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Post by iva on Feb 9, 2009 6:46:04 GMT -5
Well, if any of you ever come to Slovenia, you are invited to swing by... We can talk about gardening, if the season is right you'll get anything you wish from my garden, and in winter you can get seeds... My garden is very small (only 12 square meters) but in it I successfully grow 42 varieties of tomatoes each year. I just put 42 supporting metal sticks in the ground and each stick is reserved for two plants of each variety. I also install anti-hail netting on top of my tomatoes, as hail destroyed or at least severely damaged most of my crop in the past couple of years. Now that can't happen anymore and I'm very pleased with the results. When the weather forecast is bad, I simply roll down the net and that does the trick. When the weather is good I keep the net up, so me and the insects have access to the garden... Here's a couple of pictures of my tomato garden. One is with the net up and one s taken from the inside when the net is down...
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Post by grungy on Feb 9, 2009 8:46:23 GMT -5
Absolutely lovely. It looks so lush and green. And I like the idea of hail netting.
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Post by ottawagardener on Feb 9, 2009 9:49:14 GMT -5
That's beautiful. I could see that set up working for a frost blanket or clear plastic as well to prevent light frost damage. Very pretty with the reds and golds of the marigolds and tomatoes.
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mostlypurple
grub
SE Michigan, Kitchen garden, Z 5b-6a
Posts: 86
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Post by mostlypurple on Feb 9, 2009 10:09:26 GMT -5
iva, I am going to copy your tomato bed in my own garden! I want my yard to look like that. Have you looked at Grunt & Grungy's operation: picasaweb.google.com/tvgrunt Theirs is quite inspirational. Ottowa Gardener-plastic would also keep excess rain off too, which would be my concern. I love browsing pictures of other people's gardens...I wonder, is it some sort of disease?
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Post by grunt on Feb 10, 2009 3:23:58 GMT -5
If it is, we've all got it!
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Post by iva on Feb 10, 2009 5:55:29 GMT -5
Grungy, in the summer, the garden really looks great, and the hail netting is worth every dime I spent on it, though it wasn't that expensive (I paid 20€ for it, and it measures 4 x 15 meters)... Ottawagardner, it is true, the frame works very well for covering the crop with clear plastic to prevent the excessive rain from 'drowning' the tomatoes as each year in August, the rain comes and with it comes late blight, that destroys everything over night. So it helps to have some protection. I guess you could use it for frost prevention as well. And the marigolds are great companions of tomatoes, there are many insect drawn to them as well, so that helps with pollination... Mostlypurple, I love the way my garden looks too. And it is very space saving. I can raise other veggies in between the tomatoes and they do great. If you want to copy it, be my guest, )'m just glad you like it . It is a great solution for a small garden. Oh, I've seen Grunt & Grungy's operation and fell in love with it. If only I had the space. As you like to look at other peoples gardens, here's a link to my online album (it is in Slovene, but the pictures speak for them self). I will also put it in my signature below, so it is accessible all the time. There are some 'sub' albums, you just have to click on them to see all the pictures: alchi156.moj-album.com/Grunt, I totally agree with you, we all have that disease ;D Thank you all for your comments
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Post by flowerpower on Feb 10, 2009 6:12:27 GMT -5
That's beautiful, Iva.
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Post by moonlilyhead on Feb 12, 2009 18:47:41 GMT -5
Very pretty set up, Iva. I soooooo want a fresh tomato now!!
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Post by iva on Feb 13, 2009 13:42:54 GMT -5
Thank you flowerpower and moonlilyhead I'm very proud of my little garden and I guess lots of people like it when they see it. I just tried to make the most of the space I had available, because I live at my parents house and my father is all against vegetable gardens, don't ask me why. He likes lawns and bushes but not veggies (he does eat them though). So every year I simply made it a little wider without him noticing it. He eventually did and told me to stop, so I bordered it with bricks to separate it from the lawn. It also keeps the weeds out which is an added bonus... I can't wait to eat some fresh tomatoes too
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