Current Tomato Setup aka Kiiiiiiind of Overdoing It

 I got my first tomato this morning! A little ping pong ball sized beauty hidden in the foliage by the driveway. I took a glance at the blog here to see which type it was and to my horror realized I didn't have a map. I mean, I have one, I'm not a maniac. But I didn't have it online. So I made a nice map for my self based on my sketches in the ol' garden notebook.

Couple notes. This morning's first tomato was an A Grappoli d'Invierno. Very prolific. The "hole" in the Rock Garden map between the Cherokee Purples in the front center is a little stump. Too big to get out easily. So I left it and put landscape fabric over it. Which has been a great decision! Keeps the weeds in check. The dotted green circle in the upper right of the lower section of the rock garden is actually not in the ground yet, haven't even dug the hole. But soon! It's still in the trough that I originally planted it in. Of the remaining plants, it's the biggest, strongest, most powerful one. Even already has fruit on it. Will it survive? Good question. The current 5 on the right in the lower section of the rock garden bed are doing not so great. Partly no doubt due to it being in the 90s here the last couple days since I planted them. And I waited too long to transplant. And there's a metal pot placed over another tree stump in the middle of that area - maybe that gets too hot for the plants? Unsure. I _think_ they'll make a comeback. Also the top right Roma in the upper bed is sagging a bit as if it's not getting enough water. I think they could all do with some mulch of some sort to help hold the water in. I will see about that this weekend. All told 32 plants. The odd one is a Roma in a bucket.

To Do List:

• Plant some basil somewhere
• Build strawberry bed out of salvaged 4" x 4" by 10' posts from the fenced in garden. Where to put it?
• Transplant strawberries there
• Figure out where to put Serviceberries (3) and Blueberries (3).  Blueberries seem very happy. Serviceberries somewhat less so. On got attacked by a deer a little bit. They might have a rough time of things. Blueberries also need soil modification - Sarah says sulfur maybe??
• Find a spot for the Roma in the bucket?
• Clean out the back section of the rock garden. Perhaps load that up with zucchini.
• Clean out the back left section of the rock garden. Perhaps basil? If not find some place for basil. Containers?
• Clean out 4 stone planters by the driveway. One has garlic, that doesn't need to be cleaned out. One has kale that has gone to seed. I'm gonna let it, then maybe replant with those seeds. The one nearest the house has a metal mesh surrounding it, that will contain beans. The other two will be... I dunno. Strawberries didn't see to do well there. It is hot, and it is full sun. Either need some shadecloth or need to figure out something that likes that.
• Maybe lettuce in the little side bed in the back? Neighbor put up a 6' tall plastic fence. At any rate this needs to be cleaned out and harvest the rather-unlikely-to-have-produced-anything garlic in that bed. Maybe spinach?
• Old potting shed that I never used completely rotted out and fell over. Burn the remnants and maybe build a new one? Thinking more like a shelter for tools, shovels and the like.

Productive Weekend, Yet Not Productive

 There was a ton to do this weekend, I'm a bit behind. Peppers need to be transferred out of the big ol' troughs so they grow a bit better. I did prep some buckets for them, need to transplant though. That's the plan for Detil, Cayenne, Korean Dark Green, and Buena Mulata. And I need to figure out a spot for the New Mexico peppers. Hmmm. There are 4 unoccupied stone planters out front. Probably one will be beans, one will be kale, and the other two not sure. So those are possible spots. Also perhaps the little brick planters on the deck by the house for a few. That would work nice if it doesn't get too hot. There are probably 20 of them, so I can certainly experiment a bit.

I planted cukes as well. Youtube guru said the burpless varieties are less prone to bugs and mildew, so I got a few of those. For reference here is the setup with the buckets.

Also have a few straggler tomato plants left. No reason not to put them out in the rock garden. Seems like the tomatoes I currently have in the rock garden are loving it there.

Other random plans... There's a big spot in the rock garden cleared, and two other spots needing to be cleared and landscape fabric'd. I maybe plant up some extra zucchini in one of those. Also need to figure a spot for basil. Perhaps some other herbs. Strawberries are going to go in a planter I'm making out of the remains of the fenced in garden from the back - some long 4"x4" posts that I'm going to make a planter out of. The neighbor says he's putting up a fence, so that makes it a little easier to just put a planter there.

Also vaguely thinking spinach.