Toamatoes!- - and what we can plant now.

Yes, I remember 10 days ago when it was sunny and in the 70's... a taste of Spring?

I am starting a couple tomatoes from seed and so are a couple friends, so I am hoping to do some trades. I want to grown Black Prince, Sungold, Brandywine and about 40 other varieties, but alas... I don't have the room. Not living on a farm has its drawbacks.

I have seen tomatoes in the nurseries. DON'T buy them. Tempting I know. But you have a good 6 weeks before you can plant them safely outside. If you plant them before the soild is warm enough and the night time temps are high enough, well, they turn pruple and it slows their progress. Same with Peppers, Eggplants and basil.

What can you put out there now? Make sure your soil is workable. If you dig, do you get clay clumps or does the soil come apart with minimal clumping? If the latter, you can prepare soil and go for it.

Directly in the garden:
Beets: Varieties I like are Golden, Chiaoggia , Early Wonder, and Red Ace. Eat the tops as you would Chard!

Chard: Start directly. Each seed is actually a seed pod of two or three or so seeds, so thin after they sprout.

Broccoli: I usually start them from inside, but you can plant them directly in the garden

Lettuces: Especially the Cos (Romaine) varieities with germinate in this cold spring.

Peas- - Sugar Snap variety that is enation-resistant like

Cascadia Peas or Sugar Sprint Peas
I love Petite Pois, neither enation nor mildew resistant, but a wonderful shelling pea.

Onion: Buy onion sets, not seeds. You can grow Onions from seed but you'll only get green onions at this point. If you want actual bulbs, get little sets.


Spinach, Turnips, Rutabaga, Kolrobi... all like this crappy cold spring and can be started now.

Garden under Cover.... The hoophouse pictured is a bit of more than you may need, but you get the idea.

Happy Growing!