Started Seedlings We’ve been bombarded with snow storms every week for the last three weeks and still have plenty of snow on the ground as a result. The temperature dropped back to winter levels again after a warm stretch in February. But it’s time to start germinating seeds for a new season, especially those that need more time to grow, bear fruit and ripen. I … Continue reading The Growing Season Begins
The Trellis Experiment I know it’s the middle of January but I also know that plant and seed catalogs start pouring in. Many of us comb through them and get that gardening itch. Like it or not, winter is a time to think about the next planting season, at least for me anyway. Looking back to see what worked well and what was a failure. … Continue reading Growing Tomatoes
…And The Search Still On Plant and seed catalogs start to pile up at this time of year. It’s always fun to leaf through them as there’s not much I can do in the garden and they give me ideas for next season. Now is the time to look for new plants, plan new arrangements for the garden, and order new seeds to experiment with. The … Continue reading In Search Of The Perfect Tomato
Time To Start Seedlings Tomatoes and chili peppers are a staple in our vegetable garden. We love trying new kinds of tomatoes for both color and taste. Once we find the one we like we cull seeds to grow the year after. Four kinds of tomato we have been growing every year because they have a marvelous taste are Cherokee purple, Mortgage Lifter , Brandywine and … Continue reading Tomatoes And Chili Peppers
Slow To Start But Good At The End The growing season started late this year because winter seemed to last forever. Vegetables that need warmer temperatures like tomatoes and peppers grew slowly at the beginning. I started to germinate the seeds in March but couldn’t put anything in the ground until May. Once in the ground, they seemed not to want to grow at all so I … Continue reading A Good Year For Tomato
A Will To Live I snapped this photo while I was on a lunch break. A healthy tomato squeezing up from a crack in the sidewalk, between a drain pipe and a building. It’s over a foot tall now so it’s been there for while. Who said a tomato plant is fussy and difficult to grow; this tomato defies the genre. This one tough tomato … Continue reading City Tomato
Adapting To A Long Winter I usually start seedlings of any plants that need longer time to mature in the house not long before I can plant them outside: Chili pepper, tomato, Bitter melon, Moonflower and a few more. I put them right in their permanent spots in the garden when they have developed their true leaves (the second set of leaves). When it gets … Continue reading Started Seedlings
Summer Vegetables Our vegetable garden this year is very different from last year. We had a lot of cherry tomatoes last year from seeds that sprouted up in compost I used. There are not many of them this year as I’ve pulled the sprouts out early before my guilt set in. I just can’t bring myself to demolish a perfectly good plant. I didn’t expect … Continue reading Vegetable Garden
Seedlings In The House I promised myself to be tougher with self-sown seedlings this year. Last year we returned from vacation to discover plenty of tomato seedlings in the vegetable garden. They were very healthy too, so I dug some up and either gave them to colleagues or replanted them in my neighbor’s garden. I let some of them grow and that posted a big … Continue reading Vegetable Seedlings
Too Much of A Good Thing I have promised myself I’ll pull out the self-sown seedlings in the vegetable garden in the next round, some of which will be thrown back in the compost pile and some replanted in a more manageable space. I use compost extensively in both flower and vegetable gardens and that’s where the volunteer seedlings came from. I don’t put just … Continue reading An Invasion of Cherry Tomatoes
Petals and Wings 