May 14 Tomatoes are In

 Weather seems OK to transfer tomatoes to their forever homes .... the sheltered transition space for hardening off

and into the 5 gal containers they go - much larger than I realized - so tomato cages went on right away as well; tomato cages are perfect for the dwarf varieties, but the indeterminates will likely require additional staking - I generally do not prune my tomatoes, and the dwarfs are happier if left unpruned regardless; an additional  sprinkle of Gaia Green Power Bloom was added to the planting hole

also had to include a photo of my dahlias - they are starting to poke their heads above the soil ..... three tubers are planted in my small square in ground garden out back ...... Papageno and Dazzling Sun overwintered indoors from last season

May 11 For Those Really Into Tomatoes Part 5

Loxton Lad:   mid-size deep yellow fruits; regular leaves, fairly prolific; NOTE:  this is crossed seed - the correct plant is on the right -- dwarf with rugose foliage while the one on the left appears to be Indeterminate; I plan to grow out both

Brad's Atomic Grape:  from breeder Brad Gates; elongated multi-coloured large cherries grow in clusters;  lavender and purple striped when immature, turning to green, red / brown with anthocyanin blue stripes when fully ripe; note the dark stem

PPP x PP “C”:  Fingers crossed for this one ...... from Craig LeHoullier, grown out by me with continued grow outs to F5 by Suze in Texas back in 2008 - last of her seed; very tiny plants had a hard time shedding their seed coats (hopefully picture in future posts) compact Indeterminate, potato leaf with purple/black beefsteak fruit, most ten to fourteen ounces, some over a pound; superb flavor

May 11 For Those Really Into Tomatoes Part 4

Fred's Tie Dye:  This variety originated with a cross between Dwarf Wild Fred and Pink Berkeley Tie Dye made by Vince Lavallo; productive with medium to medium-large sized fruits (five to six ounce average), round, purple with jagged gold and green stripes and the deep crimson flesh of black tomatoes; rich, intense, balanced flavor; Regular leaf, Dwarf 

Dwarf Mr. Snow X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F1: another cross from Craig LeHoullier for dwarf hunting; looking for Mr. Snow's flavour with some antho and plum shape ....... what to expect this year? likely a small round red maybe with antho?

Russian Mini Yellow:  early, indeterminate regular leaved plants  that are loaded with many creamy yellow tiny cherry sized fruit; Farmer Shawn highly recommends these - his customers' most asked for after Sungold

May 11 For Those Really Into Tomatoes Part 3

Tasmanian Chocolate:  originated from a cross between 'New Big Dwarf' (an historic large fruited pink dwarf) and 'Paul Robeson' made in 2006 by Patrina Nuske Small in Australia (from the Dwarf Tomato Project); fruits are oblate, ranging from five to twelve ounces, and ripen to a deep mahogany colour with  full, balanced and delicious flavour; Regular leaf, Dwarf

KARMA Miracle:  from the KARMA series bred and stabilized by Canadian breeder KARren Olivier and MArsha Eisenberg of Plantation Florida; tri-colour cocktail size fruit with sweet green when ripe flesh; Potato leaf, Indeterminate

Alsu:  A Siberian determinate compact tomato for cooler climates; heart-shaped, juicy beefsteaks with great, old-fashioned sweet flavour can reach 16 ounces or larger;  medium-early, red, high-yielding; Regular leaf

May 11 For Those Really Into Tomatoes Part 2

Russian Black Pear: crinkly, black coloured, pear shaped fruit closely related to the Black Trifele tomatoes; tastier than Japanese Trifle Black in my garden; Potato leaves, Indeterminate, mid season.  This seed was from 2006 (from Andrey in Belarus) happy with germination ......

Apero F1:  last of my original hybrid seed ..... early and disease resistant; high-yielding cross between a grape and cherry produces small oval red fruits with very sweet, rich flavour; Indeterminate

Kits Find:  one of my neighbourhood finds from years ago; Indeterminate, regular leaf; fruits are mid-size round and oblate with delicious flavour, bright red; 2008 seed

May 11 For Those Really Into Tomatoes Part 1

I wanted to provide additional information on the tomatoes I'm growing this year ...... 

Muddy Mamba:  Tatiana Kouchnareva discovered and stabilized this segregate of Millard Murdock's Black Mamba with Lucky Cross is its parentage; a bi-colored tomato with green when ripe flesh; Indeterminate, regular leaf, mid-season, F4 seed from 2014

Bundaberg Rumball:  from the Dwarf Tomato Project compact, dwarf, regular leaf plants, produce a good yield of medium small sized chocolate-coloured round fruit.  Note the curled leaves - this is feature of this variety in my garden; on the early side

Lillian’s Yellow x Dwarf Speckled Heart F1:  from Craig LeHoullier - his prediction for fruit:  indeterminate regular leaf medium red, faint stripe - F2 onward will be a search for a tasty dwarf variety hopefully with Lillian's flavour on a dwarf plant with some interesting colours and shapes

May 11 Time to Harden Off Seedlings

The time has come - 32 transplanted tomato seedlings - outside for first time - will leave them out now in a protected space with roof overhang and limited sun for first few days; also watered well with the addition of Thrive Alive B1 

May 10 Beds 10/11 and 64 Update

Finally lots starting to happen at the gas station gardens ..... peas are climbing (Bed 10) and Breen lettuce (Bed 11) is growing well

Bed 64 is in need of nutrients ..... spotty germination and small plants 

mixed radish in bottom right ...... planted in groups thanks to Charles Dowding

planted my Citizen Seed Trial Beets in Bed 11:

We will be trialing two F2 Gold x Candy Striped breeding populations. The populations have the same parents but have been selected by two different individuals.

and couldn't resist Queeny Lime Orange - but not many seeds!! in Bed 10

May 9 "R" Garden Update

Time to clear the garden and sow some seeds:  Dr. Henry Cosmos, Alyssum, Masai bush beans and assorted zinnias .......

and the Rhubarb continues to take over the garden ......

 

May 9 Tomato Containers Ready to Go

5 gal containers in back:  soil from last year amended with ProMix for veggies, compost, vermiculite, Gaia Green Power Bloom 2-8-4 and bagged potting soil

2 gal containers in front will hold sweet peppers when the nights warm a bit more

May 7 Tomato Update

 So happy with my tomato transplants now ....... these have been a cool sunroom with just window light - and the occasional open window for a bit of breeze to strengthen their stems - I started the season wanting 6 tomatoes for my back containers - I now have 32 babies!!!

May 5 Nature Break

 Magnolia

Dragonfly

Geese and Goslings

May 3 "R" Garden

Whoa ..... my garden's grown too much!!

Giant Rhubarb (Canada Red)

Left the mustard too long to dig into soil, so left it for the beneficials (have not noticed a lot of activity this year compared to last year??)....... but now time to come out to make room for summer flowers/veggies .... 

May 2 Flower Break

 

May 1 Tomato Baby Update

 Decided to switch containers and soil for the tomatoes ....... I'm so much happier with their progress now ....... found the perfect pots in neighbours recycling bin!!  ProMix organic for veggies was also used

April 30 More Seed Starting

Time to start my cucumbers and zucchini ...... Adam F1 gherkin has been my favourite for  the past few years - finally able to snag some seeds from Johnny's .... both Gynoecious (produces only female flowers) and Parthenocarpic (does not require pollination to set fruit)

Cocozelle was great last year in a large container and Bush Baby is a favourite from a few years back ......

decided to try out some old 2015 melon seed (Farthest North mix) - good germination!! - haven't tried melons before, also sowed a few bush beans (Masai) just to get a head start on the slugs and the season

April 23 Tomato Baby Update

 Not really liking this transplant soil - way too wet with no drainage - and no way for the plant roots to breath through the coated milk containers .... hmmm ...... will keep in eye on this

these have yet to be transplanted - much greener to my eye

this should be interesting - looks like I have crossed seed for Loxton Lad - one on left appears to be dwarf - not sure about the other - will grow out both out of curiosity