Crickets Garden

This is my first Garden. REal Garden. I normally just put stuff in my flower beds.
Its little.
not much growing or producing just yet.
Most of the peppers and eggplants are in a flower bed out front.
Just used this area for little corn, okra, squash, and about to plant some mid season tomato plants.
thats what the post are for, to tie up my tomatoes.
I will run a heavy duty clothes line wire down the tops of those post, and tie my tomatoes up on the line.
I have some older okra plants ---next to the corn ---that is producing now. Then i have some younger okra that is only an inch or two tall in the middle of the garden and also finishing out the row of older okra. 25 hills of squash.
Golden Queen Corn--half a double row,
Merit Corn--half a double row.

Whats in that greenhouse at the far right?

Thats my first crop of tomatoes.
STarted those with poly over the greenhouse.
I just took the poly off the greenhouse and put 30% shade cloth over it to help lower temperatures and to help keep any tomatoes that are showing from heat scald and sun scald.
They are grown in the ground.

Yes I sell tomatoes and what ever I have extra.

I also have a shade cloth that will be placed over that row in the garden when the temps get too hot.

Looking good, Cricket!!!

Very nice! Enjoy!

Hi Cricket,

I often look at your pictures you post with awe! They always look wonderful! It looks like you have plenty of space to work with, something I wish I had! I always tell my husband that I want to retire and be a tomato farmer....when I win the lotto of course!!

you and I are in the same zone, would love to know your mater growing secrets. how did you get started? Seems like you have a decent size operation. i am always curious as to how things evolve. Hoping that down the line I can evolve myself into a larger peice of land that I can have plenty of room to play around with.

seems like you have a great green thumb, i am sure your newly planted garden will do great.

This is my third season growing tomatoes and believe me, it has had its ups and downs.

How did I get started? Well on my other property the soil was very bad. I started growing tomatoes in 5 gallon grow bags. My idea was to grow in the grow bags the first year and take that soil and add it to grow beds in the same greenhouse area. I did that and it worked good. But then I moved ---bought property that had more traffic flowing by in order to have more customers. The second year I grew tomatoes in grow bags again. Then I found a section on our new property that someone had used as a garden plot many many years ago so I removed as much grass as I could and tilled it up. I have not added anything to the soil. No amendments. No Gymson , no lime, no nothing. I just planted the tomatoes and fertilized and the above picture is what I got.
You don't have to have a greenhouse to grow tomato produce.
Even that one row of tomatoes that I am about to put in my garden should Profit $4000 if all is perfect and thats on the low side of figuring.
You dont even need a huge piece of property.
If you have at least a 20foot x 100foot section in your yard ( measurements can differ) You can grow and profit approximately $7000.

I like to double row everything I grow.
I grow double rows of okra instead of a single row.
Okra needs to be 8 inches apart but can be grown 6 inches apart making the rows 16 inches apart for your double row. Thats alot of okra when you add it up.

I grow my tomato plants with one single vine ----because its easier to twine and tie up. The plants grow faster and the fruits are bigger. When growing single vine tomato plants--you can space each plant 6 inches apart. If you are good at trimming-pruning--you can grow them 4 inches apart.
Figure this, If all you had was a 5 foot tall hanging system for you to tie your toms up to ,
one vine is goin to have about 4 to 5 clusters of tomatoes on it. And depending on the time of harvest, each cluster averages $2 to $3 per cluster.
Figuring on the low side, 4 clusters at $2 is $8 per vine times 300 vines is $2400 sales. Profit will be around $2000.
Thats not alot of money for someone who needs to make a living at it but for a beginner business you can increase your business alot, or even save and buy more property.
The possiblities are endless.
You dont have to grow the tomatoes single vine like I do, You can let each plant grow more vines, Just alow plenty of space according to how many vines you want on each plant. They need plenty of air circulation to lower diseases and fungus.

Each year , I will make my garden area bigger and bigger. Till its too big to handle.

I am by far a tomato expert, but i still make money doin it.

wow cricket, that is really interesting. ever thought about selling just tomato plants? saving the seed and reprodcing them? maybe there is more money in the fruit though, eh?

i just bought a few books on veggie gardening and i fall asleep at night with all sorts of grandious ideas! not sure if thats a good or bad thing but makes for good dreams though! :-)

keep me posted on your veggie garden. love seeing the pics. wish you a very prosperous season!

MysticMoon,
I do grow and sell the plants.
I have a greenhouse business in addition to growing tomato produce.
I sell about 10,000 tomato plants each year. Along with other veggie plants and bedding plants and hanging baskets.
But I only sell plants in the spring. After Mothers Day, sales drop and i dont grow anymore plants for the public then I grow and sell tomato produce.

you must be in a good location Cricket, to get that business or do you have customers that are restaruants and such. What is your clientel ?
i m only asking since Dh and i are buying a farm in OH and would love to do a greenhouse and i could sell a bit here and there . I have been in and out of your thread and i learn so much each time. Any books in the in your future hmmmm
You and Carlolyn could do a combo team :)
i always look forward to your thread .
best
sue

whats funny is my real name is carolyn too.
Yes I thought about writing a book but I have no idea where to start. And writing a book
with someone else is more diffacult.

I am in a good location for business. It is a busy country road. Its the bypass from one small town to the small City. And we live half a mile from the school. We just bought the property last year so I am not even very well known yet. And I have had the small resturants come to me for fresh tomatoes.
I havent had to go anywhere to sell my tomatoes. I sell out and leave customers wanting more. That means --I know I can build more and still be able to sell out.
One day at a time.


This picture is of a flower garden that has eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, Okra and a pumpkin growing amongst it. It is 150 feet long and approx 27 inches wide. I have been tilling on the outside of it so I can amend the soil and widen the bed next year.
Mostly because there are cannas down the center and they will multiply and spread.
There are petunias and marigolds down the road front side with some veggies and mostly okra and peppers down the yard side of the bed.
Old picture too-------Mid May picture.

some close ups.

Castor Bean, petunias, cannas, Theres a pepper in there somewhere

Its hard deciding where to post my garden pictures cause they are mixed flowers and veggies.

Okra down this side of the 150 ft bed.
They are doin nicely plus they have pretty blooms

There is a tomato under there. next to ground.
Better Bush

Peppers among the marigolds and cannas

not only edible but " PUUURDY" i would never have thought to put the two together Marigolds and peppers
i think there is a real market for tomaots , have you looked at a grocery store tomato ? HA all i can say is "EEEEWWWWWWWW" and i for one think restaurants are really serching out to find them.
love the purple
sue

wonderful photos! how do you keep it all watered! i might have to take a field trip down your way and drool! hahaha!

Soaker hoses.
except when i fertilize with 13-13-13 mixture.
I spread out little fertilizer then i hand water the bed heavily but thats only every two weeks.
As I water heavily, i pull weeds and grass out.

More detailed pictures

Maudie Malcom Canna
Heavyweight bell pepper
Dwarf Zinnias in back
I think thats a pumpkin leaf showing out front

Tropical Sunrise Canna
Okra in front
Eggplant back left
Marigolds back
Touch Me Nots --left

Tomato in the middle---barely see
Cleome--the tall plant
Maudie Malcom Canna
marigolds
Okra
Hot banana peppers

The cannas help shade the peppers in the evening so the peppers dont sun scald.

Princess Di Canna
Bell Pepper
cockscomb
Okra
Lily

Thanks for the inspiration. I am going to buy some marigold plants and seeds today to mix with our pepper plants.

Your garden looks great :)

oh i wish DH would get a job in AL so we could visit you and see all your wonderful goodies and maybe sample some too" aye" :)
looking good Cricket
do you do melons ?

BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL!

tmm

Yummm, Yummm! Lovely!

I am not good with melons.
But I did sow a watermelon seed near my water faucet a week ago and it has germinated.
Me and my bright ideas think I can train the vines to spread in certain direction so it doesnt get in the way but I doubt i can keep up with it.

Cricket,
What do you do in the wintertime? Grow winter veggies to sell?

tmm

I dont grow anything from Dec- Jan.
I dont grow produce during the winter at all. I do start tomato plants mid winter--Jan.
The middle of winter does not supply enough sunlight for production. Even if you have enough heat.
Its a waste of money.
If you have a greenhouse, you can start tomato plants mid June to mid July and have ripe tomatoes just before Octobers first frost around here. Then protect them from frost and have ripe tomatoes til Dec--christmas. The reason you can do this is cause most of the flowering and production happened before the first frost and during more sunlight hours of the Fall. You can figure having tomatoes 8 to 12 weeks after your first frost with little heating in my neck of the woods.
Feburary is our coldest winter month. I only have young plants growing in small heated area in the greenhouse. Then after our worst freeze which is mid Feb, I can transplant to the big greenhouse in the ground and keep it heated at night.
This past Feb---it just so happens---on our coldest night--- a temp of 2 degrees--my heater stopped working and froze all my plants. I had to start over. I lost 4 weeks of growing time. This next winter I plan to have a back up heater set at a slightly lower temperature ready to work if the other goes out.
I use a turbo heater---disel/kerosene. Its clean burning. Not perfect but works great. You can smell little bit of fumes but not alot like you could several years ago.

Hi Cricket,

Thank you for your explanation. I feel like I know a little of what "professional" growers go through. It sounds like you are pretty much busy all year around!

tmm

Update on my veggie and flower garden.
Okra producing faster than i can keep up.
Eggplants are so yummy.

I also raise tomatoes in a greenhouse for profit. 30' X 96' house with somewhere around 320 plants in there. I will have ripe ones in about 2 weeks. I will sell them for $3 per pound.
Last year on 240 plants, I sold about 250 pounds per week from June 15 until November 1. I then picked all the green ones & put them on a table in the basement. We canned twice, sold some now & then to local people & I ate the last one on New Years Day.

I use the same plants all year long. They were 17' long last year.
My house is covered all season. Large exhaust fans keep it cool. Also have a fuel oil furnace to heat in freezing times. We get that in April & Sept, Oct.

I took this picture Monday. I keep them pruned to one stem each.

You're looking good there, Cricket!
Bernie

Problem down here is HEAT
Even with the poly off the greenhouse and shade cloth on , the tomatoes suffer from heat.
They get yellow shoulders-------heat scald.
I do my best.

The garden is desperate for rain. Extreme drought down here.

Late Summer Tomatoes.
I just hope they all dont turn yellow shouldered.
I have a shade cloth for later.

Bernie=======Your mater plants look good. What I wish is that I could grow melons like you do. Everyone is always asking if I have melons but the answer is always no.

Greenhouse maters.
They are so heavy with maters that they are swaying down onto the ground.
They are about 8 foot vines.
I am too chicken to grow them on into Dec. The tomatoes get smaller as the plants get older. I might give them a boost of bloom booster.

Brandywines

Big Beef

Cricket all I can say is WOW! How often do you fertilize? Do you grow cucumbers? If so, do you fertilize them? DM

I only grew a few cukes this year. Cucumber plants dont need as much fertilizer as some other plants. I always gave the cucumbers 1/2 the fertilizer that I would give everything else.
My cucumber plants got powdery mildew this year so I got rid of those. I have to start new ones.