A couple more weeks and I need to start tilling the garden for this year.

[bearfan454]

Early Girl and Brandywine tomatoes for canning. Franmarz sent me her big pressure cooker canner a few weeks back.

[NMDemDist2]

1. we had a nice day yesterday and I was able to go out and start setting

up my square foot garden patches

i'll hve 28 SF when it's all set. 24 plots out in the side yard and 4 ft right next to the deck for herbs and small lettuces' etc

so nice of franmom to loan you her canning cooker

i'm hoping i can do mostly freezing of veggies this year, but may need to figure out how to can some tomatos like you did last year. i also hope to dry a bunch of onions & taters or read more about letting them winter over in the ground.

I have the extension agent's name and card so i'm hoping he can help me too

:bounce:

[sazemisery]

3. If you freeze your veggies, get a Food Saver

Not only do they save space in the freezer but they keep food fresher longer, you can boil them to cook. I pour my soups in them and freeze with the top open then vacuum seal them.

[NMDemDist2]

4. i wondered about that

thanks for the hint!

[sazemisery]

2. After the Ice Storm, now it's snowing

I want to start thinking about spring. I have decided what I'm planting and where. But this WEATHER?!?!? My 5 acres remind me of a scene from Band of Brothers when they were surrounded at Bastogne. Snow on the ground but the trees are all shredded and strewn around. It will take all spring and summer to clean this mess up. But being the optimist I am happy about the fact that a lot of the felled trees are cedar and I have a chipper/shredder that handles up to a 2 1/2 inch circumference. Free mulch!
Here's a picture taken the second day after the ice storm and before the snow started falling today:

No wonder I can't get in the gardening mood.:shrug:

[NMDemDist2]

5. wow! too bad about the trees but free mulch is good

here's a pic from my southern desert NM home from the snow last week

8 inches on the ground in the AM and all melted by 3PM :shrug:

[Gormy Cuss]

6. Early Girl is the only hybrid tomato that we grow.

It's just so reliable, early, and prolific.

[NMDemDist2]

7. are they indeterminate? n/t

[Gormy Cuss]

8. Yes, and our plant is a monster by the end of summer.

On the other hand, I grew one in a 7 gallon pot one year and it put out a fair amount of fruit. I think it would do well if you gave it its own bed but the root system will extend as far as it can go -- may not be a good choice for an intensive square foot garden.

I can recommend a determinate yellow tomato however -- Taxi. Nice flavor, sets a decent amount of fruit, the plant is bushy and usually compact.

[NMDemDist2]

9. well I have some big spots in what is going to be based on SFG

there is actually a 10x12 plot in the side yard that i'm not going to have enough space to fill completely so a huge mater plant can sprawl a bit

i'll keep it's size in mind when figuring out where to place it