Too many tomatoes ... already?

When I wrote about no-dig gardening last year, I noticed that one question kept coming up again and again from the many readers who e-mailed me: "Is it really that easy?"

As a sometime gardener with a hectic lifestyle, I decided to find out. Certainly if I could do it, anyone could. Along with my two kids, 7 and 11, I assembled a vegetable patch in my backyard in about, oh, 10 minutes. It really was that easy. But would it produce? A fairly good crop of vegetables ensued, considering I never did anything other than  water it occasionally (the low water element is for real). But before I could reapply straw, hay and compost for spring crops, these rogue tomato plants took over like wildflowers.

I’m not sure where the volunteers came from – I presume my compost – but I do know that I have never not planted such a hearty group of tomatoes. I will be trying to re-create this low-key, low-water, accidental way of gardening — which I attribute to the amazing no-dig soil that has decomposed beautifully since the fall — next year. 

  -- Lisa Boone

Photo: Lisa Boone 

Comments

[melodiesoul]

il n'y a rien de plus simple que de réussir des tomates;il est vrai que la qualité du compost est essentielle; j'ai aussi des potirons en bacs,apparemment, ça marche.

[melodiesoul]

il n'y a rien de plus simple que de réussir des tomates;il est vrai que la qualité du compost est essentielle; j'ai aussi des potirons en bacs,apparemment, ça marche.

[melodiesoul]

il n'y a rien de plus simple que de réussir des tomates;il est vrai que la qualité du compost est essentielle; j'ai aussi des potirons en bacs,apparemment, ça marche.

[Linda]

I cry 'bullpoop'! Is it really the case that you have no gopher problem in S.Cal? If so, I guess I'm just jealous. my entire yard is about 4-6 inches above grade due to years of gopher activity -- and even planter boxes with 2-foot deep trenches filled with gravel around them don't stop them -- they just go 3 feet deep and come up in the planter box.

The only solution I've heard work for anyone is digging down a few feet to provide sufficient root space, and covering your entire base with gopher wire, then backfilling with soil -- then you could put your newspapers and compost on top of that.

Up here in Santa Cruz, (CA), where I live, the only perfect garden's I've seen have had a few feet (depends on what you want to grow -- if you want tall plants that like deep tap roots, you want multiple feet -- corn being a good example) of earth removed, then zinc plated (won't rust out for 20-30 years or more -- I know from having dug up old ones that were still 'solid' (hadn't begun to rust apart)) gopher wire laid down solid so they can't get in. Then they backfilled. Beautiful gardens & lawns, but DEFINITELY NOT a no-dig, or low-dig solution -- and NOT easy on your back (this being an understatement from someone who has back problems)...*sigh*.

Boohiss for making it sound so easy. I love the cuteness of the gophers, but I'm beginning to think of them as vermin. If I knew of a good predator, I'd invest, but know of none that stay confined to an area and that are thorough. (Some will catch the few that surface, if they catch them, but have only heard of yard animals getting 1 -- maybe in their lifetimes).

Yes -- have tried traps, (avoided), and sonic, in-ground 'annoying devices' -- and my favorite: 'gopher purge' -- they just ate it as well! :-)

[sarahliz]

Linda, I think urban Southern California gardeners have fewer gopher problems than it sounds like you do in your area. It really varies a lot, I think. However for things that don't put down an extremely deep tap root, this method isn't out of the question with gophers. Simply start your first layer with the gopher wire. The overall stack described in the original article about Marifisi's method starts out about 14 inches high (though it does compress according to his description). And the original instructions include the ability to start on concrete. So no-dig is doable even with gophers as long as you use the gopher wire as the base for your no dig bed. I'm not sure how well that would work with things like corn but the article is more geared toward urban backyard gardeners, most of whom probably aren't dedicating enough space to vegetables to have much success with pollinating corn anyway.

[dw]

Unless you planted heirloom tomatoes the likelyhood of your volunteers being any good is very very low. Hybrids don't reproduce true. Also, if the seeds lived through composting, then you are not composting correctly, probably turning it too much, or not completely.

[thealaskan]

dw: you sound like a compost nazi. r u a tree musketeer too? Linda-- You must read the great writers on conflict-- the best defense is a good offense. Get a hose, a big cat and a hoe and go after those valley pocket gophers. Don't let their big yellow teeth intimidate you. Don't let their water soaked fur cause sympathy. It's them or your tomatoes. Hey, they'll pull a rose bush straight down until an m-80 is placed in an apple (ouchie). Gophers are no big deal in LA, that's why the critter was called the San Francisco Valley Pocket Gopher. (There also is the San Francisco Sand Flea) These are Tough and Lovely beasts if you like big heaps of dirt and nothing that grows much if it is at all edible. They must use the rose thorns as toothpicks.
Get your m-80's in Nevada but don't fly.

[cs]

@thealaskan dw is right, a 'correct' compost pile gets hot enough long enough to kill seeds. That doesn't mean that an 'incorrect' pile won't produce good compost, it'll just take longer and grow the seeds of whatever you toss in it.

I don't compost correctly, I just toss the stuff in a pile and let it rot, sometimes I turn it over or spray some water on it. I get all kinds of veggie volunteers because of it, but I don't care. I just pull up or throw another layer of straw over anything I don't want to grow. Except the dang bindweed, can't get rid of that stuff.