Being a Snoop

Are you a snoopy person? When it comes to my plants, I am. I do all sorts of things that I know I am not supposed to. But how else can you tell if your seeds are germinating, if you don't poke around? How else can you tell what the root system your brug is looking like, if you don't pull the plant out of the pot, and poke around? I do realize if I would only show a little patience, then I'd see proof positive of seed germination - as in the little tomato heads. Patience may be a virtue, but it ain't one of mine.
And if I didn't go snooping around, I wouldn't have this picture of this tiny little seedling emerging to share. That little brown thing with the white tail in the middle of the picture is a baby 'Bloody Butcher'. And yes, I am growing them partly because of the name, but they are also supposed to be a pretty good tomato. An early (50 - 60 days), high yeilding, potato leaf indeterminate that produces 4-6 oz tomatoes. We'll see if it lives up to its reputation in my garden this summer.

I also have a Cherokee Purple just poking its nose out, and a few others. That's right on track, as most of these trays of seeds were sown 3 to 5 days ago. Still have many more flats to do, and I need to drag in another greenhouse shelf unit from my shed, to accommodate them.

I am toying with the idea of wintersowing some as well. I had never tried it until this year (some hosta seeds), but I've heard very good things about the method. That would be an interesting comparison to make between my indoor starts, and outdoor wintersown ones. There is an excellent website, Wintersown, for some excellent pointers. I came across a small container of tomato seed the other day, that has no label, and of course I have absolutely no idea what they are! Remember what I said about labeling your seeds?? I do know that I wanted to save them, just not what they are, so they would make a good sacrificial seed to the wintersowing project.



My list of what's been planted so far:

1. Zigan
2. Silvery Fir Tree
3. Bloody Butcher
4. Moscovitch
5. Brandywine (Sudduth)
6. Japanese Black Trifele
7. Pruden's Purple
   
8. Cherokee Purple
9. Kellogg's Breakfast
10. Pink Brandywine
11. Pineapple
12. Mortgage Lifter
13. Neves Azorean Red
14. Black from Tula
15. Vova Yellow
16. Orange Jubilee
17. Palmira's Italian Heirloon
18. Rhoades Heirloom
19. Moscow Suburb
20. Siberian
21. Blue
    

I grew 1, 15, 16, 17, and 18 last summer, all the rest are new to me. Should be an interesting summer!