New England weather... and attempts at organic gardening. Need advice.

Ugh, this steamy weather has been relentless.
I am barely getting out in the garden.
Even in the morning, it has been in the upper 70s with the humidity at 90%.
So uncomfortable.

So, I'm looking for a way to make my garden a bit lower maintenance since I'm having trouble keeping up with weeding. These plans are slightly for autumn planting and mainly for next year, of course.
I'm thinking of mixing in organic plant food, stirring, watering, and then covering over with either cut up black garbage bags, or that fabric cover for gardens, then cutting holes where I decide to plant seeds. What do you all think?

Please, help. I feel like I've made no progress in learning how to do organic gardening. I get very little out of my tomato garden each year. No matter if I direct sow or start my seeds indoors, the seedlings never grow past 2 inches tall for the first month. I don't know why they stunt like that. Then, when they finally do grow, it is late in the season and I end up getting only a few good tomatoes from my plants and throwing out a bunch of little green marbles in October. Is it me? Is it my soil? I've started raised beds and filled halfway with my dirt and then stirred in compost and peat. I am still having the same problem, even though the soil is totally amended. This happens in both gardens, the one on the northeast side that gets almost a full day of full sun, and the garden on the south side of the house that gets about half the day of full sun. But the weeds sure do love what I've done with the soil.
I don't know if this is a clue, but my squash does very well, as do my radishes, carrots and onion grass. I have lots of chickweed, broadleaf plantain, wild violets, creeping charlie and what ever this is: (this is the stuff I REALLY need to get rid of but it is almost impossible.)



These weeds and vines all do very well in my garden. I hope those are clues you may find helpful to advise me on what is wrong with my garden. Fighting these vines (and the creeping charlie) are a never-ending, losing battle. (I don't mind the creeping charlie so much because the bumble bees love them.)

Any and all advice is appreciated!!!

 

Tomatoes are difficult to grow well. Maybe the ph of your soil is not correct. I give my toms lots of organic matter. It is hard to know what your problem is. If the temp is too low they won’t grow. A polytunnel might be the answer. Your mystery vine looks like Virginia creeper. If you post a picture of your toms maybe we can better understand the problem.

 

Weeds are your enemy. they suck all the nutients out of the ground from your tomatoes. pull the weeds add fertilizer and mulch. take a soil sample and have an analysis done to see what yoursoil is lacking or has an abundance of. compost, mulch and a copper spray for fungal disease if thats an issue for you.
Full sun. not 8 hours but all day long sun.
too much nitrogen will make beautiful plants but no fruit.
erratic watering causes blossom end rot. that form at bud development stage. the fruit develops with it the moment it is pollinated. make sure you keep it from getting huge swings of "too much too little" water.
Honestly organic can be hard. our biggest issue is needing to spray for grey mold and blight. we have too much humidity and not enough air movement in the peak ripening period to not spray. this year it has rained so much its about ridiculous. I have potted plants I haven't needed to water.

 

the vine is cinquefoil. if those leaves are little . if they are large probably viginia creeper.

 

Virginia creeper ! We have tons of it here ! Tomatoes are a warm weather crop and would be difficult in the best of circumstance where you are ! They simply do not do well at temps below 70 degrees and love the heat of summer ! It has been in the 90`s here and mine are doing well !

 

Where in New England are you Beeker? I'm in MA & our tomatoes are not ripe here yet.

 

@Cayuga Morning I'm your southern neighbor.
I've been hearing stories from the farmers around here. We got too much rain all at once and not enough at certain crucial times. There are some corn fields I drive by on my way to work where the corn is only waist high and the smell of mold and mildew are in the air.
Can anyone tell me why stores only sell peat and compost in the spring? I need to buy compost and peat now. This is the time to work on soil amendment. Why aren't they selling crucial materials?

@carolyn It is definitely cinquefoil. I do have Virginia Creeper, too, but that is on the other side of the house.

I looked up cinquefoil and found that people are actually interested in purchasing it. WHY??? It is so invasive and driving me crazy!
Maybe I should start selling it. I have tons of cinquefoil and creeping charlie. Pollinators LOVE the creeping charlie, especially bumble bees. If people are afraid that they are not seeing enough bumble bees, that is because they are all at my house!
I see a neighbor selling their hostas and figured it is time for me to divide mine, too. Maybe I should sell them, like my neighbor, and offer all of these weeds that people find desirable for endangered pollinators and so forth as well. I can't seem to grow a vegetable garden but the weeds are flourishing!!! Although, not the usual ones. There are different weeds this year. It is very interesting what the crazy weather this past season has revealed.
I haven't seen as many dandelions but am seeing many different grasses and vines. I am also seeing what looks like evening primrose and mugwort taking over my east garden. (The above picture is my north garden. Unfortunately the north and east sides of the property are the only ones with enough space and sun to plant gardens.)

 

Hello Beeker, I have only just had a look at your post, and need to get outside again before it gets too dark for weeding (can't see the blighters after dark) For now, I just wanted to say I really feel for you at the moment, because I've been in the same predicament myself recently. In a nutshell, the problem I see is that you simply have too much to do and could do with an extra pair of hands.
This time of year I find, is the right time to plan. I decided to tackle one or two particular jobs for now with the idea of simplifying it all. I have started with paths. Anything and everything growing in the way of serviceable pathways has to come OUT. I have a big roll of ground cover membrane that is 1metre wide, and that goes down first and gets pegged in -stepping stones etc can go on later. Any plant that suffers in the weather conditions we have can GO. Only tough stuff allowed. Every day just concentrate on ONE little corner and whilst doing that bit totally ignore all the rest. Whenever you get a bit done, remember to keep going back to look at that bit to give incentive for the next bit.
Whatever happens, don't bite off more than you can chew. Your garden is somewhere to enjoy and not to see as a problem.
Do you know anyone who really wishes they had a garden who would care to share yours with you - that could work two ways Above all, don't give up and keep on smiling.

 

ugh.. the mugwort. I finally resorted to spraying it with a weed killer. It is so hard to pull. done!

 

Oops!
I forgot I ordered garlic a few months back. I just got them, forcing me to change my above plans.

New plans for the coming weeks:
I'll weed and hoe the beds. I might still have some carrots growing in them, but I'll just pull everything out and start anew. The beds are each 3 feet wide by 8 feet long. I have composted chicken manure in pellet form. I'll sprinkle one cup in each bed and mix it in. I'll go buy alfalfa pellets (rabbit food) and use that in place of plant debris (our comfrey plants are only about waist high so there isn't enough to be beneficial). I'll sprinkle in one more cup of chicken manure at the end of October (allowing 5 - 6 weeks for the first dose to settle) and add more alfalfa pellets if needed. If I can find mulch, I'll cover everything over with that. If I cannot, I'll cover it over with newspapers and weigh it down with some rocks. Does that sound ok?
In March, I'll add Jobes organic all purpose plant food. Then, I'll wait until the middle or end of April, and turn the soil and plant my seeds. Please tell me how that sounds and make changes and recommendations.

Now, one BIG IMPORTANT question: What should I do with my garlic? Should I keep one or two beds separate from the above plans to plant my garlic? They are hardneck porceliains and purple stripes. I read that they are good for beginners, but garlic, in general, is a heavy feeder. What is the best way to organically grow happy, healthy, delicious garlic and when does it get harvested?

One other thing: I have ants in my garden. I read that ants help pest bugs and cause trouble for the beneficial bugs. Should I build a little toad house and see if I can attract a toad to my garden to help reduce pest bugs?

 

About your garlic, you should plant it between now and mid November. I give my garlic well matured compost when planting and again in spring. Be careful of manure or compost that is too fresh because they can harm your garlic. I often plant lettuce as a companion plant for garlic.

 

Great idea Odif about teaming lettuce with garlic

 

I have been gardening my patch for over 40 years now always organically. I applaud you for going along that path @Beeker. One thing that attracts ''little helpers'' is a pond. Give the creatures some water, even if only a small pond - and they will use it.

 

To control weeds put down brown paper and then put a thick mulch with bark chippings, but don't dig it in if you want to plant move it away to expose the soil. If the weeds still come up put some more down.

 

Jolly good tip Logan, that seems a much better idea than the black membrane, and I suppose if it's left long enough it would just break down and improve the soil too