Good morning Gardeners! It’s a beautiful Saturday Morning downheah; I hope y’all are comfortably sheltered, well provisioned, and adequately entertained….
As all you “regulars” at SMGB know, I am the resident Tomato and Pepper freak here. Other than old and tired, that’s all I grow….But, at the moment, I am behind the 8 ball and playing catch up. These seedlings are way past time when they should have been planted out, but my ridiculous work schedule and a nagging injury has put a damper on things.
I did manage to get a few things planted out this week, just in time for the coming cool spell. Big Beef in the ground, and Hinkelhatz and Prairie Spice peppers in their pots, but that’s about it.
Bill’s Striped, Jalapeno, and Numex peppers have been getting some much needed sun...hopefully, they’ll be ready to plant out next week.
Big Beef and Roman Warrior, both nematode resistant hybrids, are the only two tomato varieties that I will be planting in the ground this year. All other varieties will be planted in 5 gal buckets using a mix consisting of compost/manure, topsoil, and ProMix.
My plan this year is to keep the three cages in the back row for Big Beef and Roman Warrior, and construct two trellises along the two front rows to support the bucket tomatoes. I elevated cages 1 and 2 to get more vertical support for the Big Beef; Roman Warrior is a “semi-determinate” variety, so a 5 ft cage will suffice.
The trellises are about 16 ft long and 8 ft high. I used 1/2” metal conduit and concrete mesh panels...all held together with 1/2” hose clamps. Each trellis will be used as vertical support for 8 (maybe 9?) buckets.
The next big task is to get the buckets filled, which entails a lot of dumping and mixing and shoveling. Thankfully, after a quick trip back to his apartment to check on things there, my youngest Son is back here for a while to help me out with some of the heavy lifting! In a future diary, I’ll talk more about the other tomato and pepper varieties that I’m growing this year; many are “new-to-me” varieties.
So, Folks, that about does it for this “Downheah Edition” of the SMGB. What’s going on in your gardens? I’ll be around for most of the morning, but after that, I’ll be outside trying to get a few things done before the predicted severe weather moves in on Sunday. Y’all stay safe!