Japanese Ring Meets earls Hole.

[Leroy]

My goal is to grow the most varieties. I give away more tomatoes than I eat. I do like growing them though. I will dehydrate some this year. I might even try my hand at canning a few.

This is a new patch this year. It is 16 X 16. The soil is very fine sand. I tilled is about one half of a yard of goat manure. It had been in a barn that had the roof blown off. Some if it was full of worms. It will be in the ground for two and a half months when I plant. I do not have enough mulch. So I am going to buy some hay bails and as you see I am collecting some cardboard.

I want to use the Earls hole method. Then pile things to compost in the barrel in the middle. Then after this year just go with deep mulch no till garden. With a little added compost to the planting holes.

The ring is a hog panel. They come 16 ft long and make a ring about 5 ft across. I am going to build 3. Then I will double plant 4 holes around each one. I will plant my beefsteaks in these. The cherries and smaller ones I am going to plant on the fence. The turkeys and roadrunners can eat what ever grows on the outside. And I will take care of what grows on the inside.

I will be growing all of these for the first time.

Delicious.
Green Zebra.
Golden Jubilee
Cherokee Purple.
Kellogs breakfast
Ferris Wheel
Cabot.
Fuzzy Peach
Garden Peach

Bloody Butcher
Gold Currants
Christmas grape
Yellow Pear. We have a plant swap each year I may trade these off.

Will it work?

[Leroy]

Not that well. Next year I will cut them in half.

[dice]

Next year I will cut them in half.

Cut what in half? The number of plants, or the rings?

What was unsatisfying about it?

[Leroy]

Cut what in half?

The Rings. Some of the tomatoes grew in the middle. They were kind of hard to reach. If I had done a better job of keeping the vines tied up it may have worked out better.

[johno]

I like rings that were made from 10' lengths the best, after having tried a few different sizes. Cutting your 16' panels in half might make too small of a ring. Or not... try one before you cut them all, and see if you like the diameter.

Either way, if you fill the rings with leaves and other compostables this fall, (soon,) the tomatoes cannot grow into the center of the rings, or rather only roots can. In that case, you'd still be fine with your big rings - probably better off than smaller ones because you have more room for the plants around them - assuming you can round up enough material to fill those large bins. That can be a tall order.

Other than not being able to reach the middle, how did it go? Did the plants appreciate the method?

[Leroy]

quote]Other than not being able to reach the middle, how did it go? Did the plants appreciate the method?[/quote]

It went well I think. My biggest problem this year was the rain. It would be dry for a few weeks then very wet. Most of my tomatoes split.

Then there was a fungus that started in the compost then spread onto one of the Cherokee Purples. The plant would wilt for a couple of days and then get better. It did that a few times then took off and caught up with the rest.

I like rings that were made from 10' lengths the best, after having tried a few different sizes. Cutting your 16' panels in half might make too small of a ring. Or not... try one before you cut them all, and see if you like the diameter.

Instead of rings I think I will cut them to a half round shape then use two T post to hold up each half. Then I can pick tomatoes from each side. Then make three planting holes for each half.

[dice]

With the sandy soil, I think the thick layer of compost that
a ring provides was a good idea, but maybe you don't need
rings to get that. Assuming that you can find enough material,
maybe your fence around the edges will hold a foot-thick layer
of organic matter in place (maybe a good place to use the cardboard).

[Leroy]

With the sandy soil, I think the thick layer of compost that
a ring provides was a good idea, but maybe you don't need
rings to get that.

I can get a lot of OM between news paper coffee grounds and the cardboard I bring home from work. It is at least 1/2 cubic foot a day. Then I will be raking up a lot of leaves. I am going to go with a no till. Maybe flip over the chunks of cardboard on occasion.

[dice]

Quoting from a web page on worm bins: "Worms love
cardboard".

(I was thinking that you could line the bottom foot of the
surrounding fence with it, to keep the organic matter from
falling out around the outside edge, so that you get a raised
bed effect.)

[Leroy]

I grow flowers on the outside. If a bit leaks out it would be good. The best thing about the cardboard is that I can lay out a full sheet to smother out the grass.

[Dukerdawg]

That title conjures up a strange sexual practice unbeknownsta to me....thank goodness@!