Somebody STOP me!

[Deleted]

I'm about to commit a grievous sin! I'm preparing to go out and plant one of my tomato plants out in the garden!

See, what happened is, back in March, when I was absolutely sure winter would never end and I was starving to see anything green, I planted my tomato seeds in the house. You know, the packet says to start them 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost, and figuring our last frost to be the middle of May, I justified that by planting them on March 13, which is 8 weeks and 2 days before the "average" last frost here.

The problem is I do this every year and those little suckers always grow faster than the packet says, and I always end up with 3-foot-tall plants before I can get them planted out. This year, I went overboard and planted 24 tomato plants, which are all sitting in quart yogurt containers (transplanted out of the seedling flats weeks ago) on my south porch plant shelf. They have fluorescents over them for more light. Maybe that was the problem.

So today I was going to take them outside for a little while to start hardening them off and give them a good watering, but they won't stand up by themselves. They're okay all huddled together and leaning on each other, but how in the HECK am I going to get them out to the garden in two more weeks, when they're probably going to be a foot taller than they are now? It's not that far from the house to the garden, maybe 60 or 70 feet, but taking them out one at a time, digging the trench, burying all that stem, etc., then going back for another one. What a pain. (This is when having some kids would come in handy, isn't it?)

My bright idea is that I'm going to take just one of them out to the garden and plant it. I'll just leave 6 or 8 inches of it sticking up and then put a milk jug cloche over it to protect it from sun and wind and chilly night temps. It's not supposed to get below 40 at night now for the next week, and probably won't after that, so that tomato SHOULD be OK except it hasn't been hardened off yet. But I'm desperate. It's hard to water all those crowded pots on the shelf and then try to mop up all the leakage before it hits the floor...

I have a big note now in my garden journal to NOT EVEN THINK OF STARTING TOMATO SEEDS until the first week or two of April from now on, but I need to do something with my current seedlings. What do you guys think? I figure if I lose just one plant of the 24, it won't be any great loss, but I was thinking if it makes it for a few days, then I'm going to start putting the taller ones out there a few a day until they're all out. I have plenty of the milk jug cloches for them, unless they get too big for them. Then what? Cut them back? Sheesh, I don't think they've ever grown quite this fast before.

I just don't want to lose them because I have big plans for canned tomato products later this summer.

~Lannie

[momo]

I guess 1 tomato plant would be a good way to test the weather. Be sure to ask for volunteers first!

I doubt you will get any more snow at least.

[Kathy]

Seems like that should work Lannie just so long as you take the jug off during the day so it doesn't fry in the sun.
You could cut the top off of another milk jug so there's a wind break for the little fella but it wouldn't get too hot during the day.

Let us know what happens. ;D

[Deleted]

That should work Lannie. Just make sure it can breath (real well) during the day. How many of them do you plan to put out early?

[Deleted]

I was just going to plant one out and see how it fares. The garden is still so soft and squishy from all the rain and snow that it's pretty hard to walk out there, so I can't really get down and dirty (it would be down and MUDDY instead) and get busy planting, although I need to. I have lettuce and cabbage that needs to go out, but I have a wood framed raised bed for them, so maybe I can get those out today, too. I also need to get a bunch of herbs out, if I can manage to slop through the muck to get back to the herb garden. They might have to wait another day or two, but I'm going to try for today. It's a beautiful day for being out in the garden, even if it IS too muddy. If it's too wet to plant anything, I'll just sit out there and contemplate. That works, too.

~Lannie

[Deleted]

Honestly, I don't know how Kathy does it. I planted out SOME stuff today (nowhere near 134 plants!) and I'm so exhausted I can't see straight.

I did plant out one Homestead tomato. So far it seems to be doing fine. I put a milk jug over it with the top off, but it was up over 70 today and I thought it would be too hot, so I took it off and rummaged around for something to shade it with. I finally came up with an old plastic milk crate which was perfect. I'll go out and put the milk jug back over it after dinner. The tomato is sitting inside its milk crate just happy as can be. No wilt, no stress. Now if I just had 23 MORE milk crates! LOL!

I finally also got my elecampane (I think they should call it Elecampane Giganticus), parsley, yarrow, burdock, 4 different kinds of lettuce, and cabbages transplanted out. I love transplanting - you get instant results! Happy little green plants sitting in the garden now (all those were hardened off, I was just waiting for the snow to melt).

Then I planted some more chard, some green onions, and last week, before the snow storm, I had planted peas and turnips. I'm starting squash and cucumber seeds in the house so I'll have transplants of those when the time comes, too.

After all the planting, I went around digging out errant mugwort sprouts. Those are tough little buggers! A tiny little clump of leaves has roots that go down a foot! I think I got all the extras out; all I could see when I was done was the mother plant.

I wish we still had our hot tub! Man, THIS would be the night to dive into that thing and soak all this achiness away. Eh, no matter, I'll be OK in the morning.

~Lannie

[Deleted]

Just thought I'd update on the tomato plant. It's fine, and survived that first night with no trouble, so the next day I put out 7 more in that bed. I put their little milk jug caps on them at night, and during the day they get filtered sun. I took some row cover material and clothespinned it along the top of the field fence I'm using as trellises, then weighted the bottom with rocks. (I only put that on the west side of the trellis, so they could have some morning sun, but be lightly shaded in the afternoon until they're hardened off.)

The wind picked up shortly after I did that and the rowcover, being mostly a big sail, rolled the rocks off, so I replaced the rocks with three 40-pound concrete blocks. I thought for sure that would hold it.

Night before last and yesterday we had a pretty good storm blow through - just rain and wind - but it was enough to roll those concrete blocks off the rowcover and it was flapping straight out again. Unbelievably, the clothespins were all still holding. Go figure. Since it was raining and heavy overcast, I just took the rowcover off, but that in itself was dangerous because with all the rain we got (around 2"), it was a quagmire out there between the beds. I had my muck boots on, and I sank in so far at one point that I couldn't get my foot back out when I went to take a step and almost landed full length in the mud. I caught myself on the trellis, so I didn't fall down, but now Rich needs to go out and tighten it back up again.

It's not raining today, but we're due for another 2" tonight and tomorrow, with possibly some snow in the wee hours of the morning. ARGH. If it does snow, it won't be much and it won't last. The low tonight is predicted to be 35, so I'm hoping my 8 little mater plants are OK under their milk jugs. So far, they're doing great. I'd like to plant the other 16 plants out, but it's way too muddy now to even think about going out there unless it's an emergency.

On a good note, Rich shredded up a bunch of bark a few days ago (left on the ground after moving the woodpile) and I have plenty of bark mulch for the garden now. I mulched the one tomato bed, the raised herb nursery bed, and the lettuce & cabbage bed. It looks really nice and it keeps the dirt from flowing away when we get 2 inches of rain! LOL!

~Lannie

[Kathy]

Lannie, I'm so glad they're doing good. You're going to be way ahead of your neighbors on getting fresh tomatoes.

Your weather sounds like what we've had down here for the last couple months-rain & more rain. I want to get more stuff planted but it rained this week so I'll have to wait until tomorrow at the soonest. The soil here has a lot of clay so walking in the mud gives you 30# boots! ;D

I am going to plant mint, I know it's a real spreader so I think it will make a good ground cover under my fruit trees. Plus it will smell so good.

[Deleted]

It's my turn now... lol.

I'm about to go plant my squash, beans and a few other things. They are seeds, so should be ok.

Kaza

[Deleted]

Ohgoodlord, it's snowing again. Not a little. A lot. And it's down to 30 degrees. My tomatoes are under their milk jugs - I hope that's enough protection. I'd go throw a tarp over them, but the wind's too strong (again...) and there's standing water everywhere in the garden (again...). This is starting to get really old.

Hey, Kaza, I started my squash and cucumber seeds in damp paper towels inside zip lock bags. I put them in there the afternoon of the 5th, then I checked them on the morning of the 8th (that's less than 3 days), and ALL the cucumber seeds not only had branching roots, but two leaves! LOL! They were just happily growing in their little paper towel houses! The squash seeds all had little root nubs but no leaves yet. I planted them all into little pots which are now out in the garage in the insulated boxes. I hope it keeps them warm enough. Since I still have 16 gigantic tomato plants in the house, plus a tray of pepper seedlings, I don't have room for them in here.

This is turning out to be a very interesting Spring.

This is DEFINITELY going to be the last frost, though! And I WILL have a bumper crop this year! After all the work I've done the last couple of months to get this garden going good, it had BETTER BE a bumper crop! LOL!

~Lannie

[Deleted]

I do start them in the wet paper towels to... but plant them as soon as they start to root.
How long is your growing season there?

Kaza

[Deleted]

This just gets better and better!

There's already about an inch of snow on the ground and it's coming down so thick it's just about zero visibility, still piling up. I just checked the weather again, and it says the "rain" (I guess they can't see the snow) should be decreasing as the morning progresses, but then we can expect sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph all afternoon. (Can anyone remember why I said I wanted to live here? I can't recall, right at the moment...)

Well the animals are tucked in the barn (and coop), and the garden will either live or die. I suppose if I don't laugh about the absurd weather, I'd be crying, so here's some more laughing!



~Lannie

[Deleted]

Just smile and call it a "Heavy Frost"

[Deleted]

Sorry, Kaza, I guess I was typing while you were posting that one post in between my two this morning.

We usually have our last frost around the first of May, and the first one can be anywhere from the end of September to the middle of October. So, I guess an average of 5 months. Sometimes, like last year, the last frost was early and the first frost was late, so it was maybe 6 months.

It's still snowing, but it looks brighter outside, so maybe the clouds are thinning out and it will stop soon. The weather report has also downgraded the winds to 20 to 40 sustained with gusts up to 50, so maybe we'll get lucky and it will only be 20 mph. They're still saying it's going to be sunny and 65 tomorrow with just a light breeze, but there's another blue blob headed our way that's in western Montana right now, so another storm system will be here on Monday. I can't even walk out in the garden right now (except on the main aisleway which didn't get tilled), so I guess all I can do is watch and hope for the best!

Rich told me this morning that the news last night said we'd had 4 months worth of precipitation in the last week, and more's comin'! I guess it would be safe to say the drought's over? At least that's what it looks like. You should see all the green here! When it's not covered in snow, that is! LOL! The other good thing is that all the stock ponds, lakes and reservoirs are full to overflowing, which they haven't been since we moved here. Bear Butte Lake, near Sturgis, has been basically a muddy swamp for the last 3 years, and now it's over its banks. So of course, there are flood warnings everywhere there's a body of water (reservoir, lake, river, etc.). Makes me glad we're on high ground!

~Lannie

[Deleted]

Nope... I read the one where you were getting snow. And when I stopped laughing, I decided it's easier to just call it a very heave frost than to admit you are getting snow 10 days into May.

I just planted more corn, squash and cukes this mornin.

Kaza

[Deleted]

Hmmm... I might've dodged another bullet. This must be my lucky year!

The snow stopped, finally, about an hour ago, and the clouds are breaking up. The wind's not too bad. I just went out and from the center aisleway did my best to check my green babies in the garden. I did venture one boot into the slop to remove a milk jug and the tomato plant under it was peachy-keen-fine. YAY! There's still a little snow on the lettuce leaves, but they look to be OK as well. The temp is starting to go up (35 now) so I'll know better tomorrow, but at least there was no immediate carnage out there.

~Lannie

[bbird]

This is the week for me to get things in the ground...woohoo, I get to go play in the dirt. Only drawback is the gnats are coming out of the ground and are thicker then poopoo! You open your mouth and they fly in..ugh.

Besides the veggies (I cheated and bought all my plants at the store, how embarrassing is that?!) I also bought a bunch of trays of moss (irish, and something else I can't remember the name of) I'm excited about the moss because last year I bought some red 18inch bricks and kind of threw them on the ground not knowing what I was going to do with them. I think I have finally decided to use four at a time, and put them in a weird square, with moss in the middle of them. Just place them periodically where I want them, not in a pathway.

Last years pansies are blooming so pretty!! The weather is suppose to hit 80 by thursday and we are not suppose to get rain from Wed-Sunday.

[Kathy]

Lannie, I'm glad you didn't get worse weather and your little green babies survived.

Deb, I'm sure you're going to enjoy your dirt digging. Gnats aren't something I have to deal with here, but we do have plenty of fire ants, wasps and mosquito's to make up for it.
Can you wear some sort of a hood, like the bee keepers do to prevent getting your daily protein in the form of gnats?

I don't know if it's the same thing but we have moss growing by the base of all the trees here-is that the same stuff you call Irish moss?

My iris's are out now, the purple ones are almost done but the white ones just opened. The azaleas are so pretty while they're out but gee they don't last very long.
I'm anxious to see how the wildflowers turn out-the ones I planted over the drain field should blossom later this summer and then every year after.

Today while I was in town with Bob to take my car in, I picked up some more pepper plants. I was good, I didn't buy any other plants even though the little voice kept saying 'Go Ahead, You Know You Want Them'.

[bbird]

I can just see dh falling over with laughter if I wore a hood, lol. I just tough it out, as soon as the gnats are gone, the misquitos show up. Always something....makes me almost wish I was a bug person!

I don't know anything about the different type moss. I did remember the other type I got...its scotch moss. One is a lighter shade of green, the other darker. I just hope it spreads fast and fills in the spaces, lol.

I can't wait for everyone's flowers and garden pics this summer!!

[Deleted]

Well, I was busy today (so was Rich!) and I took some pictures!

That first batch of tomatoes I planted out isn't doing so well. There are only 3 out of the 8 that look really good. The others are sad, and I can't figure out the problem. A couple of the other ones just fell over today, but maybe it was the sun. They've been out in the weather for a week now, so you'd think they would have been OK, but it's been fairly cloudy all week, so...

Anyway, this was this morning. The milk jugs are still out there "just in case," but I haven't put them on for several days now.



This is my "nursery bed" that I transplanted the herbs into that I wanted to save before Rich tilled the carp out of the main herb garden. You see that mulch? That's FREE bark mulch (Rich has been running the chipper/shredder), and there's enough to do the whole garden with it! WooHOOOOO!



My one raised bed with a frame (besides the round stock tank herb bed) that I put the lettuce and cabbage in. I'm starting green onions between the rows and will also interplant sage when it gets big enough.



The plum trees in the garden (and everywhere else on the property) are blooming now. They smell heavenly!



A closeup of the blossoms...



Some dwarf irises blooming in a patch of weeds and grass just outside the dogs' yard. Look at the dewdrops!



And of course, you know I can't post pictures without tossing in at least a couple of Dot and the Chicklets! Well... they were NEAR the garden!





Oh, I almost forgot this one! These two guys were standing out in front of my garden this morning when I first went out the door. I clapped my hands and yelled, but they just stood there frozen (like deer in the headlights, LOL!), so I figured I might as well take a picture. Of course they started running when they saw I wanted to take a picture! Ha! The one on the right looks to be about a 4 point (that would be a 10-pointer for those of you in the east) and the other one looks like maybe a forkin' horn, possibly a 3 point. It's hard to tell because their antlers are still so short, but the sun makes the velvet stand out pretty, doesn't it? Or maybe it's just blurry because I was trying to follow and keep them in the frame and focus at the same time.



By the way, I spent all afternoon fixing the clumpy muddy dirt around the tomatoes and mulching them, but my camera ran out of disk, so I didn't get pictures. Later maybe. Or you can just use your imagination! LOL!

~Lannie