Growing great tomatoes is a rewarding endeavor, especially when done organically. Tomatoes, part of the nightshade family, are easy to grow and offer various types, sizes, and flavors. Understanding their growing requirements, such as warm temperatures, sunlight, and well-drained soil, is essential. Additionally, factors like staking, bloom length, disease resistance, and proper watering contribute to a successful harvest. By following these guidelines, you can enjoy a bountiful crop of delicious, pesticide-free tomatoes.
Here in the Northeast gardening is in full swing in early spring. Some spring tasks are important to do early in the season, whether you are a beginner or a well-seasoned gardener. Soil Fertility: Here are the steps Want to increase your soil’s microbe population …
I’ve seen a rise in questions about voles in the garden and what to do about them when there is an infestation. Many people op to get rid of their compost, and even straw for mulching- truly not understanding that this will do nothing to solve the problem. There are many types of voles and their diets are so diverse, along with their habitats, that one thing alone will not solve the problem.
Characteristics of Voles
Voles are related to mice but look more like a small hamster. The difference in their appearance is that voles have rounder heads, shorter tails, stockier bodies and small eyes. They don’t weigh more than a few ounces and are usually no bigger than five to seven inches, depending on the type of vole. They can have anywhere from five to ten litters in a given year. Each litter can have up to four to five young. Therefore, if you get them in your garden, you can have a very quick infestation in a matter of months. Their normal life expectancy is two months but they can live for a whole year. Fortunately the populations are cyclic and peak every four years.
Voles Habits and Diet
Voles in your garden can cause havoc on plants and your garden vegetables in a short time. They eat leaves, seeds, flowers, roots, grasses, clover, barks of trees and shrubs, bulbs, field and forage crops and they love plantain weed. Voles also love your vegetables, eat insects and animal remains when their populations are high. They eat everything that can be eaten.
Where do voles live?
Garden voles live underground and store their food, like seeds, there. They have an extensive tunnel system right below the surface or underground, depending on the type of vole. Voles use mole tunnels to travel around. If not, they burrow their own tunnels. They live under large plant leaves or mulch. Doesn’t mean you can’t plant or mulch. Voles are more likely to live under forest canopy or in neighboring fields.
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Vole Predators
If you live in an urban area, you are likely to have only a few of these around. But the best control may be to attract some of their predators and make them part of your garden family.
Snakes eat voles and they are readily found in an organic garden. I’ve seen snakes grow over a given season, and going deep into my garden beds. If they didn’t have food they would not stay around.
Owls and hawks are other predators that go after voles. These can also be seen in urban and suburban areas. A family of barn owls can consume thousands of voles and other rodents in one season.
Therefore, early in the season in late winter or early spring, place an owl box in a protected place. Ideally they do best in trees adjacent to your garden. The boxes should be placed fifteen feet high on a tree. Place some bedding inside, like the one they sells for rabbits or small animals in pet stores. If any birds move in before the owls do, evict them.
If you live in the country, then you may see some other predators, like coyotes, foxes, mink and badgers. But, for the average gardener, these will not be of any benefit.
Controlling Vole Populations
Clear debris from your garden regularly, and at the end of the season, and place in compost.
Turn your compost often. A compost that heats up will not be sought after by voles or any type of rodent. See how to make a compost: / and the materials needed to start one: Making a compost
Don’t use plastic weed barriers, as they love the perfect protection and nice warmth.
Install a 1/4 inch or less of mesh all around the garden. You can install a close knit wire and then a second one in a slightly different direction, or move it to the side from the first one, to close the gap in the holes. The fence should be buried a good six inches deep into the ground and eighteen inches if you also want to keep groundhogs from entering.
Coyote, fox urine, citronella, or castor oil sprayed around the outer edge of the garden to deter them.
You can destroy the tunnels with a shovel as far back as possible.
Installing traps is another alternative.
Stay alert. Any one of these alone will not solve the problem. The combination of actions from owls and snakes to fences and the like are likely to keep populations under control and will help avoid major problems.
Traditional research is mostly focused on chemicals, growth hormones, GMO’s, and an array of company-funded projects but not on companion planting. Few researchers are venturing out and doing innovative work that benefits the small individual gardener or small organic farm. But times are changing, and …
The provided information about growing kohlrabi is a comprehensive guide that covers various aspects of planting, maintenance, harvesting, and pest control. It includes details on the plant’s characteristics, ideal growing conditions, and practical tips for successful cultivation.
By following these guidelines, both novice and experienced gardeners can effectively grow kohlrabi and enjoy its nutritious bulbs and leaves.
Parsley is from the same family as carrots and celery, requiring cold weather to thrive. How to grow parsley – It’s easy and a very hardy plant. Plant early in the spring once the ground can be worked. It grows from spring to late fall, as it can withstand some frost and, with some protection, it will grow until hard frost in December in the Northeast; further south in a milder climate it will produce all-year-round. It’s a biennial but, on the second year, it will go into seed production relatively quickly. Grow it as an annual.
Curly leaf parsley
Parsley is used to garnish foods and considered in many places just an ornament on your plate, but think again. This very nutritious plant is considered one of the healthiest things to eat.
Types of Parsley to Grow
There are two types of parsley commonly grown in the West.
One is the flat-leaf Italian parsley, which has celery-like leaves, and plants get to be around twenty-four inches tall. The flat leaf can be easily mistaken for cilantro but, upon touching the leaves and smelling them, you will distinguish it easily. This variety is sweeter and stronger tasting, and thus preferred in cooking over the other curly-leaf variety.
The curly variety has shorter plants that grow to twelve inches, with twisted dissected leaves. The curly is more vigorous and hardier.
There is also Hamburg parsley that is grown for its parsnip-like roots and the Japanese parsley that has a strong bitter taste, both are used in Asian kitchens.
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Seeding
Start seedlings indoors six to eight weeks before the last frost. Then set the plants out a few weeks before the last frost. Plants can withstand light frost but not a strong freeze. If temperatures fluctuate and suddenly drop below normal during the evening, place a row cover for protection. See video on 4 Advantages of Row Covers
Place plants at ten to twelve inches apart in the row, and as close as eight inches if you have a raised bed and good organic soil.
If direct seeding, this is the hardest part of growing parsley, as patience is needed to wait for them to germinate, which can take a month. Therefore, soak the seeds in warm water for a day to help speed up the process.
Light Requirements
Parsley prefers full sun but will tolerate partial shade. In the heat of the summer, it is best if other plants, like tomatoes, are planted near them. As the tomatoes grow they will provide partial shade during the summer months when the plant tends to wilt easily due to extreme heat. Tomatoes, asparagus, carrot, chives, onion and roses make good companion plants. Read blog on companion planting. It made my tomato plants grow bigger, and they were better-tasting. But you must be your own judge.
Fertilizationand Watering
They require fertilization as the season progresses. I like using compost tea after thoroughly watering the plants once a week. Read blog on compost tea. It is best to water early in the morning, as the water gets trapped in the folds of the leaves and the droplets act as a magnifying glass once the sun gets strong, later in the day. The plants will readily wilt if they get dried out. Use straw mulch, as it works best to keep the moisture uniformly and therefore requires only once a week watering.
Harvesting
The way to keep parsley in your kitchen all season long is to continually harvest the outer stalks of the plant. Always leave the center bud alone. The plant will continue to send out more shoots as it grows, and the outer leaves can get quite large- over a foot long. I like to cut them at the base when they reach ten inches in length.
Problems
Swallowtail full grown caterpillar- ate the parsley plant in its entirety.
Black Swallowtail Larvae – They love parsley and, even when you think they have killed the plant because they eat the whole thing, leave it alone. As long as the bud in the center was not eaten, it will come back full force. The larva are capable of consuming the whole plant in a day or two. The choice will have to be made to move the larva or to let them develop into a full grown caterpillar (they have three instars before they are totally developed). If birds don’t eat them, they go into the pupa state and eventually become an adult butterfly.
Celery Mosaic Virus and Cucumber Mosaic Virus – any of the viruses will have the same similar look. The leaf has spotted or mosaic-looking leaves, where they will have yellowing intermingled with darker green spots. The leaves can become curled and twisted due to the aphids that are the usual culprit in the transmission of the virus. Keep an eye out for aphids. When this occurs, I harvest the whole plant, disposing of the bad leaves and utilizing the balance.
Leave a few plants for the black swallowtail to develop or plant dill in a pot near the garden, which they also love.
Lady beetles, with about 450 species in the US, are commonly known for their beneficial role in controlling aphids, scales, mites, and other pests. They vary in color and size, ranging from orange, yellow, pink, tan, and white, with black spots, to entirely black, brown, or grey. In contrast, the Mexican bean beetle, resembling ladybugs, is a pale-yellow to copper-brown pest with 16 black spots on its wing covers. It exclusively feeds on bean leaves and pods. The Colorado potato beetle, another look-alike, has ten alternating stripped bands of black and light yellow to tan on its wing covers and is a vegetarian that feeds on potatoes, peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes. The larvae of these insects also have distinct characteristics, with ladybug larvae being black with red, orange, or black stripes or markings, while Mexican bean beetle larvae are bright yellow with short spikes protruding throughout their body, and Colorado potato beetle larvae are salmon-pink with black spots along the side. The eggs of these insects are similar in shape and color, ranging from yellow to orange. Lady beetles lay eggs wherever there is food for the young larva to feed on, while Mexican bean beetles lay their eggs on the plant they are feeding on, and Colorado potato beetles lay their eggs in mass or small clusters on the underside of the leaves. Lady beetles are valuable allies in organic gardening and can be encouraged to stay by providing them with flowers that offer nectar and pollen. Conversely, Mexican bean beetles and Colorado potato beetles are pests that can be controlled through various methods such as handpicking and crop rotation.
Planting Asparagus Growing asparagus is fun and relatively easy. Asparagus crowns can be put in the moment the soil can be worked. Asparagus can be planted from four to six weeks before the last frost. If you have raised beds, it will be the first …
Best time for planning the vegetable garden and get ready, for spring is during the winter. This is the time to evaluate last year’s harvest, and to see what variety of vegetables did well and what didn’t. Planning the vegetable garden is one of the key things that should be done to achieve success.
Some Questions to Ask Yourself Are:
Did I plant too much of any one vegetable?
Did I plant them too close?
Were they properly placed or did some plants get too much shade?
Did I plant them too late so that I didn’t have time to harvest them before they went to seed, or bolted, or the frost got them?
What varieties did I love and which ones I don’t want to replant?
What new vegetables do I want to try?
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Four-Season Planning
The solution to some of these questions is to sit and create a four-season plan: one for early spring, then for mid-spring, another for early summer and, lastly, for late summer fall.
After taking stock of your prior year, decide what you like to eat which vegetables you have enjoyed eating or would like to try. It’s a good idea to try at least one new vegetable each year. Based on available space decide how many varieties of a given vegetable you will grow. If you grow peppers are they going to be Habaneros, sweet peppers or bell peppers or a few plants of each type? Or just one plant?
Consider Placement
Then survey and measure your garden.
Where is the north versus south?
Taller plants on the northern end and shorter ones are place in the south.
Where should the paths be, and the compost?
If you have a compost pile or bin, was it placed correctly or does it need moving?
Do the raised beds need expansion or should they even be moved?
Was there enough room left in the paths for a wheelbarrow to go through?
Incorporating Color in the Garden?
This is really important for several reasons. A garden can become a place to relax and escape into your own world. It’s important for it to look pleasing to the eyes, and the greater amount of color, the better. Leave a section or small area for flowers or planting various types of peppers that have different colors or herbs that give a fragrance when handled. All these different inputs can help make your garden experience joyful and relaxing. In addition, it will provide you with fantastic fresh produce.
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Creating the Plan- Additional considerations:
Do we want a focal point?
Is fencing necessary to keep deer, groundhogs, and rabbits out?
Can I use containers for certain crops?
If planting perennials such as rhubarb or asparagus, they need a permanent place where they won’t interfere with the rest of the garden.
When you start the plan, it is best to have different layers. On the layers, you should place them by the height of the plants.
Example Using Tomatoes
If they are the kind that are indeterminate (keep growing indefinitely) place them in the north, they can get to be five feet tall or taller by late summer. They will shade anything that is behind them. You can also take advantage of the shade they provide and plant shade-tolerant plants that will thrive with tomatoes. Example: planting tomatoes with parsley or carrots. As long as they get a little sun or dappled sun, they will do well during the summer months. Read more about companion
Once the tomatoes are done, you carefully remove the plant by cutting the base of the tomato plants and allowing the parsley to finish the season into late fall.
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Succession Planting
Companion planting
Succession planting would work great if you plan it out and know when the last planting will take place in a given space. You can do this as a family project, with the kids coloring the various plants and deciding what they should grow. If children grow something, they then tend to eat it, as it was their labor. Example: Consider planting radishes – they would be ready in thirty days from seed to harvest. You can follow with a second and third crop?
Making a List and Choosing Seeds
Here is where planning the vegetable garden comes into play. Make a list of the early spring plants that are cool weather crops. Followed by the warm season crops and, once again, the cool season plants. Once your plan is complete and you have decided where things should go, then order the seeds. This way you don’t order way more than what you need. Seeds only last two years or so in the refrigerator before their germination rate goes down significantly.
In this list you should note if you want seed potatoes.
If you are going to start your own seedlings or if you plan on buying them.
Choose which plants require transplants – broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower and, if so, who will be your supplier?
Where are you going to order the asparagus or rhubarb crowns?
Are you planning to put in strawberry plugs or bare-root blackberry plants?
Pre-Purchase Items
It’s a good idea to purchase pots for herbs; this way they will not take over the garden and can easily be moved. Or create a small raised bed for just the herbs. Some will easily survive through any winter. Mints and their family should be kept in pots, no matter what. Otherwise, they will invade your garden and take over.
Purchase growing trays or materials to make your own blocks to start seedlings. Build a cold frame, and purchase your shade-netting units or cloth for insect protection.
Now that you have covered all these items, planning the vegetable garden should be easy.
It’s important to develop the right environment for the beneficial insects to establish proper habitats. Avoid using chemicals as bees and other beneficial insects are extremely sensitive to any type of chemical including the “natural” ones that are available to control grubs, etc. Black ground beetles and praying mantis are discussed in detail. From their appearance to their eating habits, predators, and their habitats.
Putting the garden to rest and preparing for spring is very important as it will determine the following year results. It’s when the nighttime temperatures start dropping into the 30°’s F and during the day they are staying in the 50°’s F to low 60°’s F.
Work to be done in the fall
Take stock where the various plantings are in the garden. Map out a crop rotation as you create next year’s garden plan.
The warm season crops like tomatoes, peppers, squashes and beans are over. Harvest and wrapped in newspaper the green tomatoes. Store in a cold box to ripen.
Diseased plants or fruits should be disposed and not left in the ground.
Any strawberry plants, asparagus, or the like, apply 4” of mulch (like straw or hay or compost) around the plants, to protect them and avoid heaving during the winter months. It is best to apply mulch after the first freeze to avoid mice and voles from overwintering in the garden.
If you planted a cover crop earlier, then pull the tomato and other vegetable plants carefully so as to not disturb the soil and the cover crop.
Weed the garden beds thoroughly to minimize further spread of the weeds into next year. It’s really important to not let weeds go to seed, as this can create a whole infestation and harbor insects, slugs and the like into the following season.
If you have any fruit trees or berry bushes, install some deer netting. This will prevent deer from eating the buds or using the tree trunks to sharpen their antlers.
For summer-bearing raspberries, prune and leave about 6 canes. For fall-bearing raspberries, prune heavily right to the ground. They will send new canes next season.
You can plant blackberries or transplant and divide them now. Mound the soil around the base and mulch after the soil freezes.
Plant material should be put in the compost pile. If they are diseased, discard it far from garden or burn it.
Compost pile
Starting a compost pile
If you already have a compost pile, turn it, if you haven’t done so already. Add some fresh green material along with the leaves so that it generates heat and kill any overwintering bugs and weed seeds. The turning of the compost will prevent any animals from overwintering in the pile. Turn the pile every few weeks until the ground freezes. If a pile is allowed to cool off it will not kill diseases or weeds. See video on turning a compost pile.
Start your compost utilizing the leaves and the fresh garden material.
If you choose not to use the leaves in a compost, you can chop them with a lawnmower and utilize as mulch in the garden.
Get my paperback copy: ‘Garden the Organic Way’ and become an expert gardener. Garden the Organic Way is a comprehensive guide to organic gardening, designed for all skill levels. The book provides methods for growing delicious, pesticide-free vegetables using sustainable practices. Garden the Organic Way presents an engaging, practical guide with lots of tips on how to garden successfully. https://gardentheorganicway.etsy.com
Garlic Lovers – Grow Your Own! It’s the end of October about four to six weeks before frost hits – the best time to plant garlic. If you choose to plant very early in the spring, you will get a smaller yield. Garlic has many …
Season Extenders Comes in all Sizes Season extenders are simple ways that we can extend or lengthen our growing season through various means using different methods, materials or products. The concept is to start the spring earlier and end the growing season later. Some things …
Restoring the soil is the key to having a fabulous organic garden. By nurturing and feeding the soil organisms, we bring the soil back to life. Understanding the soil and its composition is the key to this process. Some of the main helpers that keep the soil healthy for the plants to thrive are: bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, worms, and ants among others. Learn about soil microbes, creating black gold and restoring the soil into a fertile ground. Just some of the topics covered on my soil course. On SALE now!great price until February 7, 2024. Soil, The Key to Organic Gardening
Soil Food Chain
Organic matter (OM) is all that is needed to keep soil alive and plants free of disease. One of bacteria’s essential roles is to decompose organic matter. It not only provides the nutrients necessary for the growth of the plants but, more importantly, serves as the food that sustains the soil’s food web composed of billions of microorganisms. See video on the ultimate guide to compost.
Fungi developing on vegetables in compost
Protozoa’s eat bacteria and fungi, giving off ammonium that in turn gets converted to nitrates for the plants to use. They attack nematodes and are food for the worms.
Nematodes play a role in helping to keep the populations of the various organisms under control. By consuming the bacteria and fungi, they mineralize the nutrients.
Role of Earthworms and OM
The increased breakdown of organic matter increases nutrients released in the process of decomposition. As worms burrow, they open up channels that aerate the soil as well as break up any hard pans found due to compaction or other soil disturbances. Worm castings have 50% more organic matter, and higher levels of ammonia, phosphorous, calcium, as well as other nutrients. Restoring the soil becomes simple once this process is facilitated through the addition of organic matter.
Earthworms are one of the major contributors of food for other microorganisms, and their destruction has to do with the treatment and chemical usage the soil receives. Compaction, rototilling and use of chemical fertilizers all destroy the symbiotic ecosystem in the soil.
Worms
Addition of synthetic fertilizers breaks the natural cycle and you then become more dependent on using fertilizers non-stop. This creates a huge negative impact on the food chain.
Maintain the proper soil balance between organic humus or compost, air and water to provide the necessary nutrients for your plants.
Provide a high level of organic matter and humus to the soil to build up an army of beneficial bacteria and fungi. In addition, the good bacteria develop a natural defense system for the plants against disease, and pathogens and pests are kept in check.
Soils high in organic matter hold more water and have less run off as the soil will be loosened and have good drainage (not excessive drainage) and maintains a balance pH in the soil.
Greater drainage goes hand-in-hand with greater aeration due to higher levels of organic matter.
To have good soil we must see that the good bacteria is fed appropriately by adding organic matter, making sure the pH in the soil is properly balanced, having good moisture and good drainage. All this will result in the restoration of the soil.
Get my paperback copy: ‘Garden the Organic Way’ and become an expert gardener. Garden the Organic Way is a comprehensive guide to organic gardening, designed for all skill levels. The book provides methods for growing delicious, pesticide-free vegetables using sustainable practices. https://gardentheorganicway.etsy.com
