Birth Announcement We Have Tomato Sprouts

While most were out celebrating on New Year's Eve, I was planting tomato seeds.  This might seem very early to begin planting, but I plant out my tomato seedlings in mid-March, they will be large strong plants by that time and able to withstand the cooler temperatures.

Photo's taken on January 6, 2014

Green Zebra (2) Dr. Wyche's (2) Gold Medal (2)

German Queen (2) Cherokee Purple (4) plants

 San Marzano (3) Southern Night (1) Flame/Hillbilly (2) plants

 Not showing yet is Green Grape (1)  Brown Cherry (1) Sundrop Orange Cherry (1) Bi-color Cherry (1) plants.  In the middle is Poha (Physalis peruviana) also known as Cape Gooseberry and Peruvian Groundcherry (2) this is seeds I saved from my plants last year and I sure hope they come in because the fruit is delicious.

Not showing yet is Big White Pink Stripe (2) Black Krim (2) Chocolate Stripe (2) plants

 This is the same group of seedlings with photo taken on Jan 8.  Some seeds are not coming in so I will re-seed again.  Some of the seed packages I have are a year or two old and may not make it. I have plenty of seeds to germinate and plenty of time yet to try.  I am giving these a few hours of sun from the window each day now. I also will hook up a grow bulb tomorrow to give them more hours of light.

This tray still not showing their faces, Big White Pink Stripe, Black Krim, and Chocolate Stripe

Still no sign of Green Zebra, will need to re-seed this one as it is one of our favorites.

This tray is a no show yet.  These are a blend of cherry tomatoes called Rainbow Blend from Botanical Interests.  The seeds are several years old and may not show. I will plant more in here and see if they will come in.

Henderson's Ponderosa is coming in very well with most seeds already up.  I will have at least 6 of these plants. One of my favorites, very prolific and is really nice for canning and freezing whole.

At least two of German Queen is up now and this was seed that I had for 2 years from Seeds of Change.  Cherokee Purple is from Botanical Interests and some seeds I saved from years past.

San Marzano and Flame, also known as Hillbilly coming in strong. I will have at least four San Marzano.

I have already used all of my canned and frozen tomatoes so this year I will be planting far more tomatoes. In the past I have had at least 12 plants, but last year I only put in 6 plus two cherry tomato plants. Not enough!

105 Tomatoes in Two Days

They are really coming in now.  I picked a total of 105 on Sunday and Monday.  Many of these were small, but I was able to get a few large Cherokee Purple and Southern Night.  Some of Ponderosa are coming in now too.  San Marzano continues to struggle and I will probably pull it out.  I do have two that I planted a couple of weeks ago and hopefully these will do better. I think the problem with San Marzano may be due to the cooler weather this spring and summer. 

The last couple of nights was down to 61 degrees, days only reaching around 79.  Seems very cool for the middle of July.  This is the reason I keep planting more tomato seedlings that I still have left.  I feel that we will have a late summer and why not add more plants...I pulled out a couple of the summer squash plants that had started to spread.  When this happens I know the plant is beginning to slow down. I can't see using up that space when I would only get a few squash a day. I still have plenty in the refrigerator and I do have several other summer squash plants still growing and supplying us with plenty of squash each day.  I will plant another German Queen and maybe another Ponderosa or Black Krim.  I am hoping to have a huge crop of tomatoes to can and freeze.  Not sure how many I will be roasting this year as I think my oven is on the blink (again).  It is an electric Kitchenaid stove.  I had one of the heating elements replaced a year or two ago, but when I went to roast a pan of squash on Sunday, the oven didn't seem to heat up.  I guess I will call a repairman again and see what's up.  Appliances just don't last very long anymore. You are lucky to get 5 years out of them!

 "For him in vain the envious seasons roll
Who bears eternal summer in his soul."
-  Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Old Player

 Better get busy outdoors now.  Here are a few photos just to keep my blog up to date for review.