When you need a ladder to pick your tomatoes...
Do you need a ladder to pick your tomatoes?
I have to stand on a ladder to reach these stems to strap them, so I will need a ladder to pick very soon. 😆
PART 3 of the 🌱to💰• Growing Money In Your Yard Series Coming This Week!
Previous Parts of This Series:
🌱to💰- Growing Money In Your Yard Series - {Introduction & Synopsis}
🌱to💰• Growing Money In Your Yard Series • {pt1} • Learn the Laws, Plan & Prepare
Now, Who's Ready for Some Garden Updates?
The Watermelons Decided They're Not Done Yet
Peppers are finishing up
The peppers got a bit of a late start this year, but we were able to stock about 20lbs. in the freezer. We gave away many types of our peppers to our tomato customers. Basil, peppers, and tomatoes make one great combo pack!!
The peppers are still putting out flowers, but I'm not sure how much longer they will produce - weather has been dipping into the low 50ºf range at night.
Tomatoes are still boomin' like crazy!!
We have some mega-maters almost ready to pick!
The Bees Are Still Very Busy!
HUNGRY FOR MORE?
Here's some relevant articles from @grow-pro
Chamomile - The Medicinal Plant Superstar ⭐️
I'm All For GMO - [Growing My Own!] - @Grow-Pro Let's You Know
🍅 Pickin' Some Tomatoes w/ @Grow-Pro - Harvest Updates + Photos! 🏁
Sunflowers - The Gorgeous Garden Decoy • Community Center for Insects
Monday With the 'Mater-Man • Color Challenge • RED • Tomatoes & Red Sunflowers @Grow-Pro's
Midweek Harvest - Here's Some Homegrown Happenings This Week w/ @Grow-Pro
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!
((NOTE: this post went up and it was all there, but somehow deleted over half of the content. This is an edited version that I tried my best to recover the original content. Sorry, I have no idea what happened!))
@grow-pro Go - go - grow pro!
Ha-ha, luv the natural food - wish to abolish the gmo plague.
I'm not sure what happened to the other 3/4 of my article 😕, but THANK YOU @ronmamita!!
@grow-pro steemit has so many hmm... shall I say "shortcoming" in polite criticism.
I am not logged-into steemit as much but I wanted stop by to greet my friends and encourage to Amplify Awareness(AA) - So much will change with mass awareness and noncompliance to remove foundational support by the enslaved masses - to starve the beast.
I love the pic of the velvet queen sunflower the most!
I used to have one
but it didn't get to seed :(
so now I dont lucky you!
You mean...these?
If you have a PO box or somewhere you'd like to recieve them, steem.chat me here, I'll gladly send you some seed. I've got plenty more than just these - I'm an avid collector 😎🌱
It reminds me of the tomatoes when I was a kid when you are close to the plant you can smell the tomato leaves or the natural smell it's smell good.
There's nothing like the smell of fresh tomato vine, @reroelbuton! It is one of those scents that you never forget. Thanks for dropping by and saying hi - (ps: great iphone sketches btw, #likeaboss )
Those are some tall tomatoes. Are you weaving the plants through the fence or tying them to it. Looking forward to part 3 of your series.
Thanks @sufficientliving, I have livestock fencing that I weave and also strap (with velcro straps) to the caging. I have found that this method outperformed all other support systems we tested this year. I have a new and improved plan for next year!
Thank you so much for your support and I'm looking forward to getting the Part III out very soon. It is already 5k words+, so it should be nearing completion once I get my trusty copy editor to proof it 😉
I'm not sure where the majority of my post went, but it's gone! I noticed that only about 1/4 of what was posted is still there, which I can't explain..lol I will try to repair in the morning 😢
How does the velcro work thats a good idea i usually just use twine but it turns into a pain at the end of the growing season. I usually use tomato cages and t posts to tie them up to. I might try the cattle fencing next year
this is what they look like @sufficientliving. They are cheap and reusable - and easy to apply and remove. I needed something I can use quickly because supporting 100+ tomato plants can become very time consuming! I like these Velcro straps becasue they are pre-cut, cheap, and the inner side is soft - it really does not harm the stems like many other alternatives I have used. I LOVE THESE THINGS! I've bought nearly 1,000 of these this year and I can say they are worth the $15-$20 (USD) that I spent.
The livestock fencing works great because it is heavy duty metal and is made to return to its shape - when livestock push against it. I was lucky enough to be gifted an entire roll this year from my neighbors, so that actually saved my rear this year!! It was a 330 ft. roll of fencing x 4 ft width/height. I doubled them up and started them 6"-12" off the ground so I could attain at least 9 feet of secured trellis.
Where do you purchase the velcro straps from? Those are going to be on my list for next year's garden.
I bought them at a local Walmart, but I did look them up online on their site:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/VELCRO-Brand-ONE-WRAP-Thin-Ties-8in-x-1-2in-Ties-Black-100-ct/14917793
You might be able to find them in a store near you or somewhere like Amazon online. The site says they are sold out, but I'm sure you can find some before next season. I might have bought them all 😆
Those are some serious tomatoes! Ours are tall, but we don't need a ladder.
@ch4nel, After I saw a 65ft. Tomato plant on YouTube, my ego was squashed. 😆
Do you feed your plants anything or just let them eat what's in the soil? I'm a big fan of soil building, but I also use water soluble fertilizers - organic OMRI approved only. We have an abundance of worms in our soil here, so I have to be careful not to disturb them - they are the best composers on Earth!
We let them use what's in the soil. When it comes to gardening, we're very new. We used sheep manure, which was full of red worms! We mixed existing dirt, manure and some pete moss to make the mixture more light and fluffy. I've thought about using organic fertilizers/teas. Perhaps the second year we will have to do more. This year, we simply prepared the beds and added the tomato starts.
The best part of gardening is the learning process and it never ends, @ch4nel. There is always something to experiment with or learn - it keeps thing interesting! You have done a great job in your first year, so I'm sure the next will be better!
The organic compost tea is a great idea, I use a seaweed/kelp mix to feed the microbes in the soil, but there's endless ways to do that, too. If you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to ask - the Steemit community can help. I'm happy to help anytime.
Happy Growing!
Congratulations on your recent #Curie vote!! 😉
Thanks so much. I'm sure there will be plenty of questions!
That is amazing. I am still waiting for my tomatoes to turn red. Now we have frost so I think I will have to pick them. You are so lucky. We had a bunch of rain too many days. Thanks for sharing. Upvoted.
You could always try the paper bag trick, @gardengirlcanada. You might already know, but for the curious:
Put the unripened tomatoes in a bag with a ripe banana and close the bag and place somewhere cool and dry, away from of sunlight. The banana will release an ethylene gas which ripens fruits. This is common with Commercial Tomato growers, but they use the concentrated gas. Most store bought tomatoes comes from thousands of miles away from where they are sold, picked green, and treated with gas to ripen them.
I'm nearing completion of part 3 of the series and I have included all of you that provided some thoughtful commentary in the previous series and will try to write this next part with you all in mind. Thanks again for your support and hopefully this next part will be the spark that leads to more people growing food and their income. 🔥🚀
I wish we lived closer to each other. We could easily barter some mead for some veges! ;-)
Indeed we could, @finnian! I have a friend that grows hops and brews his own IPAs. He wants to have me grow some hopes for him, so he is coming over this fall to build a hops pole. I'll have to get some photos of his, it is serious craftsmenship - not your average post in a hole with strings.
As long as I return his bottles, he gives me all the beer I can drink..haha I love self sufficient people!! Alcohol tax in this state is outrageous and I'd love to see more people brewing their own.
I'm trying to find someone who'll take my mead in exchange for organic no sulfite added red table wine. Maybe you know someone. ;-)
I might actually! I live within miles of several wineries and vineyards, so I can always ask around.
oh...my...goodness....that...tomatoe...is...HUGE!!!
activate @originalworks ❤️🤖