WINTERIZE GARDEN

kchiarini
kchiarini Posts: 66 ✭✭✭

Hi everyone. Hope you are all safe.

I have a situation that I trust you have the answer to:

I planted 18 San Marsano tomato plants in my 10' x 5' garden. Little did I know the majority of them would do great! I had more tomatoes than I expected. In any case, now that it is cooler (here in Brooklyn, NY), I'm not sure what to do. I pulled off all the green tomatoes (not sure what I am doing with them, hopefully, I can freeze them), so the entire plant remains. Should I pull it from the ground, trim it close to the ground, or leave it as is? Also, I believe I have to mark where I planted them so as to not grow the same vegetable next year in that spot. Does that sound right to you?

Lastly, I'm very excited about this: I purchased some worms, threw them in a cat litter tub with water, organic dirt, shredded paper, and liquified veggie scraps. When I looked at them yesterday, after sitting in there for about a month, it looked very wet, but when I moved it around, I saw the worms were moving and grooving. I'm not quite sure what to do with it - I thought maybe I should spread it out across the entire garden, or should I concentrate on putting it where the plants were (if I pulled them up), or are (if I leave them). Or do I punch holes and shove the material down it?

This city girl truly appreciates your thoughts and wisdom.

Comments

  • flowerpower *
    flowerpower * Posts: 258 ✭✭✭

    The green tomatoes can be placed in a dark container like a brown paper bag and left to ripen in a cool location. They will keep for several months like this and you can use them as they ripen.

    It would be convenient to place the spent tomato vines on the compost and push a plant tag or stake in to mark the spot. If the tomatoes did not have a disease you can actually reuse the same spot. Just add some compost to the soil if possible. Maybe someone more expert on tomatoes than I am can suggest more specific amendments.

    I do not know much about "vermiculture" (worm culture) but I believe you should not turn the worms loose in a garden. They would likely attach the plants. Maybe that is not what you meant. I imagine just the turnings are used in the garden and that the worms need shelter from the cold.

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nice job on the tomatoes. I would not turn the worms loose. Are there drain holes, so excess moisture can drain out? If not, there needs to be. Then you can put a tray underneath it to catch the leachate (the liquid gold that results from worm activity) and use it as fertilizer.

  • kchiarini
    kchiarini Posts: 66 ✭✭✭

    Hi, @flowerpower * ! Thank you for your response. I never knew you could put green tomatoes in a bag for months to ripen. I will definitely try that.

    So, you suggest I pull the entire tomato plant and mark them? I was going to leave a short stalk to be my mark for next year. Is that not a good idea?

    As far as letting the worms loose, there really are no plants left for them to attach to as we are getting cool here in NY. I didn't know they need shelter. I thought they would work their way down in the dirt and stay warm there. Boy, I have a lot to learn.

    I welcome any more thoughts. Thank you!

  • kchiarini
    kchiarini Posts: 66 ✭✭✭

    @Tave l, thank you for your comments. I didn't think to put drain holes in the bottom b/c then the worms would escape, no? Or is that a good thing assuming I put the bucket on top of the garden soil? I have heard of compost tea, which I understand to be very valuable, but again, I thought the worms would escape. Would you let me know your thoughts on this? Thank you!

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November 2020

    My understanding is that you don't want to plant any nightshade plants (tomatoes, potatoes) in the same plot for three years. Rotate some other family of plant into that area. Your green tomatoes can also be fried up and eaten without ripening. Wish my San Marzano tomatoes had done so well! But I had only a couple of plants.

  • jowitt.europe
    jowitt.europe Posts: 1,465 admin

    @kchiarini Hello! I am a hobby gardener and have a wide variety in my garden to provide ourselves with healthy vegetables and fruit. I have to admit that I love experimenting and I love breaking the rules 😊. This is my experience:

    tomatoes: in autumn I collect all the green ones and put them on a windowsill where it is light and warm. Then they ripe faster. If I want to slow the process, I put them where it is light and cool. I never tried to put them in a box or a bag to ripen. I should try.

    i put the rest of tomato plants on my compost heap. The worms do the job. and I plant tomatoes always in the same greenhouse in the same place for more than 10 years. Every spring I bring new compost and new soil, but only to the places where I plant them. I have to say that I always have a good harvest.

    concerning worms, I would let them loose in a compost heap. They will do a good job until next spring and they will stay warm there. I alwaysI let my worms loose. They are interested in everything that is rotting rather than healthy vegetables. And they ventilate the soil, by crawling. My worms are everywhere in the garden as I spread compost every spring and there are plenary of worms in my compost. And they are food for the birds. I have plenty of these too.

  • JennyT Upstate South Carolina
    JennyT Upstate South Carolina Posts: 1,273 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @kchiarini How wonderful that your tomato harvest was so plentiful. Mine did not do as well I'm afraid. And I'd be repeating what everyone else has said about what to do with the remaining tomatoes. I did pull up all my tomato plants and placed them in the compost/burn pile.

    As far as the worms go you said that you ordered them. Do you know what kind they are? Because I have learned that if you have red wrigglers (those are the type that is commonly used for vermicomposting) they will not survive out in the garden. Because apparently they don't know how to borrow down like other worms do, and take shelter from the elements. They prefer to be up where the food is.

    And if you look online, there are many ways for keeping a vermicomposting bin in your house and then you could use the castings in the spring on your garden. There are several discussions in this form about taking care of your worm bin, here a just a few. And I found on YouTube some things too. All you have to look up is beginning vermicomposting.

    Winter vermicomposting


    Discussion by MaryRowe · November 2 ·HOME› OUR GARDEN: GROWING FOOD› COMPOSTING & SOIL FERTILITY

    Steve Churchill,Urban Worm Co, just posted a very good article about methods of keeping your worm bins warm in winter. (Link) He also includes a link in this article to a blog by Bentley Christie who is doing some awesome outdoor vermicomposting all through the winter in Ontario. Good stuff--makes my little indoor worm…

    Vermicomposting- separating worms from castings


    Discussion by Desire’ · January 2019 ·HOME› OUR GARDEN: GROWING FOOD› COMPOSTING & SOIL FERTILITY

    There are a couple of techniques depending on how large the container the worms are in. If you have a large container you can wait until the worms have eaten most of the food in the bin and then add food to one side only. After a period of time the worms will naturally move toward the food and you can harvest the castings…

    Re: Covid 19 Projects


    Comment by annbeck62 · September 18 ·HOME› CURRENT EVENTS & BREAKING NEWS› COVID-19/CORONAVIRUS

    I also started an indoor microgreen garden and started vermicomposting. I can honestly say I never thought I'd be keeping worms inside my house on purpose.

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @kchiarini I agree with @JennyT about the worms. If you ordered them and they are specifically for worm bins, such as red wigglers (eisenia fetida), they don’t live in soil and won't survive in the garden. The ones in your garden are usually earthworms and night-crawlers (lumbricus terrestris). Because they want to be where their food is, they won’t try to escape if they are well-fed. And you don’t have to make the holes large enough for them to escape, just the water.