We call this site "Yardening" because we plan to talk about general happenings in the yard, as well as gardening. One of our initial goals in "yardening" has been to eliminate high maintenance Bermuda grass areas. Our little habitat in the suburban Atlanta is in a constant state of flux as we try to make it a better home for plants and wildlife. Over the past 5 years we have tomato and vegetable plants just about anywhere that gets decent sun (6 to 8 hours) during the growing season.
We begin our blog site during our 4th season of growing heirloom tomatoes. It's midsummer and there are lots of green tomatoes, and we have just begun to pick a few: Tasmanian Chocolate, Amana Orange, Mexico Midget, Black Krim, Sweet Sue and some Dwarf Giants.
Heirloom Harvest
We've also begun to harvest a bounty of eggplant, cucumbers, Anaheim peppers, and zucchini. Since we are entering midseason, many of our initial posts will relate to summertime tomato and vegetable episodes.
We started with 85 tomato transplants this year, which we began from seed in March of 2015. Mary handles all of the seed starts, and I take over when they are ready to transplant. The vast majority of our plants are heirlooms. (note from Mary: it's hard to get approval to start a non-heirloom tomato!)
Most of our tomatoes are in a 20' by 25' plot in the backyard. I think we have around 50 plants in the plot and this is our 3rd year using this area. Eight dwarf tomatoes planted in 10-gallon bags form a front row. Other tomato plantings are along the side of the back and front yards. We try to ensure that the front vegetable plantings are somewhat visually pleasing.
When I transplant the tomatoes, I use lots of mushroom compost. I generally use several applications of an organic fertilizer, such as 5-4-3, during the growing season. I use drip irrigation when I have to water. Previously I watered by hand, using a hose and sprayer; this was a lot of time and work. I also used soaker hoses, but they weren't very efficient or durable. Drip irrigation delivers water to the base of each plant and seems to be a better alternative, especially since we are up to 80 plants.
Things seem to be humming along, but as I mentioned, this is our 3rd year of planting in the main plot. We have started to have issues with fungal diseases; namely, early blight and septoria. I feel sure the fungal spores are in the soil from last year when these fungal diseases first appeared. These are foliar diseases that have killed several plants, but repeated treatment with a fungicide seems to have controlled the infection in many plants and they appear healthy. Perhaps the recent HOT sunny days helped. I like to think that the Daconil (R) and copper sulfate treatments have made the difference. I can't say which has been most effective, but I've been treating plants about every 10 days since the beginning of June. Loss to date is 5 plants, I suspect there may be more lost later, especially if humidity stays high and brief afternoon rain showers continue into July. I'm working on a new plan for next season because I expect fungal disease will become more widespread. Interesting that the remaining 25 tomato plants planted around the front and back yard are disease-free. The most likely explanation for this difference is that we planted the tomatoes in the same plot for several years, so the fungi have become established in the soil. The tomatoes planted in various locations around the back and front yards are "new to their neighborhoods" so there isn't a buildup of fungus, ready to pounce on plants.
This year Charlie discovered a great new resource: the book Epic Tomatoes written by Craig LeHouiller. It's a fantastic compilation of how to grow great heirloom tomatoes, origins of many early varieties, and it is filled with outstanding pictures. We met Craig and his wife, Sue (inspiration for the heirloom tomato, Sweet Sue), at a seed swap in Atlanta. Craig was full of helpful and practical tips for starting and growing heirloom tomatoes, and he shared seeds from several dwarf tomato varieties that he has been developing. We have several of his dwarf tomato plants growing in the plot and around the yard--wherever the exposure gives them 6-8 hours of sun. His book is my go-to reference book for open pollinated and heirloom tomatoes. Less than a year old, the book is dog-eared and heavily marked up!
Just as an aside the most consistent thing I hear from our friends growing tomatoes is that they have healthy looking tomato plants but no fruit. More than likely their chosen spots for the plants are getting insufficient sunlight. It's futile to plant tomatoes unless you have lots of sun and the more the merrier!
Enough on tomatoes. Bluebirds. We have 2 bluebird houses in the backyard and have had pairs of birds raise their young in both of our houses over the past few years. We estimate that at 4 eggs per clutch, we have had more than 40 baby bluebirds hatch over the years we've had the houses. Unfortunately, 2 hatchlings died this year, just days before they should have fledged. (Explanation: a fledgling is a baby bird with feathers and has left the nest) From my research and examination of the dead birds, Charlie concluded that the cause was blowflies. He read several articles related to blowfly infestations in bluebird nests and how to prevent them, and decided to use diatomaceous earth to rid the nest of the blowfly larvae that infect the hatchlings. Here is a url to one of my sources describing this problem and the suggested diatomaceous earth remedy. (http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/2012/07/21/first-brood-loss-to-blowfly-infestation-since-2008/) After removing and destroying the infected nest we treated the house with diatomaceous earth--just after the mother built another nest but before any eggs started hatching. Charlie monitored this nest once it contained eggs every 2 days or so up until the babies had hatched and were around 12 days old. After 12 days, it’s unwise to open the house, because you might cause the babies to leave the nest prematurely. Success! On June 30th I found the nest flattened and the babies had fledged! Awesome! Probably too late for another clutch but I have cleaned the house up anyhow just in case. Bluebirds like a clean house and won't use old nests. So we remove each nest after the babies have fledged.
Checking to see if the coast is clear before 1st flight