Very Small Plot Tomato Planting

Posted on September 28, 2010 by ChuckBartok

In 2008, I planted and recorded the progress of a small plot Tomato Planting (24 Plants). We harvested over 1,000 pounds usable fruit and considered that an abundant harvest.

To learn more how that happened, order the DVD Today and assure yourself an abundant Tomato Crop from a small Plot. The secret of the abundant harvest was the pruning, water management and fertilization.

But we no longer have our 11 acre property, due to health reasons, and have settled in a small plot of land no less than 5,000 square feet and the home, garage and concrete patios and Driveway use up close to 3,400. So we are blessed with narrow Flower bed areas and a bit of side yard…but we are enjoying

The past winter season I did plant broccoli and cauliflower in an 18″ x 30′ flower bed and we enjoyed the FRESH Brassica crops for a couple months. The more leafy varieties inter-plant well between the Broccoli and cauliflower. Photos coming this season.

But today I want to share the yield progress coming from our Lone tomato Plant (Northern Exposure Tomato Variety). The first picture of the Northern Exposure Tomatoes was shot on June 12, 2010. Please notice the Pruning. Not much Foliage, directing vigor to the setting of fruit. The plant is to the right of the Picture, and notice that it is trained as a single stem up the first support system. At left is one of Shirley’s Garden Gnomes, and Zucchini Squash.

Thanks to effects of Annie Haven’s Green Manure Tea you can see the growth through July 20, 2010 along with the Spreading Ambrosia Melon and Zucchini Squash. Again I point to the pruning. Our DVD, available above, shows the week to week progress of Pruning Tomatoes for optimum Yield, in order to enjoy great eating from a Small Plot garden.

The picture to the left shows the abundance of Northern Exposure Tomatoes on the second set, photographed September 24, 2010, tomatoes are about 5′ off the ground. At this time we have harvested approx. 8 pounds from the sparse First set of tomatoes. Our abnormal cool late spring and early summer slowed the first set of tomatoes throughout our area. I expect about 30 pounds from this Northern Exposure plant before season is over. We will keep you posted.

Future posts will show some Small Plot gardens in our neighborhood and how we all can enjoy sustainable Gardens and fresh food at Low cost

Posted in Vegetable Yields | Tagged Ambrosia melons, Brassica, Cauliflower, Garden, Garden Gnomes, Havens manure Tea, Northern Exposure Tomato Variety, Pruning, pruning tomato, Tomato, Vegetable | 3 Comments

Fall Vegetable Garden Time

Posted on September 21, 2010 by ChuckBartok

First day of Fall and a good time Small Plot Vegetable gardeners in the Temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere to be Planting their Fall crops

Fall vegetable Gardens lend themselves well to Containers and small patches of Ground and along fence lines

Most of us have been enjoying Tomatoes, Squash, Melons, Peppers and Cucumbers throughout the Summer. We have made it a practice here in the Northern Sacramento Valley, Zone 9 , to plant our Fall Vegetable Garden,

We usually direct seed broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts in August and than add Started Plants, from our Local Garden Center in September and October. What is tricky is to determine if the Fall Vegetable Garden is climatically suited for your area

These Photos show the USA Plant zones and definition of Temperature variance

For a North and Central America Zonal chart
Click Here

Also in August we will set out a Fall Crop of Pole Beans along the Fence or trellis. We will also plant spinach from seed this week in a container (1/2 wine Barrel or any other large Container) The picture to the right is a Cement Water trough we planted to Spinach and Brussels Sprouts in August.

I know everyone can’t have veggies 365 days of the year, but be sure to Study you area, ask Garden centers and neighbors about Growing Successes. Amazing what can be done with some creativity.

Added Resources:**
Shop CooksGarden.com for Broccoli

** Warning:

Should you decide to purchase any products directed to or recommended from this page or site, there is a good chance I will earn a few dollars. That is what business person do..point like minded people to things the know will satisfy a need

Posted in Tips and Tricks | Tagged Broccoli, Brussels sprout, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Fall Garden, Garden, Spinach, Vegetable | 3 Comments

Is there really Sustainability with Small Plot Gardens?

Posted on September 10, 2010 by ChuckBartok

The first question should really be, What is sustainability and How to Achieve it in a Small Plot Garden Plot?

Back in July of 2008 I posted in the Blog, Growing Tomatoes for Health and Wealth an update of the Progress in our

Small Plot Garden

Tomato patch alone and I included a video showing HOW a family in Pasadena California, VERY Urban location, were providing Sustainability for years, utilizing their Total Lot Area.

Here is the video of their garden, for your pleasure

[aembed:http://www.youtube.com/v/mCPEBM5ol0Q&hl 480 320]

We have downsized our Living area as mentioned before but are still producing fresh Food at Real value from a very small space.

Shirley and I love tomatoes and placed three plants late in the season (May, 2010) along our Fence in an 18″ wide flower bed. Two of the plants did not Thrive, but the one remaining plant has provided us a steady supply of Tomatoes and more coming. This is the Third Set and you will notice the “lack of Foliage”. We grow for Yield and not Plants. Refer to our DVD showing 24 tomato plants yielding 1,000 in a season. Also reference some material found at our Previous Post

2010 is showing to be a poor Tomato year because of late spring and cooler weather late into May, but Melons of all varieties are doing Phenomenal. Below the Tomato plant shown above I planted two Ambrosia Melon plant in the same 18″ wide bed and they have already produce 8 Delicious melons. The same with Honey Dew Melons, again planting 2 plants and they are just starting to produce volume. I expect 10-15 melons from those two vines.

So what is this about “Sustainability“? We enjoy seasonal produce grown by us or our neighbors and just the melons form these 4 vines satisfies our NEED for the nourishment and flavor of VINE ripened Fruit. Those melons would typically retail for $2-4 apiece and if we harvest 25 form 4 plants that represent $100 of MONEY Saved, plus the joy of being outdoors and in CONTROL of what we eat.

Another great Resource is the Book to the on Sustainable Gardening
CLICK ON THE COVER BELOW

Posted in Vegetable Yields | Tagged Ambrosia Melon, Garden, Honey Dew melons, plot garden, Small Plot Garden, Sustainability, Tomato, Tomatoes, Vegetable | 3 Comments

Enjoy High Garden Yields from Pruning

Posted on September 7, 2010 by ChuckBartok

Small Plot Gardens need Careful Pruning to Assure High Yielding Vegetables.

One of the easiest Crops to grow is the Tomato and we have always pegged 50# per plant as our Crop Yield Goal. That goal is more easily attainable through proper Pruning throughout the Growing Season.

The Pruning starts at Planting and continues if one is expected to be assure a High Yield of delicious Vine ripened Healthy Tomatoes

Yes, even at planting you must follow some simple steps to develop a strong supportive root system and the foundation for a large Crop. Watch the quick video below, an excerpt form the Complete DVD, Growing Tomatoes for Health and Wealth

[aembed:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MhOV6XmRGo 480 320]

One of the controversies around the Garden World is what to use to Prune plants such as Tomatoes and Egg Plant. I use my fingers in the early stages of growth, but as the plants get Larger and the stem tougher, I will use a SHARP set of Pruning Shears, but I dip them in Alcohol, going from Plant to plant.
The argument about using Shears is the possibility of Spreading disease from Plant to Plant .

Always a Good idea to check the health of your plants and remove diseased and sickly plants from garden, even if you are sacrificing some Yield.

There are many resources on the Internet, with a multitude of theories of pruning Tomatoes. I have used a simple system for many years with strong results on Tomato Yield, again I look for 50# per tomato Plant in our season here in Northern California.

Follow the simple diagram below and you SEE the Complete growing Season pruning on our DVD, Growing Tomatoes for Health and Wealth

More reference material here on Pruning Tomatoes. Remember the goal is to Produce Tomatoes not Plants. Your plants may look funny but the tomatoes will taste great and you will enjoy abundant harvest

*** FYI: If you make the right decision to Buy the High Yielding Tomato Growing DVD, I need to disclose That I spent a year filming the progress and will make some money, after productions costs and shipping about $5.00. Just so you don’t think I am an Unscrupulous Marketer endorsing product to become an Instant Millionaire

More reference below

Gardeners debate whether to prune suckers on tomato plants (cleveland.com)
Gardening is a Cost Effective Way to Save on the Food Bill (brighthub.com)

Posted in Tips and Tricks, Vegetable Yields | Tagged garden yields, pruning tomatoes, Tomato pruning | 8 Comments

Ambrosia Melons from Small Plot Garden

Posted on September 2, 2010 by ChuckBartok

Ambrosia Melons, none sweeter!

One of our favorite Melon variety has been AMBROSIA MELONS.

For the past few decades our family has had the Freedom to grow the bulk of our Fresh Vegetables and produce enough to generate some Tidy Cash Flow and this year we are enjoying Ambrosia melons from a very Small Plot Garden

The Ambrosia Melon is not found in Markets (except Farmers Markets) because it slips (falls off the Vine) when ripe and must be consumed right away. The pictures show how we planted 2 Ambrosia Melon Plants in a Flower Bed 18″ x 20′ along with a Tomato Plant and 2 Honey Dew plants.

To the left you will see two ripe melons and when ripening. the picture was taken Sept 1st, 2010. The young plants were set May25, 2010. Our Spring in Northern California was cooler than normal and the growth pattern was slowed a bit this year.

The Honey Dew Melon plants have been a bit slower than the Ambrosia Melon and not setting as prolific.

Besides applying Annie Haven’s Famous Green Manure Tea regularly (weekly), our only other nourishment was a weekly spray of Foli-Cal (10% liquid Calcium Concentrate) for Blossom end rot and Fruit set enhancement. When we were farming Larger plots of melons I use ground applied Calcium Nitrate (available at Farm Fertilizer Supply Stores).

We will expect 10-15 edible Ambrosia and Honey Dew melons from this approximate 25 sq ft. Every morning we train the vines to grow the length of the Flower bed. Bearded Irises are already starting to emerge to provide floral beauty in the Spring.

The ROI makes good sense. Cost of production $3.59 for the 4 plants. I had Foli-Cal in Inventory, used approximately $.75 worth.
If we only enjoy 10 melons picked at peak flavor we are enjoying a $50.00 Value Harvest, not to mention the “Good Feeling” generated from being in the Garden

Added Resources:
Ambrosia Hybrid Cantaloupe Seeds – Cucumis Melo – 0.5 Grams – Approx 15 Gardening Seeds – Vegetable Garden Seed

http://www.mastergardeners.org/projects/ninepalms/2006/melon.html

Posted in Vegetable Yields | Tagged Ambrosia, Ambrosia melons, Ambrosia Melons. Manure Tea, Foli-cal, Garden, Honey Dew melons, Melon, Northern California, plot garden, Ripening | 10 Comments

Why discuss High Yields of Vegetables in Small Plot Gardens?

Posted on August 18, 2010 by ChuckBartok

Small Plot Gardens can deliver High Yields of Vegetables and Fruit

Welcome to our new Networked Blog in the Small Plot Garden Niche, focusing on

HIGH YIELD

from, small Plots. The two exciting aspects about this BLOG is that you can also have custom WordPress Blog (like This one), with premium Plugins and one or more Professionally Written (unique to your topic) posted for you automatically.

You control the Ad revenue, header graphics, and post as often as you wish. Customer support is One-on-One

One
Grab this affordable service NOW, if you desire to Blog about Your passion, the Garden!
The second Exciting thing to share is the proved fact that almost everyone can enjoy High Yields from very Small Garden Plots. For the past 5 decades I have invested time, energy and capital into growing Food Crops on Large Scale and Small Plots.

The results on yields have always been in favor of the Smaller Garden Plots, because of Intense management control. The other plus is the high yields allowed us to “market” our Surplus and generate some extra Cash…

In 2008 I recorded a whole season of Growing 24 Tomato Plants and proper care yielded over 1,000 pounds of marketable Fruit and over $1,000. The DVD is Available shipped to Your Home for an Affordable Price. Click on the cover below and Learn How to Grow High Yields of tomatoes on your Small Plot of Garden.
In subsequent post we discuss the variables and tricks and tips to manage a High Yield Small Plot Garden

Creating a High Yield Urban Garden (brighthub.com)

Posted in Tips and Tricks | Tagged Garden, High Yields, Home and Garden, plot garden, Small Plot Garden, Tomato, Vegetable | Leave a comment

Abundant Harvests From Small Plot Gardens

Very Small Plot Tomato Planting

In 2008, I planted and recorded the progress of a small plot Tomato Planting (24 Plants). We harvested over 1,000 pounds usable fruit and considered that an abundant harvest.

Fall Vegetable Garden Time

First day of Fall and a good time Small Plot Vegetable gardeners in the Temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere to be Planting their Fall crops

Fall vegetable Gardens lend themselves well to Containers and small patches of Ground and along fence lines

Most of us have been enjoying Tomatoes, Squash, Melons, Peppers and Cucumbers throughout the Summer. We have made it a practice here in the Northern Sacramento Valley, Zone 9 , to plant our Fall Vegetable Garden,

** Warning:

Is there really Sustainability with Small Plot Gardens?

The first question should really be, What is sustainability and How to Achieve it in a Small Plot Garden Plot?

Small Plot Garden

Here is the video of their garden, for your pleasure

Enjoy High Garden Yields from Pruning

Small Plot Gardens need Careful Pruning to Assure High Yielding Vegetables.

One of the easiest Crops to grow is the Tomato and we have always pegged 50# per plant as our Crop Yield Goal. That goal is more easily attainable through proper Pruning throughout the Growing Season.

The Pruning starts at Planting and continues if one is expected to be assure a High Yield of delicious Vine ripened Healthy Tomatoes

Ambrosia Melons from Small Plot Garden

Ambrosia Melons, none sweeter!

One of our favorite Melon variety has been AMBROSIA MELONS.

For the past few decades our family has had the Freedom to grow the bulk of our Fresh Vegetables and produce enough to generate some Tidy Cash Flow and this year we are enjoying Ambrosia melons from a very Small Plot Garden

Why discuss High Yields of Vegetables in Small Plot Gardens?

Small Plot Gardens can deliver High Yields of Vegetables and Fruit

HIGH YIELD

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In 2008, I planted and recorded the progress of a small plot Tomato Planting (24 Plants). We harvested over 1,000 pounds usable fruit and considered that an abundant harvest.

First day of Fall and a good time Small Plot Vegetable gardeners in the Temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere to be Planting their Fall crops

Fall vegetable Gardens lend themselves well to Containers and small patches of Ground and along fence lines

Most of us have been enjoying Tomatoes, Squash, Melons, Peppers and Cucumbers throughout the Summer. We have made it a practice here in the Northern Sacramento Valley, Zone 9 , to plant our Fall Vegetable Garden,

** Warning:

The first question should really be, What is sustainability and How to Achieve it in a Small Plot Garden Plot?

Small Plot Garden

Here is the video of their garden, for your pleasure

Small Plot Gardens need Careful Pruning to Assure High Yielding Vegetables.

One of the easiest Crops to grow is the Tomato and we have always pegged 50# per plant as our Crop Yield Goal. That goal is more easily attainable through proper Pruning throughout the Growing Season.

The Pruning starts at Planting and continues if one is expected to be assure a High Yield of delicious Vine ripened Healthy Tomatoes

Related articles by Zemanta

Ambrosia Melons, none sweeter!

One of our favorite Melon variety has been AMBROSIA MELONS.

For the past few decades our family has had the Freedom to grow the bulk of our Fresh Vegetables and produce enough to generate some Tidy Cash Flow and this year we are enjoying Ambrosia melons from a very Small Plot Garden

Small Plot Gardens can deliver High Yields of Vegetables and Fruit

HIGH YIELD

Related articles by Zemanta

Product Resources