How to Grow Upside Down Tomatoes

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How to Grow Upside Down Tomatoes

How to Make a Beer Slug Trap

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How to Make a Beer Slug Trap

Slugs will find their way into all gardens. There is no single way to kill them all. Slugs have to be managed. Beer traps are a great way to reduce the numbers of slugs in your garden.

Get Two Heads of Lettuce from One Plant

The picture tells the story. If you harvest your heads of lettuce by cutting the lettuce head off but leave the roots in the ground... you will get a 2nd head of lettuce as long as the weather stays cool. If your lucky you might get 3 heads of lettuce from one plant.

Click the photo to enlarge

This is red lettuce and the four lettuce plants at the bottom have all been harvested. The one to the far left (left bottom corner) is just a stump, it was picked yesterday. The one next it, to the right, was picked 3 days ago. You can see new lettuce leaves forming. The two in the far bottom right corner were pick 7 and 10 days ago. They practically have new heads on them.

The lettuce in the middle of my raised bed has not been picked and has been growing for about 40 -45 days. Behind the lettuce is swiss chard.

Lettuces will grow new leaves if you leave the roots in the ground. This is a great way to keep the lettuce coming to your table.

Planting Warm Season Crops

Now is the time to plant cucumbers, squash, beans, tomatoes, peppers, melons and sunflowers. It is also time for your herbs.

My garden is transistioning from cold season crops to warm season crops. What does that mean? I don't have room to plant! Well not enough room anyway for all I want to do. I am waiting for beets, turnips, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, lettuces and more to mature.

However, I also need to get the first round of the vine crops in.

The solution is to plant them in Styro-Foam cups. I recycle the ones I used for the cold crops. Any container will do.

I plant my cucumber, squash, melon, and sunflower seeds into cups. This buys me 2 weeks. As they mature in the cups, my cool weather crops will be eaten. When the seedlings are ready, I will have space in my garden. No lost time!

Yard Sale Plants: Tomatoes, Peppers, Herbs and Perennials

All these plants will be available unless they sell out.

Tomatoes

1. Juliet Hybrid: Grape shaped cherry tomato
   
2. Big Momma Hybrid: A very large sweet paste tomato
   
3. Super Marmande Heirloom: Beefsteak type tomato
   
4. Roma: Standard tomato from the grocery store
   
5. Cherokee Purple Heirloom: 10 oz rose/purple skinned tomato
6. Red Lightning Hybrid: Brilliant red with golden streaks. 3 inch round fruits
7. Super Sweet 100 Hybrid: Clusters of sweet cherry tomatoes
8. Large Red Cherry: Large red standard cherry tomato
   
9. Super Beefsteak: Bigger yield beefsteak with 1 pound fruits
   
10. Jubilee Orange: Large orange tomatoes with perfect roundness
11. Brandywine Pink Heirloom: From 1885 - 14 oz fruit with pinkish tomato - Potato leaf
12. Speckled Roman Heirloom: Paste tomato with red, orange, and yellow stripes
13. Aunt Ruby's German Heirloom: 12-16 oz green and yellow striped fruit
14. Tomatillo: Husked tomato-like fruit. It is tart and awesome in salsa.

Peppers

1. Sweet Banana: Sweet no heat light yellow green
2. Cayenne Hot: Thin long red hot cayenne pepper. Use for hot pepper flakes.
3. Anaheim Chili: Medium heat 6-8 long pepper matures to red
4. Corno di Toro: Large green to red bull horn shaped 8 inch fruits with no heat
5. Poblano: Deep green for roasting on the grill. Medium hot pepper.
6. Big Dipper: Large standard green bell pepper
7. Early Jalapeno: An early maturing jalapeno. Great for salsa.
8. Cubanelle: A large sweet pepper that matures from yellow to red
9. Californa Wonder: The standard green bell
10. Marconi Golden: Golden (yellow) Italian sweet pepper with 12 inch fruit
11. California Orange Heirloom: Large sweet tasting orange bell

Herbs

1. Lime Basil: Great for salsa and Mexican dishes
2. Purple Basil: Great for salads and contrast to other basil dishes
3. Large Leaf Basil: Standard large leaf basil for pesto
4. Cilantro: Key ingredient for salsa
5. Oregano: Great for sauces and it is a perennial plant
6. Chives: Great for salads and it is a perennial plant
7. Fennel: Anise flavored herb great for chicken and fish
8. Dill: Used for dill pickles and in fish dishes

I also have gallon pots of hostas and other shade plants.