I pulled the walls o' water off the tomatoes this week! The weather is looking promising to stay above 40`! If it does freeze for any reason, I have row covers and buckets and blankets I can throw over the plants and hold them down with rocks if need be. This year I also tried planting my basil with my tomatoes. It is known to increase the flavor of the tomatoes! I recently purchased a book called "Great Garden Companions" by Sally Jean Cunningham. Inside it has treasures and tips on better ways to control insects and diseases naturally. A perfect source for organic gardening tips!
My broccoli is looking healthy! It is the first year that I have actually tried it! Broccoli is a cold crop and can be grown in places where there is less direct sunlight. It should do well for you in 6 hours of light instead of 8 hours like so many other vegetables.
Here is a picture of my peach tree (an Early Elberta) with garlic planted around it. The garlic is supposed to keep the peach borer away. I have heard others say they have found success with this method, so this year I decided to give it a try! I'll let you know if it works!
In this box I have planted potatoes, Yukon gold, red and purple! Behind them are Swiss chard and spinach. I fertilized with fish emulsion this week and my concentrate was a little too strong so that is why some of the ends look a little burned, but no matter, they will grow just fine and other leaves will come on in a few more days.
Here I have 10 different types of heirloom lettuces. With one of the rows being Kale, I don't usually eat Kale, however when it is thrown into a big green smoothie you can't even tell it's there and it boosts the nutritional value up! You can see in the center of the box there is an onion hanging on from last year! I always rotate my crops every year to keep pest control down.
In this box I planted onions, red and yellow. I love onions! They are huge nitrogen feeders, I planted peas here the year before. The wonderful thing about legumes is that they put nitrogen into the soil so the following year you can grow a nitrogen feeder like onions or corn in it's place and have great success!
Other vegetables planted and not shown are peppers, leeks, green onions and carrots. Now is also a great time to plant squash, cucumbers, melons and pumpkins by seed. They do better when their root systems are not disturbed by growing from starts. If their root systems are disturbed it can kill the plant or make it weak giving you a smaller yield come harvest time. Besides sowing with seed is easier and inexpensive! Enjoy your adventures in the garden and share with me how your experience is going!
I've tried companion planting in the past bit this year I'm rethinking my companions. I have been reading Successful Home Gardening and he separates his plants by watering needs. For example asparagus and tomatoes both need infrequent but deep watering. If you water tomatoes too often you will get beautiful vines but little fruit. On the opposite end is strawberries. If they get too little water they stop producing and put out runners. So my beds will be organized by water needs this year.
ReplyDeleteHow early did you start your tomatoes and when did you out them out? We are new to Utah so I'm re-learning some gardening concepts. I was very late starting my plants bc we were focused on moving in and getting settled. About half of mine will be ready to go out this weekend.
I am also new to companion planting so it sounds like we need to stay in touch to see how it all works out! I put my tomato starts in about mid April with wall's o water around them. Let me know how it goes for you!
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