tomato planting

the meals on wheels night at the austin toros game at the cedar park
center is friday night at 730 pm
one half of the tickets you buy  goes to meals on wheels
then
there will be a silent auction on several items with 100% of the proceeds
going to meals on wheel
come join us and bid on the items

if you want to donate to the meals on wheels
go to this link and make a  donation

in the designation box write in 
meals on wheels program

or
send a check to
wbc opportunities
604 high tech drive
georgetown texas   78626

include a note that the check is for meals on wheels
thanks
ogd

TOMATO PLANTING
recently i was at the natural gardener in austin texas to buy plants
and
i started thinking about my tomato crop this year

a friend had given me a celebrity tomato plant that i had put in
a 1 gallon pot
i placed it in my green house and man did it grow there

at the natural gardener i looked at their garden where they had
already planted their tomatoes in holes
heres the label that was on their tomato bed

so i decided i would plant my tomatoes in a well or a hole
following their general directions
i did something like this last year and was successful

first i have a 4 ft x 14 ft g garden bed that i decided to turn into an anthill or
a hugelkulter bed

i got these ingredients
old cardboard
old newspapers
old records
shredded stuff from my shredder
my chicken made compost
leaves yall gave me
limbs twigs tree trunks

i dug out all the dirt out of my bed in 4 ft increments down to about 2 ft

then i added cardboard newspapers old records shredded stuff
on top of that i added limbs and old tree trunks
then added some of the soil from the hole
then added your leaves
then added the chicken compost
then added more newspaper
then added leaves
then added the compost
then the dirt
layer after layer until i ran out of soil
then on top i added my compost from my really composted compost

i did this to all 14 ft of the bed

then i raked it all out real well
dug a trench down the middle where i will plant
dug a trench on the sides where my drippers will go

then i dug this hole that would hold my 3 gallon bucket
which i cut out the bottom
thats my shovel handle in the hole

i then planted my celebrity tomato down in that hole
adding some earthworm castings in the hole
watered it well with seaweed
then filled the hole partially with the garden stuff i had just made

as the tomato grows i gradually will lift the bucket out of the hole
until it gets to the top of the garden soil
leaving it in place for a while to provide protection from the wind
and from the cold
later i will use it as a well to pour some of johns liquid fertilizer
which has fish emulsion in it seaweed and molasses as the season
progresses

i then cover the whole tomato with a five gallon bucket
then cover that with row cover to protect it from the cold
opening it to the weather when its nice
covering it when its cold

if all goes well my tomatoes will get a real jump start on the season
our summers can come real early
once the heat hits hard the tomatoes quit producing

the varieties i chose are mostly indeterminate
which means they will keep producing as long as conditions are good
determinates produce only a set number of tomatoes then
thats it

the indeterminates have the chance of surviving and being
fall producers if i am lucky

my varieties im planting are sweet 100s juliets both small ones
early girl as they will produce quicker in the spring
celebrity a good producer
then heirlooms like cherokee purple black krum brandywine
mortgage lifter hopefully arkansase traveler
and porter
adding more as they become available

 if you plant your tomatoes here in cental texas remember
late freezing weather is not unusual in late march
we here at the country n seem to get one in early april
so
be sure and protect them with row covers and blankets
when the weather is threatening

there is nothing like a good juicy tomato

the organicgreen doctor

whats below counts

WHATS BELOW COUNTS
every year at this time i pull up my old plants
from my garden and throw them in my compost
pile
yes everything compostable goes into it
and it all eventually looks like this

after spending weeks and months getting attacked
by chickens weather piles of leaves newspapers
cardboard paper feed sacks bacteria fungi
insects leaving a big ole pile of almost edible compost

when i do pull up my plants usually in years past
the roots are large and are a mirror image of the
plant that was above the ground
you know like a reflection of a tree in a pond or river

but
this year was different
when i pulled up my peppers this year after that last freeze
what i found was this large mass of a root system
that now explains my fantastic production of peppers
this year
the first year that weve ever frozen peppers for future
use this winter

this root system why was it so much better this year

it was the hugelkulter and the keyhole garden methods
plus
an hour long conversation i had this year with the head
gardener at the organic garden place in austin
the natural gardener recently nominated for one of
the best garden nurseries in the us
when if you ever go there youll understand why
be sure and take your kids theyll love the donkeys
chickens and the goats and the cats

this year i took an old water trough that was rusted out
its 6 ft in diameter
cut out the bottom
dug a hole about 16 inches
put a layer of cardboard and newspapers
logs limbs twigs leaves lots of leaves
layered in dirt compost leaves newspapers until
i reached the top then
topped it all off with several inches of good compost

then i added a good organic fertilizer then cottonseed meal
and as i planted the plants i add worm castings worm poop in
with the plants as i planted them

i fed them rainwater all spring and summer and had the best crop ever
of peppers eggplants basil tomatoes all in this 6 ft diameter bed
with a final depth of about 24-30 inches

all that stuff i put in the soil held moisture in the soil
plus i forgot to mention
i put a 1 ft cylinder of chicken wire and filled it with compost
materials compost and kept it watered also through this cylinder

must have been the right thing to do based on our production in
this 6 ft square area
and based on that mass of roots

here is the same garden space all ready now for spring planting
in march
it had a 4 inch layer of compost added
a scattering of good organic fertilizer
a dusting of cottonseed meal
i will add earthworm castings to the planting holes
then just add water
it was covered with a layer of your leaves that you gave me
thanks again
and will keep the composter full of material all year

the hugelkulter or anthill garden method and keyhole(less) garden method
does work
try it

yes its what below the surface in gardening that makes the difference

the organicgreen gardener

ultimate green house, more gardens

ULTIMATE GREEN HOUSE

this is the ultimate cave house that we saw this summer
on our trip to utah colorado arizona new mexico
the inside temperature stays at a constant temperature
usually in the 60s

in a recent trip to arkansas i visited a cave house or
earth house that was being built on the side of a hill
overlooking a large pasture and small creek or in some
places they would call it a small river

its was built in a beautiful location
that even though its just a few feet off the road
about as far as from my barn here at the country n
to my house
its is not visible from the road
it looks like pasture on a bluff overlooking this beautiful landscape

i had met the builder owner and his wife there in the past to see
if i had recommendation about building it
the only thing i had to say was im jealous

the house is built into the hill
has a concrete slab placed
its roof is made of industrial strength metal braces and are
covered with industrial strength metal roofing
which is covered with dirt and again looks like a pasture
its strong enough that they can drive a tractor over it without
any problems

the inside temperature was upper 50s low 60s despite 30s or 40s
outside and that is with out any heat on the inside

the homeowners were not home so i didnt take pictures without
their permission
hopefully on a future trip ill be able to do that and ill  post them

the exposed walls are made of cement blocks with the holes cemented
with a thick layer of insulation over them with an outside wall of
rough cypress (which doesnt rot) and seasons well without treatment

(i have a cypress swing that has been outside for 30 years and still is
not rotting)

there is a large overhang like you would see in a cave which will be
their front porch

the plan is also to add solar panels for electricity and to collect rainwater
at least for gardening and the yard and landscape

man am i ever jealous but proud of the couple for the amount of
work theyve done to make this happen and happen correctly

the ultimate green house

MORE GARDENS

one of the first squarefoot gardens we put in was this one for
one of my wifes shes friend who had bought  their first home
they have grown veggies in here for 4 years

she saw my blog on the composter and was asking about it
so i made her one and put in place in the middle of her garden

i filled it with my country n compost and then the natural gardeners
barnyard compost
she will add greens from her kitchen grass clippings leaves etc to keep it filled
the materials will compost down and will provide nutrition to her veggies

here are my 300+ 1015 onions planted in my new anthill garden or
hugelkultur garden in which i dug down 20 inches removed all the soil
added a layer of cardboard a layer of newspapers a layer of tree limbs and
tree trunks a layer of my country n compost a layer of leaves a layer of soil
then repeated the newpaper compost leaves soil layering until i filled the
soil back up

i have now the hugelkultur or anthill garden bed that will hold moisture well
in this dry climate and is loaded with nutrition

i topped this off with a 3 inch layer of the natural gardeners barnyard compost

i should get a good crop of onions
if all make and since they are all organic i should get 300 x $1.50 = $400
worth of onions to eat here at the country n

sure cant wait until i plant my tomatoes into my hugelkultur garden

here is my garlic i planted this fall
they are growing well so far
hopefully i will have a good crop as i
have planted close to 100 garlics this year
all organic so far
this bed is not done in the hugelkultur method yet but
when i dig the garlic this summer i will change this bed
to this method also

i love being green and organic

the organicgreen doctor

new garden technique

NEW GARDEN TECHNIQUE
first there was the square foot garden that i wrote about in
several blogs such as this one

then there was the keyhole garden that i wrote about also
in several blogs such as this one

then there was the keyholeless square foot garden seen
on this blog
this one was made for one of the habitat houses

then there was the anthill garden or the hugelkunter method
of gardening in this blog

i was looking at my garden a few days ago and thought
each of these methods have benefits that make them a
good garden method
so what if i combine them all into one garden bed and gain
the benefits of all of them into one

so i did and i call it the hugelhunter keyholeless non square foot
garden

i use water troughs to make small ponds in to provide water for
our animals and for wildlife
i also added pond plants to make them attractive and
add goldfish and minnows to eat the mosquito larvae
its pretty and functional

one of my 4.5 ft in diameter 12 inch high ponds leaked
so i replaced it and took
the metal trough and cut out the bottom

then i went to my garden where i had a 4 ft x 6 ft square foot bed
and dug down into the soil for 20 inches
yes i hit rocky soil which is why using raised beds are the best
way to garden around here

(for those who dont know what the blue thing is its a rock bar
for those who dont know ill teach you what its used for just
come visit the country n sometime)

then i placed the circular trough over the hole i dug
like in the keyhole garden i added layers of cardboard on the bottom
and on the sides and covered that with layers of newspapers
this will eventually breakdown into soil and also captures
moisture in the soil
a real problem here with the drought-moisture
a central 4 ft high composter was also added to the middle of
the bed

then like in the hugelkunter or anthill garden i added limbs and
trunks from some downed trees
these will absorb and hold moisture into the soil and eventually
will also breakdown into soil and will also release its nutrients into
the soil

then i added layers of twigs
layers of dirt
layers of my country n shredded leaves with chicken manure and
feathers compost
layers of leaves
layers of newspapers

this is repeated until the circular garden bed is full

then i added a layer of good hill country soil from the natural gardener
then i will finally add a layer of good barn yard compost also
from the natural gardener

so now i have soil thats almost 3 ft deep and full of nutrient rich soon
to be soil that also will trap moisture
i will continuous feed nutrition into the bed with the central composter

im now replacing all 6 of my 4 ft x 12 ft beds with this method
without the central composter
to save on water use and to increase the depth of my soil and to
increase the nutrition in my soil

tadang
the organicgreendoctors hugelkunter anthill non square foot keyholes garden

could this be the answer to this areas home gardening with its gradually
decreasing rainfall and decreasing availability of water

the organicgreen doctor