Let's see your tomatoes

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Manure here is used after it "matured" meaning three months for that coming from cattle and six for horses. Never had a problem with mature manure.
Rabbit manure is the only one that can be used "as is" because it's a cold one. But I don't keep rabbits: I've eaten so many connies when I was a boy the mere mention of the name causes me nausea.

I make my own compost, but it's not only never enough but I suspect, being mostly vegetable matter, it's not that great to start with. I mostly use it for ornamentals with low fertilizer requirements now.

Not a big fan of soil replacement and given my vegetable patch is terraced it would mean a lot of back breaking work for little reward: better to improve things a bit at a time and hope I'll be able to move away from here.

sounds like a gardening challenge! but if you are on terrace, perhaps you have to very nice views to help compensate... regarding fertilizers, do you have 'feed n seed' stores there where u can get it? gardening centers? 13-13-13... of course, it is real good stuff, but not a substitute for good, friable soil... are you located near or in a large city or town?

 

[Conquistador3]

sounds like a gardening challenge! but if you are on terrace, perhaps you have to very nice views to help compensate... regarding fertilizers, do you have 'feed n seed' stores there where u can get it? gardening centers? 13-13-13... of course, it is real good stuff, but not a substitute for good, friable soil... are you located near or in a large city or town?

I've been using for years Compo fertilizers. German stuff, they've been around for decades.
Still, as you say, they are no substitute for decent soil, and soil amendment takes years of constant work and lots and lots of manure/compost/fish offal/whatever. Soil here is pretty much a mixture of rocks and clay... that anything grows at all is nothing short of a miracle!
I make my own compost but, plainly put, is never enough to get around: with such poor soil continuous applications are needed and it mostly goes into hedges.

To get back to tomatoes, I think this weekend I'll start hardening them outside and I hope to plant them in a couple of weeks, if the weather stays on course and we don't get the usual mid-April temperature drop.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

more tomato pix and exciting tomato garden stories to come...

"Real Tomato Stories of the Myway Patrol"

 

[jakethesnake]

Snowed here yesterday...

 

[Conquistador3]

Snowed here yesterday...

And here one of the dogs rampaged across the newly planted tomatoes and also took a walk over freshly seeded salad.
Not very optimistic about my prospects this year...

 

[amberg]

Snowed here yesterday...

Snowed here also. More rain tomorrow.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

And here one of the dogs rampaged across the newly planted tomatoes and also took a walk over freshly seeded salad.
Not very optimistic about my prospects this year...

we have a product called 'welded wire' readily avail here. I use it to make my compost bins. etc. light weight, should easily make a simple fence if u have it avail there...

 

[066blaster]

Getting started. We put them in our big hoop house during the day and put them in here at night, heated and several grow lights. Some of the plants have a little sunburn, they'll be fine.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Getting started. We put them in our big hoop house during the day and put them in here at night, heated and several grow lights. Some of the plants have a little sunburn, they'll be fine.View attachment 499261 View attachment 499262

awesome, looking good. 'Bonnies' got nothing on you...

 

[amberg]

There is no way not to like that!! Look's good!

 

[Greenthorn]

400 mixed varieties.........from the greenhouse......

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

400 mixed varieties.........from the greenhouse......

View attachment 499711

nice! like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! you got 400 sets there?... in any event, nice looking tomatoe plants. do u sell them - tomaotes?

 

[Greenthorn]

Sell the plants at flea market. Actually there is 432 plants in that greenhouse! We will raise about 150 and give the rest away if they all don't sell.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Sell the plants at flea market. Actually there is 432 plants in that greenhouse! We will raise about 150 and give the rest away if they all don't sell.

impressive by any standards!

 

[amberg]

Nice plants, I like that green house you got there to. it looks to be the perfect size. Looks like it has water and electric in it to.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

my tomatoes doing very well. some pix. the first one is of sweet 100's, there are 12 cherry tomatoes setting on the vine, or close to, ie flowering... plants has other groups flowering, too.

some other tomatoes - in - progress pix:

all of my tomato plants have set fruit... or are about to as flowers fading into lil green dots... setting.

 

[amberg]

Looks like they are well on the way to becoming mater sandwich's! My buddy bought 4 plants down yesterday evening and set them for me, He raises his own plants every year from his best tomatoes that he keeps the seeds from, 2 of them were brandywine, he thinks the other 2 are early girls, which is good for me. He also set 3 pepper plants for me to that he got out of his green house. He sets about 80 to 90 for him self. ( He is a tomato nut ) I will be very happy if I get a ripe one by the 4th of July!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Looks like they are well on the way to becoming mater sandwich's! My buddy bought 4 plants down yesterday evening and set them for me, He raises his own plants every year from his best tomatoes that he keeps the seeds from, 2 of them were brandywine, he thinks the other 2 are early girls, which is good for me. He also set 3 pepper plants for me to that he got out of his green house. He sets about 80 to 90 for him self. ( He is a tomato nut ) I will be very happy if I get a ripe one by the 4th of July!

>He also set 3 pepper plants for me

I have some of the pepper plants have already made small green peppers.

 

[amberg]

View attachment 501055 View attachment 501055 View attachment 501055

Hope this works,

 

[amberg]

Trying again