2010!!!

It has been an amazing year so far!!! My wife and I were so blessed to bring our lovely daughter into the world this past January and we are having far better tomato weather than last year!!!

A few older notes (a lot of them written in between periods of USA olympic hockey) from my gardening journal here and in my next post, what I've done so far this year with reflections up until today:

2/14/10

Thoughts on 2009:

*About 75% less yields than 2008
Reason: Hardly any sun & too much rain, in April and May especially. July's weather was not great either.

*No peppers in 2009 other than a few about the size of a cherry tomato.
Tried fertilizer, compared pruning vs non-pruning -- it didnt make any difference. If I want to be successful with peppers, I think I would need to start seeds earlier in winter (greenhouse).

*I kept my biggest, nicest Rosemary plant grown outdoors in 2009 for winter storage indoors, but it soon died upstairs - too cold in closed rooms (our cats would tear that thing apart). In 2009 I did successfully grow 4 or 5 plants from seed. Notes: needs full sun, might try again when garden is bigger.

*2009 Big Beef/Brandywine Tomatoes......Not good.
I didnt change any growing methods/locations (didnt crop rotate) from 2008, and in 2008 by mid august, we had more tomatoes than we could eat and practically give away.
2010 plan: beginning crop rotation, changing from BW to Stupice, keeping Big Beef (produced about 25 small tomatoes vs BW (1 tomato) in 2009.

*Sun Gold Cherry: Great yields in 2009 despite the lousy weather. Plenty of them for my wife and I with 4 total plants.

side note: The weather was so bad in April/May/June 2009 I was picking slugs off plants daily before work and after work in addition to 3 beer traps.

*Basil was super in 2009 despite bad weather. Keep it up!

*Squash/Zucchini/Marketmore Cucumbers: OK in 09, not nearly as good in 2008. Needs more sun.

*Bush Beans: Did great in 2009, but I'll space them out a little more and have more plants in 2010.





2010 Plan


**Last frost date May 23, 2010

Tomatoes--start seeds 4/10-4/11...............................Transplant last week of May (6-7 weeks)

Basil--start seeds indoors 4-6 weeks before last frost.


New Journal entry (undated):

Black Eyed Susans--start indoors 6-8 weeks BLF (I am starting a little bit late)
-2 to 3 seeds per cell
-Plant outside after last frost full sun.


journal dated 3/6/10:

Heard these Carrot tips on WBZ radio: shovel full of soil, make very loose, place seeds 3 inches apart on top then cover with one inch of compost (or less).