What will you be doing differently next year?

[TomatoDon]

The deer and coons wiped me out this year. I also planted too many tomatoes, stopping at around 2,400. The deer ad coons destroyed over half of those before they were q foot tall...just mowed them down. They nibbled every remaining plant, so 100% of my farm grown plants were damaged in some way by deer and coons.

I also planted over 400 in 25 gallon containers in my back yard and they did fine until the summer heated them up too much, then that was a disaster, too.

So, for next year, I have to get some good plans together to stop the deer and coons, I'm cutting back to around 500 or less plants, and I am growing all of them in big planting holes, lots of organic matter, 24" diameter CRW cages, and will be growing like a gardener again, not a commercial tomato farmer.

Going to put some raised beds back in my back yard like I used to have and hope to grow around 200 there, which should be free of deer and coons. I'll probably have a few relatively small plots scattered around at the farm so if I have any problems they won't be concentrated in one field. I'm an animal lover, but my most practical option is an electric fence, so I will go as light as I can with that unless I can figure out an economical way to have some motion activated water sprinklers to turn on if and when the varmints come in.

Best of luck to everyone in the coming year, and Merry Christmas to all of you.

[imp]

Except that deer do love corn, is there a way to sort of lure the deer to a preferred feeding area, maybe by planting something they love to eat away from the areas you want them out of?

[imp]

I will be growing a garden again this year.

[guruofgardens]

Trying a new fertilizer for the peppers, planting tomatoes for me instead of the 'community' of people who like this or that tomato.
Adding more than usual shredded leaves for mulch as the ground had deep furrows again.
Tilling in more leaves.
Trying only 2 new tomatoes.

[MrsJustice]

Using Machines for farming: Not my hands next year.

[TomatoDon]

What kind of machines?

[JRinPA]

Last year was my first use of drip tape. I will be using more of that, including more gravity driven. Some places, I just want a way to efficiently water a row when necessary, not every day.

I think I'm going to try sweet potatoes in the raised beds. I grew my first this year in-ground but I let them go too long before digging and I think the looser soil and quicker drainage in the raised beds will help them. Half of them never got dug up at all; I figured they'll make good tillage and maybe I can get starts off of them in the spring?

I planted some late sweet corn on whim and it came in nicely. Next year I will plan it and get it in a little earlier to easily outrace the first frost. My three early plots were wonderful and I can only hope to duplicate it. This "Incredible" is very nice and reliable, but not sweet enough to incite squirrel damage. At least, that is how I read it. Unlike supersweets, this corn did not have a single ear fall victim to a varmint. Between that and excellent pollination, this was the first year we had an excess of sweet corn to freeze, and it is delicious. We tested a few ways and found that husked and vacuum sealed was the way to go.

[TomatoDon]

I don't plan to start seedlings as early as I did last year and I hope I have enough sense to not grow as many.

[goodwin]

I'm partnering with New Mexico State University on a grant to study ways to improve soil fertility and increase tomato production. If we get it, we'll have the resources to do all the soil testing and a census of soil microbes and numbers. The tests would run over three seasons, and at the end I'll also have accurate production records for a number of varieties. I'm pretty excited, and keeping my fingers crossed that our proposal is chosen.

Fewer indeterminate tomatoes- my Valentine grape tomatoes went crazy! I bet they would have been 25 ft long if not constantly trimmed! But they were so delicious, and made great slow roasted tomatoes for the freezer.

[Marcus1]

I'm done picking sweet corn. 24 seasons, 1.25 million ears, arthritis in my shoulders and my hands get to cold. Another thing I plan to focus on is weed control in my melon patch. Plan on trying a cover crop to smother the weeds or maybe cardboard between the rows. Does anyone have recommendations for a cover crop that I can plant in the spring that won't overtake the vines?

Thank you Marcus

[Salsacharley]

This is huge! Congratulations! Please keep us posted on what comes.

Originally Posted by goodwin

I'm partnering with New Mexico State University on a grant to study ways to improve soil fertility and increase tomato production. If we get it, we'll have the resources to do all the soil testing and a census of soil microbes and numbers. The tests would run over three seasons, and at the end I'll also have accurate production records for a number of varieties. I'm pretty excited, and keeping my fingers crossed that our proposal is chosen.

[PaulF]

As indicated in another recent thread, No Cherry Tomatoes.

[decherdt]

Add about a pound of expanded shale to each planting hole along with the usual amendments. This is liable to work out ok.
Trying out a mixed row of Gregori's Altai and Indian Stripe just for canning. This is less likely to work out so well :-)

[bower]

Originally Posted by goodwin

I'm partnering with New Mexico State University on a grant to study ways to improve soil fertility and increase tomato production. If we get it, we'll have the resources to do all the soil testing and a census of soil microbes and numbers. The tests would run over three seasons, and at the end I'll also have accurate production records for a number of varieties. I'm pretty excited, and keeping my fingers crossed that our proposal is chosen.

Fantastic! Fingers crossed for you here, get the funds for a great project!!