Earth Day

It was a lovely day for Earth Day. We all gathered at the farm. Rene helped Rick load some compost.

They amended row 5 thoroughly.

I added sulphur and iron, and Rick tilled it in. This row will hold tomatoes soon.

As usual, there's only one guy workin and at least 3 guys "supervising."

My what a lovely greenhouse! The tomatoes and peppers are really happy and vigorous.

We have the first peas! They were too small to eat yesterday, but we may eat some today.

The poppies are gorgeous. This one has attracted a bug.

Rene gets Cooper to pose.

I got some information about temperatures and transplanting.

Linda Scoggin, Smith County Master Gardener says:

For optimum growth, all transplants and seeds need to be planted within a certain soil temperature range. Planting too early, before the soil has had time to warm up, can lead to seed rot, slowed germination, poor growth and disease. Tomato transplants need a soil temperature above 60 degrees F for growth. Setting pepper plants out before the soil temperature is 70 degrees F could stunt their growth for the entire growing season. Use the following guide for minimum soil temperatures for seeds and transplants:

60 F - tomatoes, cucumbers, snap beans
65 F - sweet corn, lima beans, mustard greens
70 F - peppers, watermelons, squash, southern peas
75 F - okra, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes

Susan Boeschen, U. C. Master Gardener says,
The sun is shining, tomato plants are in the garden centers and your neighbor is bragging about having tomatoes in the ground. Is it time to plant tomatoes?

Resist the temptation. Tomatoes require warm soil and are very sensitive to frost. The optimum growing temperature for tomatoes is between 75ºF and 95ºF. Temperatures below 57ºF will actually delay growth and encourage disease. Soil temperature is as important as the air temperature. The minimum soil temperature for tomato growth is 50ºF to 55ºF.

Planting tomato seedlings outdoors before the air and soil temperatures warm up will not help achieve early-fruiting tomatoes. The plants will fail to set blossoms, or they will set and then most likely drop the blossoms. So you can put your tomato plants out early and spend lots of time and effort to protect them from the elements, but seedlings planted later when the temperature warms will generally catch up with and surpass the growth of those planted earlier.Why bother? Early planting may buy you bragging rights but not much else.