Tomato plants are now ready to thrive and quickly respond to warmer, more consistent temperatures. Set the plants in a furrow about four or five inches deep and two-and-a-half to three feet apart. Apply a layer of peat moss and and a layer of Black Kow composted cow manure in bottom of furrow, then apply an application of Tomato-Tone organic tomato food and hill up soil on both sides.
Wait a few days until plants are established before installing cages or stakes. Keep soil hilled up on both sides of tomato plants. Feed with Tomato-Tone by side dressing every 15 days.
There are hundreds varieties of tomatoes to choose from in all sizes and colors other than red, such as a green that is developed just for lovers of fried green tomatoes. The very best of tomato varieties have endured the test of time and many generations have proved them over the years. The Marglobe, Homestead, Rutgers, German Johnson, Big Boy, and Mortgage lifter are trusted and proven varieties with proven success records. Allow your garden plot to be endowed with these tomato varieties.
One of the “don’ts” of selecting tomatoes is never purchase tomato plants with blooms or green tomatoes on them, and do not buy plants that are already tall. Buy plants that have healthy blue-green stems. Make certain that the packs have four to six plants in them and that they are all healthy. Check to make sure the plants are watered and well-maintained by the business.
When transplanting tomato plants to the garden, apply water to the furrow with a water wand on “stream” mode before setting out the plants. Apply a layer of Tomato-Tone organic tomato food around the base of plant and also an application of peat moss to retain moisture before hilling up plenty of soil on both sides of the furrow. Keep soil hilled up on both sides of tomato plants as they continue to grow. Side dress with Tomato-Tone every 15 to 20 days. Stake a few tomatoes in the row that also have cages on them for extra support.
Lima beans will thrive
Lima beans are definitely a warm-weather almost tropical vegetable. Lima bean bushes requires about 75-80 days to produce a harvest. In a furrow three to four inches deep apply a layer of peat moss before sowing seed thinly, then apply another layer of peat moss on top of the seed. Add Plant-Tone organic vegetable food on top and hill soil up on each side of the furrow and tamp down.
When the beans sprout and develop two leafs, side dress each side of the row with an application of Plant-Tone. Feed by side dressing every 20 days and keep soil hulled up on each side of row. Be on the alert for insects like Japanese beetles.
Peppers are as tropical as they get
Warm days as well as nights are essential for the growth of all types of peppers whether they are sweet or hot varieties. We are moving into mid-May and this is the ideal time to set out peppers.
Plant peppers in hills about two to three feet apart. Apply a layer of peat moss in the bottom of hill and then a layer of Black Kow and an application of Plant-Tone around the base of the pepper plants. Hill up plenty of soil around the plants.
It is always a great idea to support peppers with cages or stakes for support from the wind and thunderstorms. Keep a distance between hot and sweet varieties of peppers in case bees and pollinators cross polinate them.
The sweet perfume of honeysuckle
No other scent except the rose and the Carolina jasmine can hold a candle to the wild honeysuckle vines hanging from the trees and clinging to roadsides in the country roads of Stokes County on pleasant spring evenings. Pick up several stems of wild honeysuckles and place them in a bud vase of water to bring that sweet essence into the house for a heavenly scent to refresh any room. Honeysuckle has a fragrance that you just wish you could bottle up to enjoy in the winter.
Fireflies dance at twilight
As daylight magically changes into twilight, the fireflies appear their inviting lemon glow and flicker. They rekindle memories of grandma’s house in Northampton County and the multitude of hundreds of fireflies each evening on the sawdust pile in front of grandmas house. All you had to do was swing the palm of your hand and catch a firefly. In just a few short minutes, we would fill the bottom of a quart mason jar with fireflies. Before we went to bed, grandma would make us let the fireflies go, then scrub us with soap and water to get rid of that “lightning bug smell.” Even to this day, we like to catch and release a few to recall that smell. (“Firefly” sounds a bit more dignified and respectable than “lightning bug,” don’t you think?)
Strawberry Pudding
2 qt. fresh strawberries, capped, cleaned, and chopped
1 3-oz. box strawberry Jello mix
3 3-oz. boxes of Jello vanilla pudding mix
1 cup sugar
3 cups of milk
1 8-oz. container of sour cream
2 large cartons of Cool Whip
Vanilla Wafers
Mix together strawberries, strawberry Jello and sugar. Warm the mixture up to dilute the juice of the strawberries, then allow the mixture to cool. Pour the vanilla pudding packets into the strawberry mixture and add the milk. After pudding is dissolved, add half of a carton of Cool Whip and the sour cream. You can now begin layering the pudding. Begin with a layer of Vanilla Wafers on the bottom, then the strawberry mixture, then cover with Cool Whip. This will make quit a large pudding. Keep refrigerated.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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