RKayne's Blog
RKayne's posts about: tomatoes
Jan 17, 2008 | 10:56 AM PST
Tags: triple curled parsley , compost , companion planting , tomatoes , kohlrabi , Walla Walla Onions , cold frame , garlic
We are in zone 7B here. Almost time to gear up! I have a couple of the large boxes that salad comes in so am going to introduce our youngest to cold framing. He is going to grow Kohlrabi this year so it looks like, the best bet, would be to go ahead and cold frame the starts at the end of this month, beginning of next as our last frost SHOULD be about March 24th.
The other item he is going to grow is Walla Walla sweet onions. He got the area ready and composted in Fall so they will have he perfect setting and I plan to place them randomly as they also lend to being a pest deterrant.
I need to get a new pic of my Parsley, you can't see it between the last of the tomatoes there but it has gone plumb crazy with the nice cold weather, beautiful tufts of green-ness, like giant green snowballs (the pastry...if you can call them that, haha). I had put it in for two reasons, one, I love fresh parsley, but more so for the fact that parsley and tomatoes are companion plants. I had the added benefit of having something nice and green through these winter months on my side.
Interestingly enough, the garlic (this hedges his space, sides and back, random side and back on my side) decided to come up with our warm snap. Nature came to her sense and was all over the being winter again these past few days and the garlic does not seem to care so maybe it will just keep going. G there is excited as this is the first results he is seeing for all his hard work, he went out the other day 'just to look at the garlic'. Hard to teach an 8 year old patience but he has been pretty good at it (or he just kinda forgot for a bit, hehe).
Nov 8, 2007 | 3:04 PM PST
Tags: Tomatoes , basil , oregano , sage , thyme , dahlia , hydrangea , radish seed , alpine strawberries , yellow rose , bees , Parsley , cotoneaster , Japanese Elm , Japanese Maples , bonsai , Storm
So we had an amazing wind storm not that long ago. We even cleaned up the yard and battened down the hatches, so to speak. Got all the potted stuff down in a protected spot (will be the winter spot too!) and all the furniture and our bikes nice and tidy and close...
Max is a dumb cat, I love him so but he is CRAZY. The wind started blowing HARD but it was not raining yet so I decided to give him some outside time. Nut job goes running around with the WILD KAT look in his eyes. You know the drill...run run run...mad dash...STOP! look around madly with flashing eyes.
He does not have that collar anymore, little jerk keeps losing them. This time was the worst as it had his license and a name tag. Jerk.
Then he did this and I was thinking 'Ain't he cute!'. As you can see all the brown in him, he snuck in as a regular cat and once he was established he is letting the Maine Coon out.
Then he FLEW over to one of the cedars and ran on the roof. Not happy. Wasn't happy a bit. He had no clue how windy it was, and how fast he could fly off! So I ended up standing in the raised bed while he teased me by coming to the edge when I was whistling and calling and finally came down so I promptly tossed him inside! Jerk. Cute, fuzzy, lovable jerk. My wife calls this shot 'fluffy butt'.
So, on to the destruction,
The dahlia. It took one hell of a beating...
My tomatoes, oh dear, my poor Black Prince...
The radishes I let bolt? So close to get my seed? Not a chance in hell. The wind snapped every single one of them and it was going so well. They would have had SO much seed. Damn. I had a fit and went ahead and cleared them out. They are now mulch. See all those seed heads? I don't even want to look.
So, upset as I was, daunted by the greenery that needs to be cut, tossed...all of the above, I started looking around. I have pretty much missed the nice fall foliage that so many are harping on as our nicely colored leaves have been passing us at about 90 MPH. I looked at my Bonsai and had to take another glance (and pictures!) as they are most gorgeous! Here is one where I took two different breeds and literally wrapped the Female around the Male to create a piece I call 'co-dependence'. hehe. Her color is amazing! He has just started to change a bit.
And one of my favorites, these are all about 4-5 yrs old. Such a nice yellow! Guess we have to keep our trees behind a wall in order to be able to see the colors!
The Japanese Elm has lost most of its leaves so gets to show off it's corkscrew nicely!
And the Cotoneaster is showing off it's berries, the wind took off a lot of them but it still has a few ;)
Then I notice the thyme and sages, how happy they are...it has finally cooled down enough for them.
And yes, I will get in there and weed them!
My herb pot looked a little unhappy, then I looked closer and changed my mind when I saw the flowers :D
The Parsley is happy finally, it does NOT like it hot-hot-hot, haha!
I come out of the garden area and see this, a cool little volunteer. One of the great things about a rental is you really don't know what is there so it is always a surprise
Yes, I know the buggers next to it have to go, lol. I *promise* LMAO!
Heading up the hill I see the dahlia in a different light...and that bush behind it? Never stopped flowering, it was leggy, like 8 ft tall and I cut the bejeezus out of it. So it flowered and has not stopped since early spring. Oh how the honey bees and bumble bees love it!
Then I look over and see that the yellow rose our youngest decided to trim this summer, with a toy sword *eek!* gave us something.
I look to the left and see fall colors on the hydrangea with a guest that really set it off!
Much better mood. What can I say, there is good in everything...I think. Excepting our present government, hehe. I decided to FINALLY plant the alpine strawberries that have been floundering and mocking me continuing to flourish despite my treatment of them. They will be great here, this spot is full of bulbs so is interesting for about 5 minutes then Blah.
So, we lost power, had to toss a blanket over the lizard cage. It was cold and windy, rainy and the power cut off while my non tv watching butt was in the middle of Grays Anatomy. I will not get radish seed this year from my crop. My tomatoes are a mess...the dahlia is half broken and the yard is a basic mess. A basic beautiful mess!
Nov 8, 2007 | 10:57 AM PST
Tags: Cuban Oregano , Walla Walla Onions , brussel sprouts , Purple Kohlrabi , Tomatoes , Garlic
It is getting cold and much cleanup must be done. Our youngest is getting his side ready, all by himself. I need to get him some mulch to help the fact that we have a neighbor cat pooping in his bed! Once we get some mulch he is going to plant Garlic and Walla Walla sweet onions. We sat and created his plan last night, of course he is *almost* 8 so he is a bit disappointed that he will not really see anything till spring but I already picked him up some Brussels Sprouts and Purple Kohlrabi seed for spring too so that will be fun! I also promised this little tomato eating machine his own tomato plants so maybe the rest of us will get some, LOL! See how much nicer his side is? I really need to get out there! I did *not* tell him I dumped half a bag of cow poop in with the soil he was working in!
So, to counteract his disappointment I showed him something last night. He had forgotten that I had taken a couple cuttings off of my *very* irritated Cuban Oregano to see how fast it would root in water. Lo and behold it is rooting rather quickly so I showed him one and he goes 'Roots!' and then I reminded him that he would get on for his room. Little guy walked around for a half hour sniffing one of those wonderful, soft leaves so I told him we would make sure he gets one for his room too. Then he goes 'Can we have ten? Twenty? a HUNDRED???'. I could only laugh, thinking I am creating a monster (and he does know where the pots are, hard to miss them!).
Apr 24, 2007 | 11:25 AM PST
Tags: tomatoes , over grown , grass , weeds , bulbs , garden fork , Early Girl , Beef Steak , Cherry Tomato , Vermicompost , Worm Castings , blackberries , spiders , Sugar Snap Peas , Till , Full Sun
So, 2 days of work.
The first day clearing half of the overgrown mess, the second day
tilling in some worm castings (vermicompost).
This is all hand done, due to lack of space & equipment, haha…My
honey did get her garden fork back so that is what I worked with. Weeds, grass, various bulbs that I have no
use for…some volunteer blackberries (bane of the PNW) and spiders…and here I
have some garden space. This is only
half done, but the hardest part has been done, IMHO. I planted some Tomato’s, an Early Girl,
Beefsteak and a Cherry. I plan on
putting in some Sugar Snap Peas after I build a trellis for them. Personally? I
think I should have a ‘Get Out of Hell Free’ card for doing this…it IS a rental
house, after all! Check out the pics, tell me what YOU think! This spot does get FULL sun, so at least it will produce!
Before:
After:
Tomatoes:
