Another beautiful cool morning where the temperature was 68°F. Even though it will be about 91°F, it feels cool as the humidity is still low. The sunrise is getting later — today it was at 6:11 a.m.
I did my daily walk to observe things going on in my gardens. I noticed that Diane’s zucchini is starting to germinate and noticed an India cucumber forming. All the July tomato transplants are doing well.
Once my walk was done and there wasn’t anything new needing my attention, I started on my first project — planting the Chinese cucumber bed I started on Monday. Even though I loosened the soil with my hand tiller, I felt it was too clumpy. So, out comes my Honda 12‑inch gas tiller, and in a few minutes I had the small bed done — a finer soil crumb.
My recipe for the strip is to sprinkle the top with Black Kow, about 1/4 of the 1‑cubic‑foot bag, 1/2 cup of organic Expert’s 4‑4‑4, and 2 tablespoons of dry fish fertilizer. I again used my hand tiller to mix it in. Once done, I made a speed bump and then placed the seeds 12 inches apart at 1/2″ depth.
When that was done, I put back the cardboard I had surrounding the bed and added more cardboard behind the trellis. Last, I put the straw loosely on top of the cucumbers just to help retain moisture and then put the straw on top of the boxes.
After I was done, I took a much‑needed snack and hydration break, and while on my break I was talking to Morino about how his plants don’t seem to get diseased. I asked him if the seeds came from where he is from — Guatemala. I asked him if it is hot and humid there, and he said yes, and I next asked him if he had any tomatoes growing that came from Guatemala.
I am sure you know where I am going with this. My thinking is his squash and zucchini are disease‑free, so if he grows tomatoes, they might also be able to withstand our Tennessee heat and humidity. He told me he didn’t, but he was going to ask someone from Guatemala. If he does get seeds, that would be another trial. I am sure it won’t happen, but I learned that getting the right seed can make all the difference — and knowing when the best time to plant them too!
My break ended and I was onto my final project, which was another energy drainer. I worked on my fall bed that used to be the second tomato cage storage. I first had to take the landscape fabric up, and surprisingly Chris didn’t use that many landscape pins. I was able to save two sections to be reused in, say, more shade contraptions or who knows. I just know I am not throwing something away that still can be used in the garden as something temporary.
Once done, I was ready to bring out the big tiller and did a first till. I will do two more tills as I want to work in amendments. This bed is 7′ x 17′, and I am also looking at the whole back end as I am redesigning it with a different entrance that will enter from the south corner of the Back 40. By doing this small entrance change, I can expand the bed for next year’s tomatoes that will be back there. I decided that this will be a good spot for tomatoes as the ground is high and gradually slopes down. Not all my tomatoes will fit there, but my goal is to rotate things to keep bug pressure down and maybe septoria and wilts too!
The last tasks for the day was harvesting as I needed some okra for tonight’s dinner. I made Okra and tomatoes. It was yummy. While harvesting I picked my first tomato from my June transplants. It is a Park’s Whopper variety.
Before heading out, I stopped at the Learning Plot and checked on the mounds. The butternut squash hasn’t germinated yet. They looked a little dry, so I watered them.
A full day from start to finish — and a good one. Happy Gardening!