NakedTomatoes

Final Goodbye

2010-07-28T23:23:00.001-04:00

This is my sweet goodbye to this blog. Don't think I'll be back. Could be wrong, but doubtful.
It's been fun, and a good writing exercise, but I've got other things on the stove now.

See ya

Apologies for my absence

2009-10-27T17:15:00.000-04:00

I realize it's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog. I had totally forgotten
about the mail option thingy too.
The proboards didn't seem to generate much interest either, so I had let that slide as well.

I've been keeping myself pretty busy, with work and the new horse. Gardening, or at least writing about
it, has been on the back burner for quite a while.

I will try to be better in the future.

Why people like me should not pre-sprout peppers...

2009-02-23T21:12:00.004-05:00

This is not Pizza. Although it can go on Pizza. And I usually don't bother trying to grow them, because I have very little luck, (or perhaps not enough patience to bother with them) and I don't really care for them anyway. And maybe they pick up on my lack of caring, so they don't grow well for me. I know, plants have feelings too, and they know when they are unwanted. So, tell me why five year old Carribean Red Habanero seed has a %100 germination rate in five days? I told it not to bother too much, and not to hurry, cause I was in no way ready for it yet. Peppers are apparently just like my children. THEY DON'T LISTEN.

Same for the other three types of peppers that I pre-sprouted (I blame this blogger for even thinking of doing this, cause I never do, never have, and never planned on it.) But now that I know how well this works for peppers, which can take up to 2-3 weeks to get growing when they are started the same way I start tomatoes, if I ever do actually want to grow peppers for real, I will start them this way again. Never mind that the shelf life for pepper seeds is supposed to be much shorter than for tomato seeds, so I think %100 on five year seed is also a good indication that this is an excellent way to get them going. Although I didn't believe it until I tried it. I figured all my pepper seeds were too old, they would not sprout, so what the hell. And now I'm stuck with all these little pepper seeds that are sprouting, and in need of potting up.

If you actually want to grow pepper plants, this technique is very simple. Seeds, coffee filters, water, ziplock baggies and a warm spot such as the top of your fridge, water heater, radio (if you're like me and it's on almost 24/7) and keep on eye on them. Keep the filter moist (won't dry out very quickly in a zip bag) and once they start sprouting, pot them up very shallow in little cells as if they were little tomato seeds. Peppers like it warm, and lots of light.

That is pretty much it.

What is a brug

2009-02-17T21:11:00.002-05:00

Brugmansia: Candida

These are gorgeous perennial plants native to South America. In our cold climates, they need to be wintered indoors. They cannot tolerate frost. The blooms are very large, and fragrant. There are singles -such as the one pictured above- doubles and triples with the flower form. Usually they are propagated very easily by cuttings, but some very interesting breeding work is done crossing specific parents and propagating the seeds.

For more information and some fantastic pictures, a good website to check out is ABADS.

I have several varieties that I grow, and I usually have cuttings, plants and/or seeds available for pick up in my area or postage. They are related to Daturas and are amazing plants!

I'm back...

2009-02-12T17:03:00.002-05:00

After a long time away from this blog and my enthusiam for gardening, I am slowing waking up to the potential of a tomato seed again.
I have been super busy with work, and a few personal matters had consumed me for the last while. I am ready to indulge in the soil now.

First things first. The list of tomatoes seeds that I have at my fingertips.

Ananas Noir
Omar's Lebanese
Green Zebra
Carbon
Orange Russian
Mortgage Lifter
Gold Medal
Black Krim
Pineapple
Black From Tula
Neves Azorean Red
Siberian
Kelloggs Breakfast
Hillbilly
Principe Borghese
Mr Bruno
Long Shelf Life
Jaune Flamme
Cherokee Purple
Black Plum
Black Pear
Black Cherry
Pruden's Purple
Zigan
Box Car Willie
Cannabec Rose
Vah-tan
Vova Yellow
Stupice
Palmira's Italian Heirloom
Rhoades Heirloom
Rutgers
Purpe Price
Reisentraube
Orange Jubilee
Russian Persimon
Clear Pink Early
Rouge D'Irak
Russe
Unikalny
Dar
Dubrava
Khirh
Jagodka
Van Hert Ohio
Russian Size
Giant Italian Paste
Silvery Fir Tree
Moscow Suburb
Memory of Vavilov
Kremlin Chiming Clock
Talalichinski
Blue
Jack White
Mers de Nom
Hoskins-Barger

and soon to receive:

Caspian Pink
Thessaloniki
MoneyMaker
Paul Robeson
Break o' Day
German Red Strawberry
Arkansas Traveller

I am trying to narrow down what I will grow this year, and I am having a hard time doing so. Such a hard time, in fact, that the last seven are ones I ordered the other day. And I recently asked a fellow gardener if she had any Eva's Purple Ball (cause I need another variety like I need another cat!)

In general, you want to start your tomato seeds 8 weeks from your last frost date. If you plan to follow the Moon phases, then plant just after the nearest new moon. This year I plan to start quite early, some this weekend and some just after Feb. 24th (new moon). Absolutely perfect timing for me. My last frost date is usually end of May, beginning of June. Technically I should be waiting till late March/early April to start but I have shop lights for indoors and outdoor grow tunnels and mini greenhouses so the plants should still thrive for an extra few weeks before planting out permanently. I want to start them early this year to get some really good large plants for my annual sales and to hopefully improve the chances of getting some of the late long season growing tomatoes.

I am really hoping this summer will be much better that last year. With all the additional compost I have at my disposal at least my raised beds will be full of great soil. Now if only the sun and the temperatures cooperate.

Winter Gardening...

2008-12-08T14:24:00.002-05:00

AKA daydreaming.

If you get the itch to start as soon as the snow hits, then join the club. Nothing makes me miss summer in the yard more than a few inches of snow. It's not even the cold that bothers me, it's the simple fact that I know I will have to wait almost half a year before I can start the silliness all over again. And come September/October, lament all the things I had planned on doing that I didn't, and promising myself that I will, definitely,for sure, absolutely, do it next year (even though I know bloody well I probably won't.)

So I putter with my indoor plants. Maybe I'll plant a few select tomato seeds like last winter, and I'll have the earliest tomatoes ever, like last year with my Galina cross. I read through online cataloges, and make big plans, even though I know I probably won't follow through. Maybe I'll make a small hotbox outdoors sometime in March or April. I'll start swapping seeds with people, and making lists.

Winter sowing is big for some people, but I haven't tried it and don't know if I will.

Right now the big push is to get some Christmas baking done, and get the house in order. I remember reading somewhere a Chinese prediction that the way you spend the New Year's day is how the rest of your year will go. Last year I screwed that up royally, with the messiest house imagineable! And it turned out true!

Frosty is ready...

2008-11-16T16:43:00.003-05:00

What? Thinking Frosty the snowman and Santa already? Snow will do that to you.

But I'm talking about Frosty Pink, one of my brugs. Her seed pods are finally ready, and I've harvested at least 50 nice fresh seeds. I've promised some seeds to friends. This year, I also have a noid white with a huge seed pod, and another noid pink with a pod as well. So if anyone is looking to experiment a bit, I am offering for free, packets of 5 brug seeds. The only thing I ask in return, is that you keep me updated on the babies' progress if possible. These are a labour of love, and a love of experimenting. There is absolutely no guarantee on the color these babies will turn out to be, and most likely they will not flower until the third year, which makes them a long term commitment. The noid white babies will probably be white. Frosty Pink is a roll of the dice. I didn't pollinate these myself, so I don't know who is the other parent. Frosty was in the brug bed (how appropriate!) when she got knocked up, so it could be the Candida, the other pink, or even self-pollination (I won't go there!) I'm not sure if Frosty is self pollinating, I'd have to look that up.

So if anyone would like some seeds, either from Frosty or the others, or a mix, they are yours for the asking. I also have cuttings, but would rather not mail them out unless you ask really really nice and pay the postage. Seeds are just so much easier, and I don't mind covering the postage for them. Anyone in Aylmer/Ottawa area is more than welcome to come and pick up a few cuttings.

Garden chores for a rainy day...

2008-11-15T15:48:00.004-05:00

This morning was spent finally, finally, organizing my tomato seeds. Peeling the little seeds off of the paper towels wads that I had thrown into an old coffee tin to keep together until said organizing day. I did manage to save quite a few varieties this year, despite the not so great growing season. I never did bag any of the flowers, so chances are some of them may have gotten crossed. I guess I'll find out next year when I grow them out. If I do trade seeds with anyone, or send seeds, I'll be sure to mention that fact, so other growers will know what they are getting.

Seed list 2008

Box Car Willie
Prudens Purple
Purple Cherokee
Kellogs Breakfast
Black Cherry
Silvery Fir Tree
Jaune Flamme
Bloody Butcher
Meg's Orange Cherry (a Galina X, F2)
Galina's
Japanese Black Trifele
Canabec Rose
Rhoades
Green Zebra
Orange LSL ( a mislabeled or crossed tomato, LongShelfLife it wasn't, but amazingly good)
Vova Yellow
Zigan
Santalina F2
Black Pear

There are a few that seem to have disappeared into the void somewhere. I don't know what happened to Mortgage Lifter, Eva's Purple Ball (I know I saved seeds from it!), Black From Tula, Black Krim (wait, did I even grow that? or just that I wanted to?) note to self: keep better notes!!! As for Hillbilly, Pineapple, Gold Medal, Carbon, Omar's Lebanese, just don't even go there. I have no idea what happened to them.

I still have many seeds left from all the trades I made this year, and lots of saved seed from last year, and some seeds from the Great Tomato Growers,
wonderful people who started me off on my obsessive heirloom tomato journey. They have an incredible variety of tomato seed, and are very generous. I encourage everyone to check out their blog, and follow the links to their lists of tomatoes.

Overall, I am slightly more organized this year. And now that winter is coming, I can't wait to start gardening again. Figures.

I have been waiting for a good oportunity to do a final yard cleanup, and to winterize my roses. I have a few bags of hay to pile up around them this year. I want to finish cleaning up the brug bed and dig in a lot of horse manure to overwinter. I need to plant some garlic that I got this fall from my mom, who bought it from Mennonites at a farmer's market. I hope it's not too late, but I have a feeling I may be really behind with that. I've never grown garlic before, but I love to cook with it, and tend to use a lot so I thought it would be worth a try. Any help there would be appreciated!!

One final note, please contact me if you are interested in any seeds. I am always glad to share them.

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T19:27:00.004-04:00

What's that got to do with tomatoes? Absolutely Nothing!!! (Does anyone else have music running through their minds, when they write certain things done?) Ah, never mind.

Pumpkins are a pretty easy thing to grow. Especially accidental out-of-the-compost pumpkins. They thrive in a rich, moist soil, which the compost pile provides magnificently! No matter how inconvenient a spot that may be to have pumpkins growing, it is ideal! Which leads me to garden amendments, top dressing, and composting.

I've talked about compost and additions to the garden before, but I'll touch on it again, because this year I have a special offer for any one in the Aylmer/Ottawa area. Free horse manure!!! Now if you find this offer exciting, you are either a freak, or a gardener, or both. Welcome to the club! Please send me an email for further directions. This offer is open to anyone, large or small amounts, and did I mention, free??

One reason I've been so MIA around this blog is that my days are filled; with feeding, turning out, occasionally mucking out, and general horsey stuff. Even riding once in a while. And big animals like horses produce a lot of really great potential compost. I have yet to take advantage of this fact, but I'm planning to this weekend. We have a window of opportunity weather-wise, for a really good clean up outside, which should include top dressing and/or digging in amendments into the beds. With manure, you want to make sure you get the oldest, well-rotted stuff possible, fresh is too strong and will burn the roots. If you're digging it into a veggie bed that is empty, overwintering fresher stuff should be okay. The worms and other little buggies will do the job for you. If you are side dressing shrubs, trees or perennials, the older the better the manure.

You can't get much better than horse manure. Horses are fed purely hay and grain (and the occasional bunch of carrots), unlike what is considered 'food' for cows or pigs. And the use of antibiotics and such is purely medicinal, not an every day ocurrance as it is with many other farm animals. To my mind, other than possibly mushroom compost, this makes it the safest, purest, most 'organic' compost available. Now's the perfect time to dig in!!

It's been forever....

2008-10-02T13:51:00.002-04:00

I haven't been posting much lately, for a variety of reasons. It was a really busy summer, I never did get those blossoms bagged, and it was a terrible season production wise. Literally very few plants produced much of anything. I kind of lost hope there, and lost interest in posting much about the disastrous garden. I still managed to save a lot of seeds from the few that I did get, and I'm hoping next year will be better. I have access to all the horse manure a gardener could dream of and will be digging a lot of it in the beds this fall. Hopefully some good soil ammending will help the plants next summer. A late blight hit them, and pretty much ended the season for me. There was very little that could have been done to save them, with the weather that we had. I know I wasn't alone, looking at other gardens and talking to others, we all had a pretty crappy growing season.
What can you do? Make plans for next year!

Quick July Update

2008-07-03T14:56:00.004-04:00

A happy little bee, and one of the reasons why I needed to bag the flowers (and didn't!) As I watched this little bee, he visited more than ten different tomato plants. Cross pollination at work! I keep telling myself there is still time to bag them, but I'm starting to think I am lying to myself!

Peaches n Cream :
variegated brugs tend to grow at a slower rate.
This one has been proving that for the last three years!

Cherokee Purple

Black Plum

Surprise Potato Patch

Frosty Pink:
Won't be much longer!

The garden and the plants are running amock. This would include the weeds, that I really should be out pulling right now, but have been putting off this post for much too long! We have had so much rain in my area for the last four weeks. And enough sun, when it comes out, that it balances out nicely, and everything seems to have double in size in the last week while I was away!
There are many little tomatoes forming on the plants, the brugs are loading up with flower buds, and I've even found a surprise potato patch in the brug bed. I got confirmation from some other gardeners, that potatoes can indeed overwinter in my zone, given the right conditions. So some little taters that were not found last fall have sprouted up into a very healthy vigorous looking potato patch.

If it ever stops raining...

2008-06-20T13:11:00.003-04:00

I will get out there and bag some of the blossoms, taking some pictures to illustrate what I plan to do. But so far, it has rained every day for the last two weeks or so. The plants are loving it, and are growing at an incredible rate. It is enough to keep things lush and green, without drowning everything. The sun comes out for a couple hours everyday, just to remind us that it's there. Very English weather. Almost all the tomato plants have flower buds if not flowers, so it's looking good in the department.

I have found homes for a few more plants, but still have extras, if anyone is still looking for plants! Brandywines are all gone, but I still have some of the ones I mentioned in a previous post. And a couple of extra Black Cherry or Black Krim, or Carbon, or Palmira's Italian Heirloom. You know you wanna!! Give in to the temptation. You know who you are!!!

Save a Tomato Plant

2008-06-14T15:21:00.005-04:00

Gold Medal:
large to 1 1/2lb, beefsteak tomato,
orangey-yellow, blushing with red,
superb sweet and mild flavor,
very low acid, 80 days

Omar's Lebanese:
Huge, pink beefsteak, up to 3 -4 lbs,
one of the largest tomatoes you can grow,
good disease tolerance, good yeilds,
sweet old tomato flavor,
a rare Lebanese Heirloom, 80 days

Hillbilly (RL and PL - I have both)
aka Flame
Large bi-color beefsteak, yellow/red marbled
1 -2 lbs, large yeilds,
Heirloom believed to be from West Virginia, 85 days

Okay, here's the deal:

I still have tomato plants, nice, fairly large plants, that will produce amazing tomatoes! Most are still in 4 inch pots, some are in larger than 4 inch pots. They are organic, very healthy, and promise to behave in your garden, giving you out of this world tasting tomatoes, and a rainbow of colors, as long as you treat them right! There are about 50 of these, that I cannot pitch. If they must, they will stay in these pots, producing what they will, for the rest of the summer. If you would like to adopt a few plants, with the promise that you will give me an update at the end of the summer, please contact me. The adoption fee will be waived at this point!

I can leave the plants out front for easy pick up, for anyone who wants. I also still have a few Carbon, Brandywine, and others to choose from! Please find it in your heart to give one of these lovely little plants a home!

Time for bagging blossoms

2008-06-12T12:32:00.004-04:00

If you plan to save seeds from your OP tomato plants, and want pure seeds with little chance of crosses, it's time to watch your plants carefully. They should be setting flowers or close to it. You want to bag them before they open to prevent any pollinating insects from reaching them. Potato leaf plants are more susceptible to cross pollination than regular leaf plants, but the insects are certainly active in my yard right now. It's open season on all my plants!

The flowers on the Black Pear are already open, so it's too late to bag them. I'll have to catch the next batch of flowers.

These buds are almost ready to be bagged. This year I will try to ensure that everything I save seed from is bagged, so that everything is guaranteed pure - for myself and for trades or give aways.

Full view of one of the raised beds, with the plants in all their glory. I always find it interesting how the rate of growth can vary so much, even between the same variety. I have one Prudens Purple that is more than double the size of another. They all received the same compost and epsom salt in the planting hole, so it's pretty much strictly genetics of those particular plants.

This is the patch of Swiss Chard that provided us with our first salad greens. We also threw in some chives and green onions, and spinach and lettuce from the grid garden.
And yes, those are some poor little orphan tomato plants, who have not made it out of the starter trays. I don't know that they will either. I still have probably over two hundred plants, either in 4inch pots, or in starter cells. I don't have room for many more in the garden, and I don't want to grow more than 20 or so in large gallon pots, so I guess some of these babies are going to be compost soon. It sounds silly, but I hate to do that. It feels criminal to compost these little plants that I've grown from seed.

Galina's Yellow....uhm, not

2008-06-06T13:09:00.003-04:00

This is the tomato plant that I have been growing since just before Christmas. It has quite a few clusters of tomatoes, and they are quite tasty, according to my tomato tester. It was supposed to be a Galina's Yellow, but the seeds must have gotten crossed last year. I didn't bag any of the tomato blossoms that I saved seed from for myself, so it's not really surprising that there are a few crosses in my seeds. I'm not sure what this cross could be, but the result is a nice, small orange tomato, that is slightly sweet, juicy, but not too seedy. I've planted seeds from the first tomato, to grow it out again and see what I get. Why not!

Two tomato plants have disappeared from my raised beds. These were not small plants, between 8 - 12 inches high. One was a Rhoades Heirloom, the other was an Abricot. Hmm, I'm not impressed. I suspect rabbits, raccoons, or possibly skunks. Or a naughty squirrel. They actually took the plant right at soil level. It looks like it was just snipped off. The tag is still there, and the root system is there, but there is no sign of the rest of the plant. I don't think it is cutworms, they would not eat the entire plant? I may have to cover them up at night with the plastic sheets again, just to protect the plants, which I hate to have to do at this point, cause I'll have to get up early to remove them so it doesn't get too hot in there in the mornings. But just in case it is cutworms, I'm planting large coffee sticks beside every stem, to thwart them. Cutworms must be able to encircle the entire stem in order to do their damage, so collars are sometimes used, or some other type of barrier, to prevent the damage. Who knows, it very well could be cutworms. The MO is the same.

In the Ground...so far

2008-06-02T23:19:00.002-04:00

6 Zigan
4 Jaune Flamme
4 Japanese Black Trifele
6 Kelloggs' Breakfast
1 Black Pear
1 Canabec Rose
3 Cherokee Purple
2 Long Shelf Life
1 Orange Russian
2 Prudens' Purple
2 Rhoades
3 Brandywine (Sudduth's Strain)
3 Moscovitch
2 Black Krim
3 Omar's Lebanese
3 Gold Medal
2 Green Zebra
2 Carbon
2 Pineapple
3 Neves Azorean Red
3 Hillbilly
3 Bloody Butcher
3 Mortgage Lifter
3 Vova Yellow
2 Opalka
2 Stupice

Still have quite a few more to plant and a couple extra from a friend to find room for. I think my Brugs are going to be sharing their happy little beds with some extra tomato plants this summer.
And I still have tons of extra plants, if anyone is interested.

Progress Report

2008-05-30T13:30:00.004-04:00

Just a quick progress report on what's growing on in my garden.

Black Pear is looking fantastic. She's even got little flower buds on her. I received this plant from a fellow gardener, who obviously has an incredibly green thumb! You can read more about her garden and green thumb here. It wasn't on my list of tomatoes this year, but how can you say no to a nice healthy plant?

My drip water set up. I saved a bunch of these 2 liter milk jugs all winter to use in the garden this summer. During the colder weeks of April and May, they were filled with hot water to regulate the temperatures in my row tunnels at night. They did the trick, and now they are pulling another shift as watering bottles. I poked two holes in the bottom, with a screw, and planted them between the tomatoes, not quite half way. When I want to fertilize or water, I just fill them up, and the water trickles out the holes. Caps are on to keep bugs and dirt out while they're not in use. I timed it, and it takes about 5 minutes for the bottles to empty out. It doesn't look the prettiest, but it should do the job.

Silvery Fir Tree was also a last minute addition this year. I wanted to grow it, did some research and decided against it (finicky, not a great producer, just plain old a real pain in the ass kinda tomato - not what I want), and then I was sent some seeds! Go figure.
Out of twenty or so seeds, two germinated. It was already living up to its reputation! This one is looking pretty good though, so I'll see what happens with it. It has very distinct, lacy foliage, hence the name and the reason I wanted to try it in the first place. My little garden helper also does double duty as the official tomato taste tester, and she can't wait!

We've had a few off of the 'Galina's Yellow' that I have been growing since Christmas, but the plant is definitely not GY. The tomatoes are small, orange tasty little things, and the foliage is not potato leafed, as is GY. The seeds must have gotten crossed, who knows with what, but we like the result! My plants are open-pollinated, so if I do save seeds to trade, to sell plants or to preserve that particular variety, I will bag the blossoms. If it's just for me and my future growing, it's no biggie to have crossed seeds. Whatever it produces will be eaten!

Pictured here are the Santalina's I've mentioned before. The first three are the ones planted with the compost and epsom salts. The last three don't seem to be very happy. I think I'll pull them to make room for something else. You can also see a patch of Swiss Chard in there. No neat, organized rows here!

And finally, my grid garden, which used to be the sandbox, aka the neighborhood cat litter box. We dug out most of the sand, and emptied one of the small square raised beds into it. It now contains three squares of carrots, three squares of lettuce, green onions, bok choy, spinach, snow peas, snap peas, basil, parsley and a bunch of strawberry plants. It is surrounded by delicious red raspberry plants that wandered over from my neighbors and I welcomed happily into my yard. He has since dug all his up, and seeded his yard with grass.

In the front bed, my baby Brugs, grown from seed, now two and half years old. They should flower this year. V.Peach X Frosty Pink, so there might be something there, or they could be all white. I'm going to plant some other annuals in there to keep them company. Maybe just throw in some marigold and cosmos seeds. And I need to get some more mulch.

Getting them in the Ground

2008-05-22T11:58:00.006-04:00

Step by Step Transplanting

Select your spot and dig a large hole.

Add a few trowels of compost, from your composter or purchased compost. You can buy all kinds at the nurseries and garden centers, from shrimp to cow to sheep, even leaf mold compost. I don't have any particular favorite from the purchase list, whatever is cheaper is usually my motto. My own kitchen compost is free! And probably much higher in nutrients because it is pure compost. I'm always amazed by how much kitchen waste we generate and how fast it turns into useable garden material. Just imagine if we threw it out in the garbage instead!

I also added some epsom salts to the compost. Then mix it up with a bit of the existing soil.

Place the tomato plant in the middle of the hole, and gently tease out the roots a bit, to encourage them to spread out.

Bury the root ball with the soil, and gently but firmly pat the soil down. Try to make a slight bowl effect with the soil around the plant, to help the water saturate the root system when you water. Once you've got them all in, water generously. Try not to hit the plants or leaves if using a watering can or hose. The best way to water is with a drip hose, which will give a steady supply of water, without any splash back on the tomatoes. Many diseases particular to tomatoes are soil borne, so you can avoid or at least minimize them with good watering techniques.

Once you are done, stand back and admire all your hard work.

The end result: planted tomatoes!

I tend to plant closer than it is recommended. (It's recommended to plant them at least two feet apart.) I can prune later if needed, but I have so many varieties that I want to try, that I cram them in. Production may be slightly more limited, but if you do plant closer, just remember that they will be competing with each other for water and nutrients, so it's up to you to provide it. Air circulation is also important for disease prevention, so pruning helps if they start getting too close.

Just one of the happy fat worms that I found while digging:

A few final notes for transplanting your tomatoes:

Blood meal or bone meal are also excellent additions to the planting holes. Some people recommend adding wood ash - if you have it- but I'm not sure if it's a good idea. Theory being that as the trees clean the air and the roots take up water and nutrients from the soil, they consume a lot of toxic chemicals, which build up in the trees as they grow. When you burn wood, the chemicals are still there, and will be even more concentrated in the ashes that are left. If you use it, the tomato plants will then take up the chemicals. I've never seen a study done that proves or disproves this theory, but I figure on the off chance that I shouldn't. Wood ash is still fine for ornamental beds, so I use it there. You can decide for yourself.

Mulch is an excellent idea! There are many commercial mulches available, and some that you probably have laying around the yard, that you didn't realize you could use. Got leaves? If you have a shredding lawnmower, a big pile of leaves can be turned into fabulous mulch. And the bonus is that you are feeding your soil at the same time. They will eventually break down, and become part of the soil, thanks to worms and time. Pine needles also make a great mulch. The myth that they are too acidic is just that. A myth. Hay or straw can also make a great mulch. If you know a farmer, or live close to an agricultural area, you could easily purchase a few bales. Just be sure to ask what type of hay or straw it is. You don't want one that is full of seeds, that will sprout and become next year's weeding nightmare. Mulch serves a variety of purposes. It helps keep moisture in the soil. It helps regulate the soil temperature, warming when it's cool, and cooling when it's hot. It will eventually break down, thereby adding valuable nutrients to the soil. It helps to prevent splash back when watering, protecting plants from some diseases. It helps prevent weeds (thereby lowering your workload in the garden!!)

When you water, water deeply and less frequently. Rule of thumb is two inches a week. There are little water gages that you can purchase, that measure the amount of rain we get, or you can make your own very easily. If you mulch, the rain should provide enough water that you won't have to supplement except in the hottest, driest weeks of summer. Drip watering is the best method whenever possible. You should water the transplants immediately though, just to help them get established. After the first week or so, they should be on their own. Deep, less frequent watering will encourage the roots to grow deep to search for moisture, which will make for a strong root system.

Tranplanting is best done on rainy, cloudy days! It's easier on the plants, who won't have to cope with the heat and moisture loss while they are recovering from transplant shock!

Time to Plant...Maybe

2008-05-19T10:10:00.002-04:00

First, let me say that I realize my posts have gone off track a bit. Spiders and ladybugs may be helpful and even interesting companions in the garden, but what do they have to do with tomatoes? So on to planting.

I had decided that I would finish planting in the raised beds yesterday, but life got in the way. Now I really wish I had, because today is a miserable day for it, cold and rainy, and no one likes to garden or be planted in this kind of weather. But if I want to follow the moon phases (kind of an experiment this year) I have to get them in today - Full Moon tonight, or wait until after June 3rd, which is the next New Moon. What to do...?! Both, of course!

The flats that have been living in the row tunnels will have to be moved to a green house shelf to make room for the plantees, and that way I will still have plenty of back ups in case they aren't happy being planted out in the raised beds just yet. I'll keep the row tunnel covers on for wet, cold days like this morning, and remove the plastic when it gets too warm, which is what I've been doing for the flats anyway. Hopefully it will warm up a bit today, and the rain will ease off.

I am growing some Santalina's as an experiment this summer. They are a small cherry tomato from the supermarket, that taste pretty good, so I decided to grow them out just for kicks. They have been planted for a couple weeks now. I've made them my test bunnies for different planting methods and fertilizers as well. The first three were planted with a handful of epsom salt and a trowel full of my kitchen compost in the planting hole. The next three got nothing, poor things. One of them even had the stem snapped but not completely broken - thanks to an eager helper.

So far the difference is absolutely amazing. The first three are a good size, and much larger than the last three, as well as much greener and healthier looking. The last three look okay, but very purple. The color could be a result of a magnesium deficiency in my soil, or in the plants' inability to access the nutrients. The second is usually a result of colder temperatures, which has not really been the case here, so I have a feeling it's the magnesium. I'll give one of the last ones a good soaking with the Muskie fertilizer, and another a Miracle Grow feeding. (I try to grow organic as much as possible, especially for food plants, but I have Miracle Grow on hand which I use mostly for houseplants and the Brugs.) The broken one will get an epsom salt feed. I'm not sure if epsom salts could be considered organic? I am sure the compost made a difference as well. It's interesting to see the differences.

I'll grow some other extras in containers and try all kinds of different things. I'll pick one variety that I have, so that the comparison is between the same type of tomato plant. If you want to try Epsom salts (Magnesium sulfate) as a liquid feed, the ratio is about 1 tbsp of salt to 3 liters of water. I've also heard it is extremely good for pepper plants. Worth a shot anyways. I've never had good luck with peppers, so I'll be trying it on them this year.

Plant Sale

2008-05-15T23:50:00.002-04:00

Quick note on the Wychwood neighborhood garage sale. I'm in, selling tomatoes, hostas, other plants, and stuff I can drag out, like gardening mags and books. May 17, Saturday. Hope to see some people there.

BOO!!! Creature Break

2008-05-14T20:58:00.006-04:00

I've never been an arachnophobe, which is probably a good thing, considering how much time I spend outdoors. And I'm sure it's partly due to the fact that we don't have dangerous spiders in my part of the country. I bet if I lived in the land of Black Widows and Tarantulas, I'd be singing a different tune.

I've always found Wolf Spiders to be such fascinating little creatures, along with their namesake. We have a half wolf/half Malamute in the neighborhood, a gorgeous canine creature from up North (I mean the real North, the land of the 24 hour sun, and permafrost), whom I've been dying to photograph, but never have my camera when I'm out walking my dog and meet up. And my dog doesn't particularly like the wolf, so taking pictures would be difficult while trying to hold a growly Shepherd/Collie. But I'm hopeful.

But back to my spider. I love the expression on the camy face that they present to the world. Doesn't this little guy look like so ferocious? What a tuff guy! Dontcha just wanna hug 'im?

Big Daddy and I Hope She's Hungry

2008-05-13T23:30:00.004-04:00

These are two year old 'Big Daddy' hostas, grown from seed. Kinda cool, eh? I'm amazed that they survived winter in the tray, but then again, I'm always amazed by just how incredibly tough hostas are. You could run them over with a tank and they would be fine.

Ladybugs are always a welcome site in my yard. Especially as they feast on the aphids that
live on my brugs. I debated washing the brugs down for about the tenth time, until I saw three of these pretty little things, and a few rows of eggs on the underside of the leaves. Let the eggs hatch, and the babies do their thing. What's a few more weeks of aphids to the brugs? The ladybugs are happy, and they've obviously been passing the word around as to the whereabouts of the great spring feast.

The New Brug Bed and Tulips

2008-05-06T19:32:00.006-04:00

I spent a lot of time over the weekend digging out the old shrubs that were growing against the fence here, in the backyard. Still two to go, which I will tackle tomorrow or Thursday. These monsters are really hard to dig out, with quite a large taproot structure. I can't remember what they are, but they were pretty ugly, so no loss. You can see my 'Red Jade' crabapple in the front, almost ready to bloom. It is one of my favorite little shrubs, and it is the first tree I ever grafted, back in college. I moved it with me when we moved from Ottawa seven years ago.

All the pine needles make a wonderful mulch over the top of my very sandy soil. It should be a perfect spot for my brugs, nice and sunny, good drainage, and should be very easy to dig them up come fall.

I love these ruffled tulips. I didn't know what I was getting when I planted them, but they turned out really nice. And what can I say, they were free!

I'm not as far along with my planting as I'd like to be at this point. I planted peas a while ago, and then somehow got stuck. I planted a few tomatoes in the ground, and lugged all the brugs outside to water them really well, fertilize them, and hose off some of the aphids. Trying to give them a boost so they would get growing. They are out permanently now, unless we get a severe frost warning. Otherwise, I just haven't been motivated to get planting, despite the weather. Part of it, I think, is there is just so much to do. All the beds are already getting overrun with weeds, I have tons of little maples and oaks and pines to dig and pot up, that I had promised to friends, hostas to divide, an Iris bed to dig up and relocate, a potting bench to build, and two new raised beds to build. The list goes on. Never mind that the indoor chores are pilling up as I procrastinate outdoors. And it doesn't help that I've come down with a pretty bad cold.

Once I get going again, I will have more to write about. But I think I may take a few more days off, just taking it easy, to get better, and hopefully I'll start feeling a bit more motivated. Get done the things it occurs to me to do, and let slide the things I don't want to do. Just for a day or two.

The View...under construction

2008-04-30T23:07:00.004-04:00

There used to be a deck here, that was slowly rotting away, partly due to our weather, and partly due to the incompetence of the builders. We are thinking of putting a few tons (probably more) of pea stone down, and adding some flagstone or some molded concrete slabs on top, but settled in, to make a pathway and a seating area. It's our summertime project, that has been two years in the works. Nothing new at our house. Things go slowly.

The outdoor look of my mini low tunnel greenhouse. The tulips in fronts are all courtesy of the Tulip festival people and a friendly neighbor up the street who shared her score with me. They dig them out every year, and give them away in Ottawa, after the Tulip festival is over. These are the gift from Holland that Ottawa gets every year, as a thank you for things Canada did during the war. Free if you know where to go (and I'm not telling!)

The view from inside

PS. If you ask nicely, I'll tell you where to go to get those Holland Tulips. Just know that you have to give them a couple years to build up the reserves to flower again. They dislike being treated as annuals.

What to Plant....Now

2008-04-25T00:25:00.004-04:00

This beautiful April weather has got my garden begging to be planted. It's early, it's still too early, I tell it, but it just doesn't want to listen. You've built the greenhouses, I can withstand some cold, even a little snow if it comes to that, my garden says. I'll keep the tomatoes warm enough. Trust me.

Famous last words.

Okay. Peas. You can plant peas now, they are the traditional first crop to go into the garden. They are tough and hardy. Even if it snows.

Although I haven't tried it yet, broccoli, beets, chard, lettuce, carrots, potatoes and spinach are also supposed to be good candidates to go into the ground now. And I will be planting some this weekend just to test it out, so if it works or not, I'll post results later on. And these will be in my smallest square raised bed, which has been planted with some peas already and they seem to be doing well. I may cover it if we get frost warnings, but it will be left open to the elements in all other cases. Every thing except the potatoes will be from seeds. The potatoes are supermarket potatoes that have sprouted in their forgotten corner of my cupboard. I figured why not? Did the same thing last year, and got some nice little baby taters.

I've also been busy transplanting some of the tomato seedlings from the cell packs to 4inch pots. It always surprises me how much longer it takes than I think it will. Might have something to do with the fact that I take my own sweet time doing the transplanting, mainly cause it is something I enjoy doing. Doesn't feel like work when you like it. Still have plenty of flats to go, and lots of sunny days coming down the road.

I want to thank another Aylmerite for identifying my 'toe-biter' aka big ugly bug. Scroll down to April 11 to see the description. This is also a pretty cool site for all bug id's.

Apparently he lost his way from down by the river, and somehow found himself in my yard. Hope he made it home safely after his photo shoot.

The Russians Are Coming....The Russians Are Coming

2008-04-21T21:57:00.007-04:00

It is a very cute old movie from the 1960's that probably stirred some of my interest in all things Russian, and has little to do with any of the big Russian thinkers or writers that I admired in my younger days. But now my interest extends to Russian tomatoes. I was given a few different varieties by various people, and one that I am particularly amazed by is 'Siberian'. This little plant was seeded at the same time as the others shown in the picture, but it is only about 2 inches high. Leafed out much nicer than it's companions and stocky as all get out. Communism may not have panned out, but they sure were onto something with their tomatoes!! I'm also pretty impressed with 'Moscow Suburb' (on the left of the above picture) and 'Moscovitch'. They're looking good!

Who the hell is this guy???? He tried a triple flip, double quad landing on my bloody head tonight. Needless to say, I did a double flip when he landed, cause the damn thing was huge! Three inches long at least. Scared the crap out of me, while I was innocently sitting outside, enjoying the evening, and my Carl Hiaasen novel.

Greenhouse tunnels

2008-04-20T14:18:00.005-04:00

This is what I did over the weekend. It didn't take long to build, and they are pretty sturdy. I think they will withstand any heavy rains and winds, but it'll be a test this spring I guess. I used scrap wood I had kicking around to frame it, so it didn't cost much. The plastic was $30 at a local renovation/construction supplier for 10 ft by 100 ft, and I still have more than half the roll left.

I checked the temperature inside today, and it was over 50C. It's around 22C outside, so that's pretty hot. I opened up the plastic to cool it down a bit, as I don't want to cook the poor worms in there. The soil is not as hot, but still plenty warm. I'll check the overnight inside temperature tonight, and if it stays warm enough, I'll plant some tomatoes tomorrow.
Yay!!! And it's only mid-April!!

Garden Treasures

2008-04-17T22:06:00.003-04:00

The snow is almost completely gone, and the weather has been incredible. It wasn't just warm today, working outside, it was hot. I was digging through the raised beds, pulling out some of the dead plants from last year, and shoveling some of the kitchen scraps off of the bed and into the compost bin. I tend to use one bed to dump kitchen scraps in the winter, as it is easier to access than the compost bin when we have a lot of snow. While I was shoveling, I realized I was actually wiping sweat of my forehead. It was hot in the sun.

I found the biggest, juiciest worm in the bed. Even my daughter thought it was pretty cool. It's a very good sign to see big happy worms. It means your soil is pretty healthy, and lots of worms = lots of worm castings = lots of plant food.

The crocus are up and blooming their heads off. The tulips are growing, and I can see the buds on the apple trees swelling. The seedlings have been going outside everyday, and I've left them out over night tonight. I've been leaving a few test subjects out over night in the greenhouse shelves for the last week, and even when the temperature dipped to -5C, they came through just fine. As long as the weather stays nice, which it is supposed to, then I will be able to start planting as soon as I get my tunnels built. Some cold weather tolerant plants can even go in sooner, such as peas, which my kids helped me plant today. These were actually sprouts I was trying to grow in the kitchen for eating, but they just didn't seem to want to grow very much so rather than compost them, it was a fun half hour planting peas with the girls.

In the Great Outdoors

2008-04-14T22:33:00.004-04:00

My outdoor greenhouse shelves. Today was a beautiful balmy sunshiny +8 C outside. Inside these greenhouse shelf unit, the temperature was over +25 C.

The seedlings are happy to get out, and they are protected from too much direct sun by the cover on the greenhouse shelves. Weather is supposed to be nice for this week, so they will be going outside everyday. I am hoping to get one of the raised beds finished and covered with the plastic, including the 'hotpots' (what I'm calling my water jugs), which will hopefully regulate the temperatures at night. I might try some planting this weekend, I have enough seedlings that I can sacrifice them if it doesn't work out.

My legal grow op

2008-04-10T20:24:00.002-04:00

Here's a look at my growing/seedling station. I finally got it set up the other day, although it is still looking a bit messy. Ignore that, please. It's certainly not very sophisticated, and someday I'd like to build something fancier, but for now it works. The windows in the background are south facing, so there is a lot of sunlight during the day. The back door is two steps to the left of these windows, making the trek to the big outdoors fairly easy. The middle shelf you see in the picture has a twin outside that has a nice plastic cover, that zippers in the front and at the top, for easy access and ventilation. According to my thermometers in the greenhouse shelves, it gets up to a toasty 25 + C in the sun, even when it's only 5C in the real outdoors. The weather has been nice enough that my trays have been outside quite often.

The top shelf has a stick light on each side, and one of those hand held construction type lights hanging in the middle. The second shelf has a shop light suspended from the top. One thing that bugs me is the shop lights are four feet long, the shelf is only three. So to make it work, the light extends onto the wooden shelf to the right, where there is a very small tray of tomato seedlings growing.
If I ever get to building something, it will be four feet to accommodate shoplights. And then I'll have to get some more lights to make it work!

I do have a birthday coming up, and so far my list has two things on it. Worms and shoplights. I've been thinking about vermiculture, and it is such a great idea. Just not totally sure where I would put the worm bin. Shoplights would spur me on to building a more workable seed starting set up, and not just the hodge podge that I have now. But for now this works.

The snow has been melting at an incredible rate, and the ground is actually workable. I guess because the snow hit early and didn't stop, the ground didn't actually get a chance to freeze as deeply as it usually does over the winter. After working over the soil, I'm gonna start building one low greenhouse over the first square 5x5 raised bed that I have, and monitor the temperatures. I'm not sure what it'll be like overnight in there, but I have some ideas on how to keep it warm. I was thinking of spray painting these big plastic containers black, and filling them with water. Theory being the sun during the day will heat them up, and then at night, they will release the heat, keeping it warm enough for the plants.

Well, I've still got plenty of seeds to get planted. I'm starting to feel like I'm running late now. There is always so much to do, and so little time.

Spring has Sprung!!!

2008-04-06T22:04:00.002-04:00

Huhrah!! The snow is melting, and the sun is shinning all day long. The temperatures have been so warm that my little tomato seedlings were allowed outside, to sun themselves, just for a little while. And the lillies are just poking out in some sheltered spot in my garden.

Which brings me to hardening off seedlings. These little guys have been growing indoors in a very sheltered and much lower light situation than what they would find outdoors. They cannot be planted out in the garden come the end of May/June, without being hardened off - which means gradually being acclimated to outdoor living. The key word here is gradual. Too much sun will mean a sunburn. Too cold or wet, will mean a chill. But it's not rocket science, and it doesn't take long to harden them off.

I am lucky that I have a fairly sheltered back yard, so as soon as the weather allows, I start the process. The seedlings went out for about twenty minutes in the full sun today. A warm filtered shade spot would be better, and then they could stay out longer, but this time of year, there is not much filtered shade that is warm. You do not want to leave them out too long or they could burn. In an ideal weather world, the temperature would remain consistent in my little sheltered spots, and the tomato plants would be hardened off in a week or so. In reality, they go out for a little bit longer everyday, if the sun is shining, and stay indoors under lights if it is not. The process takes longer, but the end result is happy, tough little tomato plants that are ready for the garden.

Twenty minutes in the sun the first day is enough. Thirty minutes the next day, sixty the next, till you work them up to all day, going in thirty minute increments , weather permitting. And once they are in the sun, you really have to keep an eye on the watering. They will dry out much quicker outdoors than indoors, but having said that, drying out a bit is not necessarily bad. It mimics the actual growing conditions they will face once planted outdoors permanently. If they do look dried up and slightly shriveled, don't give up hope, just give them a good soaking and they should perk up. For all the babying these seedlings get, they are much tougher than they get credit for.

It still early April, and I have many seeds to plant yet, but it's starting. Spring has come, and I couldn't be happier!

Transplanting Tomatoes

2008-03-31T17:24:00.003-04:00

I have some Santalina F2's from the grocery store (don't ask - an experiment) that I've been growing for about a month or so, high up on a shelf in my south facing window, who were definitely on the waiting list for a transplant. I am a bit quicker than the health care system apparently! In this picture, you can see the roots growing out of the peat pellets I grew them in. I don't usually use peat pellets, I use the cell trays and soil, but these were cute little six pellet domed greenhouse trays, for a buck. I couldn't resist, and I have to say, I rather liked them. They worked well, and the plants certainly didn't complain. All six seeds germinated, and grew into fairly sturdy little plants in almost no time. I think I'll be on the look out for more peat pellets at garage sales and such this summer. They are a bit pricey when you buy them at Canadian Tire, or gardening supply stores.

For potting them up into bigger pots, I removed the cotyledons and placed the whole pellet at the very bottom of the pot. Then I simply filled it up with my soil, watered it, added a little more soil to the top. With peat pots, it's actually a good idea to remove as much of the pot as you can, because they just don't break down fast enough, and I also find they tend to dry out very quickly, but with the pellets, I don't see any problems just potting them right up. The roots have obviously worked their way through the mesh that holds the pellet together. Tomatoes will grow additional roots along the stem that is buried, so the theory is that this will actually give you a stronger root system. When you are planting them out in the garden, planting deep or trenching will do the same thing. The only concern when deep planting outdoors is that the soil need to be warmed up enough, as tomatoes do not like the cold. Trenching works by digging a shallow trench, and planting on a slant in the warmer top soil. It doesn't take tomatoes long to straighten out as they reach for the sun.

When transplanting from the cell, you need to be slightly gentler, as you don't want to disturb the root system too much when you are removing the tomato. I kind of squeeze it out from the bottom by pushing it upwards, trying to avoid handling the stem too much because it is very easily damaged, and then plant it basically the same way as I do with the pelleted tomato. Depending upon how long they will be in the new pot (usually they are only moved up to a 4 inch pot), I may give them a bit of fertilizer a week or so after transplanting. If I am potting them up for sale, then I may pot them up once more, in a slightly bigger one, in a few weeks, or if I am going to be growing in containers, I will generally pot those ones up to a bigger pot as well, before they go into the final big pot. Fish emulsion is a great organic fertilizer, I use one called Muskie, that I found at Canadian Tire, on sale at half price.

A Tomato

2008-03-27T20:00:00.008-04:00

Just a few things I forgot to post earlier.

Almost anything can be used for seed starting. Inside this old strawberry container are some Sweet Basil seeds, just sprinkled on the top of the soil, as they need light for germination. And obviously you need basil to go with tomatoes. Especially if you like "Summer in a Bowl", which is absolutely scrumptious, any way you make it.

Galina, after her haircut. I'm not a wasteful gardener, (have I mentioned my packrat tendencies yet??) so I dipped the little side shoots that I pruned off in a bit of No.1 rooting hormone, and potted them up. Tomatoes root very easily, so I should have another 7 little Galinas in a short while if all goes well. I didn't have anything that remotely resembles a greenhouse dome cover that would fit over the cuttings, so we'll see how well the cuttings do. I may try to improvise something (such as cleaned out milk bags held up with popsickle sticks - motherhood being the necessity of invention, and all! or in this case, would you call it planthood? There's a topic in itself, Planned Planthood - I am severely lacking in plant control, apparently!

Galina, with her flowers. Notice that tiny little green egg shaped thing in the background.

A tomato!!! My daughter, Meg (5), the affirmed tomato junkie of the house, called dibs already! Sorry!!!

Lift Off!

2008-03-27T10:40:00.008-04:00

Here is a tiny little 'Moskovitch' just popping its head out. If you are patient (or crazy? or have way too much time on your hands!!) you can literally watch it unfold.

It didn't take long at all, from the day of my snooping to this morning, for these little tomatoes to sprout. I really need to get my shoplight out, and set up. These babies are already reaching for the light!

Eggplant Seedling:
This is the same eggplant that I showed in an earlier picture, with good strong true leaves. A little bit of sun goes a long way. And notice how it is growing straight now. I turned the trays around so they would straighten out a bit.

And in case anyone wants to see a lovely picture of aphids:

And the final picture of the day:
For 20 points, can you guess what this is?

Being a Snoop

2008-03-25T12:11:00.004-04:00

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:

Zigan
Silvery Fir Tree
Bloody Butcher
Moscovitch
Brandywine (Sudduth)
Japanese Black Trifele
Pruden's Purple
Cherokee Purple
Kellogg's Breakfast
Pink Brandywine
Pineapple
Mortgage Lifter
Neves Azorean Red
Black from Tula
Vova Yellow
Orange Jubilee
Palmira's Italian Heirloon
Rhoades Heirloom
Moscow Suburb
Siberian
Blue

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

Step by Step Seed Starting

2008-03-23T15:41:00.017-04:00

I have finally started seeding in earnest. I'm still waiting for a few things in the mail, but at the rate I seed, they'll be here long before I'm done the ones I still have yet to plant.

I worry about what I post sometimes. I wonder if I am being clear enough, if I post too many pictures, or if I'm too wordy, and don't post enough pictures. Looking at other gardening blogs that I like to read, I realized the pictures are half the post. And the pictures make the post.
So I took pictures of my seeding process, step by step, in the hopes that it will clarify anything that I unwittingly omit. For many, this is old hat.

A while ago, a bunch of parents, at a playgroup that my daughter and I frequent, were discussing general gardening and gardening with kids, and as the admitted gardening junkie, they asked my opinions and ideas on a few things. (At least that's my story!!) One of my recommendations was to grow beans and peas with kids, because they can actually see the germination process in action. One of my friends asked about bean seeds. Well, I have a variety of beans at home, so I offered to bring some in for her. No, no, she said, I want to try the seeds. Uhm, bean seeds?? The beans are the seed, I told her. Ooohhh!!! You could see the comprehension dawning on her face. She doesn't garden much! I am not making fun of her, I am only trying to point out (in a humorous way) the disconnect many people have between their food, and the production of said food. I am sure she is not the only one.

Preparation:

I have my bucket of soil mix, my tray, my seed packets and my trusty notebook.

The next step is to fill up the trays, with the mix. I do not pre-moisten, I put it in dry, and lightly water once they are filled up.

Now I carefully place one seed in the middle of each cell. If you have older seed, you may want to use two or three seeds, just in case one doesn't germinate. If you have a limited amount of seed, one will do. Any cells that don't have a seedling germinate, you can always replant with a new seed in a week or so.

That little white round thing in the middle is a tomato seed.

Now I take about a third of a tablespoon of mix, and sprinkle it over the whole area so it just covers the seed.

Then I use my trusty spray bottle to moisten that top sprinkling of soil, which ensures the seed comes in contact with the water and the soil and doesn't get moved around too much .

I label each section as I go, or if I'm doing a hodge podge of different tomatoes, each cell. Sound simplistic, but you wouldn't believe how easy it is to forget what you just planted, especially if you are planning three steps ahead.

I use popsickle sticks or coffee stir sticks, broken in half to write in the variety. I also make a note in my little notebook, just in case.

Now it's ready for the dome lid, onto the shelf, and wait for the seedlings to pop out.

This is what you are hoping for in a few weeks or so:

Notice the lower baby leaves (the cotyledons, not true leaves) are yellowing a bit. These plants are in need of transplanting into a 4 inch pot, and a shot of fertilizer. The roots are growing right out of these peat pellets. They aren't too leggy though, because they have been up high in my window, getting lots of sun. So they are still looking pretty good. I will transplant soon, and give them a shot of Muskie (fish emulsion fertilizer) a few days or a week after transplanting. When I do transplant, I will plant them deep, stripping off the cotyledons if they have not already fallen off, and planting up to the first set of true leaves.

Here is a pic of an eggplant seedling, clearly showing the cotyledons, and the very beginning of the first true leaves.

Here is a picture of some eggplant seedlings, that have recently germinated. They are much slower than tomatoes. In fact, they were started the same day the above tomatoes were started. Notice too how they are curving to one side. This is photo tropism, the seedlings grow towards the light. I simply flip the trays around, and they start growing the other way.

Once the tomato seeds have germinated, I will remove the dome cover. I tend to keep my seedlings on the cooler side, which slows down growth, but indoors, that is what I want. I haven't yet set up my lights, but will have to do so shortly. It doesn't take long for tomatoes to germinate, and as soon as they do, you want to have them under as mush intense light for as long as possible. I will post a pic of my set up as soon as I get it going.

This is my little pre-Christmas Galina's Yellow experiment. She is doing very well. Notice how thick the stem is, and all the side shoots. I probably should give her a trim. But a pretty happy little tomato plant.

Galina's flowers mean I may get a little tomato sometime in the near future. Here's hoping!

Book Recommendation

2008-03-19T13:07:00.003-04:00

Just a quick post right now.

A friend of mine just lent me an excellent book on gardening with kids.

Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots (Activities To Do in the Garden) by Sharon Lovejoy.

It's a really cute little book, with some really good info and ideas, for beginners and seasoned gardeners alike. I quickly read through it this morning, and I'm going to put it on my list for books to look for. I think my kids will get a kick out of some of the ideas, especially the 'Three Sisters', an Iroquois traditional planting combination, which consists of planting blocks of corn, beans and squash together. Lots of other cute little ideas, and the author has a good grasp on what works with kids to get and keep their attention, which most of us parents know can be difficult.

Stuck In A Rut

2008-03-17T21:15:00.002-04:00

I seem to be, and literally was earlier today, stuck in a rut. Just glad I have snow tires on my van, so I could finally jostle my way out of the huge ruts of snowy, slushy ice that cover my neighborhood streets. I have not started my major tomato ops yet, because I am waiting for a final seed order and a final trade to arrive, and because I really did have to wait. There is not much point in putting all this effort into starting and growing all these tomato babies too early. It really doesn't give you any advantages. And with the almost record breaking snowfalls we've been getting, my low tunnels are looking like a pipe dream right now.

I think I may start some tomorrow.

I found some cheap greenhouse starter trays at Canadian Tire, I cleared off the top shelf of one of my greenhouse shelfy thingies, so there is no reason not too. And, it's St. Patrick's Day today. I like having a specific day for gardening dates. I usually plant out on the 2-4 weekend (Victoria Day), near the end of May, although I really should wait till the beginning of June. But I always figure what's a week or two? Then some nights you would catch me running around with sheet and tarps, trying to cover everything because of frost warnings!! But starting the day after St. Patty's has a nice ring to it!

And yes, I do have tons of trays and pots in the shed, but I can't get to it right now, because of all the snow. That's okay, they'll still come in use later on when I transplant the 'for sale' seedlings up to the larger pots. These mini trays that I bought will hold 36 plant babies each, and that would make the indoor/outdoor trek during nice weather much easier. Last year, it took what seemed like forever to lug everything outside in the morning, and back in for bedtime. I was also lugging in and out the brugs, so it was quite a bit of work.

I recently ordered a few more seeds, and was sorely disappointed when I found out that they had run out of two that I really wanted to try this year, Paul Robeson and Black from Tula. Of course, I'd forgotten that I'd wanted to try them, desperately, until I was smugly looking through the catalog, thinking to myself I have everything that I need. Note to self ---never be smug when looking through seed catalogs!! It always, always leads to garden lust. For some of us, looking through them is akin to garden porn. Like the smug reformed non-smoker, it just takes one! One tomato that you remember people raved about, and all of sudden you're off the wagon. And you can't stop at one, because now that you've truly fallen off, you may as well go whole hog!

I also ordered some snow peas, and some asparagus. I managed to kill my asparagus patches last year, the ones that I had grown from seed and so carefully tended to for the past 4 years. It takes 3 -4 years from seed to get a big enough patch that you can harvest from, and last year would have been the year! So here I go again. Did I mention that asparagus is one of the few vegetables that I truly enjoy?? Besides potatoes, of course. I would take asparagus over any other vegetable, I even love raw asparagus. And no, it is not because of my childish delight in the green pee that eating it causes!

Asparagus is not completely cold hardy here, and some extra protection during the winter is advised. Of course, I didn't think raised beds = less protection during the winter. And we had a very cold winter last year, and very little snowfall. So they froze to death, partly due to the lack of snow cover, and mostly because of my own stupidity. Live and learn. But now I'll have to wait another 4 years before I get to harvest a decent amount.

(PS If anyone wants to send me just a few seeds of Black from Tula, or Paul Robeson, I wouldn't say no. And I might have some seeds you would like, in exchange!)

Pest Patrol

2008-03-08T22:16:00.005-05:00

I have a problem with aphids indoors, ever year. They simply adore brugs, and will quickly jump to the tomatoes and peppers and set up shop there. I haven't found any way of eradicating them, but I do manage to control them with a pretty simple solution of dish soap, alcohol and water. Smaller plants get baths in the kitchen sink or the bath tub, the larger 5-6 footers get spot treatments. I spray the soapy water all over the leaves, letting them stand for about 10 minutes, then shower them off, using my fingers to remove bugs from the stems. I also try to keep my brugs fairly defoliated over the winter, to eliminate some of the aphid habitat. But now that the light levels are finally picking up, the brugs are starting to wake up, and I don't want to keep stripping the leaves off. I've even got a flower open on a noid white, and buds forming on a peach Candida, which I know I should be picking off, but this time of year, I'll take what I can get in the way of flowers.

Ain't she purty? And she smells as good as she looks.

Once everything goes outside, the aphids sees to melt away. I will blast the plants with the hose a few times when they first go outside, but after that, Mother Nature sends in her garden helpers, and the problem seems to just go away. I don't use chemicals in my garden (unless you classify beer as a chemical), so that may be beneficial to the insects that help control aphids and other pests, such as ladybugs. I have used beer as bait for the slugs who like to eat my hostas, but in the last few years I haven't bothered, because they don't seem to be doing as much damage anymore. I'm not sure why that is.

Potato beetles are another problem particular to my brugs. I guess because they are in the Solanaceae family, they are very attractive to a potato beetle. It's odd, because I've never caught the beetle on potatoes or tomatoes, only my brugs. They don't do to much damage, because I'm pretty quick to spot them and their bright orange eggs. They are dispatched immediately in the same soapy water that the Lily beetle takes its swan dive in.

And that is another garden pest that I really can't stand. Those things are pretty as adults, but absolutely gross as larvae. They literally cover themselves in their own excrement, therefore have very few (if any) predators. I don't have a lot of lillies, but the ones I do get attacked every year. I wear plastic surgical gloves for their removal. Adults get tossed into a soapy bucket of water, along with the larvae, which are scraped off with sticks. Even with gloves on, I can't bring myself to touch them.

There are many other pests in the garden. This is just a short list for tonight. And I will admit, I am selective about what I consider a pest. I've found the beautiful green and white striped yellow dotted caterpillars of the Black SwallowTails devouring my dills. I decided I don't like dill that much, and if I need it, I can always buy some or grow some more. So I let them be.
I like to think I make Karma smile sometimes!!

Starting Datura Seeds

2008-03-06T15:29:00.004-05:00

I started some Datura the other day, and thought I should post about it. Datura's are very easy to grow, are related to Brugmansia, and very beautiful as well. They don't require as much care, don't mind poorer, dryer conditions, and are pretty much problem free. They are also very poisonous, and every year, someone tells me that I shouldn't grow them. My advice to them? Don't bloody eat them!!! They have been used by Shaman for ceremonial purposes, and once in a while, a story about dumb teenagers will surface, and then people want to blame the plant, or the grower. I think perhaps it is just natural selection at work! We have many poisonous plants and substances all over the place, some much worse than Datura. Don't put them in your mouth, and wash your hands well after working with them. That goes for brugs, as well.

I found these trays on recycling day, and they are perfect for starting Datura. I should be able to keep them growing and avoid having to repot/transplant until they go in the garden. Soaking the seeds overnight in warm water before planting will gives me much quicker and better germination. I plant the seeds about 1/4 inch deep in the soil, and keep the tray in a nice warm spot till I see their little green heads popping up. Then I keep the tray in a bright sunny location and give them a quarter turn every day to help them grow straight. I don't use lights on them, because I don't have enough to go around, and they seem to do alright with the amount of sunlight they get.

This is a double purple, about to open.

I am also growing triple yellow, triple purple and the plain white D. inoxia. They are all quite pretty, and attract lots of attention. I treat them as an annual, and grow them from seeds every year. You can dig them up in the fall, but they don't do very well inside for me. Not enough light for them, and the air is probably just to dry inside. They grow so quickly from seed, it's not really worth the bother, for me anyway. The D. inoxia will easily reach four to five feet high and wide in one summer, the others are slightly smaller in my garden.

For more information on Brugs and Dats, check out the links. There is an excellent book with stunningly beautiful photographs by Ulrike and Hans-George Preissel, 'Brugmansia and Datura - Angel's Trumpets and Thorn Apples'. A must for any enthusiast, and guaranteed to make you drool!! I highly recommend it.

Saving Seeds

2008-03-01T22:35:00.004-05:00

I'm gonna jump off track here and skip ahead to saving seeds. I was going through my seed inventory, and realized that I have just over 50 varieties of tomatoes now. To some that may seem like a lot, and to others, a piddling amount. Almost half are from the plants that I grew last year and saved seed from, so I decided that was my next topic.

Saving seeds is very simple, but if you really want to be sure that you have a pure strain, and that no cross pollination has occurred, then you have to start the process before the flower on the tomato plants are even open. Cross pollination occurs when one variety is pollinated by another. Most of our varieties are the results of natural crosses, usually done by insects, which have over time become 'stable'. Hybrids are the result of man-made crosses. The offspring of such a cross is an F1 (first generation), and that is what you are buying when you buy a hybrid. You can save the seeds from an F1, which would be F2 (second generation), but you won't get the same plant as the original F1, which is not to say you may not get a nice tomato out of it. And experimenting can be fun. It can get pretty technical, and there's a lot of interesting information out there about tomato breeding, stabilizing hybrid offspring, trying to grow the parents back out, etc, but that's not where I was going with this.

There are a couple ways to ensure the tomato seeds will be pure. Bagging blossoms, maintaining isolation distances, or if you're not interested in saving seeds, but want certain varieties, then make sure you buy from a reputable seller. There are also many traders out there, who take it pretty seriously, and folks who only want to ensure these varieties keep growing, who will give away seeds for the price of a stamp! They are serious about this endeavor, and will most likely have done the work to ensure pure seeds.

Bagging blossoms is your best bet whether you are growing a small or large variety of OP's. You simply cover the flowers before they open, using a light weight material such as cut up nylon from stockings, or tulle. It basically provides a physical barrier to prevent any insects or wind blown pollen coming in contact with the flowers. Giving the flowers a gentle shake is a good idea. Tomatoes are self pollinating, having perfect flowers, which means they contain both the male and female part of the flower. They do need pollen in order to form fruit, but they provide it themselves. Once they have start to form the fruit, remove the bag and identify those particular ones with string or warn, so that you remember to harvest the seeds from those tomatoes. As a home gardener, you don't need a huge amount of saved seed, so a few tomatoes should provide you with enough seed.

So now we'll assume you have the tomatoes that you want to save the seeds from in hand. You chopped them in half and squished out the seeds. They are covered in a gelatinous goo, and you will need to ferment them in order to remove it, which also help in removing any pathogens or bacteria. I use a small kitchen glass, add the seeds and a bit of water, give it a stir and put it on my kitchen windowsill. It only take a day or two, stirred once or twice a day, and they should be done. You don't want to leave them too long, or they may end up sprouting in the water and then they are no good at all. Most of the seed will have sunk to the bottom of the glass. Strain them in a tea strainer, or similar, giving them a really good rinse. Then simply dump them out on a paper towel, fold it up and leave it out to dry. Make sure you label the paper towel, because you will forget what variety they are in a week or two, if you have more than one type on the go. Once they are completely dry, pack them away in a cool dark place. Voila, you have seeds for next year.

Just another little meander down the path...

2008-02-27T22:30:00.001-05:00

How to make it snow…

February 27, 2008 at 9:16 pm (gardening, notes and thoughts, stuff) · Edit

It’s a very basic principle, works the same way as ‘how to make it rain’ - which is of course: hang out your laundry!

In this case, start by getting your pots and starting trays out of the shed, drag out the greenhouse shelves and covers, and just to be really sure, go buy some potting soil and maybe some more seeds. This will work especially well if it is a gorgeous sunny day out, and smells like spring. Nothing like it to bring on another cold snap and a bit of snow!

I’ve got plans to build some low tunnels over my raised beds early this spring, in order to jump start the gardening season. The idea is that they will work as a mini greenhouse, right over the beds. I’m hopeful that I may get growing as much as a month to six weeks early this year, although that is probably pushing it. But perhaps with some cold hardy veggies, I can play outside, while the tomato seedlings are still sunning indoors. I guess we’ll have to see what the spring brings, weather wise, and the summer. I’ve heard rumblings of La Nina, and what she may have to offer us, so all in all, low tunnels are probably a good investment.

I also invested a whole whopping $0.66 in a pack of broccoli seed, and cauliflower seed (part of my ‘how to make it cold and snowy’ campaign). I only mention it because I had absolutely no intention of growing anything but a ton of tomatoes, some carrots, peas, beans, swiss chard, leeks, beets, radishes, onions, lettuce, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers, corn, along with various herbs, annuals, and of course babying my brugs. Oh, did I mention tomatoes? A ton? Okay, so that may be a slight exaggeration, I don’t have the room to grow a ton of tomatoes. But I think last count may have been somewhere along the lines of 40 + varieties, which means at least 80 plus plants in my garden, along with all the extras I grow to sell and to give to neighbors and friends. Which always leaves plenty extra for me to ~~harass complete strangers who are unsuspectingly walking down the street~~ introduce new people I meet into the joy of growing tomatoes, and the reasoning behind heirlooms/OP’s.

I think the most fun I have gardening is planning my garden in the winter, and starting the seeds in early spring. Don’t ask me to post a pic of my garden in late July. Unless my darling husband (in case he reads this) decides to ~~pull out all the corn again cause it looks like grass~~ weeds the jungle, it is pretty messy by then. Because I have moved on. Have I every mentioned my astrological sign? I am a Taurus, but Gemini ascending, which translates into ‘I have the attention span of a gnat’. Seriously though, by mid July, garden fatigue, the heat, and the bugs have usually squelched my enthusiasm for my garden. I bounce back by mid to late August, just in time to start harvesting and canning (when it’s +33C??), dehydrating and freezing, and enjoying it again.

A camping vacation comes in handy right around the time garden fatigue has set in, and I don’t spend a moment worrying ~~cause at that point I could care less~~ because I have a fantastic house sitter/gardener/cat feeder, who lives right across the street. She comes complete with younger sisters and a brother, so excellent fall-back house sitters. And I get to spend a week with my family in the woods, swimming and fishing and hiking and stargazing, and I am so happy that I don’t have to answer the phone, or check my email, or listen to bad news on the radio, or fight traffic, and there’s nothing like sitting around a blazing fire at night, with someone you truly enjoy as a person, with whom you share a wicked sense of humor, and the kids are tucked away in their sleeping bags, and you shoot the breeze till the fire starts dying out, and it’s time to for you to tuck in too. That is the ‘ultimate vacation’.

So that’s what’s what for tonight.

Troubleshooting

2008-02-08T22:11:00.002-05:00

Promised more tomato talk, so I'll start with some of thing that can go wrong with the new little seedlings. A lot of these tips apply to other veggies/plants too, not just tomatoes. This is just a partial list. I will try to add other when I think of them.

1.Dampening Off

This is one of the biggest problems, and probably one of the easiest ones to avoid. The seedlings appear to wilt, and the stems weaken. It is caused by fungi that is present in the soil which attacks the seeds before they germinate or shortly there after. The fungus thrives in the same conditions that the seeds need for germination, but excess moisture will exacerbate the problem. Many growers will advise using a soil-less mix, to avoid it. I've never done so, and never had a problem. Good air circulation is helpful, even if you need to set up a fan in front of the seedlings. There are products on the market specifically to kill off the fungi that cause dampening off, and I've heard positive results from people using chamomile tea when they water the seedlings. I think the best idea is to try to avoid the problem in the first place. Over-watering and poor air circulation seem to be the biggest trigger for this problem.

2.Over-watering or Killing Your Plants With Kindness part A

This is also a big problem for many growers. It is so hard to restrain yourself sometimes, you just want these little seedling to grow! But drowning your little seedlings is a sad way to end your growing attempt. Whether they are in small trays, or larger pots, the strength of the light and the indoor temperature will determine when and how much to water. Smaller containers will dry out much quicker than the larger ones. A good rule of thumb is to let the plant tell you. If they refuse to talk, then look closely at the soil, and the plants themselves. Smaller seedlings need more care, and should not be allowed to dry out completely. Once the seedlings are larger, and have several sets of true leaves, then a bit of stressing by underwatering is not a bad thing. The soil should be almost dry, and the plants should be almost wilting. It actually mimics what the conditions in the garden will be, and can toughen them up, or so the theory goes.

Part B

Over-fertilizing.

Generally, your seedlings will not require fertilizer, at least mot for the first little while. Check your growing medium before you decide. Are you using a seed starting mix? These will usually contain enough nutrients in the soil until the plants are ready to go out in the garden full-time. If you make your own mix, did you use compost or soil? If the plants look healthy and deep green, then I would skip the fertilizing. If they appear to be turning slightly yellow tinged, or if you started them way before the recommend 6 weeks, then you may need to reach for some food. Check out the organic options, even my local Canadian Tire carries a wide variety of product now, and generally the prices are comparable to the standard 'blue water'. --Miracle Grow--You can even make your own compost teas, if you have it on hand.

3. Lack of Light

For indoor growing, this can be problematic for many. As soon as those seedling emerge, they need all the light they can get. You can buy fancy lights, but I would not bother wasting the money. A simple shop light with fluorescent bulbs does the trick for me. I also use a couple of those fluorescent stick lights, and a couple of the hand held lights suspended above the seedlings. The lights should be as close to the tops as possible. Fluorescent shouldn't burn them, but if you're using other types, then just be careful to keep on eye on them. You may need to rotate the trays around, especially if they are in a window as well as under lights. You will find the seedling stretch towards the light, so to encourage straighter upwards growth, adjusting the light source and moving the trays around is your best bet. When they get transplanted, or go into the garden, I bury the stem quite a bit anyway so a little legginess is okay. Tomatoes will form roots along the stem that is buried, giving them a stronger root system so it's not the worst thing.

That's about it for tonight. One final note, I've found some really neat looking hoop cover kits at Lee Valley. I'm mighty tempted. I'm not sure how much of a head start that would give me in the garden, but I'd guess if the weather co-operated, and I incorporated some heating ideas of my own, I might be able to push a good three to four weeks ahead of schedule. That would mean planting out in the beginning to middle of May, instead of June. And that would mean I could be starting tomatoes pretty soon. That's such a nice thought when it's -15 outside tonight. Spring is nearly here! And I'll be waiting, open armed with plenty of tomato plants behind me!

Happy New Year...Here's to the Year of the Rat (or another brief intermission)

2008-02-07T20:10:00.000-05:00

Nothing to do with Tomatoes, but it is the Chinese New Year, so I'll use any excuse to put off doing stuff that I should be doing (actual work), to spend time doing something I enjoy instead (writing, reading, chatting on the phone or on-line, looking through seed catalogs)! I'm really starting to dislike winter, it's been long enough now. But one thing I do like about this season, is having a roaring fire to heat the living room and sitting on the couch by the warm flames. Usually Simon is next to me, snuggling on the wool blanket and curled up against my leg, and I have my trusty laptop, well, where else but on my lap. I love the sound of the flames sputtering against the frozen logs as they heat up. I love to watch the flames flickering in the fireplace. There's just something so primordial about sitting by a fire.

I learned something important today. The more I learn, the less I know. Reading about tomatoes, and breeding and hybridizing, I realized how little I actually know. And I went to college for horticulture and landscaping! I took botany, and I learnt how to build a decent fence, and how to lay stone. But there really is only so much you can learn at school, and you should never stop trying to learn. I also spent four years at a university and then some, studying when I was much younger, and I'm not sure what I came away with, save my student loans. I picked up more skills and interests in between my schooling stints than I did during. I still have the love of literature, the love of baking (I worked in a bakery), the love of animals (vet clinic years ago and pets and horses), the love of writing (Thanks, Mr. Chiapetta, you rock), and I really wish someone would pay me to read and critique books. I mean, c'mon, how many people can read the entire Lord of The Rings (including the Hobbit) in a weekend? Isn't that a special talent? I think so! I should put that on my resume when I start job hunting next year.

Next post, will be about tomatoes. Promise.

Starting from Scratch...or Seed.....Part two

2008-02-04T19:47:00.000-05:00

Anyone who knows me, knows I cannot resist a bad pun! This is my boy, Simon. He is the mellowest fellow, and I adore him even when he is being bad (like getting into my plants). How could I possibly stay mad at that face?

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program.........

Planting tomato seed is pretty much the easiest thing in the world. If you've decided to use the cell packs, then simply place one seed in the center of each cell, gently pressing it down just below the soil, and lightly cover it up. If you're using larger pots, you can plant a bunch of seeds in the pots to germinate, and prick them out and transplant once they have grown on a bit. Water very lightly to ensure the seeds are in contact with the soil, and will be able to absorb some of the moisture. Without water, the seeds won't germinate. Don't let the soil dry out until you see the seedlings but don't over-water so that the soil is sopping wet.

Some people use heat mats underneath the trays, or place them on top of the fridge for a bit of bottom heat, which will help speed up the waiting game you will now be playing. I don't specifically use bottom heat, and have never had any problems, but I'm using large greenhouse shelves, that I can close up at night with a light source, which does generate some heat and also retains some moisture. Just be sure that if you use a heat/light source, that it is safe!!! I can't stress that enough! Friends and fellow gardeners have shared many near miss stories, of creative ways they tried to use waterbed heating mats, for example, and nearly burnt their homes down in the process. You may also want to cover up the pots with plastic, or if using the greenhouse style trays that you can purchase, with the domes that come with the trays. Just remember to uncover them during the day, if they are in sunlight, because cooking your seeds will kill them, and that is exactly what will happen if they get too hot under the domes.

Light isn't necessary at this point, just warmth. The ideal temperature should be approximately 25 Celsius (75 F) Germination with tomatoes is usually fairly quick, between 5 -7 days. Once the seeds have popped up, then light does become the number one critical factor in strong and healthy seedlings. I use large shop lights with regular cheap fluorescent bulbs, and a few other lights sources to provide as much light as possible. The seedlings are in my south facing bay windows, so they get as much sun as possible during the day along with the supplemental lighting. The shop lights are hung so close to the seedlings that they almost touch. The one other crucial mistake that is often made, is to over-water the seedlings. Let them get almost to the point of drying out before watering again.

Once they've been growing for a week or two, they should have a second or third set of true leaves, which is a good time to transplant if you are using the large pots/lots of seeds method. If using the cells, then you can leave them safely for a while longer.

One final note, that I should have addressed first, is when to start your seeds. Six to eight weeks before your last frost date is the ideal time to start. If you are an impatient seed starter (as I am) then by all means, take your chances and play around. But remember that the ideal growing condition for tomato plants is outdoors, in full sun. Not very many homes can provide those conditions. And if you do seed early, you may want to try and sow some back up plants at the right time just in case.

Transplanting and trouble shooting.....next time, pardner.

Doesn't she look like she carries a six shooter in her hip pocket??

Mina aka CrazyCalico

A Brief Intermission for Bread

2008-01-24T21:22:00.000-05:00

Haven't baked anything in a while, but today I realized we were low on bread, I had time, and didn't want to run to the grocery store. And everyone, including my lil' miss I don't like crust, likes this bread. So here it is, in all it's glory. I only ate three slices, fresh out of the oven. Two slathered with butter, the third with a tangy old cheddar. Yum!

It's your standard recipe, very simple, flour, water, yeast and salt, so I won't post it. Besides, I am a by-your-eye kind of baker too, so I don't really measure to close. You can just tell by the feel of the dough, when it's ready for the next stage.

Starting from Scratch......or Seed - Part One

2008-01-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

It's a tad early for starting seeds of anything yet unless your trying your hand at wintersowing, but I really start to get itchy fingers near the end of January. I don't start tomatoes until late March or Mid April, 6-8 weeks before my last frost date. So I decided perhaps if I write about it, that may scratch the itch for a little bit. And what else would come after choosing your tomatoes? Besides waiting for the seeds in the mail, that is.
I do have one little Galina happily growing in a pot under a lamp light, sitting right beside my desk on a shelf . I must check on her at least 5 times a day. Spring really can't come fast enough!

Starting your own tomatoes from seed is pretty straightforward. The three first key ingredients for germination are soil, water and heat. And once they've popped their noses out (germination), the fourth key is light. There are all kinds of fancy set-ups you can buy, and if you're creative, you can make some pretty slick outfits yourself. But whether you're growing a few plants for yourself, or a few hundred, you don't need to spend a lot of time or money. When I get my set up out of the shed, and actually working, I'll be sure to post some pictures. It's pretty simple and didn't cost me much.

What type of container you start your seeds in is entirely up to you and would also depend on how many you plan to start. I use the plastic cell packs that fit perfectly into the nursery trays, but small pots, even styrofoam cups are perfectly fine if you're not going to start that many. I start them off in the cells, and once they have a true set of leaves (or to be honest, probably longer), I pot them up into larger 4 inch pots. I start a few hundred plants, though, so for me this is the easiest way. And I am obsessive about checking them a few times a day, at least. If you are not the type of person who obsesses over plants, a larger starting container might be better, because they will not dry out as quickly.

So now for the soil. You can buy perfectly fine, very expensive seed starting mix, or you can make your own. Guess which one I do?

Of course I make my own. It's part of the fun! I use regular black earth (cheap at Canadian Tire, or other stores), vermiculite, perlite and peat moss. The ratio is approximately 1/2 earth, 1/6 each vermiculite, perlite, and peat moss. I kind of eyeball it, don't bother measuring it out. If I have good compost around, I'll add some of that too. I mix it all up in a big bucket, and then fill up the cell packs. Now water the mix in the cells, making sure it doesn't get too wet. If that happens, just let it dry out a few days before you plant the seeds. Now I'm ready to plant!

We'll get to that next time!

Choosing the right tomato - Part Two

2008-01-20T14:42:00.001-05:00

So by now I have added at least a dozen new heirlooms that I want to try. Gardeners are beyond generous when it comes to sharing seeds, and promoting their favorites. I don't even get a chance to whip out the credit card when I am perusing seed catalogs online, because I know that most of these varieties are being grown by others who are more than willing to share. But it also makes narrowing down my list even more difficult. I have to be stern and tough with myself, and throw in a little realism as well. I only have so much room!! I have two large raised beds, and a smaller square one, in which I'm supposed to contain all my vegetable plants. All other beds are perennials, or awaiting my brugmansias come spring. I did try to grow some in front of the front hedge this summer, but that wasn't quite the success I was hoping for. One neighbor did comment on the nice tomatoes, but....I think he was just being nice. So that spot is going to be for brugs in sunken pots.

So, back to trying to choose tomatoes. The biggest thing is that this family uses tomatoes in almost any way possible, so we need cherries, slicers, pastes, beefsteaks. I think I'll have room for at least 60 plants, so I may whittle my list a bit, and I may sneak tomatoes into spots where they don't really belong. I figure I can grow about 40 varieties this year, even if some are restricted to one or two plants. I've also got to look into the community garden projects this year. I was too late last summer, but it could be a lot of fun.

Now someone who wants to plan their garden a little bit better than I do should to look at bush vs. indeterminate vs. determinate plants.

Bush tomatoes tend to be shorter plants, that don't require staking. Indeterminates do, as do some determinates. The difference here is indeterminates keep producing throughout the growing season, determinates produce one big flush of tomatoes on the plant all around the same time, and then they are done. In my short growing season, I've never been able to see a difference! I'm sure if you have a longer growing season it would make a difference. I've seen pictures of plants growing well over 12 feet high. I don't think that would be possible here, in my zone 5a (Canadian zone = Zone 4 USDA) but you never know! Maybe if I babied them a little more, I would get bigger plants. But in the end, that doesn't really matter to me. I grow them for fun, so when it becomes too much like work, I tend to lose interest in the process. Gardening should be something to enjoy.

Choosing the right tomato - Part One

2007-11-15T15:39:00.000-05:00

First of all, I don't know if there is such a thing. Everyone's taste is subjective, and the right tomato for Tom could be the wrong tomato for Fred. Having said that, the type of tomato you want to grow will depend on what you want out of that tomato. Are you looking for the perfect BLT sandwich tomato? Cute and tasty little plums for salads? Good canners and salsas and pastes? Lots of meat, lots of juice, lots of seeds, no seeds, etc. There are literally thousands of varieties to chose from, and of course every nursery catalog that lists seeds will tell you every tomato seed they sell is terrific. So how do you choose? And are you willing to put up with the imperfections of growing heirlooms? If not, then maybe you should grow some of the hybrids on the market and stick to the same old same old! But if you want to take a chance on something different and have some fun growing tomatoes, then heirlooms are for you.

There is nothing inherently wrong with hybrids but I prefer heirlooms/open-pollinated for a number of reasons. I like growing yellow tomatoes, and orange tomatoes, and black tomatoes. I like the little itty-bitty ones and the big beefsteaks. I guess I like variety. I should clarify at this point that I class heirlooms and open-pollinated (OP) together, while many others do not. There is no clear definition, and experts will argue the point till they're blue in the face. For simplicity, I put them in the same group because you can save the seeds, and they will grow true year after year. Others will say it is not an heirloom if it hasn't been around for one hundred years, or if it's not endangered, etc...What's in a definition?

I like the fact that you can save the seeds from this year's crop and as long as there has been no cross-pollination, then you are guaranteed to get the same tomato year after year. (There are different ways to prevent cross-pollination, a topic for another post.)

And I love the idea that I am doing my little bit to save rare varieties that we are in danger of losing forever. The big seed companies have no interest in preserving the old varieties, there is no money in it. They want you to buy the hybrids, because you have to keep buying them year after year. There is little point in saving those seeds, because they will not grow true. I am also very opposed to GMO's, and that seems to be the direction most big seed companies and food producers are heading towards with everything that we grow and/or eat. Tomatoes have been genetically modified and sold, although with limited success. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the supermarket tomato is grown not only with pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers, but will also be genetically modified and successfully sold to the unsuspecting consumer. That is not something I want to eat, nor feed my family. So I am trying to do my part in saving and promoting heirlooms. GMO give me the willies, to be honest.

So at this point, you're wondering where I'm going with this. Here goes:

What type of tomatoes do you want?

How important is production?

How long is your growing season?

What do you want to use the tomato for? (sandwiches, salsa, salads, etc)

How much effort do you want to put in?

Do you want to save seeds?

Keep these thoughts in mind when you're looking through the catalogs. There are lots of places to choose from, but my favorite so far is BakerCreek. I also have a few tomato growing buddies that have shared seed with me, and that is another great way to get them at low/no cost. I've got seeds saved myself, ready to share (hint, hint). As a Canadian, ordering from US companies is perfectly fine, with no problems with customs. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it is fine going the other way as well. Would have to double check.

There are a quite few valuable places to look for seeds, to get ideas, and to find advice. Seeds of Diversity is a living Canadian seed bank for heirlooms, Gardenweb has an excellent tomato forum with tons of advice and opinions. There are lots of good books out there as well.

Well, there is a starting point. I will work on Part Two soon. Lots more to come.

Here is a partial list of what I grew this summer that I will grow again next summer. These are some that I would consider outstanding must grows. Days refers to the number of days from transplanting in the garden until you see fruit.

1. Galina’s Yellow - a delicious yellow cherry, fairly prolific, one of Meg’s favorite Indeterminate, 70 - 75 days. (Siberia/Russian origin)

2. Black Cherry - a tangy, almost smoky, flavorful cherry, another favorite Indeterminate, 65 days.

3. Zigan - black slicing tomato (more of a dark purple, kind of uneven color), smoky flavor, very distinct, medium size Indeterminate, 75 days (Zigan means Gypsy, Russian heirloom)

4 . Stupice - red slicing tomato, small , about the size of a golf ball, but very prolific and early, this was the best tomato in my yard Indeterminate, 50 days. (Czech heirloom)

5. Vova Yellow - smooth, yellow slicer, almost plum shaped, another good producer, nice flavor Indeterminate, 65 days (also know as Uncle Vova’s, Russian heirloom)

6 . Orange Jubilee - another gorgeous orange tomato, baseball sized, good production, good flavor, Indeterminate, 65-70 days

7. Giant Italian Paste - this is the biggest paste tomato I’ve grown, outclassed and outperformed all the other pastes. Indeterminate, 70 days.

8. Rhoade’s Heirloom - a large, bi-color, very unusual looking, didn’t get a lot of the plants, but the ones we did were very nice. Indeterminate, 75 - 80 days.

9. Purple Prince/Black Prince - medium sized dark purple tomato, received one plant in a trade, but saved seeds from it. From what I understand, the same tomato goes by both names (but I could be wrong). Good production. Indeterminate, 70 days.

10. Russian Persimmon - another sweet orange tomato, almost tennis ball size, very nice flavor, Determinate, 75 days

Putting the garden to bed

2007-10-29T22:08:00.001-04:00

Frost, and I mean real frost, has finally hit my garden. My valiant tomato plants have bit the dust. I've never had tomatoes this late before. In fact, this has been almost 6 weeks past the usual bite the dust date. Very unusual. But I knew it was coming, so over the weekend, the kids and I pulled out most of the tomato plants in the raised veggie beds, and in the front bed. Now I just have to finish weeding them completely, and I will try an overwintering adaptation of the lasagna bed technique. I used this early spring in one bed, as a trial, and it worked wonderfully. Kept the weeds out like nobody's business.

The basic idea is to smother weeds with newspaper, cardboard, other bio-degradable papers. What I did this spring was to layer compost, overwintered-soon-to-be composted leaves from the previous fall, and general garden waste in the bed, about ten inches or so. I then covered it all with about six to eight sheets thick of newspaper, and then on top of that, three to four inches of garden topsoil/composted lamb-cow-whatever manure. The idea is that the worms will pretty much eat all the garden waste, all the way up to and including the newspaper, leaving you with rich soil, and all the while smothering any weeds. Seemed to do the trick. I wasn't sure how happy the toms would be, in all that not quite composted stuff, but they didn't seem to mind at all. And when I was pulling out the plants, I saw more worms than I think I ever have. A win-win all around. I am going to try the same idea this winter in the other beds, minus the top layer of soil/compost. I'll save that for spring. I'll just add more leaves to the top to keep the newspaper from flying away, and see what it looks like come spring.

Oh, one thing I forgot to add, water the whole thing really well. Up here in Quebec, hopefully we'll get a really good snow cover, but even then, water will help the breakdown of the garden stuff (leaves, compost, etc,) and the newspapers.

Hello Tomato Lovers and Gardeners New and Old

2007-10-23T14:16:00.000-04:00

I am creating this blog in the hopes of encouraging others to grow and save seeds of heirloom tomato varieties and to record and share my own experiences in my garden with tomatoes and everything else that grows in my garden, outdoors and in .

I use the word Naked as opposed to organic, non-gmo, non-hybrid, and other terms, because these are all kind of lumped together, as if they mean the same thing when they don't. I feel the word naked describes the tomato I want to grow. Pure, straightforward, old time strains of tomatoes, bursting with flavor, and all sorts of brilliant colors, these are not your hybrid perfectly round, perfectly bland supermarket tomatoes. These are tomatoes in their glory, blemishes, quirks and all. Grown with natural techniques, using no chemical fertilizing or pesticides.

I will share my growing tips and techniques, from choosing varieties and starting seeds, to lighting and watering, potting up seedlings, setting them out in the garden, bagging blossoms for pure seeds (or if you even need to bother), saving tomato seeds, soil nutrition, composting, and anything else I can think of related to gardening and success with tomatoes. Even if you've never grown a tomato plant, or started one from seed, you can follow along the process, and I bet you'll never go back to store bought tomatoes (except maybe in the dead of winter out of desperation) or buying those hybrids plants again.

I am also a Brugmansia (Angel's Trumpets) fanatic, so I will have the occasional posts and pictures of these beautiful tropical plants.

And I love to cook and bake, so I'm sure that will be there somewhere in the mix.

I hope I will get questions and comments. One thing I love about gardening is the generosity most gardeners have towards others. Walking in my neighborhood last summer, I complemented a woman who was weeding her garden on the gorgeous poppies she had growing, and she promptly cut off a few seed heads and handed them to me. I've had so many generous and kind people share little bits of their gardens and their time with me, I truly believe in the pay it forward philosophy when it comes to gardening.