Do you think I could get away with not rotating my tomato beds for one year? I always do it religiously, but this spring we will be pressed for time and I’m wondering if I can get away with just adding a lot of good compost etc, and using the same bed as last year. It’s a good all-day full sun location with permanent trellises.

I throw rabbit poop, tea bags, crushed egg shells, banana peels, and sprinkle

a generous amount of epsom salt on top.

Then I mixed it up good with the hoe and wait for planting season.

I grow my own plants from seeds.

After I plant the tomato plants I add 2 bags of pine shavings.

This keeps the weeds from popping up.

I had 19 plants last year in an area 8 feet by 5 feet.

I harvested 400 or 500 tomatoes.

I lost count.

As soon as the season is over, I start all over again with preparing the bed.

I have my niece saving her eggs shells and tea bags.

Good luck.

I hope we both have a plentiful harvest.

I LOVE tomatoes !!!!!!!!!!

early blight and septoria - but largely good results, you are fine.

But if you are getting serious root zone diseases, such as Fusarium or Bacterial Wilt, Nematodes or Verticillium, the soil has issues that will attack the plants. In that case you would need to solarize the soil - or grow in containers or straw bales on that location, on top of a root block fabric or plastic.

Next year I’ll probably go back to my usual rotation routine. Just need to streamline the process this year because of a complicated spring schedule. Cutting back to just tomatoes and herbs this year. I thought I’d just skip the garden entirely, but can’t bring myself to face a summer without that glorious flood of tomatoes. Thanks!

is this the day of the seed swap? i will try to make it.
but if you have time while you are in town, i would love to buy you some dinner!

I was a member of the Arboretum for over 20 years and loved it.

So I can complete the Chicago gardening mecca sweep!