Comments on: Weekend Gardening: Successes and Challenges

By: Marta

Marta — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:58:17 +0000

Let your lettuce bolt! They have beautiful flowers and produce lots of seed which you can save very easily!

By: Bobbi

Bobbi — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:48:21 +0000

Chuck is spot on; I would have given the same answers, to Judy. Andrea, we too have a very small spot to grow things in; this year because of the lack of space, I bought 10 Earth Boxes and they are extremely efficient. We picked up some of the organic packages they put out, it was like, one dollar more. My volunteers always produce fruit; some are better than the original fruit, some not, depending on the genetics and how far back they go in volunteering. Andrea, I don’t know if you use Spinosad yet, but we have used it on our eggplants; it is organic of course and it worked for us. We use it also for leafhoppers; we have our peppers growing year after years in the same pots, until they finally die of old age or lack of nutrients so we have to keep an eye out for pests as they are in the same soil that the bugs may have found them the previous year. Tomatoes die usually in December, but the peppers never seem to die. It is tough to rotate them around.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:56:58 +0000

Hi Chuck and Judy. You are right, rotating crops is the ideal thing to do, however we have only a small yard and that location is best for the tomatoes and peppers for the amount of sunlight it gets. We add compost to replenish the soil and keep a watchful eye for any diseases, but so far have not had any problems. One way to combat any problems is to plant some cover crops, which we have not tried due to regulations within our community.

By: CHUCK

CHUCK — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:23:12 +0000

Judy, regarding rotation, two things. One, nutrients decrease if the same crop is used each year. Two, same crop-family can lead to diseases and bug infestation. By rotating, different nutrients are used while you are adding back others with compost and by using other families in the same spot, you diminish the possibility of disease.

Chuck

By: Judy Garczek

Judy Garczek — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:36:53 +0000

Hi Andrea:

It will be interesting to see if your volunteer tomatoes produce any fruit. They will grow, but are known not to produce. Also, when I planted a garden, I was told to rotate my crops, like the farmers do. I never understood that concept as the ground did not know what was planted in it. You stated that you planted in the same place as last year. What do I know, they look great. I miss gardening. I have an acre and a half but so many deer, they eat everything before it gets a chance to grow. Fencing it in, is out of the question, I can buy lots of veggies for what a fence would cost me and I am too old to reap the harvest for too many more years. I did enjoy the challange when I did garden. Looks like yours will be a great success this year. I have some beans planted at an old neighbors house and a couple of zucchini’s also. I am out of zucchini relish and need to make more this year. Thanks for listening and good luck with your crops.

Sincerely,
Judy, Froglady

By: Amelia of Gradually Greener

Amelia of Gradually Greener — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:08:14 +0000

My eggplants look a lot like that too. They haven’t really grown a lot, either. One has set a fruit, but the plant is so tiny that I don’t think it will amount to much. Maybe eggplants are just too fussy!