Monthly Archives: April 2021

For A Chef’s Kitchen (or at least they say these are their choices)

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Chef’s Choice is a series of tomatoes that are known for crack resistance. good flavor, prolific harvests and smooth firm flesh. Each color has it’s own characteristics. In some trials each plant produced 30 or more fruit. Indeterminate vines reach 5 feet and have a good disease resistance package. Are they really a Chef’s Choice? I don’t know the answer to that. However, I am happy to grow them this year.

Chef’s Choice BiColor

Producing large 10 -12 ounce flattened beefsteak fruits with beautiful pinkish-red stripes inside. Sweet with great flavor and texture. Each plant can produce about 30 fruits per season. Indeterminate, main season

Chef’s Choice Black

This is a beefsteak tomato with a dark green/brown/black hue. Vigorous, healthy plants were early to set and have a meaty interior with great flavor. This hybrid boasts prolific yields. Indeterminate, main season

Chef’s Choice Orange

Rich, heirloom flavor, these bright orange 9-12 oz. fruits are perfect fresh or cooked. This hybrid-heirloom, adapted from the tasty but late ‘Amana Orange’ will quickly become a favorite. Very prolific. Disease-resistant plants resist cracking. Indeterminate, main season

Chef’s Choice Pink

Large, 12–14 ounce pink beefsteaks are very prolific. With a fine balance of sweet to acid flavor, they are great for soups, stewing, or sauces. Indeterminate, main season

Chef’s Choice Purple

Fans of Cherokee Purple will fall in love with this exceptionally flavored heirloom hybrid. Attractive, flattened globe shaped, 9 to 10 oz. fruits are firm, smooth and truly purple inside and out. Indeterminate, main season

Chef’s Choice Red

This globe shaped beefsteak tomato is firm and fleshy with a beautiful red color and dark green leaves A heavy producer. It offers great foliage protection against the summer sun. Superior disease resistance. Indeterminate, main season 

Chef’s Choice Yellow

 Gorgeous, 10 oz beefsteak-type, fruits have a sweet, citrus-like flavor with just the right amount of acid and the perfect tomato texture. Plants produce loads of golden yellow fruits. Indeterminate, main season

Growing Lettuce in Containers

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I have been growing lettuce in containers for several years now. Why you might ask?

  • Lettuce is pretty, some lettuce varieties are as colorful as flowers and their leaves come in so many shapes and sizes. While it can star as the thriller in a container, it is also nice as a filler, complimenting the colors of other flowers. I’ve always believed that edible gardens can be functional and beautiful.
  • I hate slugs, Yes, I know that they have a purpose in the garden other than destroying your vegetables, but I really don’t want them in my lettuce. So far, I have suffered no slug damage to lettuce in pots.
  • You can locate your lettuce closer to the house for ease of harvesting
  • When you harvest your lettuce, if you planted petunias or pansies or other flowers in the same pot, they will fill in the blanks
A colander is a perfect container for a salad garden. Terrific drainage!
White alyssum is set off perfectly by the red lettuce. The center red, Pomegranate Crunch, looks like a rose, at least I think so. Prizehead on the far left and Ruby on the far right fill out the rest of the planting.
Red and green lettuce in a blue colander
Here we have a purple alyssum called “Rosie” along with a white alyssum and a red romaine in a hanging pot with the tomato called “Tumbler” taking center stage
This is one of my favorite looks, a variegated nasturtium in the “Alaska” series planted with a “Prizehead” lettuce tucked inside the leaves. You could even include some of the edible nasturtium leaves into your salad bowl.
Parris romaine lettuce and pansies in a long container with a white picket fence.

Tips for Successful Container Lettuce

Location: As with all lettuce, place container in lots of sun. It can do afternoon shade and morning SUN.

Containers: As with any container garden use containers that have good drainage and that will accommodate the amount of plants you are using. Consider the size of the lettuce at maturity. Jadeite and Mayan Jaguar are mini-romaines and can be planted alone in a smaller pot. Elf Ears and Better Angel can be huge plants when full grown and will need more space. Add some flowers such as petunias and you can up the size of the pot. Colanders, stock pots, wooden pots, any kind of pot with proper drainage will work fine. You may have to put a hole in the bottom. Also remember that a larger pot will need less watering.

Soil: I can’t say this enough, NEVER use garden soil in a pot. EVER. Choose a quality, well draining potting soil.

Water and Fertilizer: Keep your container from drying out. Fertilize with a high nitrogen fertilizer. Since you are watering frequently, this leaches out the nutrients faster than if they are planted in the ground, You will need to fertilize once a week or every two weeks depending on the amount of watering you are doing. Dilute the liquid fertilize to ¼ or 1/2 strength. You can also use a dry fertilizer such as Osmocote. Whichever way you go, ALWAYS read the directions on the package.

Harvesting: Leaf lettuces can be used as :”cut and come again” lettuce, Just remember that you will get about 3 cuts before the plant starts to decline.