Since my last post, I have started heirloom tomatoes, and have been monitoring the progress of the lettuce and kale started using the winter sowing method. Once again it has worked wonderfully. The onions and leeks are also coming along nicely considering the challenging weather conditions during April. For more information regarding Winter Sowing, see my featured post in the right hand margin.
Starting Heirloom Tomatoes
This year, I am again trying an heirloom tomato blend, as I like to sample a variety of tomatoes. There are so many heirlooms to try, that I find by planting a variety I get a good representation of some of the best ones. I also planted some San Marzano paste tomatoes, another great heirloom which is actually in the blend, but I wanted a larger number of these for making sauce, etc.
I purchased a blend from Etsy:
This blend was inexpensive and claims to contain the following varieties:
Black Krim Tomato
Costoluto Genovese Tomato
GIANT Belgium Pink Tomato
GIANT German Johnson Tomato
GIANT Old German Tomato
Chocolate Stripes Tomato
Cherokee Purple Tomato
French Marmande Tomato
GIANT Mortgage Lifter Tomato
Roma Tomato
GIANT Pink Oxheart Tomato
San Marzano Tomato
Ukrainian Purple Tomato
Amish Paste Tomato
GIANT Mr. Stripey Tomato
Brandywine Red Tomato
Brandywine Yellow Tomato
Pineapple Tomato
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| Heirloom Blend Planted 3/27/18 Using Peat Pellets |
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| San Marzano On Left Germinated Well/Heirloom Blend On Right Eventually Mostly Sprouted |
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| Tomatoes Transplanted Using Peat Pots |
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| Tomatoes, Sweet Spanish Onions, Leeks, Lettuce, and Kale in Greenhouse |
The romaine and butter crunch lettuce started using the Winter Sowing technique are doing quite well. Now that the weather has improved, the plants have been outside in my mini greenhouse.
In my next post I will cover garden preparation (rototilling, etc.) and the official start of the gardening season including planting onion sets, and transplanting lettuce and kale plants. I will also show my new lettuce/kale frame that I built and the use of netting and shade cloth.
Bird Photos
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| Goldfinches and Female House Finch |
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| Goldfinches and Female House Finch |
Until next time.
