Most of what I bought this year was traditional, like Celebrity & Better Boy.....but I also chose Ramapo which I've grown before & loved, Pineapple, and one called Marero ? which is supposed to be blight free....then I have the yellow pear & cherry toms I raised from seed that my stepdaughter bought from Monticello.

"I have the yellow pear & cherry toms I raised from seed"...me too! Stuck with cherries this year b/c if I get too sick to garden again, they are easier for non-gardening friends to harvest, and tolerate more neglect than the large tomatoes. And they are awesome for nibbling and salads, which is mostly what I do with tomatoes.

RobinD said:Most of what I bought this year was traditional, like Celebrity & Better Boy.....but I also chose Ramapo which I've grown before & loved, Pineapple, and one called Marero ? which is supposed to be blight free....then I have the yellow pear & cherry toms I raised from seed that my stepdaughter bought from Monticello.

Sounds like a good selection!

yellow pear tomatoes are my favorite for easy picking and noshing in the garden. Low acid and easy on the stomach.

Are there any organic ways to prevent the yellow spots from taking over my Toms. I have done everything I have read. Raised beds with drip irrigation, staking, crop rotation. Snipping the bad leaves off as I see them. It always wins and I lose at least half my crop.

Those yellow spots are early blight....once it's in the soil. it's there forever!

I am considering solarizing the garden, however will it be as simple as just covering half the beds or do I have to do everything at once?
This is the only pic I can find that shows my veggie garden.

Nice flock!

I have another grey silkie but she is broody!

I like the chickens!

Nice garden and flock! Had chickens and ducks as a kid, (in 1865 ), and parents always complaining they ate the garden plants. Do you have any problems with that? I like that they eat the bugs! Hmmm...we need bug emojies!

The only problem I have been having is they like to ruin all my nicely mulched beds and scratch in them and dust bathe. It kills me because there are so many places they could do it that I wouldn't care but they keep picking my beds in the most prominent places. The other day I laid down chicken wire and covered it with the compost (which is what I am mulcing with this year.) It seems to help but I have rocks holding it down in various spots.

Chilli powder is pretty good at keeping the squirrels and cats out of my planted pots and beds. Once the get a taste of if, they stay away from that area. It is, however, limited in the amount of space you can cover. Have to be selective and use it around your most important or abused areas. I put some beautiful black mulch down in a small bed Sunday, found an area dug up for no apparent reason on Monday, except that it was something new in what they consider their territory. Don't know who is the more arrogant territorial invader, us or them!

moving veggies from the greenhouse to the garden

I finished planting my veggie garden last evening before the rain hit......all my veggies had been planted....these were the flower seeds I mix in with the veggies....marigolds, cosmos, zinnias.....

You should have a colorful garden.

The day before yesterday I worked out in my veggie patch all day and got my summer squash seedlings planted.

Hope the garden is colorful......also the marigolds do keep pesty bugs out......if I can only find something that would keep the mosquitoes out!

Got some starts at a local nursery and got it all planted yesterday. Broccoli, Peppers, Tomatos, Spinach, Romaine, a red and a green lettuce. My father in law stopped by after planting the lettuce and when I went back I saw that the chickens had eaten and dug up the green lettuce already
So now I have to devise something to keep them out! Also any tips to deter slugs? In the past the slugs or something always gets the lettuce.

Chickies love lettuce.....we would save our overgrown stuff for the neighbor's flock......slugs are tough.....guess beer is as good as anything.

OH chickens have to stay out of the veggie garden!