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Cosmic
assistant gardener
Australia
129 Posts |
 Posted - 02/02/2008 : 15:36:55
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I decided to tie up some of the tomatoes because they are getting a bit straggly. 4 hours later and a washbasket full of half ripe Jaunne Flamme tomatoes, I've managed to relieve the strain on two of the plants. Here is Brandywine Black and Bonnie's Best. I have an equivalent amount of Brandywines inside because of the branches broke under the strain. These two combine to make excellent sauce - deep in flavour so I'm thrilled at the potential crop. Just not sure what to do with the other 40-odd varieties after I've got the seeds.
Tomato Pie for tea!
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tessa
head gardener
Australia
3682 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2008 : 21:35:56
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whoa.
just what are you feeding them, cosmic??
i'm stunned by the sheer visual weight of it.
i'm hoping that with summer on the way out...i can grow a plant or two like that!
cranky people live longer. i'm going to live forever!
perth, wa |
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Cosmic
assistant gardener
Australia
129 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2008 : 21:49:32
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| They are planted fairly closely in the beds that we reclaimed after we got rid of the pine trees. A combination of compost and calf pen stablings and that's it. I don't ever give additional feed once they've been planted out. I must say I was staggered when I started cutting out leaves as most of the fruit was lying down on the ground it was so heavy. We've had excellent growing conditions here is Tassie though. I ended up pulling the Jaune Flamme because it was weaving its way between the others and creating a real problem. My fault because I shouldn't have planted them so close. We've got a bit sick of them there have been so many, So now I've got a huge quantity for Bob's Sunday Walkabout. |
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Pamela
head gardener
Australia
3949 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2008 : 06:07:31
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| Wow Cosmic - they look wonderful! I must say I could not get over what an incredible garden all of Tassie appears to be. So seeing your rich tomato crop does not surprise me in this amazingly rich and green island. An island paradise. |
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Cosmic
assistant gardener
Australia
129 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2008 : 07:42:58
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| This summer has been ideal growing. Everything else is prolific, the only thing that didn';t give good results were onions but the potatoes and other veg have done really well. Summer started a bit earlier than usual with good rain in October which boosted the tomatoes just after planting out. It has been topped up with the odd shower and warm days around 23- 25 degrees. Only now getting down to 10 at night. I'll have to fish out my recipes in the coming days. I'm glad I bought a machine to separate the seeds and skins. |
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tessa
head gardener
Australia
3682 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2008 : 08:59:59
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10 at night. oh, i could only wish! i don't think it went under 27 last night...and they're calling for high 30's today, so we're already on the back foot.
cosmic...i'm hoping you'll post a link to your moonplanting guides if you're still doing them. i had an 'ok' result with onions this year...but admit i'm not really sure when i should be planting those over here. i think i just got lucky.
cranky people live longer. i'm going to live forever!
perth, wa |
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Cosmic
assistant gardener
Australia
129 Posts |
Posted - 16/02/2008 : 17:32:34
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Oops - just found this post. Here's my screed for this week for what its worth.
Tessa, I am mailing the moon guide out every month. Have done so ever since ausgarden kicked me. The reason why when push comes to shove was that I had more direct subscribers that didn't want to join the forum. To subscribe for it, just send me an email - there is a link on my blog at http://www.cosmicgardening.blogspot.com or click heremailto:lindareid@internode.on.netThat looks as though it would work! I also put a bit up on the blog now and then.
Well after a heavy heavy week I processed 40 kg of tomatoes into pasta sauce today. (with garlic, onion, basil and chillie all out the garden, organic and hormone free!) That should keep the kids happy for a while. Love my bright red tomato separator!
Monday we had friends ( Ian is the chairman of the Qld Water Board) and his wife to stay for a couple of nights. It was interesting to see the dynamic Ian, panicking. He is retiring in March and his phone never stopped ringing with press and others trying to reach him in what must be the driest Tasmania ever, asking inane questions like when will the dams overflow. I have an idea it's going to be hard for him to retire in such an exciting year water-wise. I think I might have got him interested in a potential garden!
Wednesday and Thursday off to hospital to get pumped full of isotopes and ride a bike fast in an effort to kill me. They did not succeed, but have eliminated heart disease as a cause of my having attacks of tachycardia and guess what - its that bloody "aging process" raising its ugly head again. So go take a pill, Linda. Friday's scan on my parotid shows it is normal so no tumour, again no explanation for my face blowing up in flight to NZ and three weeks of mental torment while I wait for an appointment. Friday afternoon - Optometrist tells me there is actually am IMPROVEMENT in my vision and the pressure behind the eye. It's just my glasses that are causing blurred vision - now why didn't I think of that - probably the tomato sauce. Just got the dentist and podiatrist and 2008 can restart with no bits dropping off. So, with a massive crop to harvest over the next couple of weeks and lots of sauce, soup and pizza base to make, I'll manage to stand apart from the aches and pains from the stress tests!
So here's my secret for growing good tomatoes. And it is a secret until now. It works best in cool climates. When I planted the tomatoes I used the hotbed method. THis involves getting fresh manure and straw and putting at least 6 inches thick. Adding soil on top, as the manure composts it gives off heat and warms the roots of the plan as well as eventually feeding them. I planted all plants in bottomless buckets so that the heat would be generated in a closed space. It's an old Yorkshire system that gave my Dad the edge over other growers by at least 6 weeks. He was a horse wrangler so had access to lots of stabling. I used cow manure which is not as hot. Works well over winter in a hothouse too. |
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GardenDan
gardener
Australia
836 Posts |
Posted - 16/02/2008 : 17:40:08
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Hi Linda. Have you done the Feb calendar yet? You sent me the Jan one and were doing the Feb at that time. I think you were going to add me to your mailing list but if not already could you do that for me please? Many thanks.
Daniel
Happy Gardening |
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Pamela
head gardener
Australia
3949 Posts |
Posted - 16/02/2008 : 19:08:02
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That's a great method Cosmic - the "hotbed". I will do that as I have plenty of horse manure.
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." - Albert Einstein |
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Cosmic
assistant gardener
Australia
129 Posts |
Posted - 16/02/2008 : 21:56:19
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Oops, I do apologise Dan - I'll send it right away. I thought I had added you to the list, but must have overlooked it. Please accept my apologies. It's on the way.
linda |
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tessa
head gardener
Australia
3682 Posts |
Posted - 16/02/2008 : 22:39:36
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i have no horses and no cows...but i have two chickens and a dog.
okay.
scratch the dog poop.
and the chicken poop...you won't believe this...but i haven't had any to pick up or clean up yet. i'm not really sure what happens to it. the girls scratch it into the dirt, which here is merely sand, and it simply disappears.
today i collected sand from the run...hoping for traces of poop.
oh well.
at least the eggs are easy to find.
linda, i will subscribe to your list...tomorrow.
right now i'm on a very brief break between 'fixing things' on my computer.
i hope to be fully back online in a few days.
cranky people live longer. i'm going to live forever!
perth, wa |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 17/02/2008 : 05:21:04
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Tessa, two chooks won't make a lot of manure. The best way to do it would be to put hay/sawdust/grassclippings/whatever in their overnight area and collect it that way. Dogs also love eating fresh chook manure.
I've tried the hot compost idea last winter but didn't work too well as I didn't have it deep enough, we also had a sudden extra cold snap which affected the tommies.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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Cosmic
assistant gardener
Australia
129 Posts |
Posted - 17/02/2008 : 06:59:37
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| Raw chicken poo would be too hot I think. Kito, ours seems to have worked because we had new beds to start, so could give it the required depth. I don't fancy digging all the top soil out to do it again this coming year, but for new beds or container growing it is a good method. I use it for my potatoes too, digging a deep trench but I actually put the potatoes onto the straw before covering them. |
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Pamela
head gardener
Australia
3949 Posts |
Posted - 17/02/2008 : 07:18:08
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Cosmic I am glad to hear you were able to pedal away to "their" satisfaction. And that your heart is healthy!
I will also be a subscriber. How much depth between the top of your straw in the trench and the new plant?
I am VERY jealous about all those tomatoes. I rescued quite a lot from my three trees - and shooed out the 4 female bower birds yet again from the netting - so pretty BUT! - they are all on my sink. Colours range from light to the blood red that I crave. I LOVE that taste - maybe the strong tomato taste - but mine are a bit bland. Maybe it is my taste buds as I lost smell a few years ago. But I have not fed these plants much at all (except the mare placenta) so maybe I will throw around some blood and bone today although it is probably too late. I have soooooooo much manure to collect and deal with that I never have the energy to apply more fertiliser and as I don't like applying chemical fertilisers (except I bought a bag that is still in the shed) mine generally don't get anything much. Too much to do here sadly.
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." - Albert Einstein |
Edited by - Pamela on 17/02/2008 07:19:23 |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 17/02/2008 : 19:12:13
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Cosmic, I did mine in a large pot (30cm) but it didn't heat up much at all. Used horse manure, compost and grass clippings mixed together.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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Cosmic
assistant gardener
Australia
129 Posts |
Posted - 17/02/2008 : 22:08:48
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| Pamela, nitrogen will stimulate leaf growth, I only give my tomatoes one feed of potash after the flowers and it seems to help. I am truly not going to plant more than 6, maybe 8 next year. I'm wading in tomatoes - it has been an exceptional year, never had such a crop. Some bushes are carrying so many fruits I just ran out of old sheets to tear up and I'm just leaving them where they lie. Same with the pumkins - they are taking over the garden and the autumn greens I only planted last week have grown like crazy. We'll be picking Tas Soi by the end of the week. Compared to other years I have done nothing different. To answer you question - you only need a few inches of soil if planting something like lettuce but longer rooted plants need more. By the time they get warmed up and growing well, they can feed off the compost which will have done its job in about 6 weeks. Kito, I suspect pots would allow the heat to escape. I would tend to use something I could bury like a wooden box so the sides are insulated. I'm going to do some small beds next year and try different methods. |
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