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A Tomato in Every Plot-start today [1]

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Date: 2023-01-27

Everyone with a yard or even a flower bed should have at least one tomato plant. No tools, no weeds, no fertilizer, no labor, minimal to no cost, just homegrown flavor. I did this for my sister. She has never had a garden and at 80 years of age, had no desire to start one. Once started, the tomato garden can be easily continued. The principles can be applied to starting a full size garden, if you are so inclined, but that will be covered in another article.

You may wonder why you are seeing this in the winter. Although, with some modifications, this can be started anytime, the best results will come with a late fall or early, early, spring start. Because the U.S. covers so many climate zones, we need to establish a ti,e baseline that applies to all the nation. For those areas that have a frost and freeze in the winter, the baseline is to start this project 45 days before the last expected killing frost in the spring. In my area, that is around April 15th, so I will plan on starting this project on March 1st. On rare occasions in our area, the ground will still be frozen on March 1st as it may be on your starting date. In that case, wait until the ground thaws.

You will need some corrugated cardboard. This can be thick layers of newspaper, but cardboard works best. You will choose a spot that gets several hours of sun. You need a space of about 4 feet by 4 feet. The spot may be on grass in your yard, on an old garden spot that has last year's weeds still standing, or you may even give it a try on a sandy, rocky spot. If space is limited, then a two or three-foot wide strip against the house will suffice. The cardboard will need to lay flat on the ground so any upright weeds will need to be bent over. They don’t need to be removed. You will need to put something on top of the cardboard to hold it down. Leavers, mulch, straw, grass clippings, sawdust, wood clippings, sand, small rocks and even dirt will all work. If you can afford potting soil, put it on first or as the only covering about 3 or 4 inches deep. That would be best, but I am trying to keep costs near zero. Now, this first step can be done at any time in the fall or winter and works well as it allows winter snow and rain to penetrate the top layer and penetrate the cardboard.

On, or about on the 45- day period before the last frost, after you have put the covering on the cardboard, you will scatter a package of sweet peas and turnip seeds on the top layer. Mix them and don’t spread them too thickly. They need to be spread thinly and will be growing together. As you can probably understand, the seeds need something that they can germinate in which we would normally think of as soil, but if kept moist, you will be surprised at the germination. A rake to stir the top layer and allow the seeds to be slightly covered will help. If you just broadcast the seeds, they will probably germinate sufficiently. This planting of pea seeds allows for the growing pea plants to affix nitrogen to our new garden and the turnips will pull up other nutrients from the soil. Approximately 60 days from planting these seeds, in my case, the first of May, the tomato plant can be planted.

What you should have at this time will be peas ready, or almost ready, to pick the turnips will have bottoms big enough to harvest and turnip tops have some of the highest protein and nutrients of any plant available. If they are ready, go ahead and harvest. If the peas and turnips aren’t quite ready, it will be okay to wait. In the center of your plot, pull enough of the peas and turnips to be able to lay your tomato plant on the ground. The leafy top of the tomato plant will need to lay on plant leaves you have pulled, or you need to put a piece of cardboard or paper underneath to keep it away from the soil. The bottom part of the plant, the roots and the stem portion, need to be covered with some of the plants you pulled. If you didn’t get any growth, then use the mulch, ect to cover the roots. If the cardboard below has not deteriorated enough for you to push a stitch through, then you need to make a slit with a knife so the tomato roots will be able to grow through the space to the soil below.

The cardboard will smother out the grass below and prevent any weeds from sprouting. As soon as you have harvested your peas and turnips, then you need to bend them over so they will die. This can be done merely by walking on them or laying a board across them and standing on it. But before you do this, spread some green bean seeds thinly around the plot. When you destroy the peas and turnips, this will create a mulch that will allow the beans to sprout. You should get a crop of green beans by mid-August while your tomato plant will be bearing from July something on.

Again, we use our benchmark of 45 days. This time we will terminate the green beans 45 days before the first expected frost of the fall. Again, before we walk on them, we will spread some peas seeds and maybe carrot seeds, and or radishes, (Daikon radishes will make deep roots and can be cooked like turnips). When the winter freeze arrives, it will terminate these vegetables creating a mulch for the garden and feed for the microorganisms below the soil. When the early spring season comes around again repeat for another tomato crop.

The side crops will fertilize the garden, the mulch will prevent weeds, you will get several crops from a small space and it is sustainable agriculture.

edens-acre.com

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