Just Love your Blog!!! I have had good luck with the tomatoes here, haven't planted anymore seeds yet, too many birds/squirrels/deer here.
In My Garden Blog:
Northern California Coastal & Inland Valleys
September 10, 2009
By
Kim Haworth,
San Bruno, CA
I share my humiliation so that other gardeners may benefit from my mistakes.
Failure and Success
Well, Henry's garden in San Mateo is looking heavenly, but my personal garden here in Brisbane is looking very sorry and neglected. Perhaps it's because stairs are involved in the maintenance process and my new knee is still a bit gimpy. The asparagus splendens is doing its best to escape up the banister, possibly to gather the hose and hoe from my office. Whatever the reason, the neglect is inexcusable! I shall endeavor to do a major clean up before we leave on vacation.
Smaller vs. Bigger
I'm glad I don't have a gigantic garden like Henry's. The side yards haven't even been considered as a place to landscape. Lord knows the soil below the west deck would probably be the best on the entire property. I have tossed more than a few failed projects down there, and many of our television guests did the same. It became a running gag on the show and my photographer/editor Art Takeshita wanted to do a montage of all the various plants flying over the balcony rail.
Work, Work, Work
My projects for this month include cleanup, light fertilizing, never-ending hand watering and cool-season planting. Fall is the ideal time to plant because the soil is still warm so that the roots can develop without the strong rays of the sun putting the foliage under stress while the plants try to get established. Strong roots mean healthy plants with good foundations.
Some of the things I'm planting in Henry's garden for fall are ornamental kale in the flower beds, stock, cabbage, peas, pansies, sweet peas (planted very deep so they have a good running start for spring), some snapdragons (although I never have good luck with them in winter), nemesia, and some root crops in the vegetable garden, including beets and carrots.
Humiliation and Delight
The tomatoes at Henry's were a dismal failure this summer. I'm going to plant fava beans in that bed to try to improve the soil over the fall and winter. There was a surprise bumper crop of red potatoes growing beside the spindly tomato plants. Perhaps the potatoes stole the nutrients from the tomatoes, but I think it was probably the combination of the existence of a fusarium fungus in the soil plus the surprise root crop. Fusarium fungus is a problem with members of the solanaceae family which includes tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplant. It has made a huge comeback with the popularity of heirloom tomatoes that have not been hybridized with fusarium-resistant genes. Mind you, I love a good heirloom tomato as much as the next guy, but I think I am going to have to select plants that are F-1 or V-1 resistant next year, if I decide to plant tomatoes in that bed at all. It's probably best to give the soil a rest for a year or two. Pulling out those plants is going to be a pleasure. They are semi-living proof of my failure as a gardener.
Success!
My friends Joyce and Gary allowed their tomato bed to rest for the past two years, planting fava beans there instead. This year, Gary has named his 'Arkansas Traveler' tomato Audrey, after the man-eating plant in Little Shop of Horrors. It is the most glorious tomato plant you have ever seen! It is well over 6 feet tall and still growing. I can't wait to taste the tomatoes from that plant. Heirloom vigor and flavor, yummy!
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Patty Sankey-Rodoni | September 10, 2009 | 4:20PM
kimmie haworth | September 10, 2009 | 5:15PM
Thank you for the nice compliment! I love writing the blog. It makes me look at the world as I pass through, trying to find new subjects to write about. I talked to Buzz Bertolero, the Dirt Gardener, the other day about the abysmal year for tomatoes. It seems that you are lucky with yours, congratulations! Buzz says that many people have been coming into the nursery with samples of blossom-end rot and fusarium wilt, so at least I don't feel alone in my failure! I really think the tomato bed at Henry's is tired and should be retired for the next few years. If I could only figure out where to plant them next year. I guess I had better get started on amending the soil now. Maybe I'll dig an area out of the lawn and plant the vegetable garden there. I've never been a big fan of turf grass...
suzie in Monte Rio, CA. | September 10, 2009 | 11:03PM
We're doing quite well with our tomatoes this year...in fact, this is the only year in the past 3-4 years that we've had and continue to have RED tomatoes. It's all due to the magic fertilizer we bought from Brisbane Hardware...we must get more for next summer!!
Carol Kornfeld | September 12, 2009 | 12:58AM
I was glad to hear of your "troubles' with the tomatoes this time because mine were also not up to "snuff". I think I may have had that fungus, too, and I will take your suggestion to rest the box (we have above ground boxes) and plant fava beans. I planted 1 or 2 heirlooms but they were not that different. Ho Hum, there's always next year!
Sparky | September 12, 2009 | 12:40PM
I have just the opposite problem with tomatoes -- I can't get rid of them! I have some volunteer tomato plants that came up between sand cracks in my patio and it is like the attack of the tomato plants. I keep pulling them out but they come back every year. I am also allergic to the plants so now want to use something to spray and kill them. Is roundup a good choice? There are no plants around them.
kimmie haworth | September 28, 2009 | 2:45PM
Such a problem we should all have! Sparky, RoundUp will take care of your problem. Use according to directions please.
Pat in San Carlos | October 9, 2009 | 11:06PM
Finale works as well as Round Up and breaks down more quickly. If I plant fava beans to revive the soil, do I have to dig them back into the ground in the spring? Can I just cut the tops off and leave the roots, or pull out the whole plant, and still get the benefits? Your picture of the nasturtium (sp?) climbing the tomato cage reminds me of one of my tomatoes that has been overrun by a volunteer bird house gourd. It's lovely but not what I planned. Pat
kimmie haworth | October 10, 2009 | 12:20PM
Pat, Fava beans should be chopped up and tilled into the soil, tops and all. It would be a shame to lose all that lovely free nitrogen. Cut them down, the use a lawn mower to grind them up prior to tilling.
kimmie haworth | October 10, 2009 | 12:25PM
Pat, Fava beans should be chopped up and tilled into the soil, tops and all. It would be a shame to lose all that lovely free nitrogen. Cut them down, the use a lawn mower to grind them up prior to tilling.
kimmie haworth | October 10, 2009 | 12:25PM
Pat, Fava beans should be chopped up and tilled into the soil, tops and all. It would be a shame to lose all that lovely free nitrogen. Cut them down, the use a lawn mower to grind them up prior to tilling.
kimmie haworth | October 10, 2009 | 12:30PM
Pat, Fava beans should be chopped up and tilled into the soil, tops and all. It would be a shame to lose all that lovely free nitrogen. Cut them down, the use a lawn mower to grind them up prior to tilling.
