Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

I've been busy. Very, very busy. Something, God knows what, motivated me to plant a gazillion tomato and vegetable seeds this year. And after a couple months, I had to do something with ALL OF THEM... The seed tray above is just one tray of seedlings. Imagine me having FIVE of the same, all full of plants ready to be transplanted! Every year, around the same time (dark, dreary January), I find myself craving a fresh tomato. About that same time, I start receiving Seed Catalogs from the Marketing Wonders of the World. My favorite is from Burpee. Every year, new varieties of georgous plants appear in the first few pages. Some of them are tomatoes. The new one that caught my eye this year was Italian Ice. I love tiny, bite-sized tomatoes, and this one sounded like heaven! And it's white - I've never seen a white tomato! I had to have it.

Another thing that I had to do this year was buy disease-resistant seeds. I've been using the same plot of land, year after year, to grow tomatoes. You're not supposed to do that... I said to myself - I'll just put fresh topsoil, compost and manure (yes, cow poop) on the plot. That didn't work either. For the last few years, my tomato plants developed diseases beyond my control. This year is going to be different. Almost all of my tomato plants are highly disease-resistant. Not critter-resistant. That's an entirely other pain in my bum.

All of this to say that I over-bought with the seeds. I think I ended up with about 13 different types of tomato plants, onion, herb, eggplant, pepper and some flower seeds. My teeny greenhouse was overflowing with seedlings! This picture doesn't even do justice to the quantity of plants that overtook my deck, which is not pictured. Roman is threatening an intervention if I don't control my obsession soon.

There's something so rewarding, though, about a teeny-tiny seed developing into a ginormous plant with enough fruit to feed a family. The idea of that keeps me growing these things year after year. It's soothing to play in the dirt and see what grows.

This year, though, I wanted to do something special with my plants. In a couple days, I'll post what I did. Now, however, I have to get ready to meet friends for dinner.

Hello, Sprout!

I love Spring. Not only does it mean more exposure to sunlight, but it means the beginning of the growing season: flowers, trees, fresh vegetables. It's a rebirth of everything that went dormant during the winter, including me.

Those of you that know me know that about this time every year (since about 2000), I start a bunch of flowers and vegetables from seed. There's something soooo wonderfully fulfilling about putting one teenie-tiny seed into a peat pellet, watching it sprout, and then reaping the rewards of an entire summer-full of fresh vegetables. From one little seed!

I also plant annuals, including coleus and wave petunias, which start as such tiny little seeds (smaller than a pinpoint) and yet grow into ginormous colorful plants. The petunias are particularly difficult to germinate, but this year, I think I may have discovered the trick... Due to an unseasonable frost last week, I brought my seed trays inside - away from my outdoor mini greenhouse, put them in our half-bath, left the lights on and brought in an additional three-bulb lamp. The seeds LOVED it. Even more seedlings emerged in the small, warm room. So many that I'll be able to transplant them into new little peat pellets to create even more plants!

So seriously, if you want any plants, let me know. I'm going to have more than I can handle. And if you give me a dollar (or more!) for every high-yielding plant, I'll donate it to Give the Gift of Sight.