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Post by sd51555 on Feb 5, 2020 7:15:54 GMT -6
I don't have huge plans for the hoog this year. I was planning on covering it in barley and annual clover for this year while the mixture settles in. I was also considering throwing some herbs in it just to try. It may not be ready for that, but I have a question.
Cherry tomatoes seem to be the first to yield, and when they come on, they just keep coming. Could I get away with planting a cherry or grape tomato straight from seed and get a yield? My best guess is that it may put me 6 weeks behind a plant, but if they start yielding in July normally, maybe I could get them to yield by late summer anyway?
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Post by smsmith on Feb 5, 2020 7:51:01 GMT -6
We get a few rogue tomato plants from seed every year. They produce just fine.
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Post by sd51555 on Feb 5, 2020 10:59:41 GMT -6
Good deal. I thought they'd be a good addition and not quite so sensitive about being picked. On time. I could throw the rotten ones into the freezer and then into the food plot once the snow flies.
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Post by smsmith on Feb 5, 2020 11:49:58 GMT -6
Tomatoes are prone to diseases and don't do well with competing vegetation FWIW
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Post by benmnwi on Feb 5, 2020 11:56:39 GMT -6
I almost always have a few wild tomatoes growing in my compost pile where I dumped food scraps the prior year. They are definitely behind the plants in my garden, but they will drop some nice tomatoes.
I also typically have some random pumpkins and squash growing from the compost pile as well.
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Post by sd51555 on Feb 5, 2020 12:13:26 GMT -6
I almost always have a few wild tomatoes growing in my compost pile where I dumped food scraps the prior year. They are definitely behind the plants in my garden, but they will drop some nice tomatoes. I also typically have some random pumpkins and squash growing from the compost pile as well. Maybe that's what I need to do with my hoog, just keep throwing scraps on it. |
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Post by benmnwi on Feb 5, 2020 12:40:10 GMT -6
My compost pile is actually just a couple caged apple trees growing near my house on some really crappy sandy dirt. These trees are always really struggling because of the poor soil, I just throw the food scraps inside the tree cage and let nature take over. I figure it can't hurt anything and I want them inside my tree cages so my dog doesn't eat the scraps. I usually have 1-2 gallons of food scraps (including meat, bones, egg shells, etc.) per week, but I also add a few leaves, grass, etc. when available.
I've been doing this a couple years and while my plan draws in opossums and crows (they are occasionally added to the compost pile as well), it has built up about 6" of great dirt around a few fruit trees in this area. Feral tomatoes and pumpkins grow like weeds inside the tree cages while 10 feet away it is so sandy that very little grows.
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Post by smsmith on Feb 5, 2020 12:43:51 GMT -6
When I mow, I purposely let it get a little bit long. Then I sweep the yard with a pull behind sweeper. All of those grass/clover (I frost seed clover into my lawn every spring) clippings go on the veggie garden in between rows. My wife puts down newspaper and/or cardboard, then the clippings. I never fertilize anything and our garden grows some awfully nice stuff. I should test the OM sometime just for kicks.
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Post by benmnwi on Feb 5, 2020 13:02:35 GMT -6
When I mow, I purposely let it get a little bit long. Then I sweep the yard with a pull behind sweeper. All of those grass/clover (I frost seed clover into my lawn every spring) clippings go on the veggie garden in between rows. My wife puts down newspaper and/or cardboard, then the clippings. I never fertilize anything and our garden grows some awfully nice stuff. I should test the OM sometime just for kicks. What kind of pull behind sweeper do you have? |
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Post by smsmith on Feb 5, 2020 13:09:44 GMT -6
When I mow, I purposely let it get a little bit long. Then I sweep the yard with a pull behind sweeper. All of those grass/clover (I frost seed clover into my lawn every spring) clippings go on the veggie garden in between rows. My wife puts down newspaper and/or cardboard, then the clippings. I never fertilize anything and our garden grows some awfully nice stuff. I should test the OM sometime just for kicks. What kind of pull behind sweeper do you have? Shit...I don't even know the brand name. I bought it from a guy on craigslist. He had stripped the plastic gears on the axle so I got it pretty cheap. Bought new parts off the web and it works well now. It won't do shit for leaves or if the grass is too thick. It takes a bit of practice to get it to work well. |
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Post by nhmountains on Feb 6, 2020 5:50:45 GMT -6
I planted heirloom tomatoes last year from seed. I’d say I was a month late planting them. Most were still green when the frosts came. I think I’ll atart March 1 this year.
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Post by benmnwi on Feb 7, 2020 13:29:44 GMT -6
When I mow, I purposely let it get a little bit long. Then I sweep the yard with a pull behind sweeper. All of those grass/clover (I frost seed clover into my lawn every spring) clippings go on the veggie garden in between rows. My wife puts down newspaper and/or cardboard, then the clippings. I never fertilize anything and our garden grows some awfully nice stuff. I should test the OM sometime just for kicks. What kind of clover do you frost seed into your yard every year? That sounds like a good idea. |
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Post by smsmith on Feb 7, 2020 13:33:46 GMT -6
When I mow, I purposely let it get a little bit long. Then I sweep the yard with a pull behind sweeper. All of those grass/clover (I frost seed clover into my lawn every spring) clippings go on the veggie garden in between rows. My wife puts down newspaper and/or cardboard, then the clippings. I never fertilize anything and our garden grows some awfully nice stuff. I should test the OM sometime just for kicks. What kind of clover do you frost seed into your yard every year? That sounds like a good idea. Either white dutch or ladino, whatever I have on hand. At my old place I fought long and hard to have a weed free lawn. I'd spray broadleaf killer at least 2 times a year, apply crabgrass preventer twice in the spring, spot spray weeds, aerate, de-thatch, etc. etc. etc. What a waste of time that was. I've found that adding clover to my lawn it stays green longer without watering. The clover fills in where the grass doesn't want to grow, and the grass fills in where the clover made the soil better. It is a natural symbiotic relationship. Back in the day, most all lawn grass seed came with 1-5% white dutch clover added. We were smarter back then |
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