Garden Club, May 3 – Vegetable Gardens
Many thanks go to our two hosts. Anthony Titus, Killarney Pass Circle, and Luke Emde, Banbury Rd.
Tony, showed us his many raised garden beds. Most of them are made of Cedar as cedar does not break down as quickly as other wood. He also made some out of an old pier. He has been using raised garden beds for around 10 years. He doesn’t put anything on the ground simply builds up the bed and fills it full of soil. He suggests you can also use a Cattle Waterer. He has a piece of wood over the beds to sit on and work in the gardens. He also puts a fence around to keep the animals from coming in and eating his crops. One suggestion Tony had is to play talk radio at night to scare away animals.
The beds need as much sun as possible. They prefer midday sun and at least 8 hours. Ensure the area does not flood. They do not have a minimum height as the plants will simply grow into the ground if the roots are longer than the beds. The one downside is raised beds require more watering than planting in the ground. He uses a Rain Gauge and ensures plants receive at least 1 inch of water a week. One way to check this is to put your finger into the soil about and inch and if it is dry you need to water.
If you are struggling with a good crop, you can take your soil for a soil sample. The Illinois Extension in Grayslake performs this. If the soil is too acidic you can buy NutriLime from the feed store. Rotten tomato bottoms need more calcium. To prevent this, he puts ½ cup of NutriLime in the bottom and then a little soil and then plants the tomato plant. For tomatoes he uses a 6-24-24 soybean fertilizer. Tomatoes do not need a lot of nitrogen. He also fertilizes once when he plants and not again. Other plants he recommends a 10-10-10 fertilizer.
Tony recommends Jung Seed & Plants and specifically loves grafted plants which are more expensive but he has gotten better results. He does state you have to keep the soil under the grafted portion. Grafted plants are more disease resistant and produce a higher yield. They need more room than more traditional plants.
He has tomato cages which are square, similar to these https://www.gardeners.com/buy/tomato-cages/8587040.html as they collapse and allow more room for the plant. He also uses they early in the season on top of his beds to keep critters away. His tomato plants he uses black landscaper cloth to avoid weeds. In order to keep diseases away plants need space and air circulation.
Some cool items he shared is seed tape, it spaces seeds out perfectly. Or a seed planter which dispenses one seed at a time. Seeds can come coated in Lime, pelleted seeds. He takes a broom handle and indents the soil across the entire bed and lays the tape or seeds down and then covers them with dirt. This way the line is straight. He then marks the ends to ensure he is watering the right area. He uses a fine mist watering can to water plants. Tomato plants he uses a waterer similar to this: https://www.gurneys.com/product/tomato-pepper-automator-tray.
He also recommends getting out old plants to avoid issues with the new plants.
Catalogs he loves include: Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Territorial Seed Company, Burpee and Jung Seeds & Plants. He loves the book The Garden Primer.
We moved on to Luke’s house where we saw large tomato bags, 25 gallons. He grows everything from seed to ensure they are completely organic. He buys bags from Boot Strap Farmer.
His secret soil mix is Organimix – 65%, peat moss – 25% and Vermiculite – 10% for tomatoes. He has so many trays of cut and come again lettuce. He plants them in the middle of April and the lettuce tastes best when the weather is cold. Radishes do not like nitrogen so he goes higher on peat moss and less vermiculite.
He grows plants from seeds in his basement He has lights which he got from hardware stores which he has on for 18 hours and 6 hours off. The plants need both light and dark for photosynthesis to take effect. He has fans on at the same timer.
Novembers Garden Club discussed the specifics for products needed.
Thank you to everyone who attended. Our next Garden Club is June 7th at South Beach.