On May 24th, we were finally able to begin transplanting our tomato and pepper plants outside. Andrew planted them together, in one large plot in our field, but saved a few for gardens near the house. He started by tilling the soil with the tiller attachment on his tractor. He spaced the rows far enough apart that he can till between the rows with his tractor to keep the weeds down. This also allows me to drive my Trackchair through the rows so I can help care for the plants and assist in harvesting once they start producing.
After he was done with that, he used his walk-behind tiller, with a hill and furrow attachment, to make hills. He made another pass to create the furrow. The furrow created in this step is where he will place the plants and cover them with loose soil. He ended up with 10 rows, and each of them are 165 feet long.
Planting tomato plants
Measure spacing and add fertilizer
He started transplanting tomato plants first. After the soil was tilled, he spread out a measuring tape the length of the entire row. Every three feet he went down the row and laid down some fertilizer. This served a dual purpose: to mark the spot where the tomato plants will go, and feed the roots once they are in the ground.
Place tomatoes in furrow and cover with dirt
Next, he placed the tomatoes on top of the fertilizer and planted them in the soil. They were planted about 8″ deep within the furrow. This was a very big job, and it is one I would love to help with. However, with my paralysis, I’m not able to get down on the ground. A little hover craft would be a cool thing to have so I could help with the planting too! In all honesty, there are still so many things I can do that I have trouble getting them all done. Plus, Andrew did have some helpers. His Dad, as well as our son, both chipped in. With that assistance, he was able to get them all in the ground in one day.
Water each plant
It was necessary to water the newly transplanted tomatoes because their roots are not yet established. Even though we’ve had plenty of rain, they needed some water to help them through the transplant shock. We had to use hoses and do the watering manually, because we don’t have our drip lines set up yet. It took quite a while, but without it I’m not sure they would have survived. It was a windy day as well, and they were looking very droopy before we watered them. They looked MUCH happier after we gave them a drink.
Plant basil between tomatoes
The last thing he did was plant a basil plant between each tomato plant. Basil is a good companion crop for tomatoes. They are said to repel insects, and possibly make the tomatoes taste a little sweeter. The thing I like the most about it is having some fresh basil plants around when I freeze and can our produce.
We ended up with six rows of Roma and Rutger tomato plants, with a total of about 330 plants. Some of those will not make it through the stress of transplanting, but hopefully most will do well. They will still need to be caged and staked, but they are small enough we have plenty of time to get that done. Next, we moved on to our pepper plants.
Transplanting pepper plants using same method
The next day, on May 25th, Andrew began putting our pepper plants in the ground. They were getting quite large and are very happy to be out of those little cups.
He followed the same method for the peppers as he did with the tomatoes, except we didn’t plant a companion crop with them. There are some good companion crops that do well with peppers, but we have limited space for starting plants indoors so the peppers get to go it alone. He did, however, have enough space in the furrows to plant the peppers in a double row. We’ve done this in years gone by, and it has worked out well.
I did not get photos of this because I was working with my son to get our flower and herb gardens planted. We ended up with two rows of bell peppers, and two half rows of hot peppers. In the extra space, we planted yellow zucchini. Counting both the hot and bell peppers, we have over 400 pepper plants.
Summary of planting tomato and pepper plants outside
Aerial photos show garden layout
My son has a small drone that he uses to take aerial photos of our gardens for us. Above is a labeled aerial view of our pepper and tomato garden. In early April, we planted one row of potatoes and onions in this garden. As I mentioned, we also have two half row of yellow zucchini planted in the extra space that the tomatoes and peppers didn’t fill. All the other plants are tomatoes (with basil in between) and pepper plants.
Install drip lines, cages, and fertilizer
We set up drip lines to keep them watered in case we don’t get enough rain. Also, we will need to cage and stake the tomatoes, as I mentioned above. We plan to give them a foliar treatment of Spray-N-Grow with Bill’s perfect fertilizer once a week for nutrients. That is about all we will need to do for them until they are ready to harvest.
Transplanting tomato and pepper plants is a physically demanding job, but it is so rewarding each year to finally have them in the ground after all the work it took to get them to this stage. Although the best part comes when we can harvest them, and if all goes well, we look forward to that very soon!
