Two weeks ago on Thursday night we were outside, in the dark with a flood light hastily planting two buckets of upside down tomatoes before we left on a trip. We had to hang them in the shop in front of a southwest facing window due to weather. When we got home again, we found them doing very well. But with the weather we have been having they have had to remain inside. Hopefully we are maybe done with the snow now?! We haven't had any since Wednesday...
Last night, yes, another Thursday night, found us outside yet again - but before dark - planting two more buckets of upside down tomatoes. These two were purchased during our travels last week and were going to get to big to squeeze the roots through the hole in the bottom of the bucket if we did not get them planted quickly. So now they are also hanging in the shop with the other tomatoes waiting for the weather to change.
We plan to plant two more buckets of tomatoes later so we have plants maturing at different times during the growing season. The first two are an Early Girl and a Jetstar, the second two are both a cold resistant variety we found called Stupice. We don't know what varieties we might plant next. Any suggestions?
Today I am going to plant bush peas in the top of the buckets of tomatoes. We will see how that goes... It seems that it would be a good relationship with the peas adding nitrogen to feed the tomatoes. We also added Schultz Moisture Crystals in the potting soil as we planted the tomatoes. The crystals absorb water and swell up, storing moisture that can be released slowly, helping to maintain a more constant water supply for the plants. We used them last year and were pleased with the results. Our growing season is short with unpredictable swings in temperature and every little trick counts!
I have a cute little double stemmed Patio tomato waiting to go into a pot on the deck. I just couldn't pass it by - I saw it while we were traveling and it was so healthy looking. We hope to have a bumper crop of tomatoes this season that we can share with friends and family.
1 comment:
Add a nice paste tomato-- Roma or Amish paste. They make the best sauces and salsa, less 'goo' and more meat in them. Also get one that you can save seeds from--an heirloom--I know Amish paste is--not sure about roma but I think so. ;)
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