Wednesday 2 May 2012

What's Growing in 2012

I'll talk tomatoes today as that's the only main crop that's in the ground just yet.  The greenhouse is FULL of future salsa, pizza sauce and pasta sauce and I'm checking those plants several times/day to make sure they are settling into their new home nicely.  It's much warmer (and more humid) in the greenhouse than in house and all seems well so far...

I rigged up strings as tomato supports aka Throwback At Trapper Creek using what we had on hand.  The strings take up much less space than tomato cages and (fingers crossed) should support the weight of heavy tomatoes better than those flimsy cages that always seem to topple over and break the plants.  



Tomatoes in 2012

Black Krim
Bonny Best
Jaunne Flamme
Sasha's Pride (early)
Manitoba (early)
Roma
Brandywine
Stupice (early)
Cheesemanii
Small Wild
Umberto
Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter 



I companion planted basil between all the tomatoes and they seem to be settling in just as well as the tomatoes.  All the plants are greening up beautifully now that they are in the richly amended soil of the greenhouse (insert huge sigh of relief).  

Lastly, I planted the peppers (Red Devil, Sweet Bell, Sweet Italian) in front of the tomatoes and am hoping for a successful harvest.  Last year's pepper crop was a bust :(

More to come tomorrow as I'm spending the afternoon in the garden today!



8 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh I am so envious of your long list of tomatoes! I have Beefsteak and roma tomatoes and I am just praying I get something off those. I love your idea of planting the basil along side, I think I am going to do that!

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  2. I see so you are going to completely grow your tomatoes in the greenhouse.

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  3. Hey, Becky, yes I'm growing all but the early ones in the greenhouse. The early ones that I chose are old time tomatoes that were commonly grown in cold climates so we should hopefully have them mature before the night frost comes in August. This frees up the greenhouse for the mid/late season tomatoes. We just don't get enough frost free nights here and I'm usually struggling with covering my plants every night for WEEKS trying to get them closer to maturity. It's hard to cover that many plants, and if it's windy, it's near impossible to keep them covered up.

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  4. "Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter". Is that really a name of a tomato or are you pulling our collective legs! :)

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  5. ROFLOL - seriously it's a tomato!!!!!!!!!!! A fellow in the US (who reportedly owned the first rad shop) developed it in the early 1900's after crossing 3 large tomatoes. The resultant tomatoes were HUGE and flavourful. He saved the seed and planted them every year, plus he sold a good number of the plants every year. Apparently people came from 200 miles away to buy his plants for $1.00 and he used that extra money to pay off his house, hence the name. :) Cool story, no?

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  6. I really like what you have done with the tomatoes in the greenhouse. I struggle with high winds with temps almost reaching 90. The soil drys out in just a few hours after watering. Love the string idea too!

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  7. What a wonderful selection of tommies you're growing. I wish you lots of success. Good idea with the string.
    I'm hoping to have a good season in our summer, last year I had no success. It spurs me on to try again this year. :)

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  8. So exciting to see your greenhouse with all those plants inside! I bet this will be your best tomato crop yet. Can't believe you get frost in August - and I thought our growing season was short!
    -Jaime

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