Time to Put Down Plastic

[buckeyefarmer]

Looking great on the planting. Every year I say i'm going to do drip irrigation for my garden, but I never get it done. After reading this today, I went ahead and ordered a small drip system from rain-flo.
I use landscape fabric in my garden, between the rows to keep the weeds down.
My dad used to grow a lot of veggies and sell at the farmers markets. That was one of his hobbies after he retired. Growing up, we grew acres of strawberries, which we picked and delivered to people.

 

[charlz]

Looking great on the planting. Every year I say i'm going to do drip irrigation for my garden, but I never get it done. After reading this today, I went ahead and ordered a small drip system from rain-flo.

Drip on a timer is where it is at, never have to worry about forgetting to water and killing off everything you worked so hard on.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Rain-flo has good systems but Berry Hill Drip Irrigation also has some good home garden and large farm systems.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Timer on order also. I thought about a roll of plastic mulch and put down manually, but will stick with landscape fabric. It works good except crab grass will root right thru it.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Updating growth. Looks like I will have zucchini and straight neck squash by the end of the week. Both are about the size of my finger. Cukes, beans, watermelon, and cantaloupes look good. Tomatoes are suckered and staked.

 

[randy41]

the best way to know when to irrigate is to feel the soil. what variety of tomatoes are those? where do you sell them?

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Randy,

I sell at a local farmer market, buy word of mouth, and have several people that pay up front and come by weekly to pick up produce. We also donate a lot.

I current have one row of Early girl and Better Boy. I have some customers that this is the only tomato they will buy.

I also have one row each of:

Red Rose #5818 This cross between Brandywine and Rutgers produces good yields of 6 to 10 oz. delicious dark pink fruit. Disease and crack-resistance are inherited from Rutgers, and the tomato's taste and texture is more like that of Brandywine. Indeterminate. 85 days.

First Prize VFFNT Hybrid #3300 - Exclusive release of Tomato Growers Supply Company. The kind of tomato home gardeners would love to grow for a county fair entry. Vigorous plants produce loads of delicious 10 to 12 oz. fruit, even when conditions are not ideal. This one was a winner in our trials for its high yields, good disease resistance, mid-early maturity, and great flavor. First fruit mature early and low on the plant, which continues to bear tomatoes over a long season. Indeterminate. 75 days.

Brandywine Red (Landis Valley Strain) #5940 This special strain of Red Brandywine comes from Chester County, Pennsylvania, where it originated in 1885. It produces medium-sized, 8 to 12 oz. round, smooth red fruit that are juicy and loaded with intense tomato flavor. This is a different strain than regular Brandywine Red, which has a much larger and more ribbed tomato. This foliage is shaped like a regular tomato leaf and is not potato-leaved. Expect high yields of this very flavorful tomato. Indeterminate. 78 days.

Also half row of Beefsteak with the other half a seedless verity, and 4 plants of sweet 100's.

I have not decided what I will plant the 7 row. But will plant it sometime mid-late June.

Feel free to offer suggestions on tomatoes, I am always looking of a good tasting producer.

 

[randy41]

your stuff looks great. if you want a ton of good tasting tomatoes within a short period of time try BHN589 (red) and BHN871 (orange). the plants do well weaved. the other really good seller is cherokee purple. do you have late blight problems?

 

[hunterridgefarm]

The only year I had late blight problems was last year, due to excessive rain and not being on plastic.

Where do you order the seeds for those BHN589 Red? Are they determinate? If so how long do they produce?

I prefer indeterminate types but have considered indeterminate.


Okay, found it Tomato growers Supply

But how long can you harvest determinate tomatoes?

 

[randy41]

these determinants will give you ripe tomatoes for a few weeks (3?). i plant them inside and can get 2 crops off of them but the second never yields as well as the first. The BHN varieties were bred for producing a lot over a short period of time. late blight occurs here just about every year.

 

[pacerron]

I sell at a local farmer market, buy word of
Also half row of Beefsteak with the other half a seedless verity, and 4 plants of sweet 100's.

I have not decided what I will plant the 7 row. But will plant it sometime mid-late June.

Feel free to offer suggestions on tomatoes, I am always looking of a good tasting producer.

Do you have a problem with your "sweet 100" splitting on the vine?

We used to raise them but have switched to "Juliet" which is a little bigger and grape shaped. They don't split
and will keep after being picked, without refrigeration, for quite a few days.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

This is the first year I have planted Sweet 100's, so we will see how they do. Was the splitting from too much water?

 

[pacerron]

This is the first year I have planted Sweet 100's, so we will see how they do. Was the splitting from too much water?

Possible but not likely here. By August it is quite dried out around here. We water the garden when needed, but not over watered, since the source is our well.
When they go from green to red, on the vine, which happens quickly in clusters, they just split open. The skin is very thin.

Did you pound all those tomato stakes in with a hand driver?
They sure look nice and straight.

 

[sld]

How about some Roma's? To us, they are the best for salsa and the best for canning.

 

[randy41]

How about some Roma's? To us, they are the best for salsa and the best for canning.

i grow san marzanos but they are similar to romas. you can freeze them whole. When you defrost them the skins come right off and they are ready to be used for cooking. they are also good dried.

 

[DFB]

Finally talked my boss into using plastic this year for the business's produce production so put down almost an entire 2000 ft roll today with my equipment. Now he says lets do more for the second (late) squash and cuke plantings...well guess will order up another roll again tomorrow.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Did you pound all those tomato stakes in with a hand driver?
They sure look nice and straight.

All 168 of them with a T-post driver about 2 hits per post.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

DFB, if it does good you may get a hugh pay increase!!!

When do you plant late squash and cukes? I plant in July.

 

[DFB]

DFB, if it does good you may get a hugh pay increase!!!


When do you plant late squash and cukes? I plant in July.

Didn't they tell ya...there's no money in farming!

That's funny to me because yesterday I took my contractor pal with me to lay down the plastic. Told him he could be my Mexican helper for the day. Basically just to stand on the end of the plastic while I got started and to walk ahead raking off any large rocks that might cause a potential problem and anyhow he was trying figure how many plants per row x # of rows x estimated yield per plant in lbs x the going market rate per lb. I think he wants to be farmer now :laughing:


For late planting about the same...4 to 6 weeks after the first crop gets started. Many growers up here try to start planting as early as its possible using row cover for frost protection, though never much before mid to late May. We have exceptional warm weather right now night time lows in high 40's but a had frost three nights in row over the past weekend.

 

[pacerron]

All 168 of them with a T-post driver about 2 hits per post.

Did you skip your home gym workout that day?

My wife noticed in your pictures that the ground shows through the opacity of your plastic.
Is it still supposed to control weed growth underneath?

We tried a rather transparent plastic one year and the weeds loved it; like being in a greenhouse.