More spring planting and more pictures

Hi, I am going to continue on from the last post three days ago.
I had been sharing the types of tomatoes planted. This is the continuation of those that are planted in individual pots, as the actual veggie garden is full. The tomatoes like the sunny spot where they are placed on the patio area.

Black Krim - Heirloom, dark brown-red, medium sized fruit. It is full flavored with a slight saltiness. 69 days to maturity.

I think this is my friend Laura's favorite tomato. This is my first time growing it. In this picture you can look closely and see the little yellow flowers, just as happy as anything!

All of the tomatoes are growing very fast right now. This one is just under two feet tall.



The last of the tomatoes is a Bush Early Girl that was also grown organic like all the other starts. This tomato, I am assuming, is much like the hybrid Early Girls that I used to grow before I decided to take the "high" road and really completely go organic with my seed and starters if I have to buy them. Well, this year I did not get to start hardly anything from seed myself, but thank goodness for organic starts from Talini's, the COOP, and Soil Born Farm. I even heard (have not checked it out myself) that Target is selling organic vegetable plants. I do wonder if they truly are certified organic.

This Bush Early Girl picture was taken four days ago. This tomato is a compact determinate that does not need trellising. It produces 6 oz. crimson, meaty firm fruit with fine flavor. At 65 days to maturity, the Bush Early Girl is also an early yielder and a reliable producer, even in cool temperatures. That means that it will still produce in the fall when the temps are cooler. Today I noticed that it has set three very small fruit. Wow! Gardening is so very exciting!

Yes, I did get the "snowy white" eggplant in the ground yesterday! So, the eggplant bed is complete.

Okay, I still need to plant the swiss chard, some purple basil, leeks, potatoes, a white zucchini, bush beans, pole beans, and ???

I have been spending time deadheading ornamentals, pulling up suckers, planting and transplanting in the front yard gardens today.

I am putting on a neighborhood garden tour next Saturday and I have sooooooo much to do to make the front yard look nice. Nine months of neglect to the whole yard is definitely visible. I will not be showing my backyard and the veggie garden this year. The two sides of the backyard have not even been weeded of volunteers and weeds. In fact, I am thinking that I might need some help in removing the ivy and blackberry brambles that have crossed the fence from my neighbors yard and rooted in my yard.

But first I need more mulch for the front yard gardens and for the veggie garden. So, the work goes on, but everyday is a pleasure and the results are a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and beauty.

Happy gardening days!

"There is more pleasure in making a garden than in contemplating a paradise."
-Ann Scott James

Planting a spring garden

Spring is really here! It feels so good to spend time in the garden. To clear off mulch, sometimes large prunings and to find that the soil is so alive and healthy. One raised bed had about 6 inches of mulch covering more than off the bed and the other half had about 2 inches of mulch. The difference in the soil between the two halves of the bed was very evident. So it tells me that I need to mulch mulch mulch!!!

I have my eggplant bed planted with four starters, two Japanese long and two Rosa Bianca. There is also a catnip plant on one side of this bed.

My pepper bed is mostly planted. I have 5 green bells and 5 Anaheim peppers. I have one Ancho, one Jalapeno, one Habanaro and still have little paprika peppers to plant. I will probably squeeze in a couple basil plants too. I just can't get enough basil. We use it fresh in salads and cooking. I also dry it for later in the year when we don't have the fresh.

I planted half of the onion bed two months ago. Today, I planted out some Torpedo Red 1 lb. purple-red starts and California Red 4" late season slow to bolt onions.

The zucchini is doing well. Really growing fast, I could probably see it grow if I could sit there long enough. Who has time for that? Also planted in this bed is a row of sugar snap peas (in the light shade of the Elder tree), a broccoli raab and two Chinese cabbage plants. And a nastrutium and one basil. All doing well except the Chinese cabbages are very little - we will see on that one.

My paste tomato bed is doing well. They are all in flower. This year I planted 5 Roma paste tomatoes. Last year I tried Amish paste and they didn't do that well - but then again it was a bad year for tomatoes with two weeks of heat above 100 and up to 114 degree weather. Tomatoes won't set fruit above about 90 degrees. I also have basil planted amongst the tomatoes. They always do well together.


The rest of the tomatoes are planted in individual pots:

Stupice (heirloom indeterminate)-60-75 days potato leaf/good yielder with great flavor (tall, spindly 4’, 2-4oz.deep red, yellow on shoulder/dries well) -one of earliest tomatoes known/from Czechoslovakia

Cherokee Purple Tomato (heirloom indeterminate) 80 days, good producer & disease resistance (10-14 oz. maroon with green shoulders, excellent flavor)
-said to have originated with the Cherokee Nation


Jaune Flamme Tomato (French heirloom indeterminate) very productive, tangy flavor (2-3 oz. deep orange, apricot shaped fruit, great for drying) 75 days to maturity


More about tomatoes planted in my next post.
Also, my ideas for the rest of the spring planting.
Bush and pole beans, etc.



'Every one of us can do something to protect and care for our planet.We should live in a way that makes a future possible.'- Thich Nhat Hanh