Took me almost four days but they have been relocated to their own little patch of heaven, a 3.5 inch pot! Better yet, I got the website up and updated with all of my 2013 varieties, all 161 of them. My peppers have been updated too, 41 varieties. If you are interested in tomatoes and peppers, check it out. There is a lot of info on how to plant them and grow them to great heights. Plus, you will be amazed how many kinds and colors there are.
the website address is: http://www.thetomatolady.com
Here I captured them on the vine. They produce in trusses of fruit.
Does this ever happen to anyone? Gardening becomes more work than pleasure? For me, it’s usually when I have too much on my plate. My goal this year is to enjoy it more often and ignore the weeds and all the things I need to do. All the visions I have of the garden rooms, immaculately weeded beds, lush plantings, rose covered wisteria, sitting areas, fire pit, etc. Last year, I did manage to go out and sit in a chair, in my garden and just feel the sun on my face and listen to the birds singing. It was hard to ignore the grass growing in the flower beds and the tomatoes that needed picking, and the flowers that needed deadheading and wait, that patch of lawn needs watering, oh where did I put my watering wand? I think you all know what I mean!
When I was a kid, I don’t remember a special affinity for gardening. All I remember was weeding and more weeding. My mom says that I remember incorrectly and that I did have an interest. Fascinating what we remember and what we don’t.
Today it is a different story. I love the feel of sun on my face when I’m in the garden whether working or just sitting and enjoying the view. The bright colors, sweetly scented flowers and delicious food that I get from my garden all contribute to my love of gardening. The smell of geraniums and tomato plants. The taste of Sungold cherry tomatoes, warm from the vine. The smell of the earth in spring. Digging home grown carrots in colors of purple, white, yellow and orange in early spring. What’s not to love! I even like weeding. My husband and I used that as our “quiet” time when all the kids were still at home. We still go out and weed together in the evenings. It’s cheaper than therapy!
Gardening Forever
I rec’d a catalog form Gardener’s Supply and this is on the front cover. I thought I’d share this since there are a lot of people who want to garden but can’t get ont heir knees. I will post other things that you can do to make it easier in the coming weeks and days. This is one way of gardening when you have physical challenges and limitations.
Early last week I planted some seeds that need longer grow times than others. They are geraniums, lobelia, alyssum, snaps, hollyhocks, petunias, foxglove, stock and impatiens. I also planted 42 “Sungold” tomato seeds in a small cell type of flat as an experiment. (The only drawback is that it needs constant water. These are under lights in the house. My onions (5 kinds) are out in the small greenhouse since they don’t need as much warmth to germinate. Anyways…there are finally signs of life! It’s always exciting to see green coming up in the little flats, The hollyhocks were the first to show themselves, followed by the “Paint Box” geraniums. Yeah! We look at them every morning and night to see what’s new. I divided my seed packets into early, mid and later timeframes to start them. My tomatoes won’t be started until March, the peppers a little earlier. The funny things is, by the end of the season (fall) I am ready to lay down asphalt in the garden. I get so tired of weeding and dragging hose. I swear I’m done with gardening. In january the seed catalogs start coming and I think it’s like having a baby, you forget how much it hurt and can’t wait to do it again. Thats how it is with gardening…OR… maybe it’s just being tired of gray skies and brown lawn.
I’ve started going through my seed catalogs. If I recycled them by the pound I’d have about 20 dollars worth. Some of these catalogs are miniature works of art. Beautiful pictures and fascinating information make it a pleasure to read through them. So far, I’ve gotten through 3 catalogs. One I’d like to recommend is “Botanical Interests”. Their website is http://www.botanicalinterests.com I was intrigued with their hand drawn illustrations which brought out the beauty in the flowers and the vegetables. Of course I’ve always thought that veggies are decorative in themselves. This year I will order the “Calypso Beans”, Lettuce; “Butterhead Speckles,” and a couple of melons; “Minnesota Midget” and “Canary Tweety”. I know, I know, I’ve never had good luck with melons but these look interesting and have shorter maturation dates. All gardeners keep trying, don’t we? For flowers, I will order a dianthus called” Rainbow Loveliness” one of the sweetest smelling and most delicate flowers I’ve ever had the pleasure to grow. I’m a big fan of impatiens and they have “Swirl Monet Blend”, a picotee blossom that looks like it’s in shades of pink. With all of the catalogs out there, most of whom are offering the same varieties, it can be hard to choose who to order from. It’s nice when a catalog goes above and beyond just trying to sell you seeds and treats you to a satisfying, visual experience, That alone sets them apart from the crowd and makes me want to purchase from them. Check out their catalog!
Well, it’s mid January, actually almost the end of January. February will be here before you know it. It seems to early to start planning your garden but this is traditionally the time most of us reach for our seed catalogs which are abundantly filling our mailboxes right now. It is dreary out there and nothing is more satisfying than sitting by the fire with a cup of coffee and thumbing through them, earmarking pages with new veggies and flowers that we want to try. My list is huge and that’s just for my personal garden. My tomato and peppers are a totally different matter.I envision putting less tomato plants in my garden and trying out some heirloom vegetables like Walking Stick Cabbage, which looks like fun and some heirloom sweet peas from Thompson and Morgan. As I look at the birds picking at the apples we left on the tree in the fall (complete with worms for protein) and watch the cats gingerly walk across the snow that covers our garden beds, I am impatient with big plans for my garden this year and have to remind myself that spring will be here soon.
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Notes From The Tomato Lady 