Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara logo

Tomatoes are Planted

Peppers, cucumbers, parsley and a few other things still need to be planted but 30 tomatoes got planted yesterday.

Tomato Planting Stuff

Most everything I need for good, healthy tomato plants!  There’s egg shells, aspirin, bone meal, fish fertilizer and Osmocote.

Hole with Good Stuff Added

After I dig a big hole, I through in a handful of bone meal, 5 or 6 crushed egg shells, a tablespoon or two of Osmocote and 2 or 3 aspirin, depending on the size of the tomato I’m planting.  I stir all this up into the bottom of the hole before sticking the tomato plant in there.

Plant in the Ground

The bottom few “branches” of the plants are cut off so I can plant it very deep in the ground.  The fish fertilizer is mixed 4 tablespoons into 2 gallons of water and the hole is filled about half full of the mixture, and the plant is stuck down in that.  After a few minutes, the plant soaks up some of the liquid and some of it drains into the ground. Then I fill the dirt in around the plant.

That fish fertilizer says wintergreen oil has been added as a deodorizer.  I’m thinking they might need to add a little more wintergreen oil.  My entire garden smelled like a pogey plant yesterday.

For weeks I’ve been shredding cardboard boxes.  I only use the portion of the box without print. Several inches of shredded cardboard is placed around the top of the plant.

Mulch

Several inches of mulch is then placed on top of the shredded cardboard.

We’re enlarging the garden (my head needs to be examined!). It’s going to be 100′ x 100′ and we’re going to high fence the whole thing.  If all goes according to our plans, next week the fence guy is going to push over the trees that are in the way, and then Vince will have to cut them up for firewood and hopefully burn the stumps so all this means that my drip irrigation system is not happening this year.  I don’t want to use soaker hoses because the tomatoes are 36″ apart and that’s a lot of wasted water but I also don’t want to put in the drip system for just this one year since the garden is going to be totally reconfigured next year.  This means I’m going to be spending a heck of a lot of time this summer watering the tomatoes!  I don’t mind using the soaker hose for the potatoes and peas .. things that are planted close together.

Today I hope to get the peppers, cucumbers and parsley planted.

Oh . . good news . . yesterday while I was working in the garden, I picked a few of my English peas to munch on.  They’re so good — sweet and juicy!  I love my garden!!

Part of the Garden

I didn’t get all the cardboard and mulch down but I did get them all planted and staked.

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • I’d rather be out there than inside. Even in the summer, our nights are cool enough that it’s comfortable working outside til about 9 or 10 a.m. During the heat of the day in July and August, I’ll be inside doing other fun things but for now, I’m loving being in the garden.

  2. You need to set up a retreat center and have the quilters help work the garden in exchange for meals. How in the heck do you shred cardboard?

    • If I had time to set up a retreat center, I wouldn’t have time for a garden! 🙂 I use a paper shredder for shredding cardboard. I use a box cutter to cut it into about 10″ strips that will fit through my shredder, and yes, my shredders do not last as long as they would if I didn’t shred so much cardboard.

  3. What kind of mulch do you use? Are you using cardboard boxes to try and retain moisture?

    • Yes, cardboard for retaining moisture. I wouldn’t recommend using it if you’re in an area that gets rain. Once the cardboard gets wet, I almost bonds back together and forms a “carpet” of sorts that helps retain the moisture.

  4. I’m wondering if there are any companion plants that you could plant between the tomato plants, so then you could use the soaker hoses? Your garden looks great! and I miss having one!

  5. That is an interesting mix you put in the hole–the aspirin, egg shells, Osmocote, etc. I’ve always read different ‘tricks’ including one where you put matches in there. Nothing’s ever worked for me..my tomatoes grow and get maters on em and look beautiful but then I’m lucky if I actually get a couple. And I THINK the mockingbirds are the ones that peck them. UGH! Thankfully my niece and sister’s do OK and they’re semi-sharing. LOL

  6. Interesting that you put asprin in with the tomatoes. My husband insists on putting a couple of antiacid tablets (usually TUMS) in the hole when he plants tomatoes. He insists that this makes the fruit sweet and not so acidic. I can’t stand eating tomatoes (though my 7 yr old daughter will eat the cherry tomatoes like they are candy!) so I don’t know if his theory works or not. Just found it interesting to hear about your planting techniques!

  7. You are one hard worker Judy! I hope that you are rewarded for all your efforts with a bumper crop. Never heard of the addition of aspirin and eggshells though my eggshells do get added to the compost pile and in turn used to topdress the garden.
    Adrienne

  8. Wow…what a great garden…I use solid tubing between the plants and then put soaker hose around the plant….that way it doesn’t waste water….but I know the fun of a garden is going out and looking at how it is growing…..so your out there everyday anyway…..you might as well be watering……
    Why do you guys have so many grasshoppers again this year….

  9. Oh, it looks so lovely!!! I just started transplanting the tomato seedlings into 3″ pots in the house and getting them hardened off for May 10th. I always lose most of them when I transplant into the garden so this year I am transitioning longer and more gently to see if I can get them to live. I still have 87 tomato plants!! My peppers are slow to come up and not doing so well as seedlings so I need to plant another set of seedlings and hope I still have time to get some growth before the season is too far gone. Oh, well, there’s always Lowes if they don’t work this year… hate to do it but it’s better than the grocery store!

  11. I’m with a lot of posters – what is the reason for the aspirin? I put the other things on the surface- but burying them down with the roots sounds like something to try this year. I have another month at least before I can plant out – so time to start separating my egg shells from my compost pile.

    • We were wondering why the aspirin? Love reading about all of your adventures.
      Sandy

  12. I agree with Teri. You could put solid tubes between the tomatoes so that you don’t lose that water but, what about making your own soaker hoses? You could buy cheap hose and cut holes just where you want the water to run out. It would be easier than watering for hours this summer. Just a few dollars spent until you have your solution next year.

  13. All these comments and no one mentioned the thing I’m mose amazed with: 30 PLANTS!!!?? Egads!! I plant 2 tomato plants, put nothing in the hole except the plant, water as needed and we get more delicious tomatoes than we can use. (I’m in northern California).

Discover more from Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading