I pulled out one tomato plant from the latest batch. It wasn’t diseased, but it wasn’t growing well or setting fruit, so I chopped it and added it to the compost pile. I also pruned a few green branches from the in-ground tomato plants, mainly the lower ones.
I turned the compost pile and added a lot to it: that tomato plant, three bags of kitchen scraps from the 5-gallon bucket, and a thick layer of brown leaves the gardener collected. I’m trying to get the pile hot again so there’s usable compost by spring.
We also bought our first citrus tree: a semi-dwarf Improved Meyer lemon. I watered lightly to check drainage and the top inch dried faster than expected, which seems promising. We picked up a 15-gallon pot, and the plan is to switch to Gary’s Top Pot mix later this week when I up-pot it.