Tomato 2022

[Zeedman]

I see some weeds in my hay, and I am pretty sure that there isn't any herbicide used on those fields.

The presence of some weeds in hay is actually a good indication that the hay is safe to use on the garden. I always look for the presence of some weeds or clover, since I have thus far bought hay on CL from a different farm every year... and why I was not upset to find shepherds purse in the last batch. The ideal hay for me is a grass & clover mix.

I recently noticed that some weeds in neighboring farm fields have developed herbicide resistance, so at some point the safety of weeded hay may not be a given.

My tolerance for weeds in hay has limits though, and I draw the line at thistle, ragweed, bindweed, yellow dock - and crab grass. I've had all of those in hay at some point, and am still fighting the large amount of ragweed seed from a heavily-contaminated load of hay 3 years ago. I've learned to avoid "marsh hay" unless I actually break open a bale to inspect it, since marsh hay is more likely to contain noxious weeds.

 

[ducks4you]

I was gonna suggest straw, which often ONLY has oat or wheat seeds in it, but mine in 2021 was $6/bale, and I -don't-know-what-price-it-will-be in 2022.
Plus, I have this bad attitude that straw should be used for animal bedding, so I hesitate to see it wasted on the garden!

 

[Zeedman]

I was gonna suggest straw, which often ONLY has oat or wheat seeds in it, but mine in 2021 was $6/bale, and I -don't-know-what-price-it-will-be in 2022.
Plus, I have this bad attitude that straw should be used for animal bedding, so I hesitate to see it wasted on the garden!

I've noticed on CL that the price of straw bales has gone up lately here too. In the past, I've tried wheat straw as mulch in the vegetable garden. What I liked about it is that it didn't decompose, so was good in the pathways. Ironically, that was also what I didn't like about it... that, and the wheat lawn that I had to deal with later in the season. The straw didn't break down quickly once turned under, and used up a lot of the soil nitrogen when it did. I've only used green-cut hay since; the worms love it (as evidenced by their consuming half of it by summer's end) and the plants seem to get a boost from it as it breaks down.

But once straw has been mixed with animal manure & composted, it becomes a great soil amendment. When I lived in SoCal, I had access to such compost, as much as I could haul. That was the only thing that made the hard desert clay of my garden there workable.

 

[ducks4you]

Straw which is "brown", when mixed with "greens" will decompose much faster.
Yes, I DID put down straw into between my 5 tomato fencing rows last year and it hasn't decomposed much.
I use straw as part of my horse's bedding and, when mixed with greens, like manure, will decompose to fine soil in about 2 years.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I used wheat straw on top of newspaper in the garden in Arkansas. It had some seed in it but not that much. In the mulched garden what wheat sprouted was pretty easy to pull out. If I had the time and inclination I'd put a bale in the chicken run and pull the strings. The chickens would have that bale shredded in a couple of days. They'd eat some seeds but but in effect thresh the rest out. I still had a few seeds from it but really not that many.

It did last a long time. Since it was on top of newspaper I don't think it mixed with the nitrogen in the soil that much, I did not notice any problems from that. Usually by the end of the growing year most had broken down enough that I could just till it in and by spring it had decomposed. We know the benefits of organic matter like that in the soil. Where it didn't break down by fall I left it in place. It effectively kept the weeds and grass from growing so in the spring when I was ready to plant I just raked it off, the soil was easy to prepare for planting. I used the straw left over as mulch for some of the early stuff I planted. It did not last all summer but it worked for some early crops.

 

[Zeedman]

Thought I'd transplant this here, from the Bean Thread.

Just FYI, there is a Ukrainian tomato at that link too that looks interesting.

Oh yeah? I didn't see it on the Tomatoes page. There's a lot that show up if you search seed savers for Ukrainian. I once

This was the tomato. It looks interesting, but I have a hard time getting past their price:
Black Vernissage tomato

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Thought I'd transplant this here, from the Bean Thread.



This was the tomato. It looks interesting, but I have a hard time getting past their price:
Black Vernissage tomato

I think Baker Creek was offering that one as well (thought I could have been some earlier year)

 

[meadow]

No wonder that name seems so familiar. Baker Creek gave it as a free seed a few years ago.

 

[jbosmith]

Thought I'd transplant this here, from the Bean Thread.

This was the tomato. It looks interesting, but I have a hard time getting past their price:
Black Vernissage tomato

OH! I grew a couple of those a couple of years ago when Baker Creek was giving them out. I would rate them as nice looking but average overall.

There's a lot of tomatoes from Ukraine and Russia that thrive here. I have one early cherry called Maskotka (possibly russian for Mascot?) that's early enough that it's past it's prime and giving into disease by the time other tomatoes are just ripening.

 

[Artorius]

The Maskotka is a Polish variety.