Tomatoes

Our sunpeach tomatoes are coming along.

Tomato Cages, Coriander Seeds, Rain Collection

Today, I fed my plants and gave them some support.

Some of the tomato plants already had cages, but today, Ryan and I bought some more and built a couple for our tomato and squash plants.

A friend gave me some cane reeds that we tied together and built into tomato cages. It was really easy. All I needed in addition was some green tape to tie the tips together and add some extra support. I tied some around the bottom of the canes to support the plants a little more. I'm hoping the tape will hold up, but will just have to wait and see.

I also decided to throw down some more food. The leaves on a couple of the plants are looking a little yellow again, so I figured some food wouldn't hurt. The last time that happened and I fed them, the yellow was gone the next day. It's crazy how fast you can see results in gardening.

I've noticed a few peppers on my jalepeno plant, small tomatoes on a couple of the plants and all kinds of blossoms. The basil plants are going crazy and some are producing flowers already. The pineapple sage is bushy and my thyme is thriving, too. The rosemary I planted to get rid of mosquitoes is branching out and I snipped a little the other day -- it was so fresh and aromatic. The lavender is bushing out a bit, and I haven't even watered it once. There's been a lot of rain, and lavender doesn't need as much water as other crops. I read that it needs well-drained soil, so I planted it on the outside of the beds, and so far, so good.

Something is eating the kale and the collard greens, but I read on Mother Earth News that during the warm summer months, those plants attract more pests than in the early spring or late fall when it's cooler out. Also, better tasting kale results from a couple of frosts, and that isn't happening any time
soon. I'm going to keep trying and see what happens. I can always try again in the fall.

The cilantro is flowering, which is one more step toward coriander. I'm waiting for the flowers to produce little green seeds -- coriander. I want to harvest some of the green seeds, but save some to dry out a bit for overwinter cooking. I read a blog that said the flavor is much different and the seeds can also be frozen so I could use them through some of the winter months.

We've continued to collect rain with our rain barrels, but, we've also found another way to collect waiter that would be otherwise wasted. We have a dehumidifier in the basement to help with moisture in the summer months. The machine collects water from the air and sends it into a reservoir. This particular dehumidifier also has a hose you can attach and therefore, aim it at whatever you want and collect the water. Originally, we had the hose aimed at the drain in the basement, but Ryan decided to put the hose in a bucket instead, and see how much water we could collect. We had no idea how much it would produce: up to four gallons a day!

So, we've hardly used our own water to water our garden or yard this year. I'm so glad Kansas isn't one of the states where it's illegal to collect rainwater. I just can't believe that's the case anywhere.

Everything is going well so far, and I'm so excited for some summer tomatoes.

Whoa, look at this worm, it's huge!

Ryan at work.

Tuesday, Ryan and I planted the crops we bought at the Topeka Farmers Market.

First, we had to uproot the spinach and mesclun mix to clear a spot for our new tomatoes and squash.  We used these hoes a friend of ours made for us, he likes to use metal to make things, including decorations. He goes by the name The Iron Florist. Here's an article I wrote about him, if you want to know more.  After pulling up the roots, we threw them into a pile a few feet away from the beds. Once they die we will add them to the compost bin.

Big worm

Ryan also bought a tool at the hardware store that can be used to shallowly till soil by hand. He used it to loosen up the soil and kind of mix it together, which helped rip up some of the weeds that were growing, too. Hopefully those won't come back. Weeds are hard to keep up on. At first I was getting all of them, then, slowly over time I slacked off. Then, there were a whole bunch of them and it took me a long time to get most of them, so I can see how it would be easy to let weeds take over your garden.

While tilling, we found a lot of worms. BIG worms! I was hoeing up some of the spinach when one flipped out of the soil and flew two feet, then scrambled to get back underground. It startled me and gave me a laugh at the same time! Then, Ryan found another one, pictured here. At least we know we have good soil thanks to these guys!

We added alfalfa mulch

We then planted our crops. We did three more tomato plants in the north bed -- where the other tomato plants and pepper plants are. Then, in the south bed we put the other three tomato plants, the squash along the southernmost side, and the greens on the northernmost side. We had a reason for our madness. The squash plants will yield 2-3 squash, so we figured this meant we will be picking those plants the least, so we placed those at the back where it's harder to reach. The tomato plants, however, will be picked frequently and better access will be appreciated. The greens are in the front since they are low to the ground and you need to be close to them to cut them. We tried to think ahead.

After planting, we added compost and mulch to each plant. Some of the plants we bought were already planted in compost, but we figured a little more wouldn't hurt. Here in a couple weeks, I'll add some plant food.

There is a blank space in our garden. The reason for the blank space is that we were scared to take on too much for our first garden. I've read all over the place that the biggest mistake new gardeners make is taking on too much. We decided to give it a week or two, then decide if we can take on more. I think we should just do what we have so far, and start planning a fall garden. It's been so fun so far, I wouldn't want to overwhelm myself, so I'll probably just carry on with what I have.

If you have any comments, tips or advice, please comment below. I'd love to hear your experiences!