Baymule's 2018 Garden

Today we cleaned out the horse barn and scooped poop in the area around the barn. We dumped it in the garden. We had 10 loads piled high in the mule. I used a shovel, DH was on the tractor and a neighborhood boy was helping, he was on a shovel too. It's dry, dusty, the horse manure was dry powder in the barn. Dust flew, we were sweaty, coated with a fine layer of dirt, sand, and horse manure. We were beyond filthy.

We pulled weeds in this section over several days, now we are piling on the horse manure and dead hay from around the hay ring. We have more to scoop up and then we'll spread it out, cover with cardboard and mulch.
 
We worked hard, cleaning up around the horse barn. One plot is now 6 to 10 inches deep in horse manure and rotted hay. I planted it in purple hull peas today and have the water sprinkler going on it. Yeah, I know it's late, but usually we don't get a hard killing frost until November, so I ought to get all the peas I want. We didn't put cardboard over this plot.

Another smaller plot got about a 2-3 inch spread of horse manure and rotted hay. It has already been manured with sheep and chicken manure. I hit it at 7 AM one day last week (the only day I wasn't keeping the grand daughters) and walked (crawled) in the house at 4PM. Utterly exhausted. I covered it in cardboard, marked the walkways and doubled and tripled up on the cardboard in the walkways. DH loaded the mule with 4-5 FEL loads and I laid out the cardboard, then shoveled wood chip mulch over it. Around 11, DH was done and I made him quit and go inside. I went and got him to load me up again with wood chip mulch, then I chased him back inside.

Yesterday, I planted 120 Silver Queen corn plants in that plot. I hit it at 7:30 and finished up at noon. I cut holes in the cardboard, inserted plants and moved to the next one.

So it looks like I might have corn and peas.

The garden is looking good, better than it ever has. Normally, by this time it is pretty much done, it's hot, and the weeds take off. Today I planted zucchini in peat pellets, the zucchini in the garden is done. I also planted cucumbers, New York tomatoes, and watermelons in peat pellets. We'll see how it goes. Maybe this year is not so great, but next year ought to be the best yet.
 
New Yorker may be a very good choice for a late-season variety, Bay'.

Tomatoes are a mystery to me. Growing outside of my area is a mystery to me ... heck's fire, growing in my area has too many mysteries!!

We read that tomatoes grow wild in one of the driest places on Earth. I get the idea that they are on the low elevation, shoulders of the Andes. The very high mountains put them in a rain shadow. And yet, @Beekissed can report that her plants are looking good after going through weeks of rain.

Lots of people in the south say their tomatoes burn up during the heat of summer. With a long growing season, they plant for a second crop.

Determinate growth must have been something bred into tomatoes fairly recently and I can hardly believe how early some of them are. Gold Nugget can produce lots of cherries months before my first frost! Unfortunately, the last fruit coming off the plants will have disease problems as the entire plant begins to go downhill.

Determinate Legend is a nice beefsteak. It isn't an heirloom; the "legend" is the horticulturalist it's named for ;). Whether those plants would be okay with a longer season, I don't know. Maturing ripe fruit is just about perfect for my gardening season. Legend produces as the weather begins to cool and all tomatoes slow.

We will see how New Yorker does in my garden, started about the same time as all my other varieties in late winter. They are open pollinated so we can save seed :D.

Steve
 
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