So Many Tomatoes So Little Space

I am so excited I planted my tomato seeds this weekend!  With so many choices to pick from this year it made it very hard to decide on what varieties to grow.  I wish I had acres so I could grow them all, but I don't so I had to pick and choose.  Since I haven't been gardening long, there are so many tomato varieties I am still learning about.   This year I learned about wintersown.org and have received many new tomato varieties from Trudi that I now have 80 varieties!  I narrowed it down to 40 varieties to try this year, most of them being heirlooms.  I can't wait to try them all!  I am going to try saving seeds this year to hopefully start trading with other gardeners.  I wanted to share the varieties I will be growing this year, so here it goes...

Cherry Tomatoes:                                          Large Tomatoes:  

Green Grape                                                  Anna Russian

Chocolate Cherry                                           Moonglow

Blondkopfchen                                               Mr. Stripey

Red Pear                                                         Virginia Sweets
Maglia Rosa                                                    Coure di Bue

                                                                        Russian Rose

Small Tomatoes:                                             Marianna's Conflict

Bloody Butcher                                               Momotaro (Tough Boy)

Blush                                                               Lemon Boy

Black Zebra                                                     Emerald Evergreen

Wapsipinicon Peach                                        Marglobe

Indigo Rose                                                      Mr. Brown

Jaune Flamme                                                  Mrs. Maxwell Big Italian

Elberta Peach                                                   German Pepper Tomato

Tigerella                                                            Slava
Black Prince                                                                         Dr. Wyche's Yellow

Plum/Paste:                                                       Kellogg's Breakfast

Amish Paste                                                      White Beauty

Black Trifele                                                     Purple Passion

Black Emperor                                                  Orange Russian

Speckled Roman                                                Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye      

                                                                           Spudakee

                                                                           Box Car Willie

                                                                           Beauty King

                                                                           Basinga

                                                                           Eva's Purple Ball
                                                                           German Pink
                                                                           Marglobe

Seedling Update

It has been a few weeks since I posted about my seed starting and winter sowing adventures, so I thought I would give an update on how things are growing.  So far everything is growing well inside and outside.  I am learning that you need to have patience when it comes to winter sowing.  I am use to growing things under lights with heat mats which sprout quickly.  Winter sowing is a slow process, but I am seeing more and more sprouting every day. Here are some pictures of my winter sowing sprouts.  Hopefully the cabbage & lettuce will be ready to transplant the beginning of April.  These are pictures of cabbage, poppy, bachelor buttons, borage, chinese lanterns and lettuce.
                   
                                          

     
                              


My peppers, eggplant and artichokes are also growing nicely.  They were started indoors on heat mats and now are under lights growing nicely.


   
                                

         
                                        

Using Cinnamon on Seedlings: Stop 'Damping Off' Disease'

Last year I lost all my eggplant and pepper seedlings to "Damping Off Disease".  After reading this blog I immediately sprinkled cinnamon on the soil of all my seed starting containers.  My eggplant and peppers are just starting to come up and I don't want to lose them again this year!  He also doesn't recommend using the clear plastic domes that come with seed starting containers because they help create a moist humid environment which damping off loves.  So needless to say I also removed all the plastic domes from my seedling containers.  Just click on the link below to read his blog.  Happy reading!



The Rusted Vegetable Garden: Using Cinnamon on Seedlings: Stop 'Damping Off' Di...: Using Cinnamon to Prevent and Stop 'Damping Off' Diseases on Seedlings Cinnamon has some anti-fungal qualities and it smells gre...

How to plant a Lasagna Garden

I just learned about this gardening technique and I can't wait to try it!  I will post about my experiences with lasagna gardening in the near future.



How to plant a Lasagna Garden

It's March!!!

For me March is a very exciting month as a gardener.  It is the month in which seed starting is at its peak and also the month in which I can start planting in my garden.  Hopefully by the end of March I will be able to till my garden beds and start planting my spring crops.  I plan on direct seeding peas, spinach, beets, asparagus peas and sweet peas the last week in March.  I will also be planting my broccoli, cabbages, onions and kohlrabi transplants.  I am hoping Mother Nature cooperates and it doesn't rain to much this spring!   I did some more winter sowing today. I planted three types of lettuce, curly parsley, celery, dill, white borage, okra, nasturtium, zinnias and violas.  I used a clear tote and seed starting containers.  I also transplanted my cabbage, purple cauliflower and onion seedlings into larger containers and moved them outside into a clear tote.  I have to say using these clear totes as mini greenhouses/cold frames has really freed up space in my indoor greenhouse with grow lights and also increased the amount of plant varieties I am growing this year.



Purple Cauliflower, Orient Express Cabbage, Early Jersey
Wakefield Cabbage & Walla Walla Onion seedlings.