Comments on: my april garden chores http://awaytogarden.com/my-april-garden-chores Organic gardening inspiration from Margaret Roach Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:46:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Judy McGhan http://awaytogarden.com/my-april-garden-chores/comment-page-1#comment-46395 Judy McGhan Sun, 27 Mar 2011 19:23:33 +0000 http://awaytogarden.com/?p=4209#comment-46395 “If you aren’t killing plants, you aren’t really stretching yourself as a gardener.” JC Raulston I have to remember this one. Everythime I start clearing out a bed or pulling up weeds, my husband come along to complain that I am killing things again. "You are just not happy unless you are killing something; leave those poor defenseless plants alone, for God's sake". Interested to hear his retort to this one. It will be a good one I can guarantee. Judy “If you aren’t killing plants, you aren’t really stretching yourself as a gardener.” JC Raulston

I have to remember this one. Everythime I start clearing out a bed or pulling up weeds, my husband come along to complain that I am killing things again. “You are just not happy unless you are killing something; leave those poor defenseless plants alone, for God’s sake”. Interested to hear his retort to this one. It will be a good one I can guarantee.

Judy

]]> By: margaret http://awaytogarden.com/my-april-garden-chores/comment-page-1#comment-6442 margaret Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:59:14 +0000 http://awaytogarden.com/?p=4209#comment-6442 Welcome, Lynn. Late today the sun came out, and the cold went away after a few bitter, wet days...and I already feel better. Hoping for more of same. As for produce...with tomatoes I recommend maybe 2 cherry tomato plants per family, maybe a total of 6 plants for eating tomatoes, such as salad types and 'Beefsteak' types (big, juicy kinds we'd kill for about now). Then I recommend a LOT of paste tomato plants IF you plan to make sauce (to freeze etc.), fewer of those if you only want to make fresh sauce for use in season. I make all my tomato sauce products (red sauce, base for soups, etc.) for the whole year (family of one, but a vegetarian so heavy user of such things) so I grow about 18 paste plants. Yields can vary so widely depending on the weather, diseases that beset you, and so on, so I am careful always to have enough. If you only want red sauce in season, maybe 6-8 plants of a mix of several kinds with different days-to-harvest? I have no idea where I come up with these numbers, except to say instinct. But no, NOT 50. :) As for other vegetables, and my philosophy about how much of what, <a href="http://awaytogarden.com/my-seed-catalog-shopping-rules" rel="nofollow">this post is the first must-read</a>, and maybe also <a href="http://awaytogarden.com/starting-to-think-about-starting-seeds" rel="nofollow">this old post</a> might help. Definitely the first. Welcome, Lynn. Late today the sun came out, and the cold went away after a few bitter, wet days…and I already feel better. Hoping for more of same.

As for produce…with tomatoes I recommend maybe 2 cherry tomato plants per family, maybe a total of 6 plants for eating tomatoes, such as salad types and ‘Beefsteak’ types (big, juicy kinds we’d kill for about now). Then I recommend a LOT of paste tomato plants IF you plan to make sauce (to freeze etc.), fewer of those if you only want to make fresh sauce for use in season.

I make all my tomato sauce products (red sauce, base for soups, etc.) for the whole year (family of one, but a vegetarian so heavy user of such things) so I grow about 18 paste plants. Yields can vary so widely depending on the weather, diseases that beset you, and so on, so I am careful always to have enough. If you only want red sauce in season, maybe 6-8 plants of a mix of several kinds with different days-to-harvest?

I have no idea where I come up with these numbers, except to say instinct. But no, NOT 50. :)

As for other vegetables, and my philosophy about how much of what, this post is the first must-read, and maybe also this old post might help. Definitely the first.

]]> By: Lynn http://awaytogarden.com/my-april-garden-chores/comment-page-1#comment-6435 Lynn Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:05:00 +0000 http://awaytogarden.com/?p=4209#comment-6435 Margaret, your excellent website has eased the pain of my late winter impatience. Thank you! I'm writing to ask if you have any resource for calculating how much produce to expect from each specific veggie plant. (ie. Do I really need to start 50 tomato seeds to feed a family of four? :) Margaret, your excellent website has eased the pain of my late winter impatience. Thank you! I’m writing to ask if you have any resource for calculating how much produce to expect from each specific veggie plant. (ie. Do I really need to start 50 tomato seeds to feed a family of four? :)

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