When Sow seeds of tomatoes!
It’s almost time to start planting the seeds of tomato harvest this summer. Although there is still snow on the ground in many parts of the country, planting these little seeds gives us something to do while we are waiting for warmer weather.
Browsing catalogs seeds of different types of tomatoes is not only fun, but necessary if you are going to select just the right plants for your garden. A visit to your store or Wal-Mart seeds from the store can offer a few varieties of tomato seeds. If you want something different, order from a seed catalog or the Internet.
Selection the seeds that we use is almost as fun as glue on the potting mix. I plant both types of tomatoes in my garden in determinate and indeterminate plants.
The first are those plants that ripen all at once with lots of fruit. The latter are those who continue to produce new shoots and new fruit throughout the growing season. It’s exciting plant to boast of the abundance you have in your garden tomatoes.
There are also early, midseason and late varieties covering the entire growing season where you live. For accurate color in your garden, there are red, pink, green, yellow, golden orange and tomato plants.
Mixed with all this mixture of colors, plants with fruits are very dark with names such as Black Cherry, black zebra, Cherokee purple and black plum. There are also tomatoes are red with green stripes, Golden Yellow with red stripes and orange-yellow with red stripes.
After daydreaming about a huge garden with at least one of each plant in the catalog, it’s time for a reality check. Select a few varieties that you would like to plant and put them in the mixture of soil to germinate.
It is important to start with a good quality potting soil even though some commercial growers use a mixture of sawdust and sand of age. I think the potting soil with a little vermiculite added to make it loose, it works fine.
Start the seeds of five to six weeks before the early frost past. This schedule will allow the plant started from seed, to hit the garden when the soil temperature is warm. If the soil is too fresh ground just sit there and leave you scratching your head as to why it is not flower.
Almost everyone who has any type of garden, either plants or flowers, have plenty of stories that the old plants occupied last spring. I use these as well as old yogurt cups to start my tomatoes. Plant seeds about one-eighth of an inch deep and should flourish, if good seed.
Over the years I learned that the young tomato plants as a breeze, so they can dance in the wind. After that I have a pair of leaves on them, place a small fan set on low, near the seedlings and they believe that are in the garden and all the elders. They seem a little stronger than those raised without stirring the air around them.
When plants get four leaves on them, the transplanting of the story you have in a cup or container of their own. When spring arrives, place the plants outside for a few hours a day. This will allow harden and be ready to be placed in your garden. The time from setting the seed to the creation of the plant is seven to eight weeks.
Another option for growth of tomato plants is to wait until spring and buy seedlings that are already six to eight inches in height. It’s easier that way, but not as much fun as them from seed and watching them grow up to be big, beautiful tomatoes.
About the Author
Bob Alexander is well experienced in outdoor cooking, fishing and leisure living. Bob is also the author and owner of this article. Visit his sites at: http://www.bluemarlinbob.com/
|
|
Thermos Foogo Leak-Proof Stainless Steel 10-Ounce Food Jar, Pink $9.75 Foogo vacuum insulated food jar thermax double wall vacuum insulation for maximum temperature retention unbreakable stainless steel interior and exterior wide mouth is easy to fill, eat from, and clean ergonomically designed lid with rubber grip dishwasher safe non-slip, scratch resistant base, cool to the touch with hot foods light, compact and portable…… |
|
|
Progressive International HGT-11 Folding Mandoline Slicer $15.75 Slice and julienne vegetables evenly into thick or thin slices with ease using this folding mandoline slicer from Progressive. This versatile and efficient gadget uses three double sided cutting blades to provide six cutting option; thin slice, super thin julienne, medium slice, thin julienne, thick slice, and thick julienne. The blades are made of stainless steel for edge retention and efficiency… |
|
|
Swissmar Borner V-1001 V-Slicer Plus Mandoline 6 Piece Set $35.50 Cut thick slices of apple for pies, or veggies for stir fries. Slice potatoes thinly for homemade chips, or cabbage for cole slaw. Shred carrots for salad, or julienne, or cube, or dice. With a helpful set of instructions and three cutters, this machine yields professional looking, uniform results, at great speed and without much work on your part…. |
|
|
Best of the Laurie Berkner Band $6.53 The hottest thing in kids’ music returns! The Laurie Berkner Band’s catchy tunes and joyful lyrics not only earned them a regular role on Jack’s Big Music Show on NOGGIN (now Nick Jr.), but also numerous awards, rave reviews, huge album and DVD sales (in excess of 1.5 million!) and a following of pre-schoolers and parents nationwide. Now all of the most popular tunes from all five albums and her b… |
|
|
Sympathique $11.34 While the cocktail lounge fad has seen more than a few musicians climb aboard as a career move, the members of Pink Martini are no bandwagon-riding aficionados. Fronted by pianist Thomas Lauderdale, Pink Martini is the real article–a band that approaches the music with unwavering seriousness yet never forgets the fun at the heart of it. Sympathique, the band’s debut album reveals an incredib… |
|
|
The Best Of The Laurie Berkner Band $5.99 … |
|
|
Laurie Berkner’s Video Songbook [VHS] $13.98 If they started passing out prizes to kids’ musicians who keep it simple, Laurie Berkner would have a closetful. Her pared-down acoustic songs, with their goofball lyrics and fizzy delivery, have won her a cult following of 2- to 6-year-olds in New York. She’s also taken her live show shtick (involving stuffed-animal festooned hairdos) national, performing on the Today show and at the White H… |
|
|
Fried Green Tomatoes (Special Edition) [VHS] $1.00 Kathy Bates stars as an unhappy wife trying to get her husband’s attention in this amusing and moving 1991 screen adaptation of Fannie Flagg’s novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. After befriending a lonely old woman (Jessica Tandy), Bates hears the story of a lifelong friendship between two other women (Mary Stuary Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker, seen in flashback) who once ran … |
|
|
Fried Green Tomatoes [VHS] $0.01 Kathy Bates stars as an unhappy wife trying to get her husband’s attention in this amusing and moving 1991 screen adaptation of Fannie Flagg’s novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. After befriending a lonely old woman (Jessica Tandy), Bates hears the story of a lifelong friendship between two other women (Mary Stuary Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker, seen in flashback) who once ran … |
|
|
Felknor Ventures 82506 Topsy Turvy Upside-Down Tomato Planter $0.50 Worlds easiest way to grow tomatoes all season long – swivel top for easy turning – uses ordinary potting soil – uv resistant durable materials to last for years – hangs on deck balcony or patio – eliminates weeding caging and staking – gives you up to 30 pounds of deliciously ripe tomatoes per plant – - -…… |