Tomato Plant Update. 4.26.22

 Here are some of the tomato plants now.  I'm glad I did not plant them as early as last year, although I could probably have waited one or two additional weeks.

Reisentraube and Dwarf Johnson Cherry.  It's interesting that, at least at this stage, Reisentraube is growing a lot like a dwarf variety.  I didn't expect that.  It will be fun to compare it to other varieties.

Most of the other dwarf varieties.  They have shorter, stockier stems compared to non-dwarf types, and the leaves are more compact and stockier too.  Brandyfred and CC McGee (not shown) have potato-type leaves.

"Bush" type (Early Girl Bush).  These are not dwarf type, but grow multiple stems that in the end don't grow as tall as regular tomato plants.  To confuse matters, "Extreme Bush" is both dwarf and determinate. The blue labeled plants, "Honeybee" and "SunGold" are regular height varieties that I planted a few weeks later.  I had those varieties planted at the same time as the others, but gave them away to someone who I think will appreciate that they are already blooming.

Some of the sauce tomatoes, Ranger, La Roma III, and Supremo.  I planted these a month after the fresh eating tomatoes.  I'm not interested in as early bearing for these and they appreciate the later sunnier, warmer weather.

Do Little Ducklings Like Water? 4.22.22

 Yes they do!

Rufus at the Oregon Tulip Festival. 4.23.22

 There were lots of tulips there.  South of Oregon City.  I think Rufus got a little overstimulated but if so, he's all better now.

The Buried Dead Chicken Test. 4.21.22

 For the past two years, I grew sweet corn in this area.  The year before, it was potatoes, and squash the year before that.  Last winter, I buried a dead chicken who was viciously murdered by some sort of chicken-obsessed predator.  Then I planted nematocidal mustard in the bed for green manure and to kill of any nematodes.

The lush thick leaves are the mustard on the chicken grave.  The test is the mustard where there are no buried chicken victims.

It's the same seeds, but obviously the area over the chicken is much more fertile than the rest.  Those leaves are green and lush, and the plants are very vigorous.  The other mustard plants are puny and unhealthy looking.

That proves that the soil there is now depleted and needs fertilizer (preferably organic) or nothing will grow well there.

It also proves that chicken corpses make a good fertilizer, at least for mustards.

The Last Batch of Seed Potatoes are Planted. 4.21.22

Thanks to my helper who dug the trenches, I was able to plant two rows of late potato Elba and one of mid season potato Soraya.  This area has not been used for garden before.

That's the last of the potato starts.  I could celebrate by having an impromptu parade on Main street, but I feel too tired LOL.

Just because potato starts in a trench aren't all that interesting, here is a free vintage illustration of potatoes from a website called freevintageillustrations.com.

It doesn't look like potatoes have changed much over the years 😀

Trench of Elba potato starts, before covering them.  I mixed in about a half cup of "Morecrop" vegetable fertilizer in the trench before planting.

Here is a view with my loyal companion.  He's keeping a careful watch so that evil cats and stupid deer don't attack.