There are many sources where one can find seeds for planting inside or outside. Just go on the Internet and BAM you have a plethora of sites to choose from. Here are a couple that I use frequently as I have had great customer service from them and the seeds are good. Territorial Seed Company and Park Seed, most sites will send you a catalog so you can look at the pictures frequently which I tend to do.
Always remember to check the ZONE you live in, if the items you are after does not grow well in your ZONE, be careful, I hate for you to waste your money. If you are in Summit County, Utah, you should look at items in ZONE 3 and 4.
One other thing that is greatly important to mention are the days to harvest, especially with vegetables. Since I live in an area with a short growing season I try to find hearty vegetables with shorter growing times. I usually shoot for 60 days.
I do start everything in the greenhouse, and transfer out to the garden usually around Father's Day, usually the last frost happens around that time. Then I can anticipate that in mid September we will have a frost again. My goal is to have the vegetables blooming at the time that I put them outside.
There are some difficulties I encounter with watermelon, pumpkins and viney items, they grow all over the greenhouse and when it is time to move them outside, it becomes somewhat difficult to untangle them. None the less it is fun.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Tomatoes
Well it is time to start thinking about tomatoes. If you love tomatoes like I do, it is time to think about the kinds of tomatoes that you want to plant and what you may want to do with them at harvest time.
I like the Romas, they are a great hearty little ball of yumminess, for almost anything. They work great on pizzas, salsa, sauces and the list goes on.
But then I like the other ones as well, I enjoy the Beef stakes, Early Girls, Better Boys, etc, as they make some wonderful juices.
As with all my vegetables and flowers I start them in the greenhouse. I planted my second round of flats this weekend. They grow really well and by Spring Break they are taking over the greenhouse.
Good rule of thumb is to cut them back, as the goal while in the greenhouse is to build up their root base, I always think what is growing on top, is what is growing under the soil. Kind of like grass, along time ago, in a land far away, an experienced Gardner told me, not to cut my grass so short as it will eventually kill it. Of course, at the time I was a very novice gardener so I was thinking, the shorter I take the grass the less times I will have to mow, well that is true as eventually I will not have grass. The Master Gardener told me that if I let the grass a bit longer the roots are longer under the soils, which allows them to bring in more water and nutrients the grass needs to survive in the hottest of temperatures in the summer. Well the MG was correct.
Anyway back to the tomatoes and cutting them back, if they go out to the garden with a strong root system, it will flourish into a nice tomato tree.
Have you ever bought tomatoes from your local nursery or grocery store and you plant them and they seem to kind of kill over? Well the roots are not established and hearty, they will eventually take off and start to grow, but it may take a couple weeks, which if you have a short growing season you okay I don't have that couple of weeks to waste.
I will have to say that after caring for the tomatoes and they look so big and beautiful, I have to have my husband come in and cut them back, it makes my cry to see them with such a short haircut. They do grow back and we have to do it again.
Here are a couple of pictures of the tomatoes before their haircut, this was last year.
I like the Romas, they are a great hearty little ball of yumminess, for almost anything. They work great on pizzas, salsa, sauces and the list goes on.
But then I like the other ones as well, I enjoy the Beef stakes, Early Girls, Better Boys, etc, as they make some wonderful juices.
As with all my vegetables and flowers I start them in the greenhouse. I planted my second round of flats this weekend. They grow really well and by Spring Break they are taking over the greenhouse.
Good rule of thumb is to cut them back, as the goal while in the greenhouse is to build up their root base, I always think what is growing on top, is what is growing under the soil. Kind of like grass, along time ago, in a land far away, an experienced Gardner told me, not to cut my grass so short as it will eventually kill it. Of course, at the time I was a very novice gardener so I was thinking, the shorter I take the grass the less times I will have to mow, well that is true as eventually I will not have grass. The Master Gardener told me that if I let the grass a bit longer the roots are longer under the soils, which allows them to bring in more water and nutrients the grass needs to survive in the hottest of temperatures in the summer. Well the MG was correct.
Anyway back to the tomatoes and cutting them back, if they go out to the garden with a strong root system, it will flourish into a nice tomato tree.
Have you ever bought tomatoes from your local nursery or grocery store and you plant them and they seem to kind of kill over? Well the roots are not established and hearty, they will eventually take off and start to grow, but it may take a couple weeks, which if you have a short growing season you okay I don't have that couple of weeks to waste.
I will have to say that after caring for the tomatoes and they look so big and beautiful, I have to have my husband come in and cut them back, it makes my cry to see them with such a short haircut. They do grow back and we have to do it again.
Here are a couple of pictures of the tomatoes before their haircut, this was last year.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Farmer's Market
I just received notice that we will be having a Farmer's Market in the Summit County area- Oakley. I have the website that you might want to check out. Summit County Farmer's Market- Oakley.
This is a great opportunity to sell flowers and vegetables that you are producing as well as other items.
This is also a great way to find really fresh produce from local growers. Hope to see you there. The dates are listed on the website.
This is a great opportunity to sell flowers and vegetables that you are producing as well as other items.
This is also a great way to find really fresh produce from local growers. Hope to see you there. The dates are listed on the website.
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