June update: good ideas, bad ideas, and unexpected fun!

Our first rose

It's been nearly one month since I last wrote anything and so far this year the garden has been predominantly my topic of choice. Since transplanting the tomatoes into the garden on May 7, I have made few changes to the garden itself but many additions.

May 7: The tomatoes were laid out and planted. Although I had to adapt my containers as time progressed (as is shown in this picture), I could not have been more pleased with the growth, especially considering this was my first year at this. I started all of my tomato, pepper, and eggplants from seed on March 1. This might have been a bit too early given the size of the seedlings as early as mid June, but I found a few containers that worked quite well.

Transplant time - the last of these goofy containers

For the tomatoes, while an empty Mussleman's (apple sauce) jar turned out to be a veeeery bad idea, an empty 2 liter pop bottle worked great. The Mussleman's jar had many depressions in the design which kept me from removing the root system and dirt. Plus, the plastic itself was so thick that even my heavy duty kitchen shears were nearly outmatched. The 2 liter bottle was a perfect solution; of course I cut the top off so it was as wide as the outer dimensions. The height of the bottle allowed me to prune the lower nodes of the stem and increase root production early (see earlier posts about transplanting techniques), and the wide mouth made it super easy to remove the root system and drop it straight in the ground. As you can see I also used plastic 44oz big gulp cups. These were not as large as the 2 liter bottles, obviously, but they offered plenty of room for root growth and were a snap when it came time to remove the roots.

The only drawback I found was the transparent nature of the bottle -- roots are delicate and the sunlight can damage them. I remedied this by wrapping the bottles in brown kraft paper which worked well. I could easily label the plants and it protected the roots...it was a win-win I guess!

California Wonder

My pepper plants didn't go outside and officially into a permanent home for another week or two. I didn't record the exact date, but they seemed to get a much slower start than the tomatoes. Looking back I know I did not provide them with enough warmth and that will definitely be a change I make in the future.

Once I did transplant them, however, I decided to experiment by planting them in two different locations: some in the garden and some in 3 gallon pails. The plants in the pails can be to be moved to the sunniest, warmest locations on my property since I'm a bit worried that my garden is too shady for peppers. Also, I took up the majority of the sunny locations with the tomatoes!

Burpee: Corn, on Deck Hybrid

My other interesting container planting is the Corn, on Deck Hybrid sweet corn. I planted this in a 3 gallon pail with approximately 2/3rd garden soil and a 1/3rd mix of horse manure and potting soil. The specs call for about 9 seeds in a 24" container, but I figured my pail was close enough. This little beauty sprouted in just 4-5 days and after one week things are looking promising. This corn should yield about 2-3 ears at 7"-8" per stalk.

With potatoes standing at just over 18" and nice blossoms beginning to pop, onions with tall, rich green shoots, cucumber, yellow and green zucchini, a spaghetti squash seedling that survived its transplant, and quite a nice selection of lettuce coming up, you would think that's just about it for a first timer like me. But I ended up finding more joy and getting a ton of excitement over my mustard plant than anything to this point.

Mustard Plant

The seeds I purchased were just $1 at a local feed store and I think the only reason I was interested in them was due to my intrigue into the parable Jesus teaches about having faith like a mustard seed. Why is this even mentioned in Scripture? Is there something extremely valuable in mustard that I do not know about? Is there an incredible health benefit to mustard? I don't know, so I thought "why not sow some mustard and see what happens?" 

I have already harvested several leaves and to my surprise they are amazing! They offer a great crispness like a good lettuce leaf, and then when you're least expecting it feels like you've just eaten a spoonful of horseradish, only mustard flavored. The leaf I have pictured here to the right I doubled over on a cheeseburger the other night. I guess there's a new saying: once you go mustard you never go back.....er, something like that.

Stay tuned -- lots more to come!

1 week, 2 week, 3 week, transplant!

Several tomatoes of both hybrid and heirloom varieties

Three weeks down and I have already made it to the transplant stage, well at least as it relates to my tomatoes.

This first year of vegetable gardening is quite the experiment in our household. While I have done my absolute best to follow the general consensus of tomato gardeners with a wealth of knowledge and experience, I have still managed to successfully nurture eight mature tomato starts (pictured above) with several more still in an infant stage.

SuperSauce Hybrid, Burpee

But what I have found with this first year of planting has been interesting to say the very least. Immediately I saw these eight seedlings (pictured above) develop their first two leaves within 8-9 days. While others in my tray broke the soil surface a few days later, of the 8 pictured, 3 are marked "Super Sauce" which is the SuperSauce Hybrid from Burpee. Claimed to be the world's largest sauce tomato, this hybrid should produce a 22-32oz tomato that should make for a great addition to salads, hamburgers, and assuming we don't run out of ambition, homemade ketchup and salsa.

While Burpee was the prominent supplier of seeds in some of our local retailers, I was also encouraged to try Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds of Mansfield, MO. Here I found many great heirloom varieties from which to choose such as: Dester, Moneymaker, Black Cherry, A Grappoli D’Inverno, and the Yellow Morning Sun.

Dester (pink) heirloom, Baker Creek

In addition to many great varieties of vegetables, Baker Creek has also provided me with some excellent customer service and one-on-one email support, despite how "green" my green thumb is. For example, I asked why many of my seedlings had begun to sprout but many - even those planted in the exact same conditions - had not? Randel, a customer service representative responded, "Temperature is critical. Tomatoes sprout very quickly at 80-85 degrees, more slowly below 75, and erratically and very slowly below 70 degrees. And we're talking about soil temp here, which is going to approximate the average between the daily minimum and maximum air temperature."

I know, many of you could have told me that, but the fact that it was conveyed to me, a first-time customer and relative "nobody" to the folks at Baker Creek, in such detail and within only 1-2 days of asking really says a lot. To be quite fair, I have posed a question or two to the folks at Burpee and received prompt responses as well, but there was just another level of comfort I felt from Randel and the folks at Baker Creek.

I guess in the end all that matters is that I prep my soil, wait for the last frost date, and actually take care of my garden once the plants are in the ground, and nature should do the rest; unless she decides to stop all of a sudden with me!

Mold and eggshells: tips for tomatoes I never would have guessed

Throughout my quest to understand this new endeavor of gardening, I have already encountered several "tips of the trade" that seem almost counter intuitive. Oddly enough, they all seem to revolve around tomato plants.

Bury it deep

One of the most basic things I encountered was the idea of cutting all branch growth from the stem up to the top 2 or 3 viable leaves (or nodes) at time of planting, then actually burying the base of the plant deep, so that only those top leaves are exposed. Plant starts seem so delicate that I couldn't have imagined literally cutting them up before planting them. The only plant I can recall burying deep like this was my first clematis plant. Also, the fibrous hairs growing off the stem are potential roots, so the more you get below the surface, the more faster your tomato plant will grow.

Shallow beds

In cases where raised beds are being used, and you cannot bury your plant 12" deep and allow it grow down another 12" or more, you can actually bury it horizontally. Start by cropping the lower branches the same as previously mentioned, dig a trench horizontally in your dirt, lay the root and stem in the trench, and gently bend the top leaves vertically so they are pointing to the sky. The roots will find soil no matter where it is, so as long as you have done your work properly there, it should be okay.

Collecting seeds
 

This is one of the more intriguing processes I encountered. Most fruits and vegetables have a general area of seed growth, and tomatoes are no different; just open one up and you'll know what I mean. The seeds are neatly arranged from the center columella, or core, in the locular cavity contained in a gel-like substance called gelatinous membrane. It's fun to collect seeds and figure out how to actually maneuver them -- this stuff sticks to EVERYTHING! I found that dropping the seeds into a strainer/sifter works well.

What was interesting was the variations I found for removing seeds. Perhaps the most odd of all is the fermentation process. You start by putting all the seeds and gel-like membrane into a jar, cover it with about 1"-2" of water and allow if ferment in a sunny window for 1-2 weeks. This will produce a moldy scum on the top and aid in killing any bacteria that might have affected any of the seeds. Strain it, rinsing the mold and membrane from the seed, then allow the seeds to dry on a brown paper bag or plate for 1-2 weeks.

Eggshells
 

I would never have imagined combining eggshells with the planting process. However, it turns out that eggshells are a great way to add extra nutrients (calcium) to your tomato plants, and the even act as a slug deterrent at the same time. One quick place I looked was ehow and this is the recipe offered.