Feels like we jumped into summer!

Temperatures in the high 80's feel quite warm when we have been bundled up in sweatshirts for months. Today was 86 degrees and still was 81 degrees at 6pm. Tomorrow is supposed to be 87 degrees. This is hard on new transplants for sure!

Yesterday, Saturday the eggplants all got planted. Several other beds were prepped for planting. I went shopping for shade cloths but they are all sold out except for very small sizes.

Today was an all day event. The second tomato bed was prepped and it was a difficult one to pull out all the lemon balm that had taken hold. I planted four Cuore di Bue heirloom tomato starts in this bed. They are an oxheart tomato (with 12 oz. fruits ) and according to my friend Julia in England ( who shared the seeds with me ), they are supposed to be great for sauces, canning and fresh. I can't wait to try them. Thank you Julia for sharing your favorite tomato!

I also planted one Principe Borghese tomato in a half wine barrel in front of the greenhouse where it gets good southern sun. This tomato is a small tomato like a cherry tomato, but is supposed to by good for sun drying. A branch from the plant can be hung up in the sun until the fruit is leathery. I have another of these that I want to plant somewhere else. Just have to figure out that place.

In large redwood pots I planted two Pruden's Purple heirloom tomatoes. They are supposed to have great flavor, have huge fruit ( 1 lb. ) and never cracks. Then next to these I planted one Stupice tomato in a Chinese 1000 year old egg pot. This heirloom is an early tomato at 60 days, is a good yielder and has 2-4 oz. fruit. It is said that it dries well.

I also transplanted some german chamomile and goditia starts into larger containers. I did some pruning and of course watering, and figured out what to do with the bed that I put straw on two years ago that I assume had chemicals in it and killed all of my potatoes. I am going to plant a luffa gourd and ornamental flowers all around the gourd. The seeds for the gourd are soaking now. My little pea seeds have sprouted and I hope to get enough time to plant them tomorrow. The two zucchini types that I planted in pots in the greenhouse are up, but I am going to wait with them so they can develop into healty starts before I plant them. The large start that I bought will be planted tomorrow.

So the veggie garden is almost all planted. It is fun to see with all beds growing. Time to get some rest and another day is already here!