Hi Team!
Bill's Saturday's Team mulched about 2/3's of the tomatoes using 4 sheets of newspapers under 2 cubic yards of compost. They spread grass clippings among the onions. The tomato rows sure look pretty!
Bill and I discussed utilizing the area where the lettuce is. I figure within two weeks we'll have the lettuce harvested. My thinking is we can start right away planting more squash or get the eggplants in next to the lettuce row and get a jump start on the them. Of course we haven't got the rest of plot 562 tilled yet and with more rain scheduled for tonight, we might be delayed some more and we haven't even started on plot 352,across the road, yet.
Please give me some feedback on the idea of planting by the lettuce and should we put in more squash or put in the eggplant. I have the eggplant in my backyard or I can get the squash from Bonnie's.
Jeff, I would like your Monday's to finish mulching the tomatoes. Please ask them to bring newspaper (we ran out Saturday) and buckets to move the compost. Also, for all teams, and this will be continous throughout the season, if they're able, to bring bags of grass clippings from lawns that have not been sprayed with herbicides recently.
You know those plastic bags from the grocery stores that the green people are complaining about? We can use them to transport the harvest to the Food Bank. So, ask your teams to save them up for us and we can get least one more use out of them.
Happy Mother's Day!
Tom
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Finally - Planting Begins!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Wednesday's Superchicks (and Superguys too) planted 200 pepper plants. Tom taught us a technique of using skewer sticks close to the pepper plants to make it more difficult to crawl up the plant. We also planted in double rows so that the pepper plants will shade each other during the hot Memphis summer.
We also weeded.
PAR is beginning to look very, very nice!
Thanks for all the help.
Sharon
Monday, May 5, 2008
Monday's Team did a great job planting about 70 squash plants, mulching them with leaves and grass and did some weeding. we had a great showing of around eight volunteers. Jeff, please pass on to them about the great job and our thanks. A Pat on the back is always welcomed and is a big motivating factor.
Wednesday's Team will be putting in around 100 pepper plants. Donna/Sharon, let your team know to bring trowels, today's team were short on trowels.
Today's team only took about 45 minutes to put in the plants so your team may also end up doing a little weeding and cultivating. I'll be with you but running my cultivator to get ready to plant the eggplant, hopefully Friday. That will clear my deck of PAR plants.
Also, as a continuing thing, ask your teams to bring bags of grass clippings they see if they are able to. We'll be using them for mulch to augment the Compost we'll be getting.
Tom
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
First, I would like to say the Wednesday's Team did a super job weeding the existing planting. I was disheartened the way it looked when I drove up and left with a song in the heart.
Also, John Devin from "Edible Memphis" was there to do a story for the magazine. Before he came there he talked with Susan Sanford at the Food Bank and she raved about PAR. You'll see it in the July issue. (The magazine is free). 
Russell Beis helped me put in about 50 tomato stakes. Tomorrow I'll put in what stakes we got left. I'll probably have to get maybe 20 more. We'll end up with 3 rows of tomatoes (about 80 plants total).
By the way, I said the plot was 100 feet deep. Today I measured it and it's closer to 120 feet.
Friday we're planting tomatoes. One roll of BHN 640, one roll of Roma's and one roll of a variety of indeterminates including Goliath, Whoppers, and Beefsteaks. I would like to get the peppers in also but I won't have enough room in my truck for all the plants. So, depending on the condition of the plot if/after it rains, I would like to put in the peppers Saturday.
I also have a bunch of eggplant and yellow squash plants to put in. My deck looks like a nursery! While the Friday's Team is planting, I'll put in the new stakes I need to get. I figure that should fill up the two hours.
Thanks to all!
Tom
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Hey there, this is Jeff Golladay, Monday's team leader. We did a great job last Monday and Janet, Terry and Martha, I hope, had as much fun as I did, meeting each other.
Apparently we 4 were the only team to get anything done due to wetness and storms. No warm crops have been planted yet again but Tom got #361 ready by fine tilling.
So far we have romaine, cabbage, broccoli, potatoes and onions in the ground. The warm seedlings Tom is growing are 18 inches now and threatening to take his truck hostage..I live 5 minutes from the Garden and it is raining at my house this Sunday morning but perhaps we could get a drying sun this afternoon. So, I need to consult with Tom after I check them and see if Monday pans out or if it is a bust.
Just to be clear.......if it is raining this afternoon then have go breakfast with a friend on Monday. I had planned and wanted us to be planting everything tomorrow.
The Tomato stakes are not in the ground sooooo... I had wanted to, in desperation, plant the stuff anyway and worry about the stakes later. I AM HOPING HE CAN HOOK UP WITH ME AND GET ME THE PLANTS SO WE CAN GET THIS DONE and just slog thru the muck, but nature may have other ideas and I will have to let you know later today after I check the fields, if that is alright with you all. If the roads are not passable for my red beast then it is pointless to "weed" in the mud. Send me your thoughts .
Jeff
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Well, needless to say, Monday is drowned out as well as Tues. Wed. and perhaps Thursday. We have had an inch of rain in the past 2 hours within sight of the Agricenter radar tower. Carl was right about sowing rice. Dial over to Stuttgart and order some.Perhaps we can adapt snow shoes into mud shoes to maneuver out there without sinking and simply scoop mud to make a hole. Another thought might to order some of those Everglades swamp buggies. Will touch base as soon as the weather changes for the better.
Jeff
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I know you heard this story before, about rain and working at PAR, but yet it happened again. Don determined it's too wet to get into the freshly tilled plot to plant tomato stakes and I concur. I'll check it Friday morning to see if we can get in there to put in the stakes Saturday. Unless more rain comes, I going to shot for it. Besides getting into the plot, I have to drive to the back area of the plots to our storage area to get the stakes, cages, etc.
It had to be a wet spring on my first tour of duty at the helm of PAR. Folks, I'm not usually this unorganized.
In Millington, we only got light rain and didn't stop me from getting my garden in at home and everything is doing and looking great. After putting in the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants I should have a bunch left. So before you go out and buy any, especially heirlooms, give me a chance to adopt some out to you. I don't remember if I mentioned it but I have five flats of straight neck squash and eight of your own brand of tomatoes "Bonnie Orginial" from Bonnie with more on the way.
Tom
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
I went out to the plots today and sure enough there was a lot of standing water BUT NOT ON OUR PLOT. I guess because we planted flat and not on hills there wasn't any place for the water to collect. So I decided to go and do a little mulching. Just as I started, around 9:00 AM, Cynthia shows up, she apparently didn't get the word. Cynthia relies on her daughter for emails. So, we got some done.
I'm going to share with you why I am so paranoid. Two Saturdays ago when we had that hard rain, against my wife's arguement, I rode out there to see how bad it was. It was bad. Backing up on the dirt road, I got a little off and went off the road. I got stuck. A Deputy Sheriff on his way home came to my assistance. He got stuck even worse than I did. He had to call AAA to tow us out of there. The next time you go to PAR, notice the ruts to the left of the road. All I can think about is it happening to someone else with PAR and me again with a load of compost.
My only suggestion is if the weather is iffy, make sure the team gets the word to park on the paved road and not on the dirt road.
Paranoid Tom
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
I re-tilled plot 361 this morning, it went pretty quick as tilling goes.
I picked up 6 tomato plants from Bonnie's, there "Bonnie Original". Also five flats of "straight neck yellow squash". They'll provide us more when we need them.
When it rained today, (I got caught in a major rain and hail stones in Raleigh but in Millington it was just a light rain), I called Mulch Works, (they're just a short distance from PAR) to see how much rain they had. Teresa, the owner, said it rained pretty hard there. So I called off the work day for Wednesday as it would probably be mud. I'll drive over there Thursday to see if it's dry enough to put in tomato stakes on Friday and Saturday.
Speaking of tomato stakes, does anyone have a post driver? I have one, Ken Mulholland has one and Al Cook has one or two. We could use more. I put in my stakes today using my new driver I gotz for my birthday. Boy it is so much easier and faster than using a hammer which I did in the past. We have a bunch to put in, between 75 - 100. So we can use additional help if anyone is available.
Tom
Monday, April 21, 2008
John Devin of Edible Memphis Magazine will be doing a story for the magazine about Plant-A-Row. He'll be at PAR on Wednesday, April 30th. He plans to do PAR first, then talk with the Food Bank then finishing up with the kitchens and other recipients that receive the produce. We're really getting exposure considering I'll be with Booker T. taping about PAR on Monday the 28th for his program. Now we have to be sure that PAR lives up to all the hipe.
Today, Monday, Jeff's crew were to fertilize the plants. Tuesday I'll re-till, Wednesday's Team will spread compost, Friday's & Saturday's Team will put in the tomato stakes. Next Monday we start the planting of the summer stuff.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Jeff Reporting
Monday, April 21, 2008
Hello there,
This is Jeff and I am just back from PAR this morning.
3 very nice ladies, MG interns, made it for a team of 4 including me. I arrived at 7:30 just to be sure every thing was ready.
We have fertilized all cabbage, broccoli and romaine lettuce with 34-0-0 as instructed.
We also hand cultivated entirely all plants, removing weeds as we went and dressed up the rows real nice. No further work needs performing on that part for the time being. The ground is moist very manageable, friable and workable.
Several small 1/4 inch long beetles noted with black head spots and yellow racing stripes on a black abdomen. No idea what they were. Turns out they were ID' d as the Colorado Potato Beetle.
The onions look grim and we did not waste time on them. Many of them are not even in the ground. Big red onion sets might be a better way to go.
If potatoes were planted I see no evidence of them.
Who was nipping the apple cider during planting time? Despite having straight string for guidance, the rows on the western end have a very distinct "wave" to them. Of course we could CYA and say that was an intentional terracing design for water retention. Hmmmm?
We need big signs out at the main road and road 6 and also at the plots identified as PAR or MG garden or something to distinguish them from others. Some people have very nice arches and green open fencing. Worthy of discussion. Folks got lost.
You could consider combining some of the tasks of tilling, rowing and planting on Wednesday to forge ahead quickly before the rains hit again and further delaying things.
Jeff G.
Hello there,
This is Jeff and I am just back from PAR this morning.
3 very nice ladies, MG interns, made it for a team of 4 including me. I arrived at 7:30 just to be sure every thing was ready.
We have fertilized all cabbage, broccoli and romaine lettuce with 34-0-0 as instructed.
We also hand cultivated entirely all plants, removing weeds as we went and dressed up the rows real nice. No further work needs performing on that part for the time being. The ground is moist very manageable, friable and workable.
Several small 1/4 inch long beetles noted with black head spots and yellow racing stripes on a black abdomen. No idea what they were. Turns out they were ID' d as the Colorado Potato Beetle.
The onions look grim and we did not waste time on them. Many of them are not even in the ground. Big red onion sets might be a better way to go.
If potatoes were planted I see no evidence of them.
Who was nipping the apple cider during planting time? Despite having straight string for guidance, the rows on the western end have a very distinct "wave" to them. Of course we could CYA and say that was an intentional terracing design for water retention. Hmmmm?
We need big signs out at the main road and road 6 and also at the plots identified as PAR or MG garden or something to distinguish them from others. Some people have very nice arches and green open fencing. Worthy of discussion. Folks got lost.
You could consider combining some of the tasks of tilling, rowing and planting on Wednesday to forge ahead quickly before the rains hit again and further delaying things.
Jeff G.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Carl Wayne's Planting Day Log
PAR Log Wednesday April 16, 2008
62 degrees 10am, soil wet but not muddy.
We had a PAR Day (say it fast). We got the Spring garden completely planted with all the beautiful plants Tom had grown.
Ten of us got it all done in about two hours. Many hands make little work.
Donna and Sharon's Wednesday Wonders led the way and did amazing things.
Participants included:
Tom Mashour, Carl Wayne Hardeman, Donna Olswing, Cynthia Tollison, Sharon Lusk, G A Crosby, Pat Demetriou, Betty Mulholland, Don Wear, and Patsy Courtright.
We planted (if I remember correctly):
Giant broccoli
Early Dutch Cabbage
Onion bulbs
Onion sets
Romaine lettuce
Irish potatoes
Red potatoes
Radish seeds
Beet seeds
Carl
62 degrees 10am, soil wet but not muddy.
We had a PAR Day (say it fast). We got the Spring garden completely planted with all the beautiful plants Tom had grown.
Ten of us got it all done in about two hours. Many hands make little work.
Donna and Sharon's Wednesday Wonders led the way and did amazing things.
Participants included:
Tom Mashour, Carl Wayne Hardeman, Donna Olswing, Cynthia Tollison, Sharon Lusk, G A Crosby, Pat Demetriou, Betty Mulholland, Don Wear, and Patsy Courtright.
We planted (if I remember correctly):
Giant broccoli
Early Dutch Cabbage
Onion bulbs
Onion sets
Romaine lettuce
Irish potatoes
Red potatoes
Radish seeds
Beet seeds
Carl
Now that the plants are in the ground, the frustrations of latter March and early April will soon be forgotten. Following are just some of the correspondences from our leader, Tom Mashour. Note all the work he and others did before the first plant was put in the ground!
April 14, 2008
Yes, please check PAR and let me know. I'm going to try and find replacement potatoes, the ones I bought are now shriveled up. I'm still shooting for Wednesday.
April 6, 2008
Attached is a photo of the broccoli, etc. I took this morning waiting to get planted. The broccoli is over 12" tall. This is part of my frustration. Hang tuff, we just got to see how long it will take to dry out enough to get into the gardens.
March 29, 2008
PAR is now up and running! With the help of Gene Mangiante, we got the first plot marked and cultivated to have it ready for all the volunteers… Much thanks to everyone! In the next couple of weeks we'll be tilling the rest of the plots to get them ready for the summer crops like tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc.
March 28, 2008
Last night I received a call from Betty Mulholland informing me that her friend said that the plots are now flagged/marked. Work Time!
The TV stations are forcasting rain today. So, after I water the plants, I'm going to load up my truck with the tiller, etc. and go out there and see if I can till today before the rain comes. If any of you are free, and I realize there is a thing called jobs which must come first, come on out. I will have my cell phone on… I'm going to try to get plot 560 tilled for the cool crops. Weather permitting, I'll be out there tomorrow also and do additional tilling.
PAR IS ABOUT TO GET MOVING!!
March 21, 2008
According to weather.com, should be dry for the next four days. Hopefully they'll be tilling/disking this week. I've been making and painting plant markers so the plots will look a little more like Master Gardeners work here. I've repotted all the plants to 18 packs (18 containers to a flat). If we don't get the Romaine Lettuce in the ground soon, I might have to harvest it from the containers! It's really growing quickly. Most of the tomatoes are up and will have to pot up next week.
March 16, 2008
As you have already figured out the tilling of the plots by the county, which was scheduled for tomorrow, ain't going to happen due to the rain. I went by there yesterday and talked with Eleanor Griffin, who kind of/sort of runs the show out there, thinks it might be two weeks before we can get into the plots. I'll be going out there every couple of days to see how things are going. In the mean time, I'll probably up-pot the plants to 18/flat as they're getting a bit root bound in the 72/flat trays.
March 9, 2008
Well, we are now in Daylight Savings Time! Today, I started the hardening off process on the seedlings. This is the first time I've done it with snow around the flats (see attached photo). Hopefully by this weekend they'll be ready for full sun all day . . . I'm assuming we'll have full sun…
February 7, 2008
I started potting up seedlings. I've potted up, so far, about 200 Romaine Lettuce and about 100 cabbages with many more to go. I figure at least 600 plants will be potted up by next week. The peppers are coming along fine and they'll be ready to be potted up in two weeks. I'm not sure if I'll pot them directly into 18 packs (18 containers per flat) or in 36 packs. It depends on how much room I'll have left in my "mini" greenhouse when Im finished potting the broccoli, etc.
I've started California Wonder and Big Dipper Bell Peppers, Cubanelle Sweet Banana Type Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers, and Black Beauty Eggplants.
January 27, 2008
The broccoli, cabbage and lettuce seeds I started earlier this week are germinating and breaking the soil surface. Most of the stores now have seeds.
January 21, 2008
Just to let you know about our tomato seeds. Don provided a pack of Goliath Tomato seeds (indeterminate). Carl Wayne provided a pack of Sprite Grape Tomato seeds (determinate), and Parks Whopper Hybrid Tomato seeds (indeterminate). I ordered and received 3 packs of the BHN 640 tomato seeds (which is resistant to the dreaded Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus which wiped out most of our tomato plants in 2006). This is a determinate variety.
Yesterday, I went by Home Depot in Raleigh and they got their seeds in. To the best of my knowledge they are the first to have this season's seeds available. I bought some additional tomato varieties, including Beefsteak (indeterminate), Big Beef Hybrid (indeterminate), Brandywine (indeterminate), and Roma (determinate).
So I think we will have a good mix of both indeterminates and determinates. We'll have enough plants for PAR, Collierville and for you to take home for your own home gardens.
January 4, 2008
I plan to do the same type gardening I do at my home garden INTENSE! Paul James, the gardener on TV, and me have the same thoughts. If you can plant, let's say broccoli, 18" apart in a row, then why can't you plant them 18" apart in every direction? That is pretty much what I forsee doing. Plus, Tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc. do much better in warmer soil anyway and, even though the supposedly frost free date is April 1st, I would think of planting the warm stuff until the middle of April. What I haven't decided, and I can use any input, is where to plant the cool stuff. Last year we planted all the cool stuff in plot 361 (look at you maps in the binder), reserving plot 360 for tomatoes and other warm stuff. Plot 352, the upper wet plot was used for peppers (late getting in and did so bad, I don't we harvested any), Okra (did OK), pole and bush beans (did OK) and sweet potatoes (did real well).
This year we need to rotate the crops. I want to reserve Plot 361 for tomatoes and peppers. I'm not sure if we should use plot 360 or 352 for the cool stuff. One thing is for sure, plot 352 will require minimal watering, as it tends to stay wet.
April 14, 2008
Yes, please check PAR and let me know. I'm going to try and find replacement potatoes, the ones I bought are now shriveled up. I'm still shooting for Wednesday.
April 6, 2008
Attached is a photo of the broccoli, etc. I took this morning waiting to get planted. The broccoli is over 12" tall. This is part of my frustration. Hang tuff, we just got to see how long it will take to dry out enough to get into the gardens.
March 29, 2008
PAR is now up and running! With the help of Gene Mangiante, we got the first plot marked and cultivated to have it ready for all the volunteers… Much thanks to everyone! In the next couple of weeks we'll be tilling the rest of the plots to get them ready for the summer crops like tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc.
March 28, 2008
Last night I received a call from Betty Mulholland informing me that her friend said that the plots are now flagged/marked. Work Time!
The TV stations are forcasting rain today. So, after I water the plants, I'm going to load up my truck with the tiller, etc. and go out there and see if I can till today before the rain comes. If any of you are free, and I realize there is a thing called jobs which must come first, come on out. I will have my cell phone on… I'm going to try to get plot 560 tilled for the cool crops. Weather permitting, I'll be out there tomorrow also and do additional tilling.
PAR IS ABOUT TO GET MOVING!!
March 21, 2008
According to weather.com, should be dry for the next four days. Hopefully they'll be tilling/disking this week. I've been making and painting plant markers so the plots will look a little more like Master Gardeners work here. I've repotted all the plants to 18 packs (18 containers to a flat). If we don't get the Romaine Lettuce in the ground soon, I might have to harvest it from the containers! It's really growing quickly. Most of the tomatoes are up and will have to pot up next week.
March 16, 2008
As you have already figured out the tilling of the plots by the county, which was scheduled for tomorrow, ain't going to happen due to the rain. I went by there yesterday and talked with Eleanor Griffin, who kind of/sort of runs the show out there, thinks it might be two weeks before we can get into the plots. I'll be going out there every couple of days to see how things are going. In the mean time, I'll probably up-pot the plants to 18/flat as they're getting a bit root bound in the 72/flat trays.
March 9, 2008
Well, we are now in Daylight Savings Time! Today, I started the hardening off process on the seedlings. This is the first time I've done it with snow around the flats (see attached photo). Hopefully by this weekend they'll be ready for full sun all day . . . I'm assuming we'll have full sun…
February 7, 2008
I started potting up seedlings. I've potted up, so far, about 200 Romaine Lettuce and about 100 cabbages with many more to go. I figure at least 600 plants will be potted up by next week. The peppers are coming along fine and they'll be ready to be potted up in two weeks. I'm not sure if I'll pot them directly into 18 packs (18 containers per flat) or in 36 packs. It depends on how much room I'll have left in my "mini" greenhouse when Im finished potting the broccoli, etc.
I've started California Wonder and Big Dipper Bell Peppers, Cubanelle Sweet Banana Type Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers, and Black Beauty Eggplants.
January 27, 2008
The broccoli, cabbage and lettuce seeds I started earlier this week are germinating and breaking the soil surface. Most of the stores now have seeds.
January 21, 2008
Just to let you know about our tomato seeds. Don provided a pack of Goliath Tomato seeds (indeterminate). Carl Wayne provided a pack of Sprite Grape Tomato seeds (determinate), and Parks Whopper Hybrid Tomato seeds (indeterminate). I ordered and received 3 packs of the BHN 640 tomato seeds (which is resistant to the dreaded Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus which wiped out most of our tomato plants in 2006). This is a determinate variety.
Yesterday, I went by Home Depot in Raleigh and they got their seeds in. To the best of my knowledge they are the first to have this season's seeds available. I bought some additional tomato varieties, including Beefsteak (indeterminate), Big Beef Hybrid (indeterminate), Brandywine (indeterminate), and Roma (determinate).
So I think we will have a good mix of both indeterminates and determinates. We'll have enough plants for PAR, Collierville and for you to take home for your own home gardens.
January 4, 2008
I plan to do the same type gardening I do at my home garden INTENSE! Paul James, the gardener on TV, and me have the same thoughts. If you can plant, let's say broccoli, 18" apart in a row, then why can't you plant them 18" apart in every direction? That is pretty much what I forsee doing. Plus, Tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc. do much better in warmer soil anyway and, even though the supposedly frost free date is April 1st, I would think of planting the warm stuff until the middle of April. What I haven't decided, and I can use any input, is where to plant the cool stuff. Last year we planted all the cool stuff in plot 361 (look at you maps in the binder), reserving plot 360 for tomatoes and other warm stuff. Plot 352, the upper wet plot was used for peppers (late getting in and did so bad, I don't we harvested any), Okra (did OK), pole and bush beans (did OK) and sweet potatoes (did real well).
This year we need to rotate the crops. I want to reserve Plot 361 for tomatoes and peppers. I'm not sure if we should use plot 360 or 352 for the cool stuff. One thing is for sure, plot 352 will require minimal watering, as it tends to stay wet.
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