Doing Useful Stuff 2, Planting Tomatoes

Planted tomatoes.  Heirlooms.  Can't wait for the ripe ones.

First, dug nice wide holes with a post-hole digger...  4 per box.

 The hole is deeper than it looks.  They are a foot deep.

Scatter some 2-6-6 organic slow release fertilizer and some pulverized eggshells (for calcium) in the bottom.  Lay the rootball in, add soil and some more fertilizer and eggshell.  Fill it up

Tomato seedling looks happy but floppy from the handling (yes they react to handling).

Add a short stake and a plant clip to hold it upright.

Put a 5 gallon bucket over the seedling...

Put a Wall O' Waters around the bucket...

Put the pointy nozzle on the hose...

And fill up the tubes.  1/2 at first for balance, then 2/3 to hold the teepee upright on its own after you pull the bucket up and out....

Strange as it may seem, the cooling water at night actually releases heat into the center.  The inside is 20F warmer than outside.  I've measured it!   That's great on the occasionally cool nights that drop to 40sF, but the main advantage is that it keeps the soil around the roots warm.  That really matters more.  The soil temperature stays around 60F.