Matt’s Adventures in Northwest Gardening

Today, Baseball’s Opening Day 2007, I have decided that my mourning period over my lost tomatoes has ended. The carnage is done. The wounds have not completely healed, but Jen says I can’t punish the cat or I will have to sleep in my truck. Something about him not understanding, as well as being “ridiculously cute”.

So, below you will find pictures of my tomato plants from today. I re-potted them to these mid-size containers on Thursday night, with the intention of upsizing them again once more before I put them out in the green house. Last year, I put them in the ground the weekend before Mother’s Day. I think I will shoot for that again this year.

I also have planted some of my first seeds of the year in the garden. Going in last weekend were the beets, carrots and radishes. It immediately frosted over a bit the next morning, but it was light, and I doubt it effected the seeds. Today I planted to two rows of spinach, which grows well all year, but preferring the cold. I will put some pictures up tomorrow when the sun is out.

My mom also bought me a packet of these seeds:

They are called Donut Seeds. Um. I couldn’t help myself, I had to open it to see what was inside. Apparently, donuts are grown from what appears and smells like ground up cheerios. I wonder if I should start them indoors?

I woke up this AM and walked into the kitchen, trying to figure out what I was doing up at 8AM on a Saturday. I walked over to the window box and looked at my little tomatoes, about to wish them a good morning and best of luck growing for the day. And I found this:

The decapitated remains of 2 of my 3 Jolly Elf plants. The Horror!!!

Also victim were 4 of the 8 planter pots of Mortgage Lifters also fell prey to the evil perpetrator. Here is a photo of the villain, preparing for his next attack:

So, it’s back to drawing board for those little guys. Do I order more seeds get the next week and replant them and start all over? Or do order a live plant to be delivered at the end of April?

Now, the hardest part for any of us sensitive gardeners to handle is the part when we have to thin out our plants. These little things grew for us, after all, they are my little children. The first year I grew plants from seeds, I attempted to replant each of the little sprouts that I thinned from my little peat pot. Alas, by the end of that season, I had 4 plants to which I had given tons of attention that had remained healthy and produced wonderful fruit. I also had a sun deck of an old apartment covered with strange, half starved, odd shaped plants, in cruel sized pots, struggling to deliver even one edible fruit.

The idea behind planting more than one seed is to ensure that you are certain to have some growth; the result if this, unfortunately, means the death of those extra little plants. Each little planter had, as I mentioned, between 4-6 seeds, Each of these has produced more than one little sprout; some, of course, have as many as 6. Here is an overhead picture of them.

Now, I after reading the book Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon, my mind was put to ease. Mr Solomon makes the case that in nature, the odds that some seeds from the same pod, for example, will not survive, either due to low germination, too much frost, not enough sun, disease, etc. As he puts it, “Vegetables don’t mind being thinned. They actually like it.” It sure beats being neglected and broken like those plants on that apartment deck.

So that is the next step for these little guys. Don’t worry, sprouts are edible. Think about those bean sprouts you had last time with your Phở.

(Also, I highly recommend that book above by Steve Solomon. It is a great guide to understanding how to, you know, grow veggies west of the Cascades. Seriously, though, I can’t speak enough about it as an incredible resource for both old and new gardeners up here in the NW)

Well, it has been a while since I have updated this, I know. But below, you will see that it has been worth it. The tomatoes have started to sprout! I currently have them sitting in my window box in my kitchen, with a supplemental grow light for the afternoons and evenings.

In addition to the Mortgage Lifter and Costoluto Genovese I found 3 - count ‘em - 3 leftover seeds from my favorite variety I grew last year. They were called Jolly Elf grape tomatoes. I thought that I had a lot of them left, but it turned out just assuming that you have something doesn’t make it a reality. With the other two varieties, I planted 4-6 seeds in each little planter, ensuring that statistically I would have at least one of the seeds sprout, with the intention of thinning them out later.

So, I took a risk with my three little Jolly Elf seeds, and planted each of them in a separate containter - my hands were literally shaking with each one, finding that my fingers were big fat useless sausages with no dexterity. What if I dropped it? Would it still sprout? Are they too old? Did I store them properly? I so loved these tiny juicy little tomatoes!

Dear readers, I am more than pleased to report that today all three of the little seeds have sprouted. We can all calm down and watch them grow.

Yes people, it is technically 6-8 weeks before our last frost of the season. That is scheduled this year around March 23 according to the Farmer’s Almanac. So, yes, it is time to start those tiny little seeds indoors and let them start to grow.

Unfortunately it was VERY cold out today, so I opted for the indoor planting scenario. When my darling wife Jen found out what I was doing, she had a few choice comments about whether it was really a good idea to use potting soil and water over a white carpet. I could see her point, but man alive, it was nippy out. So below, you can see some of the tools of my craft. The potting soil is from McLendon Hardware, and my seed packets are from Territorial Seeds.

Stay Tuned… This is when it starts to get exciting!