Plot 5 Update - May 9th

Lots of progress in Plot 5 ........... all tomatoes are in and the carrots, lettuce, arugula and cilantro are looking good - have started to harvest the arugula and a few tiny cilantro leaves ......... amazing addition to salads ...... soon the mesclun mix can be harvested.  Baby greens are prime, and have to find room for cucumbers and peppers, coming soon ..........

And a brief update on three dwarfs  - headed to another garden where I volunteer - two Cheerful F2, Sleeping Lady and Dwarf Jade Beauty- just waiting on new soil - would have liked to get them in the garden sooner ...........

Plot 5 Update

Germination:  Cilantro, Arugula (pic), Deer Tongue Lettuce, Carrots and Mesclun Mix

 Sprouting:  Potato Onions (pic) and Yukon Gold Potatoes

New Additions:  Rumex (pic), Rosemary, Strawberry (tristar), and Alyssum

Interesting bit about Alyssum I found in the Osborne seed catalog

And sow it begins .............

Tomatoes Transplanted

Tomato babies have now been transplanted into 12 oz Styrofoam cups; Nature Mix organic potting mix with Mycorrhizae was used.  I prefer styrofoam as it seems to allow the roots to breath.

Here is Cheerful F2 - The F1 was a medium sized, nearly round delicious pink.  Craig at Tomatoville notes this is a rare opportunity to see what sort of things come out of a pink/green cross, with both parents being flavorful.

And more varieties

Peppers "Melrose" are also progressing nicely
http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Melrose

The weather has turned rather cold again after a summer-like weekend two weeks ago.  My plan is to move six of the tomatoes plants to Plot 5 around mid-May.  The peppers will go in once the weather has really warmed.  All plants are being grown with west facing window light only, at about 65 degrees.

First Harvest

What a difference a few weeks makes ... tomato plant issues seem to have stabilized - just prior to my vacation trip to our Interior I was desperate and gave each container a good sprinkle of tomato food, epsom salts and even more lime - or maybe it was just hubby's watering method :-)

Anyhoo, a few more pics

Sunflowers are now in full bloom - very fast as these were started in late June from seed!!

And my first harvest pic - purple pole bean, Grub`s Mystery Green and Smarty F1 tomatoes

Weather has been extremely hot here on the coast last few days - our second heat spell of the summer - almost hit 30 C yesterday - that`s about 87 F

Fruit Set

After a cool wet spring, summer has arrived overnight!! Near record breaking temperatures the last few days - 27 C (81 F) yesterday - for the coast that is hot ......

The container tomatoes will require daily monitoring for moisture with this weather. I try to visit the garden early in the a.m. to ensure my containers have enough water to get through this heat spell . There is no water on site - so it takes a bit of time and effort to get everything adequately watered. Here they are - looking good yesterday. We even finally have some fruit set - the above pic is Sylvan Gaume, a large red heart - first of the container plants to set - and they look like they are going to be big ones!!