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hasshoes · June 2, 2007

Thank you amideutch. . . I'm off to buy some lime the second I finish this post!!!!

I didn't post yesterday because I was involved in "Adventures in Soil Testing". . . I couldn't get many consistent reads for my raised beds (I didn't want to knock what was left of my mounds over. . . more on that later. . .) but what was consistant is that my "Heather's Hole" ph's (I have two I haven't planted in) were ph 4.5 (or lower. . . that was as low as the test went.)

My raised beds aka giant mounds melted. They were about 22-26 inches high and my fluffly holes were as deep as I could dig (about 20, maybe 26 inches), so I think the raised beds sunk into the fluffy holes. Also, the child of the neighboring gardener watered them for me (!!!!) and I hadn't yet reinforced them, so I'm sure that eroded them too.

I may acutally go crazy!!!!! :0s I can't dig anymore!!! My back is wack from carrying around a 30lb puppy. . .although I guess there are worse problems to have. . . :0).

I found a store that allegedly has composted peat hummus, so I'm going to try to get that and try planting in the correct Earl's fashion in my garden area that doesn't get tons of sun. If my other maters look horrific when I get there, I may just rip them up and start over with short season varieties.

Thank you Earl for your kindness :0). Sorry to be the first person to make a disaster of your famous Hole method :0(. . .it may be foolproof but not Lowe's-proof!!!!! (they told me all peat was the same) The spagham peat was a giant "compacted" bag. . . it was the heaviest thing I've ever carried and I had to really chop it to get the orangey-red peat stuff out. For the "Heather's Holes" I tried to follow your Earl's ratio on GW plus with maybe an extra several inches of peat to fluff up the soil. Some of the raised areas were almost half spagham peat because I read on Laurel's Heirloom Tomato plants that the soil was supposed to be FLUFFY (she said this many times :0).

My ph readings from the mounds (I took samples from the mounds and mixed them together) were mainly ph 5 with a few 5.5s and one 6 (untouched topsoil). . . . so I'm off to buy some lime. Will update tonight, and maybe even entertain everyone with hilarious pictures (of my tomatoes and weird mounds, that is :0)

Thanks again!! I will grow a tomato this summer, even if it means raising a dwarf under the sunroof of my car. . . . :0)

June 2, 2007	#18
hasshoes Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: MT Posts: 438	Thank you amideutch. . . I'm off to buy some lime the second I finish this post!!!! I didn't post yesterday because I was involved in "Adventures in Soil Testing". . . I couldn't get many consistent reads for my raised beds (I didn't want to knock what was left of my mounds over. . . more on that later. . .) but what was consistant is that my "Heather's Hole" ph's (I have two I haven't planted in) were ph 4.5 (or lower. . . that was as low as the test went.) My raised beds aka giant mounds melted. They were about 22-26 inches high and my fluffly holes were as deep as I could dig (about 20, maybe 26 inches), so I think the raised beds sunk into the fluffy holes. Also, the child of the neighboring gardener watered them for me (!!!!) and I hadn't yet reinforced them, so I'm sure that eroded them too. I may acutally go crazy!!!!! :0s I can't dig anymore!!! My back is wack from carrying around a 30lb puppy. . .although I guess there are worse problems to have. . . :0). I found a store that allegedly has composted peat hummus, so I'm going to try to get that and try planting in the correct Earl's fashion in my garden area that doesn't get tons of sun. If my other maters look horrific when I get there, I may just rip them up and start over with short season varieties. Thank you Earl for your kindness :0). Sorry to be the first person to make a disaster of your famous Hole method :0(. . .it may be foolproof but not Lowe's-proof!!!!! (they told me all peat was the same) The spagham peat was a giant "compacted" bag. . . it was the heaviest thing I've ever carried and I had to really chop it to get the orangey-red peat stuff out. For the "Heather's Holes" I tried to follow your Earl's ratio on GW plus with maybe an extra several inches of peat to fluff up the soil. Some of the raised areas were almost half spagham peat because I read on Laurel's Heirloom Tomato plants that the soil was supposed to be FLUFFY (she said this many times :0). My ph readings from the mounds (I took samples from the mounds and mixed them together) were mainly ph 5 with a few 5.5s and one 6 (untouched topsoil). . . . so I'm off to buy some lime. Will update tonight, and maybe even entertain everyone with hilarious pictures (of my tomatoes and weird mounds, that is :0) Thanks again!! I will grow a tomato this summer, even if it means raising a dwarf under the sunroof of my car. . . . :0)