To plant and harvest potatoes

Equipment and Materials

personal equipment

Procedure

To clean debris, remove weeds and prepare soil for planting and transplanting of vegetables

Equipment and Materials

personal equipment

	Coveralls – great for gardening with lots of pockets and tool holders.
	Gloves – Good gardening gloves along with coveralls gives one a feeling of empowerment and invincibility no matter how dirty the gardening job.
tools and materials
	Tiller – Hand tools such as a Pick Mattock and Spading Fork, but a gasoline powered tiller will make quick work of turning a garden.
	Rake – a necessity for clening the garden of leaves and pebbles. Using two rakes like “salad forks” eases pickup of debris.
	Garden Cart – Great for removal of leaves from the garden.

Procedure

Step 1: Raking the Lawn

Ready to start!

Step 2: Adjusting the pH Pelletized Lime and garden spreader All lawns in Northern New jersey are acidic, remember acid rain? Well acid rain plus other environmental factors cause the soil to be acidic which is great for roses or tomatoes, not so much for you lawn. I don’t use any pesticides or herbicides on my lawn, just a springtime addition of lime which seems to do wonders in making the lawn full and green, the bunnies seem to like the “organic” dandelions, a natural weed control. I set the broadcast spreader at about 9 1/2 for the pellet lime, this covered less than 1000 sq. ft.. I looked for another bag or two of palletized lime and no place in the area had it so I bought two bags of pulverized kime. The pelletized lime is easier to apply, but the pulverized white powder is harder to work with. So I filled my spreader about halfway with the white powder-like lime and changed the setting to 3 for the smaller particle size. A white cloud followed me and the spreader around the front lawn making white paths. That finished the front lawn and later in the day, thunderstorm and rain, perfect, ready for step 3: seeding!

Step 3: Seeding Tools and supplis for lawn seeing Usually I just throw handfuls of seed onto the lawn concentrating on bare spots. I had a leftover bag of Scotts Turf Builder 18121 Sun & Shade Grass Seed Mix Bag, 7-Pound from last year and decided use my Scotts 76121 Turf Builder EdgeGuard Mini Broadcast Spreader, 5000-Square-Foot Coverage . I set the dial on the spreader to 3-1/2 and covered a large area with half of the seed bag.

Seed Starting

Purpose

To start seeds growing to have viable vegetable plants ready for the warm weather and planting in the outdoor garden. Also to have an earlier harvest season.

Equipment and Materials

- Various seeds (Burpee 66852 Tomato Super Beefsteak Seed Packet
, Burpee 69677 Italian – Eggplant Black Knight Seed Packet
, Burpee Crimson Sweet Watermelon Seeds – 2.5 grams
, Burpee 30957 Impatiens Flavours Hybrid Mix Seed Packet
, Burpee 44461 Marigold Climax Hybrid Mix Seed Packet
)
- Jiffy 5049 Professional Greenhouse 36-Plant Starter Kit
- Dramm 12454 5-Liter Premium High-Grade Plastic Watering Can, Green

Procedure

March 15, 2013 – I like to plant tomatoes before March 17 and i have succeeded with a day or two to spare! I tried using Jiffy Greenhouse with space for 36 seedlings using Jiffy-7 Peat Pellets. I followed the instructions on the package though adjusting the amount of water from 5- 1/4 cups to 4 cups. the pellets expanded as described and absorbed the four cups without any additional water which would have to be drained from the tray. I tried these pellets several years ago and I think that excess water leads to problems. The pellets are more damp then saturated with four cups of water, I can add more in a few days if needed, these Greenhouse kits include a transparent cover which retains moisture. After carefully washing my hands before handling seeds, I used the handle end of a fork to make holes in the top of the expanded pellet and added seeds to each pellet . Tomato seed packs as a rule do not contain many seeds, the Better boy Hybrid had 50 mg of seed and the Super Beefsteak had 400 mg of seed which translates to about 25 seeds in the 50 mg pack and around 100 seeds in the 400 mg pack. The Better Boy hybrid filled one Greenhouse container with a few seeds in each pellet whereas the Super Beefsteak filled about 2/3 of the Greenhouse container with one seed to a pellet. the remainder of the Supper Beefsteak Greenhouse container I planted Crimson Sweet Watermelon with 2 -3 seeds per pellet and have some extra seed for direct planting outdoors just in case.

March 21, 2013 – I have noticed that the Super Beefsteak variety has germinated.  I didn’t remove the clear cover which has quite a bit of condensation on it, but I could see the small sprouts.  The other tray with Better Boy hybrid and watermelon is showing no activity and has less condensation on the cover. Super Beefsteak seedlings Super Beefsteak seedlings

March 23, 2013 – Super beefsteak seedlings! March 24, 2013 – Eggplant seeds were pretty difficult to find. I found Black Knight Eggplant seeds and again used the Jiffy pellet Greenhouse tray to starrt them. I started by adding 4 cups of lukewarm water to the tray, replacing pellets in the tray locks if they floated up with the water. I waited about 30 minutes until the pellets expanded absorbing the water in the tray. I used the blunt end of a pen to pol=ke holes for teh seeds in teach pellet and carefully sprinkled one eggplant seed per pellet. I covered the tray with the clear plastic top and set aside. Eggplant seeds preparing pellet trays Greenhouse tray with water Using a pen to make holes in expanded pellets Sprinkling eggplant seeds into pellets Eggplant tray covered and set aside

March 31, 2013 – I saved some dead head marigold flowers from the previous year in a paper bag. Today I spoiled out the flower heads from the bg and opened them revealing the seeds and planted them in the jiffy greenhouses. i also planted some Burpee 30957 Impatiens Flavours Hybrid Mix Seed Packet. These seeds were tiny packaged in a foil packets, there were only maybe 20 seeds in a package which were difficult to work with because of the small size of the seed. I managed to plant one Jiffy 5049 Professional Greenhouse 36-Plant Starter Kit with two packages of seeds. Marigold seeds from flower heads Marigold seeds planted!

April 6, 2013 – I think mice got to my Better Boy Hybrids and ate the cotyledons from the stem, so damage done, not sure if they will sprout scondary leaves from the stems. A few of the Better Boys survived and the Super Beefsteaks were unharmed.But the tomato and watermelon seedlings are getting spindly, probably from inadequate sunlight. Plant Cart Plans 1/22/1995 So i assembled my Plant Cart and light stand. I built irt feom PVC pipe, tees and elbows, which I never glued together, so I can assemble and disassemble it as needed, it was now needed. the room has morning sunlight and i will augement with the artificial full spectrum fluorescent bulbs Plant cart with lights mounted.

April 7, 2013 – Photo Update Marigold seedlings Eggplants sprout! Best Boy Hybrids Super Beefsteak Tray

Transplanting Tomato Seedlings

Purpose Transfer seedling pellets to a larger container to promote growth.

Equipment and Materials - 9 ounce Paper Cups - 5 pounds Potting Soil - Foil Cake Pans Transplant Materials and Tomato flat

Procedure Poke holes in bottom of paper cups for drainage 1. poke holes in bottom of paper cup for drainage. Fill bottom of cup with potting soil 2. fill cup about 1/4 with potting soil. 3. tear mesh of tomato plant pellet carefully and plc firmly in cup. 4. use trowel to fill remaining space in cup with potting soil. 5. tamp down soil and add water.

March Snowstorm

Although we are getting a bit of a snowstorm, March is when I start planning my garden. I received my seed catalogue and I noticed a Burpee seed display at my local supermarket. I like to have my seed trays planted by Saint Patricks Day (March 17), which means early in March I start taking stock of my supplies of seed trays and potting soil.  This year i will be renting a roto-tiller from my local Ace Hardware store, but first I will need to clean the winter debris.

Now that the snow is melted, I have stopped by the grocery store to buy some seed packets.  I like to start tomatoes before St. Patricks Day (March 17) so I can harvest tomatoes early in the Summer.  Last year I planted watermelon but it was late June and I got nothing, so this year I am starting the watermelon indoors.

July 23, 2012, only two tomatoes harvested; a small Early Girl and small Roma, each about two inch diameter.Normally I would make a tomato sandwich with the first tomato, but these weren’t large enough.  But I cut them in wedges sprinkled crushed basil, salt and pepper, both tomatoes were tasty and sweet, can’t wait for more.  There was a Husky Red that looked ready to pick but disappeared from the plant, thinking I am getting “critters”. Otherwise the Sweet Chelsea (extra large cherry tomato variety) and the Ramapos have quite a bit of fruit growing. Wait and see!

July 27, 2012 – Its been a hot summer so far, hot and humid is good for tomato plants as they are tropical origin. Eighty to ninety degrees is optimal for tomato growth, above ninety-five degrees, thought should be given to protection from the heat with a cheesecloth sunshade or mulch the base of teh plant to protect the roots from heat.  Temperatures have ben averaging eighty-five in my garden, so I won’t be taking any action for extreme heat.

August 12, 2012 – Been picking tomatoes regularly. Sweet Chelsea’s are picked daily. Ramapo tomatoes have started ripening and are very tasty. The Czech Bush tomato was very sweet, more to come.

2012 Tomato Harvest

2012 Tomato Yield

After a late start, the tomato yield was pretty good from the 8 plants I bought. The cherry tomato plant, Sweet Chelsea, was a good producer of flavorful, sweet cherry tomatoes. the patio tomatoes purchased from Walmart were also very productive, although I feel the Ramapo and other heirloom tomatoes had better flavor. when the two Ramapo plants were totaled together were about halF as productive as the Patio tomatoes. The Patio tomatoes were grwon in terracotta pots with generic potting soil while the Ramapo tomatoes were planted in the garden.

I also bought eggplant and pepper plants from a garden center and heirloom tomato plants from a farm plant sale. The heirlooms included Ramapo, Husky Red, Sweet Chelsea, Czech Bush and Early Girl. I bought one Roma Tomato plant from Walmart. I planted them approximately 24 inches apart and immediately put them in tomato cages.

July 22, 2012 – So far I picked a few small tomatoes and everything is growing pretty well.  The peppers are kinda small and the eggplants have many flowers but no fruit as of yet.  I noticed some missing tomatoes so I think there may be an animal getting into the garden. I checked the fence and found some places where the fence had some openings and closed them.  I am going to install a wildlife camera to monitor the situation.

December 2012
After installing the camera, I didn’t find any large animals in the garden, but mostly the damage was from squirrels and groundhogs or rabbits.

2012 season: All repotted bulbs are growing and have been placed outdoors for the warm summer months.
November 11, 2012
It’s been a year since I repotted my Amaryllis, and during the summer months all the bulbs sprouted leaves but no blooms. Some of the bulbs which did not sprout leaves during the preceding Winter, sprouted outdoors in the Summer. I had believed that these bulbs were dead, but they surprised me! I brought the Amaryllis plants back in the house near an eastely facing window for the winter in late September. The summer growth seems to be wilting. They are now on limited water for the winter till the summer growth browns and new green sprouts.

Winter Blooms

Winter blooms

March 8, 2013:
My Amaryllis continues to bloom after wintering inside the house near an east facing window.

March 15,2013 - getting productive plants this year!

First i needed a front barn type door and to fix the back wall before winter. I was a little apprehensive about building doors from scratch, so I went to the local Library and borrowed a book about building sheds. In the book, I found a plan for a Z type door. This door is pretty simple consisting of wood planks side by side with a Z shaped brace to hold it together. To repair the back wall, I decided to create a doorway to go into the wooded area of my property, the shed acts as part of my fence around my back lawn, i used the same plan as for the front barn doors except i split the doror in two parts like a dutch door, so I could just open the top for ventilation. For both doors I used 1×6 pine planks (which actually are 5 1/2 inchs) to make two 36 inch doors for a 71 inch opening. 6 1×6 pieces gave me 33 inches, so i usd a 1×4(3.5 inches) which gave me 36.5 inch doors. I used 1×4 for the zbracing securing with 1 1-4 screws, two screws per brace per panel. Surprisingly the door was very rigid.

Hints for making doors:

1. When selecting wood for the doors, lay out boards on floor of lumberyard to check if they fit tightly against one another.
2. if possible, use waterproof finish before hanging doors on shed.

UPDATE: December 1, 2012
The windstorm resulting from Hurricane sandy toppled a large pine tree atop of my shed, totally destroying it. This ends the debate of whether to renovate the old shed or to build a new one has evolved into whether to build it myself or buy/install a prebuilt shed. I have looked through a couple books from the library which is how i found the door building technique for the old shed. I also looked online at local shed builders and I was looking at tinyhouse plans. I visited my local Home Depot and Lowes. Lowes had many display models onsite and Home Depot had a nice “build your own” application on its website. So far all I am sur about is the size 12 feet by 10 feet.