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.