Farmall Cub

The farmers in flordia are plowing there tomato plants under because of the high cost of fuel and fertilizer and low prices on tomato's. I'm thinking this will cause a tomato shortage in your local supermarkets.
We grow our own veggies anyway its been handed down for the past generations in my family to have gardens. I told the misses to plant extra tomato plants to be sure we have enough fresh tomatoes to eat and for canning too.

Make sure you plant tomatoes even if its in a 5 gallon bucket on your condo deck, you can grow veggies anywhere. Don't get caught up paying high prices at the supermarket.

Big Bill,

Had not heard about the farmers plowing under their tomatos. I am glad now that I set out 74 Better Boy tomato plants. Maybe I didn't over do it after all.

Billy

74? Wow, that's a bunch.

I pass by acres and acres of tomatoes every day going to work in extreme Southern Georgia. Farmers there are not plowing them under. At least, not as of Friday.

We bought our Better Boy plants yesterday. I'm going to give the "upside down" method one more try.

We always had about 100 tomato plants when the misses was canning when the kids were smaller. When the first recession hit and i lost my job a canned jar of tomatoes, 1lb of ground beef, 1 can of tomato paste, 1lb of macroni, some grated italian cheese and some home made garlic bread we really ate good during the tough times and cheap too. Having a garden surely feed the family during the bad and good times too.

A few years back i put an addition on the old house and didn't have a garden for 1 summer. I paid $5 for two tomatoes that summer and tilled a new garden right away for the following year. For my whole life i missed 1 garden. Paying $5 for two lousy tomatoes still burns my butt to this day.

I just ordered a few nut trees, strawberries, blueberries, peach trees and apple trees. I have some honey crisp apple trees and white peach trees already planted but its going to take a few years for fruit. I'm talking with the misses about expanding our garden too so we can grow more stuff. Its my gut feeling that the high gas and fertilizer prices will hit the cost of everything we eat more in the future too. If the tomato farmers are plowing there tomatoes in the ground because of the high costs and low tomato prices who will be next to not grow there crops or raise the prices even more. I'm kicking in my survival mode now for the future. My three grown kids are very healthy because they ate the fresh veggies from the garden and not so much of the bought canned good stuff.

Now all my latest purchases of equipment and tractors are going to pay for themselves. There going to earn there keep for sure.

You're on the right track Big Bill. Keep up the good work!

They may be plowing them under to plant Corn for all this ethanol mess. I sure hate the way people just cost themselves a dollar to save a dime. It just dont make good sense. I just seems that these big companies waste more product than they produce. I guess the more they make the more stupid they get.I always looked at it as, you use a dollar to make a dollar, a dime to make a dime. If you use a dollar to make a dime you just wasted time and a good dollar. If you use a dime to make a dollar you just used your time wisely and used common sense. I think thats the lines that most were taught anyway.


$5 for 2 tomatoes is ridiculous, I pretty well done the same thing. Thats when I decided I wanted to have my own Garden, grow most of my own food. I am a little late getting in the game but I hope I can get my son to consider the options of growing your own food and the pay off it will have on him and his Family in the future. I still got a lot to learn about the Garden, canning. The more I read on this site and the comments on the different aspects of Farming, I have learned quite a bit. I see how others do it and see where I have made mistakes in the past. I do believe EVERYONE should have a garden of some sort just for the independence part of it. I believe in the near future we are gonna be full circle back to the old days and people are gonna have to learn all this again. I didnt get to have the Garden I wanted this year, but I plan a dang good one next year. With the help and knowledge of all the fellas and women folk on this site I might just have a pretty good one next year. Good Luck with all the Gardens planted, hope all of ya'll have a good crop. Mandel T.

The gardens/farming has been my whole life, and I too can see the food problem coming!---It will start in one area and spread like a wildfire!

Around here the local farmers markets wont let you sell produce UNLESS you have/pay/and pass health department inspection!(this is to discourage competition, I guess)!
We dont sell because we dont have all the money it would take to do so!---heck we cant even GIVE good fresh produce away around here! (they go to the store and pay out the yanger for the inferior stuff, then B**** about how bad it tastes!---I know we eat good all year round from our gardens!(can, freeze, store in the cellar, etc.)

I have tried to encourage ALL persons, (all ages) to do the "grow something" thingy,---and most just laugh!!(cant get them purdy fingernails dirty!!!! OK, Thats MY observation on the subject!!! thanks; sonny

We have a simular situation around here. I don't even try to sell my stuff. That would be too much like a job, and I had one of them one time and I quit it. What we don't eat fresh, we put up. We give a lot of it away if we can get people to come and get it. If it is already ready for the freezer, they will come. In my opinion, if a person is too sorry to stoop over and pick up something good to eat, there is not much to them. I will carry stuff to the older people who are not able to come and get it themselves. They do appreciate it. And you don't have to wash it either. The older people always say that they can still do that. The rest of them can just root hog or die poor. I have no use for those that won't help themselves and are able to. I better get down off my soap box. I am about to get nose bleed. Just my opinion.

Billy

Farmers Markets are a funny thing. Ours is not big because of space, about 30 vendors at it's peak. Most vendors are the organic ones or just getting rid of the extra home stuff. Cost is $3 to set up. Sure there the ones that think they can cut a fat hog like the guy selling eggs for $3.50 when just ways away the kids are selling for $1.50. We have lots of regulars and older folks. Some with a farming background so it becomes a social event. We don't see many manicured finger nails or designer purses. I agree with Sunny and Billy about the uppity ones and also encourage everyone to grow something even a flower. It's almost sun up, the birds are chirping, and it's time to go to the market. Just folks at the Farmers Market this time of day the rest are still in bed.

Well this year has been my biggest garden season. At work I make compost and the EPA likes to see gardens at the landfill. We planted 6 200 foot rows of peanuts, 2 rows the same length of stick beans and 2 rows of peas and a 1/2 pound of yellow squash there, and some sunflowers. Then here at the house I planted 12 rows of bush beans, 3/4 pounds of zuccini and another half pound of squash and then some toppick peas and tomatos. I had 250 tomato plants started i nthe green house but a lady that truck patches bought all but 45 of mine out. I had one roma and 3 better boys and the rest were Brandywines. I take a tomato every day to cut up at work when I get lunch. I paid 6.50 for 2 waxy nasty maters a month ago.

We got pounded with a fungus and a blight, very poor yield many of the local farmers have harrowed the crop under as did every acre of field and shade tobacco in the Ct River Valley. Too much moisture for sure, I manage to get a few good tomatoes here and there. No sauce in the freezer this year.

Same here Joe - My tomato row is nearly done with blight. We managed to get enough to make some relish, but no garden fresh BLT's for me this summer. I even had to pull all the potatoes due to blight. Way too much rain in Maine!

I planted 40+ tomato plants but they didn't do very well at all this year. usually my plants last way into the fall, but they are already drying up.
Dad gave me a new spot to plant my garden so it will be bigger next year

i'm with taylor lambert on that tomato a day, i planted ten different tomato plants and no two are the same. i went out yesterday and today and gleaned everything that was ripe or near ripe in preparation for the heat wave that is expected around these parts. three days above 90 degree is declared a heat wave. unfortunately one death has been already reported. i have been picking green beans, egg plant,corn, peppers,butternut squash,cucumbers,broccoli ,zuccini,radishes and cauliflower. my garden is not super large but the bounty is plenty enough i can give to all the family and friends that come through.

my tomato plants have me on edge right now, the slugs are really bad this year. i go out with a flashlight and grab and smash every one i can find. i'm going to put some epson salts down and a little diatemaceous earth and see what happens. if the start to really yellow i may put down the soaker hoses also,as i have only watered them once this year and that was only a couple of buckets of water when it first started warming up.

i agree with all of those here who say it's a shame so many don't seek the bounty of the earth, a few dollars in seeds,or a small investment in a few plants gives major returns when you put in the work.