Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Seeds!

We've had so much going on these last couple weeks including a week with no Internet access that I haven't been able to post here.  Happily we were so busy outdoors that none of us noticed the lack of Internet all that much (although I did hear W grumbling about it a bit since he uses it for his online courses and was also missing having easy contact with his friends).  There has been lots of cleaning, unpacking, exploring, digging new garden beds, pruning, weeding, edging and, best of all...
seed planting!  Oh, what a treat for me to get my seeds out and get some plants started.  First priority went to tomatoes, of course, and I've got Scinocca Plum, Franchi Italian red pear1884 Beefsteak, Azoychka Orange Beefsteak, Amish Brandywine, Striped German,  Djena Lee's Golden Girl (we love the description of this one from The Cottage Gardener) and more.   I especially love being able to plant my saved tomato seeds and I've got Tigerella, huge long-pointed paste, Andrea's Large Round Italian, Silvery Fir, Yellow Pear Cherry, Brown Berry Cherry, Red Roma Cherry and some paste varieties. 
I planted these with a friend on Friday and then on Saturday I asked S if there were any particular varieties he wanted more of or if he thought we needed more. We did a quick count of how many were already planted and then his answer was that "88 tomato plants almost seems normal", meaning that I'd never done anything in a normal way before so why stop now with only 88 plants.  And, instead of taking this as an insult, I took it as encouragement and planted more. :-)  Now, I just need to find more tables to put in the sun room because the table and book shelf are filled.  There are so many tomato varieties I'd love to try -Boxcar Willie is one, just because my mom used to have a cat with the same name - wouldn't it be nice to be able to taste one of every tomato and then choose your favourites to plant? Would love to hear if you have a particular "must-try" favourite.

8 comments:

sheepish said...

I love that...."88 almost seems normal".
I am lucky to get 4!

Erin said...

These are beautiful heart-filling photos and words! We have a wild ruckus of soil, soil bags, seeds, trays and jars of things growing here. I've never seen it so alive! Glad to see you are prioritizing your moving tasks ;-)

Your tomato varieties sound very well-researched and loved. I'd like to continue to add favourites, we are still learning about what will grow well here and what is available out there is stunning! So may captivating names, and interesting descriptions. Have a great move-in!!

~Erin xo

Anonymous said...

What an exciting time, can't wait to see them growing - and your new home xx Brenda

daisy g said...

Glad you are able to start your seeds. It's such an exciting time, spring. I'm trying some new stuff this year, so we'll see!
Happy planting!

elsie said...

I had some Pompeii paste tomatoes last year, they were excellent. I did have to drench them with a liquid calcium as they seemed to get blossom end rot more than the others, but my goodness they were delicious and very past-y. Also Pink German and a cherry called Green Grape. Love trying all the new things and keeping the favorites.

cathy@home said...

My DH thought when I sowed 3 types of tomato was extreme wait until I tell him it's extremely small amount.

Vickie LeBlanc said...

Welcome back. I think I planted my tomatoe seeds too early. They are inside, of course we live in Nova Scotia where fear of frost last until mid-June so tomatoes need to be protected from that. So they are getting taller by the day. We might get tomatoes "inside" :-) I just love starting seeds inside when there is still snow on the ground, makes me happy to watch them grow.

I only have 12 plants !!!!

renee ~ heirloom seasons said...

Thank you for making me feel normal, I'm going to be starting 80 tomato plants any day now. A new one for us this year is a red siberian that says 55 days so we are excited about that, we have such a short warm season here. Also doing a couple varieties of paste tomatoes for canning, and lots of cherry tomatoes for the girls. My sister even just sent me some seeds, including yellow pear tomatoes which I had just been wishing for.
Very happy for you and your seeds and your wonderful garden!