We have had quite a few emails over the last month enquire about our 2015 garden experimentation . Many need to know how the red plastic mulch in the tomato plant rows worked out – while others were curious about the method acting of growing all of our potatoes in crate .
So we think for today ’s Sunday Farm Update – we would take a piddling time to go over the results and divvy up some of the winners – and loser of the 2015 garden experiments .
We have a lot of fun trying out new affair each year in the garden , and just like in spirit – some work out perfectly – while others you simply chalk up to a object lesson well - learned ! But as the erstwhile saying blend , when you stop trying – you give up learning – and where is the fun in that ? !
The red plastic tomato growing experiment was certainly not a winner in our garden this year
So with that say – here is a look at our 2015 experiments :
What Worked:
After successfully experimenting last yr with growing some of our potato craw in home - made wooden crates – we move “ all - in ” this twelvemonth , planting our entire craw with the crate method acting .
We implant them in a easy motley of straw , compost and dirt – filling up the crateful with more soil admixture as the potatoes continued to grow . I was a small uneasy planting our whole crop with the method – but it influence out beautifully ! Yields came in at about a bushel - full of potatoes ( about 25 pound . ) for every pocket-size crateful we planted . Not bad for just a few pounds of gelded white potato implant in each , and very little work in planting , exert and harvesting the entire craw !
One extra preeminence on the experiment – we used two sizing of home - made crates for planting : small crates measure 36″ long x 24″wide x 18″ , and a few large ones that were 8′ longsighted x 24″ wide-cut cristal 18″ high . Although the longer crates worked just as well in originate the craw – they WERE NOT as easy to switch and glean with all of the weight by the ending of the season ! For next years harvest – we will simply use a series of the small crates to plant our potatoes in .
This year’s popcorn harvest will not be enough to carry us through our winter snacking!
See : Growing Potatoes Vertically – How We Made Our Potato Crates
Over the preceding few twelvemonth , we bump it a little severe to grow and conserve our little crops like lettuce and kale in our farseeing grow row . With the small seed , cutting and weeding process – sometimes the loose edges made it unmanageable to keep the row maintained .
This year , we constructed 6″ high , 8′ long x 18″ wooden raised beds in a few rows of the garden for the sole role of growing those small seed crops .
We still love our raise rows for the remainder of our crop , but the simple edged bed made from cheap untreated pine lumber made planting and asseverate little crops a air . We added a total of 8 raised beds – and all of them were filled multiple times throughout the year with ready to reap crops of scratch , arugula , kale , onions , carrots and radishes . Without a doubt – the parent bed were a with child Winner!See : Creating Simple Raised Beds For Small Crops
We have always used straw and leaves in our walk rows to control weeds – but this twelvemonth we decided to switch to a cloggy coat of fresh bark mulch in the tract .
The straw / leaf combo had always worked well – but had to be re - employ often throughout the year – and when we ran out of leaves – the pale yellow could start to get costly .
We found a local lumbermill that had a provision of impertinently shred bark as an inexpensive by - product of their lumber operations . It was 100 % natural with no additive or treatments – and it worked dead for creating permanent walking rows to keep out the weeds . In fact – we expend no time at all weed in our walk rows this class – and it looks like it will easily bear up for another twelvemonth or two without having to reapply at all .
What Didn’t Work:
Over the last few year , we had proceed to read about the benefits of red plastic for tomato and it ’s promise of a mellow yielding tomato plant craw . This preceding twelvemonth , we plant a few of our rows with the red plastic to see if it really play .
The red plastic love apple mature experiment was for certain not a winner in our garden this yr
For us , it was simply a huge disappointment ! Not only was it hard to install ( take nearly 45 minutes to institute a row – a process that usually read about 5 minute ) , but it also required the use of metal pins every 12″ or so , make it very difficult to take out by and by . As for the yields , they were actually way less than in our traditionally grown rows – with no early ageing find at all . Last but not least – they but seem wretched in our rowing ! 🙂
Our verdict – there is no need to hassle with it !
Like the development of our tomatoes without red charge plate – sometimes , it ’s simply good to puzzle with what work well ! We decided this yr to engraft our Zea mays everta in a newly landscape layer area at the top of the entrance – hop-skip that the ornamental look and find of the corn still hunt would tot a little grain to the bottom infinite .
This yr ’s Zea mays everta harvest home will not be enough to transmit us through our wintertime snacking !
The top of the hill area proved to be too windy and unprotected – and the popcorn crop was damaged by an former time of year windstorm .
The resulting harvest was about 15 % of our normal yield – and needless to say , next year , the Zea mays everta will find a domicile back in the friendly confines of the raise row in our main garden !
In the meantime , it looks like we will be purchasing some constitutional popcorn to get us through our nightly wintertime snacks at the farm !
If you would like to receive ourSunday Updateseach week – be certain to sign up to follow the web log via email in the right hand pillar , “ like ” us onFacebook , or play along us onTwitter .
