In The Garden with Judy -Week 4
It’s a happy day when the young tomato plants can finally go outside to start hardening off! With sunshine and a high in the mid-70’s this afternoon, the weather is nice enough to start transitioning them in a sheltered location.
I’ve chosen a spot on the east side of the house where they will get morning sun and afternoon shade. In this area, they are protected from wind and from getting too much sun at once, which can cause leaf sunburn. When you first start to harden off your tomatoes, don’t be surprised if they look a little wobbly and floppy as they adjust to outdoor conditions. As long as you keep them watered, and they are protected from wind (which could cause stems to break), they will toughen up.
This hardening off period in a sheltered location will take about a week. It’s necessary to get them used to bright sun and outdoor conditions. If a late frost threatens, I’ll bring them back in at night. They’ll only be allowed to stay out all night when nighttime temperatures will definitely stay above freezing. 
Remember that when you transplant tomatoes, you should either bury the stem half way down in the soil, or lay the plant on it side and cover it half way with soil. The lower stem will then produce more roots along it, and the top of the plant will grow upwards and be more vigorous.
Remember the Lobelia plugs that I transplanted into larger cells a couple weeks
ago? They’re really growing now and looking perky. I’ve got the flat right next to the tomatoes to start their hardening off process as well. They should be blooming in another 2-3 weeks.
We had a couple good days of rain last week, so the soil in the garden beds is still moist, and the weeds are sprouting like…well…weeds! This is the perfect time to go out and tackle them. I have five main organic methods in my attack plan:
In rock pathways where little weeds spring up all over, I pull out the ‘big gun’ to make an easy task of what could be a time-consuming process. My weapon of choice is a blowtorch. (A lot of garden centers carry these.) A quick blast from it aimed right at a weed will boil its cells, root and all, so it doesn’t come back. Of course, if you use this method, be sure to stay away from flammable structures.
The hula hoe is my next favorite weed elimination tool. It works well in
areas with bare dirt. You simply rock it back and forth over the weeds, and it makes them disappear in a jiffy.
The paths between the raised vegetable beds are layered with several inches of dried grass clippings to keep weeds down. But, sometimes those pesky weeds work their way up through a thin spot anyway. An easy fix to smother them is to lay a couple sheets of newspaper over the top of them, then put down another few inches of grass clippings. Simple, but effective!
It seems to be a never-ending battle to control the grass that creeps under your borders into your flowerbeds. Unwanted grass has to be dug up with a trowel to get the whole clump. Along with that, it’s a good idea to follow any runner roots along with your hand to get all of it. (Grass roots are easy to identify, because they are so white.) It’s important to get the entire root system out or the grass will just re-sprout from it.
Of course, you really don’t need any special tools to get rid of weeds. When the ground is this soft, it’s easy to reach down and pull most of them out with your hands. Bindweed is a particular enemy that must be tackled with direct hand to-hand combat! Every time I see it creeping along, I pull it up, trying to get as much of the root as possible. This method is by no means foolproof. Since bindweed can regenerate from long roots, you may have to pull up the same plant many times before it weakens and gives up. (Some organic gardeners are known to resort to weed killers on this particular foe out of frustration, but note that applying weed killer on bindweed in the spring when it’s in vigorous growth mode can be like giving it a shot of caffeine—what doesn’t die just grows even faster. If you do choose to use weed killer, save it for the fall when bindweeds roots are storing up nutrients to prepare for dormancy. They will absorb it better and then be unable to recover.) But the best plan of action for weeds, and especially bindweed is to: Dig it up! Dig it up! Dig it up! Persistence is the key to winning the battle with weeds.