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

DIY Greenhouse Construction Details

I've had some requests for a follow up on my previous blog on "DIY Greenhouse Over Raised Bed Garden" so I'm going to share some of my secrets in building a greenhouse that will stand up under some fairly extreme weather conditions.

Here in Georgia, we joke about the weather saying, "if you don't like the weather, give it a day and it will change". Literally this past week we went from highs of the 60's to in the 90's. The swings are that extreme. This past winter we had a 4-5 inch snow, under which my little greenhouse held up just fine; though, when I was able I went out and cleared some of the snow from the top. This spring, we've had storms with high winds (gusts up to 50 mph) and with the sides down, we did just fine. If you leave the sides up, it can act like a sail and get some real rattling going on.

The basis of my design was to create a Qunoset-type structure that would distribute the weight as evenly as possible along all of six 3/4 inch white PVC that you can get from any hardware store. These were fit upon metal stakes that were driven just inside the edge of the raise bed and were attached to the bed itself for stability with "U" brackets. I got the metal stakes from an old tent that had long since deteriorated, so the were of no cost. My best guess is that I have around $120 in materials I had to purchase.

Here's a link to a more technical article by the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service on Hobby Greenhouse Construction listing the various types and additional info on their pro's and con's; but for details on how I constructed mine, keep reading!

Parts list - to the best of my recollection:

• 14 - 8ft long 3/4 pvc pipes - schedule 80 (thick wall) - for ribs
• 4 - 8 ft long 3/4 pvc pipes - schedule 40 (thin wall) - for clips
• 12 - "U" brackets to hold the ribs in place
• 12 - 3/4 couplings
• 4 - 3/4 elbow fittings (for door)
• 4 - 3/4 "tee" fitting (for door)
• 2 - 1" couplings (for door hinge)
• 10 - 3" machine bolts with nuts and washers to match (7/16 in )
• PVC glue
• Plastic sheeting (10'x20' )
• 12 metal stakes
• Various other screws and things I had around the house.

With regards to the above list, the important thing to note is that the greenhouse ribs are made from the thick walled PVC and the clips are from the thin walled PVC. Don't get them backwards - you greenhouse won't be as sturdy and you'll rip your fingernails off trying to open the clips wide enough to stay on the ribs!

To start off, I'

ve taken a picture (see below) at an intermediate stage of completion and added some numerical reference points (in yellow) that will help me guide you along in the parts of construction that I'm talking about.

Notice my end-of-season tomato plants above that lasted into late November or so because they were in the greenhouse!

Construction Steps

1. Build PVC Ribs.

I joined two 8 ft sections of pvc together with PVC glue and a 3/4 in coupling to make each of the six ribs. Once the glue dried, I drilled a hole large enough for the machine bolt (you may want to wait for this step until #5 below).

2. Install Metal Rib Posts.

Drove the metal posts at the edge of the bed, at evenly spaced intervals, with about 4 inches of the post remaining above the top of the raised bed's side. I then attached the "U" bracket around the metal post and screwed it into the inside of the raise bed a few inches from the top. Evenly space these along the outside of each raised bed lining them up with the other bed so the ribs will be evenly spaced.

2.5 Secure PVC Ribs (not numbered on the picture)

Placed the 16' PVC rib over the top of one post and bend it down and place it over the top of the corresponding post on the other raised bed. Do this for all 6 ribs.

3. Vertical Stabilizers.

On each inside corner of the both raised beds (total of 4), place a vertical support from the ground to the top of the rib. Mark a line along the top of the rib and cut the support at an angle along this line. Drill a hole through each vertical support and through the outer rib and insert a machine bolt with a washer and nut. Take care to cover any point/edges of the wood with Duct tape in order to protect the plastic covering.

4. Horizontal Stabilizers.

About 3 feet up on each side of the arches, attach a horizontal stabilizer using a 1" x 4" board cut flush with the outer rib arches. Attach these by drilling holes through each rib and board, connecting them with 7/16" bolts and nuts the the head of the bolt on the outside of the rib.

4.5 Build removable shelves for rolling up the sides (not numbered on the diagram).

Cut 2 small blocks out of 1 x 4 wood, bore two holes in the center (a single side block on each side) of the horizontal supports.

Drill two matching holes in the edge of each 1 x 4

block and insert and glue the dowel pegs into the blocks. Cut the dowels/pegs off so that 1 1/2 inches protrude from the blocks. Insert these removable "ledges" to be used to hold up the rolled up sides of the greenhouse for air circulation. (see pic at right)

5. Top Rib Connector.

Make sure that the holes you drilled in the center of the rib coupling is going up and down for the bolt (or wait until after you've installed the ribs to do this step. Attach a 1x4 horizontal stabilizer along the center of the top of the ribs using bolts, nuts and washers. (see picture at left)

6. Horizontal to Vertical Connector.

About 1/2 way up the vertical support in #3 above, attach the horizontal stabilizer to the vertical supports using another piece of 1" x 4" in board (total of 4). The end attached to the vertical support will be square and the end attached to the horizontal stabilizer will be cut at an angle (see pic at right). Initially cut this board too long and mark the angle to cut using the inside of the horizontal stabilizer as your guide. Connect using wood screws. You may want to pre-drill holes here to keep the 1" x 4" boards from splitting.

7. On the back side, the side without the door, I added a horizontal support 1/2 way up (about 3 feet) between the two vertical stabilizers to help tie the two sides together more. I take this one down in the summer when the cover is off so I can walk through from side to side.

8. Similarly, on the side where the door goes (facing my house), I put a horizontal support between the two vertical supports at about 6 feet off the ground. This will become the "header" for the door support and will give me something to attach the side plastic to.

At this point, I realize that this entry has gotten very large. So, I'm going to save the best part for the last episode of the Greenhouse construction post.

Chris

3GT

Swiss Chard ... My new favorite vegetable!!!

Left to my own demise, I really can cook up a storm. Well... at least I can follow a recipe well. ;)-

When my sweet wife has to run over to Alabama to attend to her parents and give them a hand for a few days, she often leaves me with cooked dishes of food that I only have to heat and/or meals that are fairly planned out for me.

This week one of the things on my "menu" was wild Alaskan Salmon that she'd picked up especially for me to eat. So, with the garden going so well and the chard running wild, I decided to hack some of it down and see what the stuff tastes like. No, believe it or not, this is the first time we've tried any chard from our garden and frankly I'm thinking about planting a whole stinking bed full of the stuff!

After a few searches, I came up with a chard dish that sounded good and gave me some remedial information on chard and techniques for cooking it. The blog I found it on is called "Beyond Salmon" and I give kudos to its writer for such a delectable dish!

With olive oil, cream and Parmesan cheese, how can it not be good?

The tidbit of info that really interested me was the author's description of Swiss chard as being "two vegetables" in one; first the stem and second the greens. When you take two different approaches with cooking the two, you'll never throw the stems in the compost pile again!

I added a couple of cloves of minced garlic to my version (since my wife is away) and I think I've found a new favorite vegetable!! Of course, my wife would say that I like anything with garlic on it.

... and yes, she's right again!

Chris
3GT

http://bit.ly/mhjSeN

Life is good in a raised bed

Living on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia can mean only one thing to someone who's serious about wanting to have a garden; it ain't happening without raised beds!

Georgia's red clay is infamous for being hard to grow things in but until we moved there in '92, I had no idea. But that was just the start... our town is not far from Atlanta's famous Stone Mountain, a granite "monadnock" rising straight up 825 feet from the surrounding land, where images of confederate war hero's are carved in the rock face. This thing bulges up out of the ground like a huge zit on the face of the earth.

I think that this rock formation extends literally for miles around and our that house is build on part of this extension. The developers of our subdivision had to blast the rock just to get places where the foundations of houses could be poured. I discovered the extent of the rock during one of the first springs at our home when my dear wife wanted a rose bush planted in the back yard near the patio.

No big chore, right? Just dig a hole, put in the rose bush (a Mr. Lincoln) and cover the thing up. I finally got the rose settled in after an hour bout with Stone Mountain using my sledge hammer, pry bar and a pick axe.

So, when we decided to put in a garden... it was all about getting some great soil (kudos to Luxury Landscape and their specially formulated plant mix), setting up a raised bed and not fighting the clay or the rock.

We currently have two parallel raised beds (4x8 feet and 6 feet apart) and we use large smart pots where we grow our veggies.

Life is good in a raised bed!