Potting up

I've started potting up the tomatoes for this year - 26 so far, but I have lots of seedlings and lots of pots, so there will be a fair number more to follow.  Of the 20 varieties Mom started for me, one seems to have vanished entirely, and there's only one or 2 of a few kinds.  I have a friend with a few sorts that I don't have, and we're planning to trade a few plants.

My list for this year is:

1. Petit Moineau
2. Black Cherry
3. Sweet One Millon
4. Gold Nugget
5. Sungold
6. Wild Cherry
7. Ildi
8. Micro Tom
9. Hawaiian Currant (this is the one that I don't have any of)
10. Siletz
11. Super Marmande
12. Keeskerneti (I got the seeds for this one at a seed exchange, and cannot find it online, so no idea what it is like)
13. Big Rainbow
14. Mahlor Roth's Orange Brandywine
15. Roma
16. Principe Borghese
17. Silvery Fir Tree
18. Amish Paste
19. Stupice
20. Costoluto Fiorentino

Big Rainbow and Petit Moineau are favourites from previous years, and this year I plan to save my own seed from them and other favourites.  The ones I don't like as well, I'll keep planting the seed I have til it is gone, but won't save any myself.  I'd like to eventually get half a dozen or so favourites that I'll grow every year, and still keep trying a couple of new sorts each year.  

 

The new varieties I'm trying this year are black cherry, siletz, super marmande, Mahlor Roth's orange brandywine, and costoluto fiorentino. And the hawaiian currant, that I'm hoping to get a seedling for from my tomato growing friend.  

Beyond the tomatoes, I have peas up, setting flowers already, mache ready to harvest, and we've already been eating radishes and pac choi.  Nothing else is ready to eat yet, but my herbs are taking off like mad.  I'll definately be drying or freezing lots, depending on the type, and adding them fresh to anything I can!

Rainy Weekend

Saturday - Last weekend, Easter weekend, was sunny.  Four glorious days of non stop sun.  I got a fair bit done, and made plans to do even more this weekend.  This weekend, however, is not even close to as nice.  I'm sitting on the couch, still in my housecoat, watching rain and thinking about the asparagus bed I wanted to weed and fence off from the dogs, and about the heathers and small shrubs waiting to planted along the grassy strip  along my driveway as part of my quest to get out of mowing. *sigh*

Fast forward to Sunday, and look, true to it's name, it's sunny!  I just got in from weeding my asparagus, and it's warm enough I'm going to change out of my hoodie and into a t-shirt with my shorts before heading back out there.  While weeding the asparagus, I noticed the first sprouts of my nemesis, bindweed.  For those of you who don't know bindweed, it's worse than any weeds you have.  I promise. I'll get more into bindweed in another post.  This is just a quick update between jobs.  If the weather had stayed rainy, you might have gotten more.

My asparagus is coming along beautifully this year, and I even ate a tiny tip I broke off by accident.  Delicious!  I planted the asparagus 2 years ago when I first bought the house, and this will be the first year there is any to eat.  The poor stuff got off to a rather rough start.  I put the offer in on my house, bought some locally grown asparagus crowns at a Seedy Sunday, and then waited 2 agonizing weeks to take possession of my new home.  As luck would have it, between horrible weather and trying to get carpets up, floors refinished, painting done, and moved in, the asparagus got put on hold til it was in a rather sorry state.  Limp and dry, I figured I'd plant it, let it act as compost, and then I could replant next year.

That first year there were only a few very skinny stalks, but nearly every crown made it!  Last year was better, but the dogs kept running through the bed, breaking off fragile stalks.  This year, finally, I'll get some!  I can't wait!  I figure another couple of days and there will be enough for 3 for dinner.

Spring 2013

Ok, I am aware that it has been 3 years since my last post, but lately I've been getting pressure to resurrect my blog (you know who you are, Vanessa!)  This year I'm trying square foot gardening for the first time, and I'll keep you posted regarding my success (or lack of success.)

I'm going to branch out from just talking about tomatoes, but I will post about them a fair bit, as Mom has 20 varieties started for me.  I also want to save seeds from my favourite tomatoes this year.  Some of my gardening goals for this year are building a pergola for growing hardy kiwis, and moving my strawberries into a raised planter to hopefully help eliminate problems with bindweed.  Bindweed grows a little too well in my yard, especially in my strawberry bed.  

So far this year, I have some cool weather veggies in, and my peas, radishes, mixed salad greens, onions and pac choi are up.  I'm hoping to be eating homegrown salad within a week or two!  I'll pick a topic and go into more detail in my next post.  While you're waiting, get outside, dig in the dirt, and plant something!