This year I’m rocking a natural, low-maintenance garden. After reading The $64 Tomato, I decided I’d just stick in my plants, water them every morning, and see what happened.
So far it’s working. The tomato plants are strong and sturdy (well, other than the one “Early Girl” that Cressie trampled), with burgeoning fruit and blossoms. The cucumber vines are exploding, twining up their posts with a little help from some plastic tape, and covered with bright yellow blossoms as well.
As you can see, grass and weeds abound. I whack off a little grass every so often, but that’s all. I didn’t rototill, didn’t fertilize. So far I’ve spent $23.28 for six tomato plants (I’ll have to charge Cressie’s account for the plant she broke off) and $2.95 for a packet of cucumber seeds. So even if I only get one tomato, I’ll still be doing better than the $64-tomato guy!
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The Second Duchess
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I have a little patch of grass in my backyard that never quite makes it (and I hate watering too much). I’d love to plant tomatoes and herbs and things but I am soooo clueless!
Tomatoes and herbs are easy to grow but veggies in particular need lots of watering. I do it the easy way with a soaker hose… one of those perforated hoses that lives permanently in the garden, snaked around in curves so the water reaches all the plants. In the cool (relatively speaking) of the morning I hook up the main hose, turn on the water, and go make my coffee. When the coffee’s done, I turn off the water and disconnect the hose. Voila! Garden watered.