2010 Tomato Selections

I spent the bulk of this past weekend cleaning up the yard, amending garden beds and continuing to plant seeds.  The spinach, kale and radishes planted three or four weeks ago in the yard are getting huge, and last weeks flats of seeds have started to sprout in the greenhouse.  The strawberries I planted last year have taken over past of the yard, which was unexpected.  So if anyone wants strawberries let me know.  I have far too many plants.

Yesterday I successfully planted six flats of tomatoes, eggplants, greens, peppers and brassicas.

After weeks of debate I ended up with a colorful and hopefully delicious mix of tomatoes for 2010.

• Juan Flamme (small, sweet orange fruits)
• Big Rainbow (large golden tomato with red stripes)
• Black Krim (large Russian heirloom tomato, dark purple fruit with green shoulders and salty finish)
• Cherokee Purple (medium sized pinkish-purple fruit and smokey-sweet flavor)
• Super Sweet 100 (extremely sweet red cherry tomatoes)
• Abe Lincoln (medium sized round red fruit)
• Green Zebra (medium sized green and yellow striped fruit)
• Prudens Purple (dark pink skinned tomato with potato leaves)
• Aunt Ruby's German Green (large beefsteak tomato with light green flesh accented with pink blush undertones)
• German Johnson (huge meaty fruits with pink skin and yellow shoulders)
• Black Plum (dark red-purple fruits with sweet flavor and great shape) 

Greenhouse Up and Running

Over the weekend I spent a bit of time getting the new greenhouse in order and getting ready to plant.  This afternoon, after gathering together all of my seeds left over from last year and making a list of the new things I need to order, I planted a few of flats of seeds.  Thus far I have planted the following:

• Arugula
• Chinese Cabbage
• Lista de Guarda Eggplant
• Thai Green Eggplant
• Ming Choi
• Celery
• Red and White Marbled Cabbage
• Brussels Sprouts
• Swiss Chard
• Mache
• Ferry Dutch Cabbage
• Blue Ridge Kale
• White Vienna Kohlrabi
• Broccolini

Sprouts in the garden!

A couple of weeks ago I decided to plant radishes, spinach and mache.  I had been getting concerned since nothing had sprouted, but this morning when I went out to work on the garden beds I saw little sprouts all over the place!  The weather this weekend (upper 50's to the lower 60's) should be perfect for keeping them growing quickly.  So excited for fresh treats from the garden in the coming weeks.


I have also spent some time going through all of my old seeds from last year and cataloging everything to determine what needs to be picked up this spring.  It looks like I have a pretty good base to work with, but I'll probably mix things up with some new varieties.  


Later today I will likely start planting early season seeds and plotting out the garden.


I'm particularly excited about adding some cool new eggplants from Birch Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com) as well as some Asian bean varieties.  


What are you planning on growing this year?

Spring has Sprung

The valley has burst forth with the signs of spring over the past several weeks. This much welcomed change of the seasons has spurred me to once again get active in the yard, scour over seed catalogues, and begin experimenting in the kitchen with renewed fervor.

I hope that you find this blog to be filled with useful tips, recipes, reviews and imagery of my life in the garden, the kitchen and on the road.