a fairly heavy duty stake inside (or outside) each of your cages if you think they won't stand up to the pressure of holding a tomato plant from flopping over. I use hog wire circles for tomatoes and they each have two metal or wood stakes to hold them up in our windy area. DonnaS

Danny. Thanks for the compliment. The tomatoes are 3 feet apart. If you look hard you can see some strawberrys on the side. I am growing the same thing as Ed -early girl, better boy, beefmasters with some Santa Sweets grape and 4th of July. I plan on doing heirlooms next year. Started with the hybrids since this is my first attempt. Started all from seeds, I got a new greenhouse in February and was dying to start some stuff.

Rutholive -the stake idea is a good one, and I think I will do it. I am certain that the cages will not hold up when all my TONS of tomatoes start coming in....LOL.

Cindy

I thought I'd show off my fancy-schmancy "set-up". ; )

What you see are two "stick" lights suspended from the bottom of an old kitchen table by bent coat hangers; the trays are resting on two boxes full of paper backs, along with a jigsaw puzzle, some more paperbacks, and some old CD's.

Nothin' but the best for my babies! : )

Rhonda

Rhonda, you've got a nice bunch of maters there. And looks like a couple on the right need to go out side before long. Hope you weather cooperates. For the life of me I can't remember what NS stands for. DonnaS

Thanks, Donna! : )

Those big ones on the right are going out in Wall-o-waters on the weekend. They were due to go out yesterday, but we're having a bit of a cold spell and I don't want them to catch a chill. ; )

NS stands for No Smoking, oops, I mean, Nova Scotia (same difference these days!)

Rhonda

Had some beauties to show and was going to take pictures today but my two year old Grandson thought they were balls and threw them around. Tomato juice anyone ?

Tplant sounds funny , what your grandson thought, but I'm sure you weren't laughing too much. DonnaS

Hopefully he threw them at that tomato-stealing bird of yours, Tplant! ;)

T - I think the kid netting is on the bottom shelf under the bird netting at Lowes. The score sheet is starting to look bad:
Kids-2
Birds - 12
Tplant-0 (You probably have at least a couple of hundred more growing so you will take over the lead soon.

You will stop having bad luck immediately- Right now!! The End, Finished, Fini, Over, No More!! I done put the whammy on your bad luck---its gone! Ed

Hallelujah! Good luck for Tplant. Me too!

WE SHALL OVERCOME !!!!!

Just so you know Rabbits - 25, Packrats - 300, Kids - 12 or so, Me - IT AIN'T OVER TILL I CAN'T GET ANY MORE SEED. (This includes more than tomatoes though, ooops!)

with those flimsey cages.... I made my flimsey ones work last year by doing this. I took a 1x2 peice of lumber and drilled holes in it with my battery powered drill where the baord layed over the cage wire and then took nylon zip ties and zipped them all together so if one were to fall all would but since I did not just do rows one direction it was impossible for them to tip over, WOrked well. Bent some wire but not too bad, It did make it hard to get into a couple of places to harvest so it is best to lay the 1x2s over in a way that they make a U shape in stead of an O shape.

Great idea!

Here is my garden at the beginning of the week, in south coastal North Carolina.

Michael

This message was edited Apr 15, 2005 10:51 PM