2018 garden

I have a big plot all tilled up. The tomato plants arrived yesterday. The seeds are ready to go in. I need to pick up some cucumber seeds. I forgot to get them. I'm going to put some of the tomatoes into milk crates to see if that helps with the fungus that seemed to hurt last year's plants. I bought plants that are supposed to be resistant too. I hope to have another bumper year.

Not much going in the garden this year....not enough time to get long growing stuff planted. Not even dug up yet. Too busy with other stuff.....

My squash plants have tons of blossoms. I am ready to see what a cupcake squash looks and tastes like. The tomato plants that I planted in the well fertilized side of the garden are doing really well. The two in the new section are puny and not doing well at all. I need to so some soil amendment. I do have a bunch of volunteer tomatoes because I put some compost in a raised bed. Apparently, the compost wasn't "baked" enough, and tomato plants popped up. They have flowers and look like they'll be fine. I wonder what kind they are.

I have tomatoes that are almost ready, and the cucumber and squash plants are covered in flowers. The beans and peppers are doing pretty well, but they're a little delayed because of an early deer attack. All the plants survived, but one pepper plant is about 1/2 the size of the others, and a couple beans are just starting to set blooms. It isn't a big deal really though. I have LOTS of bean plants, so Mouski and I can feed our addictions.

Thanks to my neighbor we are having the attack of the killer tomotoes. SALSA!!!!

LOL! I remember the summer of the tomato.....six plants and we had enough to feed an entire army!

No garden for me this year, just too busy to plant and care for one. Mom is having neighbors help her with hers since I'm so busy and she isn't feeling well since her surgery. Still haven't scheduled her kidney surgery yet.

Healing vibes to your mom. I have large batch of salsa to process tomorrow.

Not ready for the great harvest yet. The first two tomatoes should be ripe any day. I saw a couple squash too. They're called cupcake squash, but these look round like tiny pumpkins. Not sure what shape they'll be when they're ready. The pepper, cucumber, and bean plants are covered with flowers. The compost garden is going crazy. Not sure what's in there besides tomatoes.

Fiff, if you keep compost at your new place and put some that's not quite "cooked" enough into a pot, you might get some surprises. This is the easiest garden I've ever started, and it's going gangbusters. It will be a surprise when stuff ripens. I have NO idea what's growing.

Send snaps. Finished the vat of salsa that I started yesterday. It is awesome if I do say so myself.

Not sure if the village will allow me to have a compost heap or not. Maybe if I'm sneaky....but the wildlife will probably eat up any potential plantings before they can sprout.

I put mine in a plastic "igloo." You could make one out of a smallish plastic trash can. Just cut out the bottom and put a hole or two in the lid to ventilate. You can dress it up if you want, but if people aren't upset, it's easier to leave it alone.

Dump your veggie scraps into it and stir them around with a shovel every few months. You can also put grass clippings and leaves in it. I've had mine in the same spot for about 17 years, and I've never had the compost not shrink down enough to make room for new stuff. It's only about 1/2 full now, and I put in a lot of yard scraps.

Do use any donations from the ponies?

I don't put that in the bin. I keep some in a small area over the winter and till it in for spring. During the summer, I spread stall donations on pastures. I have a small "honey wagon" that chops it up and spreads it on the grass behind an OLD lawn mower that can no longer mow. We call it the poo puller.

This year, I expanded the garden area, so one section didn't get the usual winter treatment. You can really see the difference in the size of the plants. The tomatoes in the donation section are HUGE. The ones in the new section don't look so healthy. Lesson learned!

How do you get the compost out of the bin if you're stirring in new stuff on top? Wouldn't the stuff you want still be at the bottom?