Hey guys, I am getting all those seed catalog's for the Spring time planting. For the past 5 years I have put a garden out. I find it interesting that when my parents MADE me do it, it was a pain and now I just enjoy it.

I would be interested in knowing if any of you guys do one and what you plant when. I had an old timer that lived down the road from me and when he planted something - I did too. He passed away and I miss his tutoring. Never been much of an almanac guy. I just waited until whenever to plant.

I've always been told "if you plant before Mother's Day, you're wasting your time." I've followed that advice and have been fine.

In terms of planting different things at different times, I don't really have any experience with that as we mostly just do a vegetable/salsa garden.

I put out a big garden every year. A lot of times I don't get mine out till memorial day. Makes some things quite late.

Got back into it last year and get a real kick out of gardening. We built some real nice raised beds which are very easy to maintain, Adding another one this year.

We grew; green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots and peppers. Still eating tomatoes and beans that we canned, good stuff.

A great hobby and the food is great and really good for you.

Im gonna plant two tomato plants and if that becomes to much work ill pull one of them up

Bean:

I tried potatoes last spring and was really impressed! Had a nice day in early April and tilled the ground, bought red potato sets and put them in. Let plants come up and covered all but top of plants with dirt a couple times. Plants bloomed and when plant died in Jume we had a bunch of potatoes.

Then I planted beans in the same spot in June. Beans in September.

Brocholli has become one of my favorites also you can plant early still when there is a chance of frost, then again in late summer, we were having Brocholli in deer season! And my resident deer are still munching on it. We also do early and late squash and cucumbers.

Corn.......I can buy it cheaper than I can grow it. Too many coons and squirrels!

I too hated gardening as a kid but today it is relaxing. But when it is winter 30- 40 quarts of green beans, tomatos and come green tomato pickles sure are good!

My Grandpa was a truck farmer at heart, he grew and sold produce on the north side of Indy for years.He had a full time job, but gardening was his love.

He taught me all I know, his theory was if a plant could be hurt by Frost never put seed in ground before May 12. Never plant same crop in same row two years in a row, beans or peas will improve any ground. Now I know it as adding nitrogen.

I've taken one of his ideas and added it to my gardening. I built my own grow box, three sides wood, front and top is plexiglass. Now I plant my tomato and pepper plants in it late March from seed, once I transplant those to garden I have a free place to start my late season brocholli and sqaush. When that is done and transplanted I plant lettuce, picked fresh lettuce on Christmas! Grow box is 8'X3'X30". Just face it south, great use of a small space. Grown radish and carrots in there also. All after starting my row plants.

All I can grow is weeds! And not very good at that...... :rolleyes: I've tried for years to get a good strawberry patch going. I've given up!!

Ive planted a small garden the last couple years. I really like getting up early in the summer and working in the garden, stop every once in a while for coffee.

My garden is only 15x30. I put two pickup truck loads of horse manure on this fall and plan on adding some sand and lime this spring.

I like root vegetables so stuff like onions, leeks, carrots, taters are my favorites. Ive been canning dill pickles and tomatoes the last year.

Nothing like a couple eggs and some fresh, just out of the garden sliced tomatoes for breakfast while sitting on the patio. h.h.

It is cool to read what everyone does and how they go about it.

I will have several things this year. It takes a couple years to find out what the family will need and what to can.

We always can greenbeans and Julie makes a ton of salsa for us to eat. I will have corn. greenbeans, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, peppers, sugar snap peas, zucchini, cantaloupe, potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower. Oh yeah and YAZ, we will have a big patch of strawberries this year and if I can get Luke to share I may send ya some.

Joe - I really liked those pickled tomatoes you had at the farm and the idea of using a cold frame is one I have been using the past couple years. It makes a big difference and extends your season.

I have finished where my rotations will be and ordered my seeds. Now it is time to be patient - which I have a hard time doing.

The one thing I've learned about gardening is that planting in a pot or bucket doesn't produce very well...

Outside of the trapping thread, I give this the second best thread going! Now, come "season" there is going to have to be pictures of cold frames, greenhouses, planting styles. raised beds, trellis, watering systems and yield! For those of you with room, we need a biggest pumpkin deal.

Not trying to sound stupid here...

I have seen raised beds before but what is the advantages/disadvantages of using them?....

If anybody wants to drive to Decatur county, I have some of the best, Grade A, freshest, Angus fertilizer a person can get for free! Its on a first come, shovel it yourself basis!!!! Im serious!!! :p

Raised beds can be done a couple of different ways: constructed sides which you build or piling dirt and suing them year after year.

The advantages are pretty cool. One is weed control from shading out growth. After a few times using them your weed count will go way down. You also get better root depth which causes more produce. Also, keeps moisture in during the hot months. Deeper roots + more moisture = better produce. You can get alot of plants in a raised bed and different kins too. You just have to make sure they are compatable. You can also concentrate on compost in that area. There are other reason they are good too.

I do some raised beds for some things but not on all. You can build a raised bed in your backyard if you are in the city and have limited space.

Bryan - try it and I bet you get hooked. If you have kids, go build one and do it with your kids. Luke usually knows more about my garden than I do.

When my garden starts producing I become a vegetarian. Nothing like fresh veggies right out of the garden. Last year my spinach was so good I ate it almost daily and never tried of it.

Ive got all my seed bought except onions and seed potatoes. Im starting most of the plants indoors this year instead of buying and trans-planting.

Last year I bought a six pack of tomato plants that were suppose to be Big Boys but evidently someone switched the tag and they were cherry tomatoes. By the time I figured what was going on it was to late to plant the right ones, so I ended up with tons of cherry and no big tomatoes. LOL h.h.

Here is a pic of my 2 cold frames: Just a couple old windows and some scrap wood. I put them out pretty early and plant my lettuce in them.

Cold frames? Educate me please. Can you put those outside when its cold?

Cold frames are used in early and late season to extend your season. This is how JB uses his:
"I've taken one of his ideas and added it to my gardening. I built my own grow box, three sides wood, front and top is plexiglass. Now I plant my tomato and pepper plants in it late March from seed, once I transplant those to garden I have a free place to start my late season brocholli and sqaush. When that is done and transplanted I plant lettuce, picked fresh lettuce on Christmas! Grow box is 8'X3'X30". Just face it south, great use of a small space. Grown radish and carrots in there also. All after starting my row plants"

The idea is to face them where they get the most sunlight and the "Frame" usually through glass heats up and creates a greenhouse effect. It warms up the soil quicker and keeps the heat in so before/ after season it extends your growing season. You can google and see many kinds

Do you vent your cold frames? What keeps the plants from getting to hot? h.h.

Anyone else use Preen to keep their garden clean of weeds? I use it and Preen does a great job around the plants. h.h.

HH - I do not vent my cold frames. As the weather gets warmer I will open them up at times during the day if it is warm and close them before night fall. Most of the time I never open them and when it gets to be Summer time, I don't even use them. Worked for me - others might do it differently.

Preen is a must for my garden. That stuff is awesome. Saves me HOURS of weeding.

I'd be happy to just grow tomatoes without blossom end rot!

Ill fix that for ya rookie...

All ears...

Blossom end rot happens because of one of two conditions.

1. If it is on first fruits, it is because of plants set out too early and ground was too cold. Later fruits should be ok.

2. The most common cause is hot dry weather, the fruit is not getting enough moisture. Water the plant early in the morning and soak both leaves and ground. You don't want moisture overnight as it tends to give your plants fungus which is worse than the end rot. If you till between rows of tomatoes don't till more than 1" deep, breaking the root system also will hinder the plants ability to get enough water to make fruit.

What joe said but i only water at the basse..never the leaves

Unfortunately I don't have any children but mostly wanted to do it just for something to do and to save some money on produce.... All I plant is tomatoes and bell peppers....

I guess another question would be why not just plant them in the ground instead of using a raised bed? Also how tall should they be?

Thanks!

You guys around Indy needing plants or seed I recommend .....

Cox's Plant Farm
6360 S Co. Rd. 0
Clayton, IN 46118
They are located on
U.S. 40 just
West of Indianapolis
call for directions!!

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...usg=AFQjCNF jQ4snuhJR-4wus74N6dxIK8EFvg

They have one of the largest lawn &
garden centers in Indiana

I was told blossom/end rot was due.to a lack of calcium in the soil. Good application of lime will help this. Anyone grow asparagus? We have a small patch that should be eating size this year and I plan on expanding it by 5-10 more crowns.

Asparagus sounds good... Do you have any troubles growing it?

Look slike from this read that uk and JB are both correct:

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Tomato_BlossRt.htm

Asparagus? yuck haha Glad you like it.

Good link bean!

What does everyone do for tomato stakes / cages?

I have the round cages and reinforce with metal stakes.

Problem is the height....once they get over ~4 feet tall and a storm comes thru, they are drooped over the rest of the year.

Cherry 100 could be 7-8 feet tall or more if staked well. Need to do something different next spring!

I really enjoy gardening now that I'm older. Like Joe I don't raise corn in my garden, my brother grows it on the outside rows of his fields. Thus I barter with him. I like to raise a variety of items with tomatoes as the main commodity. No one has mentioned the fabled zucchini or the Italian and yellow squash. Easy to grow and very productive. I have an asparagus patch that was here when I bought the place 30 years ago. Still producing and I have done nothing to help it out. We lost our rhubarb a few years back and I want to replace it. Any help here would be appreciated. I have a large area so I space my rows far enough apart that I can drive my garden tractor and 4 foot disc between the rows for weed control.

My sister use to raise asparagus for market in Michigan. She salted the asparagus field for better production. Not quit sure why but that is what she told me. She had an acre and sold to a few supermarkets.


A friend use concrete reinforcement wire for tomato cages. The wire is not cheap but it sure is strong and doesnt fall down. Someone gave the wire to him. Im going to use 6 foot wood stakes and wire to make cages this year. h.h.

Last year I zipped tied my tomato and pepper plants as they grew to the stake so they didn't droop over.... Just make it tight enough to hold them up against the stake but don't make it too tight...

I have the same issue with tomatoes. No matter what I do they droop at some point. In trying to keep them clean and to help with weeding, I spend an extra couple hours each Spring putting down newspaper (2-3 deep) covered with 4" of straw. It is amazing how that helps along w/ the Preen. That 2 hours spent saves me many many hours of weeding down the road. When the plants are small I put it down around all me cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, and melon. After the season I just till it under. That extra couple hours and 10 bucks works great for me.

Rhubarb must be on high and well drained soil,as well as full sun. The sandyer the better,mulch well with leaves for the winter.

I agree the best tomato baskets are those made out of concrete support. I am still using some that were made over 15 years ago. I use plastic tent stakes to hold them upright.

Where do you guys buy your seed? I bought most of mine at Big R and a few a Wally World. My local nursery went from selling plants and flowers to pretty much all trees now. I use to buy some from a local greenhouse but there plants are about double what the farm stores are. I was going to order some seed from Burpees but when I got to the end shipping was too much. Guess Im a cheap azz.....lol h.h.

I buy all my seed at Gurneys.com and I have never had a problem with the seed. Right now they have a deal of $25 off an order of $50 or more. After taxes and shipping it still saves you a little. Also right now I think all seeds are 50% off for a short time. I don't buy seeds at a big department store - just my mindset.

I buy all my started plants at an Amish place near my house.

I hope to build a small greenhouse and start all of my own plants this Spring or next.

We buy most of our bean seed, potato sets at a local nursery, might cost a little more but we are sure it is fresh seed.

Wife buys a bunch of lettuce, tomato,pepper,squash and flower seeds at Menards for about a dime a pack, all of it has been good seed. If you look at those seed packs they have dates on them, packaged or use by....

Cox's Plant Farm
6360 S Co. Rd. 0
Clayton, IN 46118
They are located on
U.S. 40 just
West of Indianapolis
call for directions!!

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...F&ei=DUAQUbzmC-K9ygGF4oDoDA&usg=AFQjCNF jQ4snuhJR-4wus74N6dxIK8EFvg

They have one of the largest lawn &
garden centers in Indiana

@Bryan...I haven't had much trouble so far. Getting it started seems to be the issue. My crowns I purchased were 3 years old. They like heavy fertilizer and mulch/compost. This will be my third spring with it. Pretty much just let it grow and cut. Repeat. Once it starts crowning you can almost watch it grow. They say once it gets established it'll go crazy. I could eat it with every meal. My kids like it even more than me. Our local nursery sells out of the crowns fast so I'm gonna buy a ton this year.

Rest of the seed for the year bought and going to add raspberries to this mix this year. Wifey wants to make some jams. Also have the plan to make my own greenhouse in the backyard. That should be an adventure.

Getting ready to get cold frames out and start lettuces in a few weeks.

Come on warmer weather.

Im building a cold frame tomorrow. A friend gave me an old window to use. h.h.

Bean
E-Mail me. I may be able to help you out on the greenhouse.
Bill
wnm@lightbound.com

Bean, I had a 10 by 10 greenhouse about 10 years ago. I had a wood frame and bought double walled poly urethene for the sides and top. Now, the crap was expense and I'm sure there is a much cheaper way. I had a gable type roof and had a temperature control exhaust fan. I could go on at great length about how much stuff I grew in that darn thing, including growing certain types of beans from styro floating beds like they use for starting tobacco seeds. In the summer though, it got too hot for almost everything I didn't mess with an air conditioner. A greenhouse is one dang cool thing to have. Send pictures when you've got yours done.

What is the advantage to using a raise bed and how tall should it be to be most effective?

The advantage is for people who live in an urban area and don't have the equipment to till a garden. You build a box and pour dirt in it.

The ones I see are at least 12" deep and most are 18", you don't want to hinder root growth. Make them as long as you want but don't make them over about 4 foot wide, you need to reach the center without standing inside. Don't use treated lumber on them!

The raised beds are also nice for the elderly. Built at the right height a person can work at them while seated in a chair or wheel chair.

Asparagus is about the easiest thing to grow. No work at all. First year or so you will get very little but after that you will get more than you can eat.

Why not treated lumber?

There ya go Weedy!!!! PERFECT for you!!! :p

That'll be 4 HMs and a Snickers...

You don't want the chemicals leeching into your soil.

Cedar works great.

I know guys that put raised beds on trailers an pull them in an out of the barn when it is going to get cold.

Some treated lumber has Arsnec(sp) in it. WNM can better explain it as he was in treated lumber businees.

Started some seeds inside with my new grow light setup. Got alot more to do but am going to wait a bit. Just planting cool season stuff now.

WOW bean! That's a whole new level of gardening!!!!

Clean them extension cords up!

YES SIR!!!! Already done.

Nice setup. I started some seed two days ago. Saw something a Rural King today, starter heating pad for seed trays. Priced at 25.00. It fits one tray. Thought about buying it for a minute and then walked on. h.h.

HH I am doing this:

http://doorgarden.com/02/home-made-bottom-heat-seed-starting

I am going to size it down and will fit 2 trays and will cost 10.00. I have stuff already to make it except the light.

In the past Iv used an old VCR for a heat pad. I set the flat on top. It worked but did have a hot spot. Walmart just had all their Christmas lights on sale might go browse around and see if I can find those rope lights. Thanks for the tip Bean, h.h.

So, hows every ones seeds coming along?

I started Better Boy, Roma, Cherry and Mortgage Lifter tomato seeds the first of March. I had to replant the Better Boy and Lifter seed again yesterday, the first batch didnt come up. I think I had it too hot in the seed greenhouse i made out of an old aquarium. I cut the heat back to 70 degrees.

The Cherry and Roma's are doing fine and I have them in a south window. h.h.

I planted 36 pepper plants and have them in the window sill, they are about 4-5 inches tall and appear to have stopped growing. Is this do to the cold temps(the area around the windows gets pretty chilly)? Once the outside temps warm up will they take off again?

Recon, Put a thermometer next to the plants and see what temps are. Moisture usually is the culprit, too wet and they grow tall and skinny, too dry and they just sit there. h.h.

My guess would be heat and moisture.

The soil is moist, maybe too much. I don't have a thermometer to use, I'll take a pic and put it on here. Should I move them out of the window????

The soil doesn't seem overly wet, but the container and soil is cold

I'm betting it is the temp, add a some type of heat and see if they improve.

I have not planted any seeds yet I always wait until after March 20 for my plantings. Not only doe you need to concern room or hot bed temp but also outside soil temp. May 15 to June 15 is perfect time to plant in garden.

Plant a tomato or pepper on May 1st and another of same variety in late May, both will produce fruit at same time. It is all about soil temps.

Recon - go to walmart or menards and buy you a 6' rope light and set you plants on it. My plants exploded when I did that. It gets warm but not hot and is waterproof. I bet you will see a difference.

Jb- yea I thought I was being slick and after last year I thought the outside temps would be above 30 by now. Ill try the rope light and let you all know the out come.

Lets talk asparagus now. Anyone with experience chime right in. Going this weekend to buy my cedar for some raised beds? But would like to start an asparagus patch for next year.

Anyone using their cold frames yet? h.h.

Been using mine for a few weeks. Getting ready to put some more in them when I am able to do so.

Bean, temps here dip into the mid-low 20's at night, isn't that too cold for plants? Ive got a window full of small tomato sprouts but Im afraid to set them out in a cold frame. I hate to lose them and have to start over. h.h.

Yeah but I set them out a few weeks ahead of any planting to warm up the soil then plant. You would be amazed the difference it makes. Even in the the 20's I have success with cold season plants like lettuce and spinach. You can grow them well into late Fall after frosts.

I would NOT put out plants like tomatoes. Be dead quick.

Thanks for posting info on cold frames guys. Made one this weekend, and ready for broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce now. Will give time for soil temp to rise as bean suggested.

Question though - how "air tight" does it need to be for the cold nights? Seal all cracks?

I would seal it as best you can. I am going to show you the difference to what happens when a cold frame is used in Spring and Fall. The followwing pics are one w/ cold frame and one is dirt right beside it. All I was doing with this one was to warm up the soil. Makes a difference.
Put the stuff in the ground and it will be ok.

My mom found this on the Internet....

Put Epsom salt and sugar into each hole with your plant. It makes them grow larger, leafier, and greener...

Use about 1 Tablespoon in a 1 to 1 ratio. You can also dissolve 1 Tablespoon into a gallon of water and use it to water your plants.

I read this weekend about mixing up evaporated milk according to the instructions and then water your tomatoes and other plants with it. Fast effective way to get calcium to the plants. We picked up 15 more two year old crowns of asparagus to add to what we already have. Just waiting on the ground to dry out to plant them. Gonna add a load of manure later his week too.

I keep a shop light over new pepper and tomato plants through the night. If they are light deprived they will become tall and spindly, and may even die.

I try to keep the light tubes within an inch or two of the young plants.

I always put epson salt in with my tomatos that way they dont get brown spots. My tomatos are about 10 inches tall. I have them in big plastic tubs. when it is warm I wheel them out cold back in. Had tomatos last year by end of May.

NO horse poop when planting asparagus it will burn it up. Trust me I did it on 50 plants several years ago. Stark Bros sent me another 50 plants though.

Lime dust helps too.. free from most mills down hete

Im planting some of my garden this weekend, lettuce, peas, parsnips, broccoli and such. I was going to till my garden today but I'll wait until Friday. Long term forecast looks good. Ive also got a few oat/clover food plots to plant but the ground is to wet in the areas I want to plant. h.h.

I tilled and planted spinach and lettuce today. I wont plant any more until the frost date is over. h.h.

We got sugar peas, lettuce, spinach, onions, and potatoes planted today. I will plant a second sucession in 2 weeks.

I overdid it today and had my doc all over me to go slower w/ my new knee. Luke helped me out in a big way today, so we got some stuff done. Let it rain

Planted potatoes today, lettuce and spinach earlier this week. Now just nursing along my tomato, brocolli and pepper plants.

Ground moisture was perfect this morning for tiller, only did enought to get a row of red potatoes in. Waste of fuel to till it all up this early.

So has anyone built a raised bed yet? If so, could you post some pics....

After reading some of you are planting potatoes I planted two rows, one row red and one yukon gold. h.h.

Reading my mind Joe. We did the same thing but I added sugar snap peas to the mix. My kids love em.

For those looking at raised beds there are tons of pics, just Google pic it. There are many ways to make a raised bed.

Asparagus is up

Anyone ever planted potatoes in tires before. I got them up to 3 tires high last year then I made a boo boo. They say you can go up to 4 tires high then lift tires off an push mound of dirt over an there they are.

Several years ago a friend of mine planted taters in tires. He used straw in the tires and when he dumped the tires over it was full of mice and no taters....lol I saw video the other day where they used an old plastic trash can with holes in the bottom and store bought compose. They put 6" of compose in, planted 4-5 seed taters and covered it up with 4" of compose. They keep adding compose as the plants grew up. Sounds good if you have a old trash can.

I will say any time Ive tried growing vegetable in plastic buckets they take a lot of water. h.h.

I cut ground all day yesterday... lime and fertilized a quarter acre and sowed it in wild flowers.. much more to do..

I tried to grow vegetables in buckets last year and it failed terribly.....

Planted 15 asparagus crowns and a bed of lettuce last week. My established asparagus is up about 3 inches as of Wednesday.

How about some garden updates??

Got the raised beds pretty well full with tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, squash, cilantro, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower.

I don't claim to be an expert, so need some feedback - how late will the colder weather plants produce? Just cut broccoli before this warm spell...is it getting too late for this and cauliflower and lettuce??

Bump

Any of you getting ready or makin' plans?

My tiller is sitting out there under about 2 feet of snow at the moment.

I can't wait for spring! I use a mix of oats, peas, and rye as a green manure each fall. I will hit this with some glyphosate and till it under in the spring. The peas are legumes and fix the N to make it bio available. It helps reduce fertilizer needs. I also supplement with horse manure.

I will be expanding my blackberry patch, growing corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, and peppers.

I did a speaking engagement in KY about 4 years ago and there was a guy in his 90's there. We got to talking at a dinner one evening about gardens. I guess he was famous for his garden and produce. He did the same thing you did and tilled it under when it got 6-8". He swore by it.

I used radishes this past Fall and had Doc bring down some primo mule poop.

Sounds like a good plan Chevy.

Going to increase the size of my garden this year. Looking at catalogs and may set up a hothouse this year. Going to modify my variety of veggies this year also.

where are you guys ordering your seeds from?

I am thinking of giving Harris seeds a try this year. I have ordered from Gurneys in the past with mixed results

http://www.harrisseeds.com/storefront/default.aspx

Had nothing but positives with Gurneys.

I am def. doing potatoes in tires again this year. They did very well an no digging is the best part.

clue me in on the tire taters

Get a car or truck tire an lay flat. Put dirt in an cover up 4 starter taters. When they get high enough add another tire an fill in with dirt carefully. I go up to 4 tires high. When it is time to pick lift all tires up on off an push over dirt. I got 50-80 per tire last year.

So when you say "high enough" does that mean covering up the plant all the way or covering just enough that some is left out? I guess just explain what you mean... thanks.

fill the tube area also or the rim area

I get my seeds from Burpee's and at the farm stores.

Cutting back on what I plant this year and only planting veggies I like to eat. The last couple years Ive been planting some veggies for other people and gave a lot away.

In the winter my brother buys cheap cellophane tape at the dollar general store and makes seed tapes, sticks a seed at the recommended spaces. He said it works great.

I plan on buying one of those planting wheels that you roll over the ground so I don't have to get down on the ground on my hands and knees. My back just ain't what it use to be. h.h.

http://www.amazon.com/Earthway-1001-B-Precision-Garden-Seeder/dp/B00002N66A

High enough meaning when I add the next tire an fill in with dirt there will be some green sticking up. I dont fill in the tube area. I get a heavy duty trash bag an as I go up I pull up the trash bag up it helps keep moisture in.

I just got one of those earthway planters and I really like the looks of it!!!

I have had excellent dealings with seeds from Totally Tomatoes. They have a wide variety of veggies, not just tomatoes. I started buying heirloom varieties, and save my seeds to replant, year to year. If I get tired of one strain, or I need a certain strain for canning, or spaghetti (spelling??) sauce, I usually have one "in stock". What's great is my Dad does it too, so we swap seeds every year. My favorite meal, year after year, is when your plate is covered in food you harvested, 100% from the field to the fork. Back strap, fried taters, wilted lettuce and REAL cornbread. Needless to say, my cardiologist doesn't get an invite.

+1 on the tires.

I till a deep row, hoe the dirt to both sides making a deep valley, then plant seed taters and cover with dirt as needed, same as the tires. You can do onion sets the same way, but use straw instead of dirt. You'll end up with onions the size of softballs by years end.

Going to grow my own seed potatoes starts this year.
What type of sweet potato does everyone plant?

I buy my seeds from Henry Field's, they have a big selection.
I store my seeds in the freezer until planting time.
The seeds I start early indoors, I soak in a cup of water for a day before I plant them. It really helps.

I always start about 5 tomato plants in large containers. If it is going to get cold I will pull them in the garage for the night then put back out. I always have tomatoes by Memorial Day.

I can't grow tomatoes to save my butt. Blossom end rot has killed my desire to even try anymore.

A lot has to do with how you water you tomatoes.
Water in the morning and water at the base of the plant, don't spray the leaves.

Water how often? Anything added like Miracle Grow? I'm only talking like 3-4 plants here. Just the 2 of us...

Do u put Epson Salt in the hole??