Tomato Seeding
Most of my seeds are nestled in their warm burrows now and some have dared to sprout! The beginning of a whole new season. One week ago, March 20th, I seeded my tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, celery, parsley, basil and a few flowers. With such a short tomato season, I am desperate to prolong it if even for a few days. I have been of the mindset that if I don’t get my plants started by March 1st I am doomed to be the last eating a sun warmed tomato plucked from my garden. Unfortunatley, even with my early seed starting I am usually the last. It is tortuous to walk through the farmers market in midsummer watching customers buy ripe red tomatoes, knowing the pleasure they will have, while I refrain, because “I grow my own”. Then I think of the tomato days I am missing and hash over what I could have done wrong.
So, with some investigation, I have discovered that most of my farmer friends start their tomatoes weeks later then me. Perhaps, my plants are siting in their pots, stressed, waiting for that last frost date, setting back their fruiting. This year I patiently waited a couple more weeks into March to seed. I also seeded a super early variety, Glacier. I know that gardening is not a competition, but I am really hoping to start my tomato eating frenzy a little earlier this year, at least at the same time as my farmer friends.
