Why Is My Skin So Thick

I've heard hot summers can do that. It's the fruit's way of conserving moisture. They do make great dried tomatoes, though.

i never much liked the dried tomatoes... it will make it easier to skin them later. we freeze the almost expired ones and use them later. run it under hot water and peel. cut it up and use. i've filled like 7 bags so far. but it was hot, so i guess it could be that.

oddly the beefstakes - they fuse, that's how they get so large.

they didn't fuse. i have a bunch of tomatoes that look large red acorns. still taste good, but they didn't fuse together like they were supposed too. its odd.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Were they seeds or plants?

Last year East Coast tomato growers were treated to a nice fungus supplied by the major plant suppliers. We still seem to have this fungus in our garden this year.

at some point they were seeds...

but i got them as plants.

i have a local shop that grows them from seeds. in the winter i have a reminder to have him grow me peron sprayless (very hardy things). i tried by seed and failed. the squash are by seed though. i don't think i have a fungus because the plants are good. and for the first time i had no end rot. always had that. i guess the handful of calcium helped.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I have found that homegrown tomatoes always have thicker skins than store bought. I accept this as a given, and so I spend the extra time skinning them, which is well worth it for something that tastes so much better than store bought.

That being said, my tomatoes this year did not do well, compared to previous years. I did everything right, but yield was ridiculously low, and fruit size ridiculously small.

I think that I might have smothered them out with too many marigolds, which were prize winning. I'm thinking that these somehow sucked out all the nutrition from the soil or just crowded out the tomatoes.

My most successful harvest this year was sugar pie pumpkins that I grew on a trellis that I built. Talk about thick skins! Don't even think about trying to peel these before you boil or roast them.

Sorry, no suggestions for you on tomatoes, because it sounds like you did everything right, so I'm guessing the issue was with the climate this year.

Dry, hot weather and inconsistent water will also produce thicker skinned tomatoes. http://www.gardeningchannel.com/growing-tomatoes/

A problem we have here in Grand Forks...this year, with the fires, the crops are a right off.

by the way...cow manure is high in nitrogen, not great for tomatoes...compost and well aged horse manure is better.

thick skins or not, they still make a great salsa...

Cheers, Barbara

Plants - So I'm thinking maybe they went with a hardier version this year.

whatever it was i got was in a bag. it was probably rotted... didn't smell great, that part i remember.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Scotts-0-75-cu-ft-Premium-Humus-Manure-71530750/100619039?MERCH=REC-_-nosearch2_rr-_-NA-_-100619039-_-N

i think this is what i got. i didn't see horse at homedepot.

i think i also used some kind of pellet fertilizer.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Are you growing organic toms? I have found it does make a huge difference :-)

Mike, I agree with Barbara. Horse manure (completely composted) is great for tomatoes. Was your cow manure well-composted? I recall reading somewhere to put any manure into the garden a few months before planting - in your area I guess that would be before the ground gets too cold to work on in the fall. As for the skins, in addition to watering and weather, different hybrids can produce fruit with different issues, including skins.

So, no rats this year???

by organic, i'm not sure what that is, besides it being a plant.

the manure came in a bag, i guess its good? smells bad, things that smell bad must make good fertilizer i guess?

in our are its hard. they don't really sell plant stuff in the fall, and in the spring the ground is rather frozen in spots. i can only guess its the dry hot weather we've been having. i know the heat wave didn't do anything great to the squash.

the traps are working. i caught 1 rat, maybe 7 or more mice (more now than before) and a handful of moles. the mice are clever though, they can eat from the trap and not set them off.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I was under the impression that any manure sold in bag form is well rotted. ... seems like it would be illegal to package any other form of it.

The only way you could get fresh is if you had your own cows, right? Shoveling fresh cow manure requires gardeners with thick skins. (^_^) ... and a hazmat mask.

This year hasn't been too good for my garden either. Started using 30 gal plastic trash cans as planters a couple of years ago to save my back. Never needed tomato cages, but this year the tomato plants grew so quickly in the beginning that I could have used them. The weight of the branches bent them over so much that the stems were pinching themselves off where they attached to the main stalks. Plenty of tomatoes, but all very small, thick skinned and very slow to ripen. On Long Island, NY.

Mike, this year crops have been weird everywhere, even way down here on the coast. I think it is the weather pattern. I will tell you that tomatoes like loads of calcium. That is a key to growing healthy plants and harvesting delicious tomatoes.

i've tried cages in the past, but they fold at the top. i stopped with that. the cage i made works pretty well, though they are growing through now. and some of the tomatoes are growing between the netting. which then attracts bees.

ok so maybe next year, i'll do more calcium, i did add shells this year. they say it leaches into the soil over a long time. you crush them... which was VERY hard. if i do it again, i buy it in a bag.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

This year has been terrible for my garden as well - the weather was all over the place - some days really hot and humidity was up to 40 and other days it was really cool
My tomatoes were terrible, like the rest of you - smaller, not as many as usual and thicker skins
The beans were awful as well, hardly any plants came up and I replanted a few times and not too many beans
The only thing that did well was my kholrabi and red cabbage seems to be doing good
Don't know about the carrots yet
We used compost this year instead of fertilizer (manure) so I think next year we will be back to manure

That is strange that crops were bad everywhere. I even purchased tomatoes and cantaloupes from California at the grocery and they were just as here. Tough ,dry and flavorless.

Found this article and it makes sense because of the extreme heat that we have experienced. http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/tomato/tough-thick-tomato-skins.htm

Tomatoes like to be watered deeply, not necessarily daily or even every other day. Their roots can go down about 18 inches or more. Of course, when it's 90+ degrees outside, they might need more frequent watering!

maybe its that la nino effect. no hurricanes, but plant issues? odd...

the tomatoes are good, and the squash was too. i think the worm droppings helped a bit. $20 a bag was a bit steep, but i think i have enough for a few years. azomite is a mystery though, it adds trace minerals - so they say. hard to look at reviews though, all the reviews are made by the people selling the product. and as fair as they made it sound, it was clearly their product.

i've been watering it for about a minute or so using a soft shower. though i never got to do any miracle grow this year. and every time i try mosquitto's attack, despite having spray on. i got a soaker hose at a garage sale, so i may try that next year.

what i remember the last time i watered too much was the things all rotted out. there is a guy that i used to work with that planted them and let them do their own thing. he said that they made less, but tasted better. but i don't like that idea. i guess when its hot like this i should do it each day.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

The heat and inconsistent watering will cause thick skins on the tomatoes as well as exacerbating blossom end rot problems. Mine did fairly well early on but by August were just about done. I start my own plants very early inside and then plant them very deep. We have sandy soil so the top dries out very quickly. I mulch with leaves or straw, whatever I can find. I also use composted chicken poo from our own flock dug into the soil well before planting. I did have a problem with fungus but found info online that spraying with dilute food grade hydrogen peroxide helps and it did. My larger type tomatoes didn't fare as well as the roma and cherry varieties. I also plant basil around the base of my tomato plants. They are good companions. My snap peas and bush beans did OK this year but they died pretty quickly once the real heat set in. I now have some fall snap peas and leaf lettuce starting out there. Hope it cools off soon.

Mike, you have the daytime mosquitoes? I was going to say water in the early morning, but with those beastly things I guess it doesn't matter.

Be careful with the soaker hoses AND regular garden hoses - SOME are made from toxic stuff (recycled tires/whatever) that can leech into your veggie garden soil - or kids' wading pools, etc. You can find safer alternatives. Here is basic Info from the first result in a quick search I just did: http://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/green-right-now/grn-cool-buys/three-garden-hoses-that-wont-leach-toxic-chemicals . I also go by my nose - if the product stinks like chemicals, I don't use it.

Wegmans

i find they are more aggressive in the afternoon. but i think they like the very humid air the plants make. they are very hungry for blood out there.

the soaker hose i found at a garage sale is made of nylon. the last one was rubber, but it sprang leaks and made fountains. still haven't checked if it works yet or not.

the hose i got was free, i found it on the road side. pink and thick, like a hose from a fire truck. i think its safe for the most part.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

add spent coffee grains and egg shells to your soil - when we grew tomatoes that alone, combined with worms and compost, helped everything grow to huge levels, and the skin was thin, and they tasted great :)

egg shells are an easier source than seashells for sure :P

also be sure you are rotating what you plant in the soul - don't grow the same things in the same soil every year or you will deplete it - certain plants leech certain things in various amts out of the soil.

also another trick is to pot plants and put the potted plant in a container full of water, so the pot absorbs the water from the bottom up, so the plants develop deeper root systems as the roots grow to access the water deeper in the soil, and then plant them - if the roots are all near the top on hot days when the surface soil dries up your plants will suffer, but if the root base is farther established down then they can access deeper water deposits - this will also prevent root rot as you won't be constantly inundating all the roots by watering them constantly - some will be surface roots and some will be deeper ones.

I am pretty good at keeping plants alive - I got a huge basil plant hanging out in my kitchen that I bought the spring of last year - it has survived indoors and through the brutal cold of the winter :)

---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

Shawn, I have an elderly friend from Korea and her vegetable and flower gardens are unbelievable. She does save her egg shells and bakes them, grinds them, then sprinkles that in her soil. I had forgotten all about that trick.

we've used egg in a box, egg whites with a bit of something that looks yellow. i don't have too many eggs. i used to put the grounds out there, but it made it even more acid. i should probably try again to see maybe it needs more acid, and that will do something? hard to say... mostly i can't stand the smell of coffee, so i always forget to check the pot.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Yes, egg shells and coffee grounds are great for the soil. Tomatoes also like an occasional dose of Epsom salts. You really should be composting all vegetable kitchen waste anyway. It's good for the environment as well as your garden.

From your comment about hot water, I think you know, Mike. But when I want to serve fresh tomatoes, I bring water to a boil, cut a little X slit in the end of the tomato opposite the stem, drop it/them in for about 15-20 seconds. Take them out. Skin slips right off. You just don't want to leave them in too long because the hot water actually cooks the tomato; a very little on the outside is fine, but you don't want cooked.
Now . . . slice, add fresh mozzarella and fresh chopped basil plus a vinaigrette dressing and a loaf of good bread and you have a lunch fit for a king - or queen - IMO

I always call my local coffee shops in the mornings and ask them to collect all of their coffee grounds for me. And I then I pick them up in the afternoon/evening. But I have a fairly large garden. So a few garbage bags of coffee grounds comes in handy. But like Shawn said it is very important to rotate your crops. And the reason for thick skins is due to too much heat verses and not enough water.

MM - Composting kitchen scraps will, unfortunately, attract the rats if you have them already in your area. Presumably mice too.

Nikolyn - you forgot the olive oil in your recipe! :)) Yes, it is lunch fit for royalty.

@mm anderson - what does the basil do for the tomatoes in the garden?

I also use egg shells in all my gardens, not just the veggies and I totally forgot about the epsom salts this year - I don't drink coffee so don't have that

@Susan - if composting properly you should not have any issues with rats or mice - we are encouraged to compost

Nikolyn McDonald my mom used to do that for peaches - works great for them too :)

also wanna share a little recipe here for any of you that love tomato sandwiches

6-8 big leaves of fresh basil
a few squirts of lemon juice
1-2 garlic cloves

if you have the ceramic ball crusher device you can put all of this in it and shake it up till its all gooey - otherwise marble morter and pestil it - crushing it up to a good ocnsistency - now I absolutely detest mayonnaise by itself, but add this mixture to the mayonnaise - when the concoction turns a pale minty colour it is properly mixed. The taste of the basil and garlic completely eradicates the taste of the mayonnaise and you have one of the best tasting things ever :)

be sure to cover the concoction and mix it up every now and then or it will start to gel.. it's still good it just looks gross haha - spread it on your sandwich, add sliced tomato, and cheese if you are so inclined, and enjoy!

also don't use the egg whites or yellow mike.. it's the calcium in the shells that you want - most plants aren't carnivorous so the other part won't do too well hehe.. remember plants take metals and things like nitrogen and oxygen and the energy from the sun that they convert to sugars to help build their building blocks. To know how a plant builds itself is to be better equipped to giving it what it needs. Overwatering a plant will make the leaves start to brown, and underwatering it will cause the whole plant to start to droop as it drains the water stores out of its cellular structure to use to transport nutrients and minerals to the plant structure to keep building it.

Ironically however, if you keep a plant entirely in water it seems to somehow survive.. we have a hoya that is a clipping of a clipping of a clipping, and each has survived really well - they don't get as big in water, but they do survive and grow..

also be sure your soil isn't too rocky - roots need spaces to get to - not rocky enough and their size will cause them to easily uproot in stormy weather, and too rocky and all the roots will develop near the surface and your plant growth will stunt. Unlike tree roots most roots can't move around giant rocks, or bore through them haha..

---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

i used to like mayo, but one day i became violently allergic to it. its like food poison. but i think only one brand or type. but i don't know know which or why and don't want to experiment on it. so i've been using bacon ranch with bacon bits. toast the bread and eat it like that. its not the same, but its fast and uses up 1 med tomato. i'm not that fancy. if someone else was making it for me... then i'm fancy.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Debbie, I don't know why but there's a theory that some plants do better when planted near each other. It's called companion planting. Basil and tomatoes are supposed do well together and mine have.

Plants do well together, because, and vegans make me facepalm over this, people somehow think that plants don't contain consciousness, and thus don't warrant attention or respect. I tell you that if this is how you garden (not respecting what you raise) then your plants will NEVER do well. Anything that grows contains consciousness, even those that in our minds do not! The universe is full of it :)

It is the same reason why plants do better around people who clearly love and care for them - they don't just transmute the energy of the sun into useful stuff, they also transmute your energy, and the energy of other plants. Plants like company - you have to think of them as a living thing - not just machinery of food. It's also why people "droop" when isolated, because they are not interchanging energy with those around them.

This is why I am not a vegan, as my spiritual beliefs illuminate that all is conscious, and all is thus deserving of the same respect. It simply boils down to respecting what you eat, before you process it.

The natives excelled particularly at this because they had an understanding - the plants would provide food for the natives, and the natives would in turn care for and protect the plants. There was an understanding - I urge more people to try this subconscious communication with their plants, and care for their continued survival.


---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

You've got to have a thick skin to be on this forum or you would be cynical and discontented. lol

some are both Andy LOL


---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

Debbie, if rats or mice are already in the vicinity, a compost bin can become a new multi-season place for them to visit daily. Their keen sense of smell and sharp teeth will get them into anything that says "food" to them. Rats don't need much room to squeeze into anything - a small hole about the size of a quarter will do nicely.
On a small property, this can become a major problem quickly since they reproduce quickly.

the easiest way to repel pests is simply to put stuff around them they don't like the smell of.

Mice and rats hate the smell of peppermint, mothballs, cat urine, ammonie in general, and fabric softener - simply leave this smell around your compost and they will leave it alone. You can also plug in frequency generators that emit a pitch above our range of hearing but that the mice can't stand. It's easy to keep things away if you know how! :)


---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

@Shawn - Are you familiar with the author Thich Nhat Hanh? He is one of my favorites. I agree with you about a plants consciences.

@Michelle McPhillips I am not - I am aware however that as a collective consciousness many of the creators thoughts and wills re-emerge through several people throughout history - we are all simply rediscovering the same truths, and I am content with that :)

If someone compares something I have said so someone else in history, that generally makes me happy, as it is a good affirmation of my own truth :)

I also have written my own book - it's link is in the about section of the webpage in my signature - you should check it out - you might like it - it is all about consciousness :)


---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

Will do. Please check out Thich Nhat Hanh. He has dozens of books that share our view points.

Peppermint doesn't work. I have seen rats hiding in nice, fragrant peppermint - probably laughing.

all i know is, as they were growing up, as i do every year i always tell them the same thing:

now i want you to grow up big and strong, so i can eat all your children...

and they seem to grow out well, especially this year. i even had to get cryogenics involved to persevere them for the future.

i've tried basil next to them - they never grew. or i don't think they did. i have a feeling they never got into the dirt though, as i have grass clippings in that area. but even after i grew some, i never liked basil. it numbed my tongue. it smelled nice, but i couldn't figure out a use. on the plus side its easy to grow. on the minus side, it looks like the other weeds.


also trying to get my strawberries to grow better. i have them both in pots. one did poorly, the other did ok, but nothing really large like you get at the store. on the plus side they come back each year, so i got my money's worth from them.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

@michelle - that makes me glad :) - my spiritual faith is dichotomy - his appears to be largely of the Tibetan type, which is probably the step right under my faith - so a lot of shared ideologies - mine just focused a bit more around combining the singular health with the collective, and seeing yourself as both the singular and the collective at the same time, hence the dichotomy of self. I like his quotes though from what I have seen :)

@Susan - perhaps it is just the mice that don't like it then. I think ammonia is a safe bet though.

I have a strawberry plant too - I grow it indoors - they are finicky creatures - they need daily watering and LOTS of sun - the strawberries will not even grow from flowers if they are not exposed to direct sunlight, and they will not turn red if they are not either - so I rotate it in its window. I live in an apartment , and there is a wind tunnel effect behind my apartment, so things don't grow so well on the balcony - the wind breaks them and dries them out - but they seem to enjoy the windows - except for the bedroom windows for some reason - they don't like those ones.

---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

You don't access this forum while next to your plants, do you? It could very well cause thick skin ;)

But if you're talking about the same variety from year to year, then I agree with others regarding an especially harsh summer.

Susan, would that also include veggie compost?

i've tried everything to chase mice and rats away - nothing works.

mint, catnip, there were some other plants i tried, i used ivory soap (works on deers, the rats ate it), dryer sheets, i think moth balls are illegal in some areas (one lady found all of hers piled up in the attic where the squirrels were living). i think i tried pie pans, things that spun, moved, waved, different kinds of oils, critter away spray... nothing works. i'm still looking for those plastic owls... i know they get me every time i see one. i have to do a double take, and still, while staring, i swear they move their head.


the catnip grows back it seems, and the area i seem to catch the rats, mice, moles - yep, right in front of the catnip.

i think the problem is, you need to smack it to keep it fresh. citronella plants - don't chase mosquitoes (though cinnamon works sometimes, i use it in a water sprayer with a stick in there.)

only way to get rid of rats is to get them in a trap.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

i also tried vinegar, blood meal, and a few others, dispensed with a moltov cocktail thing. but it rusts badly. i don't want ammonia, because i won't be able to breathe out there...

the one growing the best is in the sun, but i found the berries are growing in the grass clippings i put on it. they seem to like to hide. squash do that too. the leaves want sun, but the product wants shade... can't blame them though.

i have to get the berries before the slugs or squirrels do. its my treat for putting up with the garden.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I also learned, quite by accident, when I left a box of pistachio nuts around and forgot about them - that mice really love pistachio nuts - they'll crack them open to get to them, and they eat the whole damn thing.

---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

How do you keep cats away if you grow catnip? I'm assuming none of the cats would be mousers, so…

You'd think the cats would solve the rat problem..

---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

Vanessa, rats love veggies. And fruit.

Shawn, why would anyone want their backyard to smell like ammonia?! The sound-emitting machines don't work, according to the FTC.

I once watched a rat literally play dead while a neighbor's cat smacked it with her paw. Two seconds after the bored cat started to walk away, the rat sprang to life and flew over the fence. The cat pretended not to notice.

apparently they aren't attracted at all to the stuff. i thought it would be cat central, but i haven't even seen the one that normally roams around near by. maybe i need to present the catnip in a large toy.... of course though i would have half eaten rodents scattered around, and that's not really optimal.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Huh. One site says it's the variety, but there's a disagreement over which? Another site says only the buds really attract. Good point about the possible good fortune over the lack of success. Shudder.

Edit: sorry, Susan. I didn't see your post. Thank you!

@Shawn Thanks for the recipe sounds good and I love mayo anyway

So I should plant the basil with my tomatoes as companions - ok will do next year and rotate the plantings in different areas which is a little difficult because we have a small garden and the neighbors have big trees that shades part of my garden so I try to keep the tomatoes in the most sunlight

BTW I use moth balls to keep the cats out of my gardens, and it seems to work, because I don't like cats and am allergic to them and I hate cleaning up the gifts they leave in the gardens

Never thought of putting moth balls near the compost bin but they would have to be up high enough that my dog would not get at them

I also use dryer sheets all over the outside of the house in many different areas and it keeps the mosquitoes away - I don't use the dryer sheets in the dryer cause it ruins the dryer

you can put the mothballs in an old film canister, i think that was the method to keep them from dissolving out too much.

i guess i can try to hang some dryer sheets outside, but i have a feeling the bugs won't care much.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

@Mike I have my strawberry plants in hanging baskets and they grow quite well and I keep them year after year and just divide them - they don't get as large as in the store but they are tasty - the only issue I have with having the strawberries is that the chipmunks will eat them sometimes

the other day i saw the squirrel eating a few. i may have to try the basket idea, though i need to find a place to hang them. the tomato cage seems like a good idea, but it gets crowded in there fast. and i probably don't want to cause a weight shift.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

My solution to all this Mike is very simple, and I have tried on various times to grow my own, this method works without fail, it's very cost effective and requires little to no work on your part, produces a wider variety and yield of fresh produce and fruits, has a 100% success rate.

Find a good local fresh produce market.

rarely do you have fresh taste like that.

i'd rather just grow it, its cheaper... i shall blame the weather for now. gotta to remember to add coffee, at least as an experiment for next year. on the plus/minus side, all plants are yielding. i grow extra as back up, but they are also producing... 24 plants worth.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I live on several acres, but I have given up on farming, we have lots of fresh produce growers all around, many grow organic and the flavors are better than store bought by far. I even tried fish farming once, had (3) 5,000 gallon pools with tilapia fish. Same thing, it was easier to buy the freshest seafood then produce my own, the only benefit was when I sold the entire mobile setup I created to some business that wanted to give it a go, then I made good money.

@ Susan Wiedmann
My vinaigrette has olive oil in it :)

Mike,

When I was ten I met my Irish/Jewish grandmother in her kitchen in Dublin. It was late in the afternoon after my flight.
I had slept a bit to get over the jetlag.

Grandma Dina decided I should learn how to make a tomato sandwich. Tomato slices, butter, a bit of salt on white bread.

A memory I would have for the rest of my life.

Americans like it with mayo.

Dave

Debbie and others:

Please read this. Moth balls are EXTREMELY toxic, even outdoors: Quote: "Mothballs are not intended to be used outdoors as the ingredients can contaminate plants or soil, harm wildlife, contaminate water supplies and contribute to air pollution." http://npic.orst.edu/ingred/ptype/mothball/chemprop.html

not to mention the use of mothballs makes you smell like an old lady...

and the stuff travels, if you put too many in your attic, it will seep into your house and just sit in the basement. its pretty toxic stuff.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

@Susan - I have read the link you provided and naphthalene in huge amounts will affect a person and environment and you get this naphthalene from burning wood (firepit, wood stove, wood burning fireplace) and from burning fossil fuels, smoking and industrial discharge, insecticides and a few more - we are talking large amounts of this in the air and water, not the odd moth ball in the garden

Yes moth balls and toilet blocks (deodorizers) are included in the risk assessments because that is what they are made of and if you have indoors not only does it smell gross but clothes etc have to be washed first before using, but apparently according to the link they are quite effective in keeping rats, mice and squirrels out of your attic

a toilet block -- is that the same as a toilet mint? or is it that block you fasten to the bowl to make it blue?

from what i know squirrels don't mind it. and i think i can find videos of them carrying them in their mouths. rats, i'm not sure. they are pretty clever. probably pay off other animals to remove them.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I would suggest having your soiled tested (co-ops/extension offices usually do this for free or buy a test) to see what you need, if anything, or might have to use to bring down high levels of something. I've grown tomatoes for decades (Wisconsin to Texas) and never had any that developed tough skins as you described. I also don't add anything to the soil unless it's needed per a soil test.

One trick I use is put a teaspoon of Epsom Salts in the hole, cover with a bit of soil and then set the plants. Another is to get old newspapers (black print, not magazine shiny print) and lay them around the plants/rows fairly thick. Then I get pine needles to spread over the newspaper. By doing this: 1. I only have to weed around the plants and 2. It keeps moisture in the soil so less watering is needed. At the end of season, I till everything under; spent plants, newspaper and pine needles.

~ Charly

Debbie, I gave the link pertaining to moth ball use outdoors, not attics. The moth balls break up in the outside environment, which is why the do-not-use-outdoors warnings are given. A few moth balls outside on a property might not seem like much, but extrapolate that into dozens or hundreds of properties potentially using them over a given area, and the environmental damage can become exponential. Why risk it - and pets outdoors - when there are so many pollutants already in our air, land, and water? And this is coming from someone who loathes rats - ugh!

Mike, rats ARE clever - with nerves of steel it seems. Are your neighbors still leaving out rotting pumpkins etc like they did two years ago?

they always do. but rats are very local. i see people leave tomatoes on the table in their back yard, and there isn't a single critter getting at them. they came in during the 2 last hurricanes i think. but i've only seen the one, and it was in my trap not moving...

i took away its play spot in the shed. all the holes were patched up. all the remains removed. trapped a number of them. so they have lessened quite a bit. and i just found my mouse traps, i just have to attach them to something and put those out too. just wish they weren't black, hard to see if something is in there.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

@Charly - good idea with the newspapers, had heard of that before but had forgotten and yes for the epsom salts and we have lots of pine needles to put on top - will have to remember for next year

You can grow vegetables by planting into bales of straw a friend told me. He said it's a big cult and a way to avoid soil problems. I do not know since I never tried it.

i would think it would be hard for the plant to stand or gain nutrients. i suppose i could also grow them hydroponically, but that's a hard thing to set up. even hard to stake them...


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

there must be different kinds of tomatoes to explore . or maybe not. those giant beefy ones myst be fun to grow...