Tomatoes are Growing Up

I find myself in a kind of odd holding pattern at the moment. Spring garden is self-sustaining. Too early to plant much new outside. I got a late start on my tomato and pepper seed sowing, so while everything is doing great, they're not ready for the big outdoors. (Actually, it wasn't really a late start, as I timed everything to coincide with zone 6's last frost date (May 15), but the weather has been so utterly fantastic this Spring, I feel like I'm running late.) Flowers are ready to go in, but I need to plant the veggies first, as the flowers will be placed around them. (Part of my master "landscaping with vegetables" plan....)

One practice I've embraced in reducing the frustrations of waiting for seeds to germinate is maintaining a rather aggressive reseeding schedule. I sow everything in individually labeled cells (whether it's Jiffy strips or peat pots or seed pellets) — can't do the broadcast method in a large flat; I'm the world's wimpiest seedling thinner-outer, ever ("No, no, I can't kill it ...") — so, I know exactly what has and hasn't sprouted. If a seed doesn't sprout within its germination guidelines, I'll stick another seed in the same cell and make slight adjustments to the environment. I'd rather have too many seedlings than not enough!

I sowed 12 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, and now, at the end of April, have ended up with at least 2 of everything. For some reason I don't really understand, the original seed will often sprout at the same time as the reseeded seeds. Weird, but, right now, I have Black Cherry triplets that needed 2 reseedings, spread out over 3 weeks, that all sprouted at the same time, and are cutely shoving out identical leaves in the same directions. (I'm resisting the urge to dress them all in matching onesies.)

For me, personally, there is no downside to this practice. Yes, my tomatoes are at different stages of growth — I have several that are past due being ready to go in the ground ... d'oh! (this weekend, for sure) — but a seedling well-cared for is amazingly prolific and will grow like gangbusters once it settles in to its earthy home. By July, you won't be able to tell which tomatoes sprang from the original sowing versus the third sowing. And I have yet to have any difficulty finding homes for the extras.  :^)


Three Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifters on the left; a variety of other yummy heirlooms on the right, all graduating to their 4" Cow Pots.



Summer garlic wonderfully tall and lush (left). Spring radishes poking their shoulders through the soil (right).