What to do with all these tomatoes

I didn't realize that Bob. Somehow I always think of zone 10 as everything perfect. In that case a hoophouse might be just what you need.

Dwight your spinach is wonderful. I love spinach salads and in sandwiches!! Good idea. Now you are getting me in the mood to plant.

Every time I do tho I make the mistake of looking out the window. I have never known a winter like this where we have at least a foot of solid ice. Snow, yes. But, this year it is like a glacier out there. Because it warms up just enough to start thawing and then the nights get down into the teens so it all freezes again.

Oh well, quit my crying huh!!

Today gave me lots to do, first I started my second transplant of the tomatoes, this shows the sizes, the large pot is 5x5 and 6" deep.

Then around 3 PM My rabbit had her babies , only 5 (they normally have 11) but I'm happy.

So I have most of my tomatoes transplanted and will finish tomorrow.
Some plants were very small so I junked them ( I have so many anyway ) and as I looked at their roots , the small plants, I saw the roots were undeveloped .

The weather should be better this weekend and I will work on the hoop house and will have pic.

Wow!! 5 isn't very many for rabbits Dwight. They are so tiny. Give them a couple weeks and they will be all over that cage. Maybe you could send me some of their poop. LOL, wonder how the post office lady would like that? Actually in this little burg she probably wouldn't bat an eye.

Your tomatoes look great. Very good. If I had known you were going to throw some out I would have had you send me some. I am trying to get some started to try hydroponics and having a terrible time. They get so big and then things start happening to them. I've never had a problem before. Not till now.

Jeanette

I only threw away the runts (tomatoes I'm talking about), the largest tomatoes plants are the Cherry plants really big.
Yes I'm getting rabbit poo now, maybe I could send you some and label it as 'Junk Mail' that will work. :) I think I'll use some to make Rabbit Compost Tea now that should get things going.
My Lentil plants are 5 " , one straight stem , don't know what I'll do with it.
The peppers broke the soil yesterday, I must get the hoop houses built and see about getting some of these out.
Left the water hose hooked up three weeks ago and it froze the pipe ( must remember I'm not in Florida any longer ) . I replaced the same pipe, after I bought this house, but as long as I do not turn it on it's OK. :) maybe get to that repair today.
This is a pic of my garden from last year, 9' tall sunflower 15 1/2" dia. So my new life in Kentucky goes on.

Your garden from last year was beautiful Dwight. Can't believe that corn. It is corn isn't it?

You need to put in a "frost free" or whatever they call them faucets. Below the frost line and they won't freeze. That's all we use in this country.

I'll buy that junk mail !! Good idea. LOL

Yes the corn was great, Okra is the plant between, more of those this year also.

I need to run water to the GH and a line to the mid of the garden and I plan on useing the type you mention.

My wife cracked up when I told her about the 'Junk Mail' idea.

I have transplanted my tomatoes the last time ( last time in the GH ) update to follow.
Here is an up date on my Live Stock :
Found we had 6 baby rabbits ( still a small litter for a NZW ) here they are out of the nest box, nibbling hay.

This was the first transplant
130 tomatoes in 1 1/4" to 4" beer cans

This message was edited Mar 16, 2008 9:52 AM

Third transplant. Now from beer cans to 6 " deep pots
I am 'culling' some of the runts along the way, using just the strongest.

A group of third transplants

Must transplant again but my 70th birthday interrupted my gardening.
Friends from Florida and Michigan , we had a house full.

After giving away a few of the 6 " pots I have 60 transplants in 9 " deep pots, very hard to keep upright. But if I get a 6 " plant with 9 " of roots I think that will be a great transplant to the garden.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DWIGHT!!! Yeah, first things first huh?

I love those little rabbits. I want some. They are so cute. AND, they make such good fertilizer.

Your tomatoes look great. But, even after culling them out there are so many!!

I am just about to plant mine. So, you are quite a bit ahead of me.

Jeanette

Hi Jeanette , my wifes relations really do do it up for 70's birthdays, to me a day to recover after they left.
The rabbits are eating hay and pellets, good, don't know which are boy's or girl's but I will have to separate the in a week or so, that means more cages.
I've been working on a new design for the hoop house, I will post pic, maybe tomorrow, got to get those tomatoes out, running out of room in the GH.

Dwight

My Hoop House..........
After two failures I think this design will be acceptable for my use.
Cost was a little more than I expected, total , little less than $60
Used 3 sheets Polycarb Panels 28"x96" also 3 8" 1/2" light weight PVC pipe cut to 6'
The PVC is placed over 3/8" rebar and bent to the other side.
The sheets are screwed together with 3/4x3/4" pine wood and laid over the PVC pipe.
The end door is a scrap of poly I had, it can be raised for ventilation.
The smaller on is one I started and then decided to make them 8' long, it is 4' but should work the same, I could plant lettuce outside it ???
The temp of the soil is 45 and the sun is trying to brake out so I will be checking.

A view looking inside, the top is 24" high, would like it higher.
As I was build the H H this AM I saw a set of deer tracks going across this raised planter, hope he doesn't came back without LOOKING.
I feel the H H can be used on the raised planter or in the regular garden as well.
Every thing will be stored for next year, already have an out of the way place reserved.

Can anyone do some weeding for me...Please

This message was edited Mar 17, 2008 1:11 PM

Dwight,

That is very interesting. I never would have thought about running the sheets lengthwise. Looks great. Are you saying for storage all you have to do is loosen the pvc holding them to the curve? Then they would store flat? Pretty good. And I like the idea of putting it over a raised bed.

But, I don't do weeding. LOL Sorry. That's what I use layers of newspaper for.

Jeanette

The PVC may have some curve in them but not the full amount, so they will store on top, ( I think )
The Poly panels will lay flat.

The soil temp is up 5* ( in the large ) and the air temp is 17* above outside temp and the sun has been going in and out....anyway I happy.

The bed with the small Hoop House, I put black plastic on 2 months ago and the Kentucky weeds are still green under, go figure, some are ' Dam Dandelion ' and another unknown to me.

I built the raised beds last fall and burned the grass and weeds, then put cardboard down from my many beer cartons down ( I love having fun ) , then top soil and some compost on to make the raise bed.....No Worry I have a sign in the front yard :
'Weeds for Sale"
"Organically Grown'


Now that should work.................


This message was edited Mar 17, 2008 4:46 PM

This message was edited Mar 17, 2008 4:48 PM

Dwight, you have sure been busy! Spring fever has really got a hold of you, doesn't it? LOL I've had to pull in the reins on my wanting to plant out in the garden. It's been tough, but nothing is in the ground yet. Guess there could be worst habits! We've been busy preparing the garden, too, while the weather has been good. Had to clean up all the weeds from last year, pull up garden stakes, laying out mulch around all the trees and bushes, strawberries, etc.

I'm no expert, but I think once you get the soil stabilized at 45*, that you could plant lettuce etc in the hoop houses. Would have to open the end on sunny days, though. We're going out of town this week, but I plan on planting in my tunnels just as soon as I get back. What's the worst that will happen? We might have to reseed the next week, if we don't see any signs of germination.

Hi Robin , yes I'm having fun , seeds are cheap and some free. If I lose some , what ever.
I cut some spinach from the GH for dinner, leaves SOOO tender .
The temp looks warm enough I may sow some lettuce and other green.
I'm in a hurry to get started.

Sure sounds like spring fever to me. Or maybe just a lot of energy. Must be that spinach.

Jeanette

I think you know me, Jeanette :)
Here are the deer tracks I talked of.

What did you say you do to keep them out Dwight? Or do you? Maybe they like that spinach too. Either an 8 ft. high fence or electric is the only thing the people around here have done it.

Jeanette

Jeanette, the deer, Last year I had no trouble with them but this year I bought some 'Deer Scram' , Deer and Rabbit Repellent , cost too much, 15.98
I will put it out and hope for the best, the robins and having their tummys full of the worms in my garden , but I guess most of the worms are theirs anyway...

Dwight

Someone said hanging their old CDs (disks) up around their garden worked. I guess the movement and flashing stopped the deer. I suppose if you have that many it would be a good way to use them up.

I think even the robins are good for the garden to a point. That point is probably eating the strwberries. LOL

Poo...
It rained her all day yesterday, last night and this AM, when I looked this AM the wind had blown the Tuflex panels off but nothing damaged. Please No Pictures :)
I did not have them anchored in any way ( another To - Do on my long list )
I will try and get some tomatoes in them next week.
I having trouble with all my peppers, very few are coming up. I have no heat pads ?

Love Compost Tea , Dwight

That is sure too bad about the wind blowing things around.

Do you put compost tea on everything? What about manure tea?

Jeanette

My Compost Tea :
Lats fall I got a pu truck load of horse poo and separated the lumps from the straw and small poo and bagged them separate. Through the winter and now I put a the small stuff in a cloth bag (about a gallon) and put that into 5 gal of water, let it set for a day or 2 and use it on my house plants and the seedlings when they come up.
I will try some rabbit poo soon.
I have been told to use nothing but water on seedlings until they go in the garden, if I had followed that I don't think my tomatoes would be 12" now....Sooooo

Dwight

This message was edited Mar 20, 2008 11:29 AM

No, you fertilize when they get their 2nd set of leaves.

But, don't you get the gnats in the house from that?

Jeanette

I have seen 1 or 2, not many, I have a small fan running on low.

Well, Dwight, I wish I had some horse poo. I suppose I could make some out of the bagged steer manure that I have.

inside my 14 x 45 foot pvc hoop house. Made with 1 inch 20 foot sections of pvc pipe. one perlin on top. To get the head room up and get 14 fee wide I built it on top a 32 inch high pony wall. I dug 4x4 treated post down into the ground then put a 2x6 at ground level and a 2x4 at 32 inches up. This gives me about 8 and a half feet maybe nine head room. If I did it again I would make the pony wall 4 feet high and increase the width to 16 feet and do 5 perlins

another view

view with top off should have used 2x6 on top rail and tied it togeather oh well it works I am not changing it unless I have to

eweed , Now that's a Hoop House, wounder if the city would let me put up one like it ?
I have a light snow on the ground this AM, 32.5 ,
Do you keep the plastic on the time you have plants inside ?
So many questions, Your in Washington state, where is Everson located ?

Dwight

NW corner of the state I live 10 miles S of Canadian border 15 miles E of the salt water.

This is a view inside with the cover on when I grow up I am going to be a gardener and specificaly grow so many tomatoes I can't eat them all ha ha. There was a paid interview plug last summer by a guy who built a state of the art GH tomatoes in for resale. He said you can't grow good toms in Whatcom County well I live in Whatcom County.

Yes I just had the cover off because when I put it on I didn't like how I got it tightened so in full summer I took it off and let it stay off till it got closer to fall which starts here anytime after aug 15th. Before the rains come and with it the blight which the hoop house foils. I put it back on untill the hard frost or freeze killed my plants usually last of Oct sometimes early nov. This last two seasons I left it on with out the ends for air and temp control.

As to the city I guess the best is don't ask just do it unless you think close neighbours will complain or you are covered with a covanent. This is really not a permanate structure

And to his statement I say ha ha Ernie

OK today I started transplanting my tomatoes out of the GH into the garden.
Started digging the 2 foot hold to plant them and hit a pipe, called 811 and got everyone out here, elect, phone, gas, water sewer and I think there was a piza man here. ^_^
Well it turned out to be an old sewer line to an old septic tank.
Tryed to get the crew to take some tomatoes transplants but they said something like 'call us when the tomatoes are ripe' ^_^
Here is a pic of the first one waiting for her hole to be dug.
I think the roots will be deep enought to feed from the KY river...
Service trucks in background.