Pounding stakes
Jo pounds in wooden stakes for a somewhat catch-up version of tomato staking. I think of it as the Modified Sprawl. There are about 600 plants, with maybe 250 in home-style tomato cages. The rest are so far on their own. The cages work great, until a mighty wind comes along and blows a bunch over—they’re not really rugged field gear. It’s too late for proper basket weaving support, so it’s on to my previously tried and OK version, pulling the plants up with twine on both sides, to stakes set every three plants apart, with a bit of pruning and suckering as we go… This is the point in the season where we start playing catch-up as a million different things need handling. It can get a little frantic, depending greatly on how it went earlier in the year. To add to the…decision-making puzzle, it’s last call, and even very iffy last call, for planting many crops (60 day maturity and under), with day length shortening and frost risk building to a significant consideration just 6-8 weeks down the road. So, thin here, or weed or seed there, or water elsewhere, you can’t do everything at once! It’s all in the timing, with much of the schedule in the hands of Ma Nature (where’s that RAIN!?!). Gambling, yes! Still and all, quite FUN.
Somewhat related posts: • Stakes vs cages • Risk crop • Stakes and cages • Juliet’s a fine tomato! • Making stakes
Steve Mudge said,
July 12, 2007 @ 8:15 pm
Still trying to figure out where y’all are doing your farming…but with a frost window just 6-8 weeks away you’ve got to be pretty far north…maybe Minnesota or Michigan? The lushness of the surrounding countryside looks like pics I’ve seen of Pennsylvannia too. Hmmm……well anyway–good luck with the tomatoes–we’re a little confused as to what to do too–our tomatoes have now grown past the 7 foot trellises we put up!
antitext said,
July 13, 2007 @ 7:32 pm
the farm is a bit further north, steve! the exact location can be found here.