Saturday, January 29, 2011

What’s wrong with this picture????


I think my days as gentleman (???) farmer are numbered. Last December I planted my vegetable garden and so far mix results.
I planted several tomatoes plants, broccoli, eggplant, arugula and onions. The broccoli and onions are doing well, but the rest has been a bust.
The harsh winter this year has not helped, but I believe the problem has more to do with the soil. Over the years I added many bags of compost, but every year it gets worse, maybe is time to move the vegetable garden to another location or stop all together.

I am not ready to give up this year yet. Today I went to Home Depot and got 5 tomatoes plants (yellow, red cherry tomatoes and big boys) this time I am planting them all in containers.

All my herbs are in containers and doing well so far.

The key lime tree in the container is full of flowers, if we don’t have another freeze this winter we should have plenty of key limes in the summer.

7 comments:

Enid said...

try planting your tomates in another place and plant some basil between them :)

sanddune said...

Our soil here in South Florida has a lot of issues and that is a fact. I am trying to bring mine back to life by adding lots and lots and lots of homemade compost but it will take time to repair it. But every day it gets better. Don't be discouraged.

Unknown said...

I agree with sanddune.I have that same sandy soil.I have to add compost a couple times a year.

NanaK said...

Containers should help you enjoy some good harvests until your soil gets built up. I use containers due to sunny space being at a premium around my garden. No nematodes and easy to bring to safety during freeze warnings. That being said, my tomatoes were not as prolific this year as in the past. That's gardening!

Susan said...

Yum...I see key lime pie in your future. Good idea to try growing some veggies in pots. I have to keep a tomato in a pot during the winter. It's kind of a hassle, but it does provide some early tomatoes.

Unknown said...

Well, it could be worse...you could have four feet of snow on top of everything! But compost is a cure for many things...no garden is every perfect.

Dawn said...

I agree with NanaK, containers are the way to go when the soil is depleted. Lots of perlite and Alaska Fish Emulsion too. I added dog food to my mix and tomatoes love bananas. I put paper on the bottom of my containers to prevent grubs from crawling in. You might want to get larger containers, tomatoes and peppers need 10-15 gallon containers to develop a full root system.

I grow both in containers and also in the ground. According to the USDA a 5lb bag of sugar sprinkled over the ground will kill all nematodes. Don't give up!! Keep the faith.