This morning I pulled the spent tomato plants and weeds out of the garden. I still need to dig out grass along the edges of it. I pulled weeds in the yard and threw them to the goats. I read where it the ground temps had cooled enough with the cooler nights to start a fall garden but I'll have to water it because we haven't had rain. I have spinach, lettuce, carrots, swiss chard, kale and some peppers. It said you could grow tomatoes now but I don't have any of those to plant. I'm not sure I can buy them now either. I need to start some herbs for winter. I'll put them in smaller pots. I need to go water the little trees. They don't look great but they haven't died yet. The birds water tub will need to be filled too. Did you ever have birds set and stare at the window accusingly when the water gets too low or goes entirely? It's a little disconserting to say the least. dooley
Hi Dooley, Have you ever taken tomato cuttings and rooted them? They root the easiest of all plants. If you still have some live plants with some green stems and a little foliage, plant them up in some pretty moist soil (potting mix, the soiless kind) and give them a few days or maybe a week to see some roots. I have done several this way and it is MUCH easier to get started than a seedling. if you want a few plants and want me to get them started and mail them to you, let me know. i still have some celebrity, an orange one, I have no idea what it's name is, a pink hybrid called ultra pink and I think 1 called long keeper, although I cannot vouch for it's flavor as I just put it in my greenhouse for the fall and have not picked any yet. and a few cherry tomato varieties.
We are still debating whether or not to put in a fall garden. With no rain in the forecast our outlook is not good. Right now I am putting compost on the garlic bed. I have ordered a French Silverskin, and have saved garlic from the previous crop, so planting garlic is a must. I'll hand water that bed, and probably try for a short row of lettuce and another of chard (for the hens) and perhaps a half-dozen broccoli plants, but whatever we plant I have to plan on hand watering. Dooley, I'd offer you cuttings from our Celebrity tomatoes, but they are looking so poorly I'd be embarassed to send cuttings from them!
If I can't find two or three tomato plants I think I will just skip them. We'll have to water everything and there are four families on our well so I don't want to be using too much water. The tomatoes that I pulled out were either just plain dead or there were no leaves, just stalks an inch across. I pulled them all and tossed them into a heap. I'll let them dry and them smash them so they'll break down better. Thanks for the offers though. dooley
