Starting Datura Seeds

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.

Just another little meander down the path...

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.

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

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

Choosing the right tomato - Part Two

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.

Hello Tomato Lovers and Gardeners New and Old

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.