that's quite a few tomatoes. my good friend is a tomato fiend and he kept me well supplied with several varieties every summer. they moved away 2 years ago, and i have missed having good, home-grown tomatoes.
I had the blight last year. I moved spots this time and used baccto potting soil for each one. I’m told that will help. Also about to start spraying them with some antifungal spray to head it off because once it gets in there you’re done. We like doing a good size garden. We put up a lot and give a lot away too to family and friends. I’ve taught my nine year old son a lot of important life lessons from the garden.
We have doubled the size of our garden over the last two years. Picking our first squash and Zucchini. Just pulled up spinach after eating and freezing all winter and spring. Have three new varieties of beets that are being pulled selectively, great in salads. Have pole beans and bush beans out of the ground, they were great last year and freeze very well. Hoping that Brussels Sprouts will deliver our first crop this year. Very long growing season and tough to germinate. Have 19 tomatoes in the ground, a mix of determinate and indeterminate varieties. Had a difficult time getting good tomato plants from seed this year. Likewise two varieties of peppers just would not germinate. Also have multiple varieties of watermelon and a cantaloupe variety growing. Elephant garlic overwintered and will be pulled in June/July. Best ever result on that. Have had a few other successes and failures. There is is quite a lot to learn about four season gardening so I beginning to think that a garden diary would be helpful to do sequence planting in order to have longer seasons for cool season crops like spinach and lettuce.
i gave it a good college try for a couple of years after the blight hit, but it was for naught.
My wife cuts off the greens when gathering beets and I shudder but she is selective with the greens she will eat. So we eat a lot of spinach and some kale and collards. I grew Lacinato kale this year. It is wonderful roasted so I don't protest not eating the the beet greens.
I had some type of disease with the tomatoes I grew from seed this year and had to replant. I researched the Clemson site and there was a list of about 50 different diseases to consider. Yikes! I have some peach and apple trees on the farm and do regular spraying there including a fungicide. I agree with you about spraying tomatoes and will consider a copper fungicide as my first option. In our humid climate spraying will probably be required to get a good crop.
10% milk in water makes a great fungicide. Neem oil and safer soap also works some but is better for insects if you are trying to avoid some commercial pesticides.
I have used Neem oil and insecticidal soap previously and have some on hand. I never spray when bees are pollinating and never do broad area spraying because of the birds that feed on the ground. It is a real battle however to avoid crops being ruined. I will take a close look at your milk and water suggestion.
Is the barefoot thing so ingrained with Auburnites that your wife has to shovel with no protection for her foot?
Oh, ha-ha. She bought a mint plant on a whim for Sadie and just had to get it in the ground. And it isn't just her. House full of women and I'm apparently the only one that knows how shoes work.
