Cosmo spring garden 2020

[flowerbug]

I like this idea. Moving around the trellises is a pain!

you say sand mountain and you had a lot of rot troubles with the tomatoes, but i'm not sure if that is related to disease, animal or bug damage, weather damage or what?

if it is something like BER kind of damage you can moderate that by amending your sand with some clay and organic materials which will give you more even water availability. organic materials alone will help for sure, but the clay makes whatever else you add go that much further.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

you say sand mountain and you had a lot of rot troubles with the tomatoes, but i'm not sure if that is related to disease, animal or bug damage, weather damage or what?

if it is something like BER kind of damage you can moderate that by amending your sand with some clay and organic materials which will give you more even water availability. organic materials alone will help for sure, but the clay makes whatever else you add go that much further.

Even though our mountain is called sand mountain the soil is pure clay! Its sandstone under the clay and that's where the name comes from? Lots of people here have problems with tomatoes and most do spray. Next year I'll start with disease resistant varieties. I only did heirloom last year and this year. I also need to get a soil test done.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have okra but dont know how to prepare them so they arent slimy?

One secret to not so slimy okra is to avoid water or liquids. After I rinse it I dry it and my hands before I slice it. That helps a lot. Okra really goes good with tomatoes but tomato juice can turn it slimy.

I also endorse fried okra. Either recipe sounds really good. Just stir it a lot to keep it from burning. When we were kids breaded fried okra was about the only veggie I could cook that my younger brother would eat.

 

[flowerbug]

Even though our mountain is called sand mountain the soil is pure clay! Its sandstone under the clay and that's where the name comes from? Lots of people here have problems with tomatoes and most do spray. Next year I'll start with disease resistant varieties. I only did heirloom last year and this year. I also need to get a soil test done.

we have primarily clay soil in most of the gardens here that has been amended with worm composted food and paper scraps and sometimes sand if i can get some.

if it gets hot outside you need to keep clay thoroughly watered to keep the tomato plants from having issues of BER or giving up entirely. i water here every two to three days and not just a little bit, but i hit the plants five or more times and wait a bit between each time to let it soak in before adding more (i don't want to wash the nutrients away). you can tell if you are not watering enough if the soil starts to get cracks in it. any compost or mulch you can add to improve the soil is useful over time but i can never get enough of things like that for the number of gardens we have so i just have to use the worms/worm compost selectively and go from there.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

Thanks everyone for the okra recipes! I will make fried okra tomorrow! I'm excited!

 

[baymule]

I suppose you have the red clay that is so popular in north Alabama. Yes, amend the soil with organic matter, grass clippings, composted manure, leaves. In the fall, people are SO KIND! They rake up their leaves, bag them and put them on the curb for you or the garbage man-whoever gets there first-to pick up. They make great organic additions to the garden. Make a compost pile, add some lime and worms. Or dump the bags directly on the garden and till them in. Do you have a chicken coop? Fill it with leaves and let the chickens compost it for you.

 

[bobm]

I suppose you have the red clay that is so popular in north Alabama. Yes, amend the soil with organic matter, grass clippings, composted manure, leaves. In the fall, people are SO KIND! They rake up their leaves, bag them and put them on the curb for you or the garbage man-whoever gets there first-to pick up. They make great organic additions to the garden. Make a compost pile, add some lime and worms. Or dump the bags directly on the gard. I en and till them in. Do you have a chicken coop? Fill it with leaves and let the chickens compost it for you.

Bay... About 5 years ago, I got grass clippings and leaves from neighbors and spread them onto our lot from 3-6 inches thick as organic matter. Within a few months, there was a worm population explosion followed by dozens of robins that not only feasted on worms , but they devoured or ruined fruit, and berries for desert that ruined any dream of my having any. At the same time, MOLES made an underground sneak entry to feast on the worms and declared a homestead. In their worm hunting ferver , they have destroyed many plants over the years. I have served eviction orders that they only laugh at still. So, be careful in what you wish for.

 

[seedcorn]

No worms = bad. Worms = good. Have worms, will have moles.

 

[bobm]

No worms = bad. Worms = good. Have worms, will have moles.

bo worms = bad , fairly low % of worms = good, very large % of worms = not so good as they attract horde s of moles ( they destroy many plants through their digging ) = BAD

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

I suppose you have the red clay that is so popular in north Alabama. Yes, amend the soil with organic matter, grass clippings, composted manure, leaves. In the fall, people are SO KIND! They rake up their leaves, bag them and put them on the curb for you or the garbage man-whoever gets there first-to pick up. They make great organic additions to the garden. Make a compost pile, add some lime and worms. Or dump the bags directly on the garden and till them in. Do you have a chicken coop? Fill it with leaves and let the chickens compost it for you.

We have the beige clay lol. But just 5 minutes drive off the mountain and you get the pretty red clay! I am going to use my chickens more to make compost for me!