Tomato 444

[inlikeflint]

I finished planting most of my squash and tomatoes today.
There are zucchini plants left to plant... I am going to try to grow them vertically.
Most of my plants were started from seed this year instead of buying the "starts" from the nursery.

One of the most unique seed plants that I purchased this year are blue potatoes.
https://www.mainepotatolady.com/product ... ategory=21
I found them at the feed & seed store in my town. (I have been wanting to try to grow these for a while.)
Anyway, the potatoes are blue all the way through. The skin, the stalks, the inside, the flowers, the foliage so far is a little bit blue too... It's pretty neat

I am also trying blue & green tomatillos.
http://whatscookingamerica.net/tomatillos.htm
These are usually used in Salsa Verde recipes (green sauce). the tomatillos are peeled from their husks first because they grow like cherry sized paper like lanterns on the bush. So, as you can see I have exciting things going on in my garden this year.

I'm going to have a hunt around my local gardening type stores this weekend and make a start, I'll see if I can spot anything you mentioned there, looking forward to having a go

Jack

Hey Jack,
You probably won't need to use soil additives/amendments if you are growing small cherry sized tomatoes, or small peppers, but it is supposed to keep you from being disappointed when you start getting your fruits. You can use all sorts of containers to grow good sized plants on your balcony too. From plastic soda-pop bottles to cutting hole into the potting soil bag and using the bag as a container.

My sugar peas are getting ready to produce, and I planted a lot of these this year.
I'm stoked about it.

[Sandy]

Hi Flint,
My dad used to grow sugar snap peas every spring...they were so good eating them just out of their shell even but I'm not sure that is a good thing now...Is it peas that have a coating on them that helps repel things from eating them...???
I have never heard of blue potatoes but look forward to hearing how they turn out...Guess it will be awhile though, huh? George and I tried purple carrots not long ago. Really strange looking. They tasted about the same as an orange one and because they were a little pricey we decided we had better just stick with boring ole orange ones.
I hope everything does even better than you even hope.

One question..did you start most of your seeds in seed starting mix, regular soil or something else? (I'm taking gardening notes here Flint as you post.
I almost forgot...Did I tell you I made some tomato jam last week from my cherry tomatoes? It was pretty good but unfortunately since this was the first time I tried this...I didn't let it cook down enough and so it was a little thin. I truly need a sturdier thicker bottomed pot. The one I was using was scorching a little on the bottom, and you know, if you aren't careful that can ruin the whole product.
Love,
Sandy

[inlikeflint]

Hey Sandy,

I am using the peat pellet/disks (Something called Jiffy Pots.) You pour the water into the tray and the peat pots swell up and then you can push the seeds into the expanded wet peat. (I had real good germination results with this.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIG89vN5XUc
The seeds that I am using are either from last years plants, or seed packets that I pick up or order. The least expensive places to pick up seeds are a local Feed & Seed stores that caters to rural customers. Sometimes you can get last years seeds for free, or at cost...

Be VERY careful with jamming/canning tomatoes. You can get something called Botulism if you don't do it right. (My grandmother told me horror stories about people from the old days who canned their tomatoes... ) I usually freeze extra tomatoes at the end of the year for soups & stews. You can also dry the tomatoes (Roma/plum varieties work best.) by splitting them in half and leaving them on a board outdoors to dry in the sun with the cut portions facing up. Then you can store them in a bag in the freezer or put them in a jar with olive oil to use later. I tried pickling my own garlic a few months ago with old sauerkraut jars and vinegar... It was an interesting process. and the garlic was pretty good... I need a better pickling recipe though.

I did pick up seeds that I put right into the soil (white/red/ purple/yellow carrots , radishes, borage, nasturtiums, arugula, Russian kale, turnips, various sunflowers, sweet peas, and potatoes. The rest I germinated inside the seed box. (Kansas Melon - large heirloom muskmelon, burpless cucumber, various flowers, purple tomatillos, yellow straight neck squash, zucchini, basil, jalapeños, twisted cayenne peppers... My plan was to grow the basic stuff to save money and then buy more unusual plant starts to try before I buy the seeds.)
The starts I picked up were several varieties of heavy producing grape and plumb tomatoes, and a few bell peppers... a few varieties of Japanese heirloom cucumbers that are more related to melons a winter squash (planted early ). My horseradish is still in the ground grwoing... different kinds of garlic, shallots, and onions... different kinds of basil, Cuban oregano, Golden variegated sage...

This is like an obsession with me... I am not sure if you can tell by reading this.

If I had your space, I would consider looking for lots of different containers for soil. If it contains soil, you can grow something in it. A lot of my ideas about guerrilla gardening has been a result of not having enough space to grow the gazillion things I want to grow. My neighbors across the street lost their home and now place is vacant. I have been thinking about planting a garden in their back yard that I can put together on a shoestring budget using little to no containers or support structures. (As if I don't have a million things to do already.) Sunflowers take can take care of themselves though.)

My life is so different than is was a year - year and a half ago... I think I doing better even though things seem chaotic.

[inlikeflint]

Oh yeah..the peas are the ones that you can eat the shell, they are the sugar snap pea variety. (If they don't say snap on them, you have to peel the shell off before you can eat them. These are more like snow peas that are in Chinese stir-fry. They just started to get flowers today... The bad news is that I have not seen a lot of bees yet. (I have seen one and I am not sure if it was a feral bee or a honey bee.)

I have pole beans to plant if I can find a place to plant them... this may go in across the street or behind my new leased building.

[jack6251]

Hi guys - Hi Flint

Thanks for all your advice! I'm just waiting for some sun, the rain keeps returning, I don't see how anything can make good headway without a run of sun. I've bought some pots, some nice ones to fit on my balcony and going to make a start this week regardless of weather, maybe I'll force the sun out somehow hehe.

Jack

[inlikeflint]

Hey Jack... I think your climate zone might be similar to mine. 6a-6b.
Cloudy light is better than no light at all.
Good luck with your garden!

[Sandy]

Hi Jack,
Enjoy the planting this week end... Hopefully the sun will cooperate at least a little.
Love,
Sandy