**Good morning, Gardeners. Before I get started here today, please join me in a silent moment of prayer for Missys Brother (GUG), and his siblings in their time of mourning for their beloved Mother, who departed this Earth last Thursday. In case y’all missed it, GUG’s beautiful remembrance of his Mother can be seen Here.**
2020 has, indeed, been a very strange year. For the 2nd consecutive year, a physical injury disrupted my Spring planting. Many thanks to my Wife and youngest Son for stepping up and doing much of the heavy lifting again this year.
The Tomato Patch has a different look this year. In the past, I grew 27 plants in-ground on 9 wire cages with some buckets to accommodate surplus plants.
This year, I’m only growing 2 varieties in-ground: Big Beef and Roman Warrior; both are nematode resistant hybrids. I plant Big Beef every year. It’s about the best all around tomato that I’ve ever grown. Roman Warrior, new-to-me this year, is a paste type, similar to Roma. All other varieties are in buckets this year.
The trellis system is also different this year. Electrical conduit and concrete wire panels, they’re about 8 ft tall. I managed to get 9 plants in each row, the same number as with the 3 cages. 3 more buckets are waiting for the Chef’s Choice Pink plants, which are not quite ready to plant out. I plan on growing the F1, F2, and F3 versions side-by-side-by-side…. The cardboard weed barrier is also new this year. What the heck, it’s free at work!
Many of you who are regulars here have heard me refer to “Docs” many times. It is, hands down, my most favorite tomato and pepper online community! With just a couple of exceptions, all of my 2020 tomato and pepper grow list comes directly from the beautiful folks at Doc’s. If you’d like more info about Doc’s, please PM me….
Due to time constraints, and the fact that I’m dog tired from a hellacious work week, I’m gonna end this piece with a bunch of pictures of tomato and pepper plants. I hope y’all are safe and sound, and I’d love to hear (and see!) what’s going on in your gardens. ~Peace~
I was not planning on using the “Patio Picker” containers this year, but I needed the extra space, and they were still filled with ProMix from last season. I let these plants get a bit “leggy” before setting out, so they are not as far along as the others, but they’ll catch up quickly.