BULLETINS/UPDATES
In my line of work,(concrete), I drive all over the place. Sometimes to Cleveland,Tn., sometimes to Ozark Al.
Everywhere I go people have a garden in plain sight from the road. During this hard time in all our lives, people are digging up thier lawn to plant a garden.
Most of these folks have no clue how difficult is to keep one up and healthy. You have to be in it everyday, weeding, hoeing, staking tomato plants and fertilizing all.
Some who have never gardened before finds out quickly how difficult it is, and you can tell who these people are by how thier garden looks. It's overgrown with weeds, and all the plants are undersized.
My garden has plenty of weeds now,(so who am I to talk), but I picked 29 ears of corn just a few minutes ago, with 9 baseball sized tomatoes, and 6-6 inch banana peppers. I busted my butt for those healthy veggies, and have no assistant to keep the weeds down. So the weeds took over because I work concrete 12 hours a day, six days a week.
It's best to start getting your garden place ready early in the season, when it's still pretty cool out, but the last frost hasn't occured yet. That way you can rake the rocks out, and attempt to eliminate most of the grasses and weeds. Work the soil with natural fertilizer, or store bought. Be diligent in your hunt for weeds pre-planting. Doing this will get you ready for the harder work to come, and get the soil ready and rich for your budding plants.
After the last frost,(which I wish could tell you a date, but it is always so different, you'll just have to judge this on your own), place your tomatoes, peppers, squash, whatever you choose in neatly spaced, (per-veggie instructions), rows with enought room to walk comfortably between.
Weed daily, and fertilize again after plant has doubled it's size,(pepper plants excluded as they grow little after blooming), with a weak 10-10-10 by drizzaling the b-b sized stuff 6-8 inces AWAY from your plants on both sides. I use a hoe to pull the fertilizer and soil up and around the base of your plant. Mound it up 3-4 inches. This will provide more area for moisture to be held longer, enabling your plant to survive through short drought between rains.
It's best to stake or wire your tomoto plant as they begin to fruit, but not before they get too big, doing this will keep the plant from drooping from the wieght of enlarging fruits.
I hope this little advice will help in your gardening venture, as I don't remember anyone helping me. You don't want to be walking through knee high weeds searching for your plants.
With patience, and a daily fight against the weeds, you will have a prosperous garden that will provide you and your family with the best, natural veggies all summer. Remember, don't over do it, unless you have the time to pick and can your overflowing basket!
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