Ok, Plantpixie, I've been staring at this 2 acres for 4 summers and haven't done anything with it. But even more than that, I WANT to grow some veggies. I've planted tomatoes (in pots inside the screen enclosure to protect from the birds & squirrels), gotten great blooms, lots of tomatoes, but they ALWAYS get a rotten spot before they're ready to pick. What causes that and how do I get real edible tomatoes?

and what else can i grow in containers? We have plenty of room for an in-ground garden but I figure the birds / squirrels / etc would take advantage of it.

 

I have tried to answer you twice and have been bumped off ......... maybe will try later.

 

Martha, the birds and squirrels do not bother our veggie garden. We (I mean Rick) plants, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, garlic. Peppers, cucumbers and garlic does fine.

We too have had trouble with tomatoes rotting before they are ready to pick, and on occasion get the evil green tomato worm, which is about as gross of a creature that's out there. The weather; too sunny, not sunny, too wet, not wet enough, seems to affect the tomatoes, to the point that he gave up on the big tomatoes.

We solved the issue by only planting cherry tomatoes. They are ready to pick the same time the cucumbers are, which makes for good eating in a salad. Just a couple of plants will do, or you will eat tomatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If we want a full size tomato, we go to a local farm stand.

I'll ask Rick if he has any tips about your outside sandy soil. His Dad had 12 green thumbs and much of his garden area was sandy, Rick may remember what his Dad used to do.

BTW, in spite of his green thumbs, we have NO indoor plants. We leave that area to the plantpixie/Barbara.

 

Thanks Lainey! Now I'm really ready for some digging in the dirt. We have a lot of trees -- how much sun do I need and is morning or afternoon better for a garden?

 

I'll check with the outdoor garden adviser and see if I can get that info for you.

 

I've never had problems with squirrels or birds when I planed gardens, ground hogs and deer are problems.

The rot you are getting may be from too much moisture on the leaves and not enough air movement.

For the Sandy soil, buy peat moss and mix it in with the soil, it will help with water retention.

While I really don't know the answer to this, I would opt for morning sun which would help dry off any moisture that may have come overnight.

I also planted Marigolds around the garden.

 

I have a 2' X 20' planter on the back side of the house - east side. I have a condensate pump in the basement that collects water from the central air conditioning system and a dehumidifier and pumps the water out to the planter. 1/2" plastic pipe with a hole drilled every 6" distributes the water over the length of the planter. This system supplies about 12 - 15 gallons of water a day to that planter. Planter gets morning sun - up until about 11:30 - 12:30.

The planter was filled with a 50/50 mix of WalMart's cheapest potting soil and Cow manure and compost mix. That was on top of the Georgia red dirt and some sand.

We had tomatos 8 feet up the back wall of the house. I had to build a trellis to tie them up. Every time that I wanted to mow, I had to tell the wife to go tie up her tomatos or I would mow them. We had more tomatos than we could use for about 5 years. What we didn't get picked reseeded the planter. There were four or five varieties. The ones that I remember coming back best were Celebrity 100 and Roma. The Celebrity 100 is about the only cherry tomato that I like. It is the only one that actually tastes like a tomato. The Jalapeno peppers did great, too, but they were the hottest Jalapenos that I have ever had.

 

Southern or Western exposure for veggies. I have my veggies in a wind protected western exposure next to a white wall. The sun reflected off the wall for added light. (oh, there are cool weather plants as well .... lettuce, peas, some beans)

Flowers are all types of exposure ....... just read the package.

 

Rick still does this, as did his Dad. It helps keep some of the bugs away.

 

Marthe,
the problem with your tomatoes,is caused by a lack of calcium.
You can ask,and buy calcium supplements at your nursery.
they usually, come in a form of powder,that you dilute in water,and you water your tomatoes plants with this liquid.