Garden Log 6-23-19
I Did It!
I know most of you are probably leaps and bounds ahead of me with your gardens, but life happens and I was a late bloomer this year so my tomatoes will be too.
So I started with the already tilled garden.
My next step was to enhance the soil with some left over potting soil, gather and install my supports. I used a trellis I made years ago out of furring strips. (furring strips are usually made from 1 by 2 rough cut pine).
If left this way it would be a little wobbly since each connection only has one screw. I made the trellis this way so I could sort of fold it flat for easy overhead storage in my shed. For added support I drove a 4 foot piece of rebar into the center of the garden and attached it to the wooden trellis with zip ties.
Now that I was ready to plant I gathered my plants and my old eggs. I often save old eggs when I know I’m going to be planting. The best way to tell if an egg is bad is put it in a bowl or glass of water large enough to allow the egg to be laying flat or submerged more than two times the length of the egg. If the egg lays on the bottom it is good. If the egg points upward or floats it’s bad for eating but great for planting with tomatoes!
I use one egg per hole, I say per hole because the way I planted these in solo cups some holes ended up with more than one seedling. Nature will weed out the weak ones.
Next I dug a hole large enough to ensure the cup would fit just below the ground level. This will allow a little extra dirt around the stems, promoting more root structure. Many people advise digging a trench and planting the tomato plant on its side allowing a root structure of 6 inches or more. After a day the plant will turn upward and grow straight(ish).
But I was anxious to get these in the ground and I had already planted the seeds low in the cup to encourage them to grow taller, filling in the dirt as they grew allowed me to promote a long root structure from the start.
The next step was to place the egg in the hole and crack it with my garden shovel. Remember if you plant an egg with your plants be sure to bury the egg deep enough so critters won’t smell it and try digging it up. Raccoons are famous for this!
After the egg, it’s just a matter of planting the seedling.
The finished planting:
The fact that I didn’t properly “harden off” my seedlings has me a bit worried but I knew if I had not planted them yesterday I probably would have put them off for longer and trying to keep them going inside was becoming a challenge. I needed the window space back (for my cats) and I was simply forgetting them since life has gotten a little more hectic since I planted the seeds.
Thank you for stopping by! Feel free to comment with suggestions or hints.
Happy Gardening!
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