The Year of the Tomato

Have you ever noticed that when all the right variables come together at just the right time, under just the right conditions, incredible things can happen? Well I believe that this is going to be one of those times.

Here are the variables as I see them:

1. After a really dry year last year, I learned my lesson and put in a drip system.
2. We started trying to be more conscientiousness and sustainable and started composting and amending the soil.
3. We put up the greenhouse which allowed us to start our tomatoes before the last frost of the winter.
4. The Atlanta summer has come in like a roaring lion!
5. At just the right times, we've gotten nice thunderstorms to add that little extra "umph" to our garden.

With all these lining up just right, I'm believing that we're going to have bumper crop of veggies, especially tomatoes. Just a feeling? I don't think so.

We're still a week away from summer and the plants are loaded down with green, pinkish, green and red striped, and full out red tomatoes.

The Mr. Stripy heirloom (pic at left) is making some very interesting and delicious looking striped tomatoes.

Our Big Boy tomato plant is so tall now that it has grown out of the top of the greenhouse and I'm resorting to tying the cage down so that the wind and rain doesn't topple the whole thing.

When we were on vacation last week in Seattle, I have to admit that I had black "dirt" envy. My son's garden looks like what mine would if I were to just use compost in my raised beds. But I must say that the blazing heat of the south surely makes good tomatoes.

The one Cherokee Purple plant is definitely in the running for the largest and darkest green tomatoes in the garden.

But the prize so far goes to the smallest of the lot. In less than a week of harvesting, we've already taken around 30 small but wonderfully flavored cherry red's off of a single bush and it is loaded with clumps of green fruit from top to bottom that have already proven to be great additions to salads.

I think my granddaughters tried these out before I did and were impressed.

I even have a couple of plants that have popped up in a flower pot in the front of the house. I thing they hitch-hiked from some of the dirt that I brought from the woods at the back of our lot.

I truly think this will be the Year of the Tomato!

All I can say is "bring it on".

Chris

3GT

Compost Is Ready

I hope you found my first post on my DIY tumbler composting helpful.

Today, I took the PVC door of my greenhouse apart (so that no more PVC's were killed in the process) and by adding a bit of vinyl hardware cloth, built a sifter to sift the smaller particles of compost from my compost tumbler.

I used the PVC clips that I'd made to hold the hardware cloth on the PVC. I was amazed at how well they work and the whole sifter took me less than 30 minutes to assemble. It fits nicely on the top of my wheel barrow and by turning it so the mesh on the bottom, the PVC forms a nice edge that keeps the compost from escaping off the sides.

I was truly amazed at easily my 55 gallon compost tumbler turned out some really nice compost. If ever I had any doubts, they are totally gone now.

I sifted out the smaller pieces and set aside the larger ones for continued composting.

Tomorrow, I may try to run them through my chipper/shredder (that I got a deal on at a yard sale) before I put them back into the tumbler with a whole new batch of green and brown material to kick start the process.

I took a shovel full or so of the compost and wrapped it up in an old tee-shirt and put it in a 5 gallon bucket of water to start a batch of compost tea (pics to come with my next compost post).

Large material that didn't make the sifting.

After all sifting was done, about 1/2 of my LARGE wheel barrow was filled with nice compost. I had enough to fill two empty manure bags that I'd held on to for just such an occasion.

I'd have to say that it was definitely worth the wait.

Going to use some of this nice stuff to fortify some soil for two white grape vines that I'm ready to plant and to side dress some tomatoes.

Don't think I've ever seen soil this black in Georgia!

It's Gonna' Be Dirt

Some time back, my dear wife and I went into an Whole Foods store and out front was one of those really nice Compost Tumblers all ready for me to take home and get started on my compost adventure. They say that confession is good for the soul (or something like that). So, here goes... I admit it, I was really coveting that compost tumbler envy.

The problem is, I don't have that kind of money to spend (nor do I want to) in order to turn our kitchen scraps into nice black compost. But there it was and I stood there drooling (not literally of course) over a silly compost tumbler. I find it amazing that people will pay over $150.00 for one of these things (even the cheap ones). My apologies to you if you did... I just couldn't do it.

So, like a good husband, I fought back the urge and was delivered from the green-eyed monster (oh wait, that's another one of the seven deadly sins). I think my wife was quite proud of me in that instant!

Nevertheless, that singular event set my insatiable mind abuzz wondering how I could put my creative juices into action and make my very own compost tumbler.

The it happened... my compost tumbler epiphany! One afternoon while driving home from work, I passed a salvage store in a nearby town and they had several 55 gallon drums out front for sale for a meager $14.95... more fuel to the fire.

Once home, I did a few quick internet searches and came up with several designs as well as videos of how to build a compost tumbler using 55 gallon drums. After processing the various methods, I came up with my own design that would allow me to have my tumbler near the ground, be able to turn it with my hands and use the existing banded lid as the doorway.

I constructed a stand and let it rest on a set of wheels I got for less than $10. So, for around 25 bucks I put together my first compost tumbler and started filling it with brown and green goodies from the table and garden.

The only supplemental thing I did to the barrel (since it was already painted) was to drill some holes in it for air to penetrate.

Putting the stand together with some existing wood I had laying around, I was off and running. It's just now getting warm enough for something to really be going on, but we're definitely making dirt! And for me, that's like pocketing the difference in what I'd have spent buying the fancy schmancy one.

The casters that I used as the base for rotation were mounted on some existing 1 x 4 material that I had and the base sits directly on the ground. The problem that I've run into with my design is that because of the weight of the barrel, the material to be composted and water to

keep everything moist, results in a bit more weight than I'd anticipated. Thus, my base incurred a structural failure (it broke one day when I was turning the thing).

In reviewing some of the videos (see link above), I'm going to rework it with a more substantial base. But for now, allowing it to rest on the ground and just roll it around the yard to do the mixing (at least until my wife gets fed up with it being all over the place).

As you can see, it's starting to make some nice dirt. Even though I add everything from veggie peals/parts, shredded wood, leaves and coffee grounds, it doesn't stink.

In fact, it smells like dirt! My son Daniel gave me a hint about adding soils of various kinds to introduce various colonies of needed bacteria for decomposition. In doing so, I introduced some worms into the mix. Because it doesn't heat up like your normal 3 ft. X 3 ft X 3 ft compost pile, the worms can survive and actually thrive in that environment.

I'm getting ready to build a sifter that will fit over my wheelbarrow to sift out the material that is ready to be added to my plant mix. Mmmm... it's gonna' be dirt soon!

More articles on composting: http://bit.ly/g6ve5U

Chris

3GT

Go to --> Part Two on Tumbler Composting