Whatever happened to those tomato seeds?

I've been meaning to update on my tomato seedlings, but it seems like something is always getting in the way. I have somehow inadvertently angered the illness gods this year and have continually been sick, from the flu in Jan to salmonella poisoning in March to a cold ad ear ache I just can't shake the last few weeks. Perhaps I shall have to offer some tomatoes to them as a offering for less sickness next year.

I also finally started classes in Horticulture. Twice a week I spend the evenings after work in the gardens of a Virginia Tech extension center learning to identify plants. I can't complain, the classroom is wonderful!

So onto the tomatoes. If you'll remember I started these indoors hydroponically in Jan (MLK day weekend) and hardened them off outside in my cold frame for most of March and April. I moved them into the garden a few weeks ago and they seem to be thriving.

I gave some away of the plants away at work this year and I had a co-worker tell me how great his is doing. That just made my day! Im happy to hear feedback like that!

I'm a few weeks behind in clearing the new gardens (the interest was low in our community plots this year so I picked up 3 additional plots). Trying to figure out what to put in those. Such a tough problem to have (she smiles)

Moved to dirt...

Well I had to move three of my tomato seedlings to dirt tonight.... they were just getting too tall to be under the grow lamp and they were obstructing some of the smaller seedlings for getting the light.  I'll replace the pods with some new seeds tomorrow.

I hope they do okay in the dirt, I expect they'll wilt a bit at first as they're growing more sturdy roots, but hopefully not too bad. Here are the three of them, they're 4 week old seedlings...

4 week old tomato seedlings 

Here is a shot of my seedling obsession (yes it is an obsession) mind you I have a postage stamp sized rented yard, and a 10x10 community plot, so not a lot of room. I'll be giving away some seedlings this year to friends and co-workers. I think as of right now i have over 100 seedlings growing or germinating in my upstairs hallway.

A shot of a fraction of my seedlings

What the above picture doesn't show you, is the three jiffy green house boxes with over 36 more seedlings, plus the 3 new ones I bought today to grow a few more seeds. 

I can't help it, I love watching plants grow from seeds to full grown and providing vegetables and fruit and flowers for us to enjoy! 

A Bit of Spring Amongst the Snow....

We had another snowy weekend here in Williamsburg, I gotta say, I loved it! We walked out of the movies last night to a Winter Wonderland.

But I got a hint of Spring today, it was time to plan out the garden and spring planting schedule

Planning out my Spring garden

I live in zone 7A, so that means my Pepper and Tomato plants should be going into the ground between early May and early June according to a great interactive schedule I found online based on the USDA Hardiness Zones (http://www.thevegetablegarden.info/resources/planting-schedules/zones-7-8-planting-schedule) You can put your zip code in and it'll tell you the best planting window for your zone based on the vegetable you are planting, plus how far apart and how deep they should be. A great resource!

This year  I decided to try to start my seeds hydroponically. About 3 years ago my wonderful boyfriend gave me Aerogardens has Valentines Day gifts.  These have been wonderful! I've had a steady crop of fresh herbs thanks to them.  I've grown a few seeds as experiments before and was impressed with the results, so I'm going to give it a shot with all of my seeds this year. 

They sell a "Grow Anything" kit which is essentially just a styrofoam insert and some grow plugs. Once the seedlings get large enough I'll take the grow plugs and put them in soil and harden them off like normal.  (In this years gift a nice new cold frame) 

Pepper and Tomato Seeds resting snugly in their "grow plugs" Hope to see some sprouts in a few days

So I planted 6 Tomato varieties and 8 Pepper varieties. I'm hoping to see sprouts in a few days, if it goes anything like the previous experiments, they should start sprouting by about day 3 or 4!  I'll keep you updated with how this experiment works out :)

My make-shift Indoor Garden - Gotta make the best of the space :)