Perhaps my favorite thing to post about each year is the unveiling of tomato varieties to be grown in the upcoming garden. New varieties are just waiting in anticipation, and this year is gonna be a good one. I'm quite excited about it, and will start seeds next weekend. After germination takes place, that should make them ready for the lights around the 2nd of February. Most will be in the "black category" - meaning their color is brown/purple/blue of sorts. Anyway, here's my grow list for the warm season garden of 2011.
Photo below - Cherokee Purple - this is a long time favorite at my house, because the taste is absolutely incredible. However, i'll only grow 1 plant of this variety this year. Reason? I wanna try more varieties....
Photo below - Paul Robeson - I grew this one last year, but the squirrels got all but one single tomato. Thankfully, it allowed me to save seeds from it though.
Photo below - Black from Tula - First time for this one. I've read that this is the largest of the black varieties.
Photo below - Black Krim - First time for this one too..
Photo below - Brandywine Black, seeds shared by Dan. Oh boy, this is the one that I can't wait to try.
Photo below - Cherokee Chocolate - First time for this one
Photo below - White Tomesol - seeds from Robin. Strange looking tomato, but perfect for my weird little garden. It's gonna get alot of comments from visitors to the garden, I bet.
Photo below - Giant Belgium, seeds shared by Dan. Another new one, and i'm hoping for a whopper!
Photo below - Pineapple, seeds shared by Megan. First time for this one, too.
Photo below - Green Zebra, seeds shared by Dan. First time for this one.
Photo below - Brandywine Red - a staple in my garden....This is truly an impressive tomato, and I had tons of big ones last year from just 2 plants.
Photo below - Goose Creek. First time growing it....Kinda small sized, but i've heard great things about taste.
Photo below - Red Siberian, seeds from Charles. First time growing it, and it's capable of setting fruit at 38 degrees farenheit. You can bet that this one will be in the garden sometime in March, then most others in April.
Photo below - Stupice - grew it last year, but under less than ideal conditions. Only 2 tomatoes were gotten from the plant, but this year should be much different.
As you can tell, it's gonna be an interesting season, and i'll sure be able to judge which black variety becomes the favorite at our house. All plants will be grown in swc's/swp's right in front of Jude's pen, and squirrels won't be an issue this time around. Haha...
As usual, the progress of the seedlings in the propagation system will be shown throughout the cycle, and if anyone in the local area wants to come by to purchase some around the first of April, just let me know. Cherokee Purple and Brandywine will be for sale - and cheap, too!
After much thought, I have decided to only start 96 plants this time around. This will allow me to grow the seedlings to a much larger size before use, and facilitate the 28 oz. containers they'll be potted up to after the first true leaves have emerged. So, that leaves about 16 plants for me, and 80 plants to sell. I'll also be incorporating a bottom-heating system into the largest propagation system for better germination time - consisting of some playsand and a rope light that is 22 feet long....
Since peppers typically take much longer to germinate than tomatoes, I went ahead and began the germination process for them last night. Bell and Jalapeno will be grown inside the cat litter bucket propagation system, and 6 of each should be more than enough.
Lastly, I spent some time the other evening combining 4 different fertilizers to come up with an entirely new mixture for tomatoes. I made 2 gallons of the stuff, and it'll be used solely in the swc's that will grow tomatoes and cucumbers. The finished NPK value is about 6-3-6, and should do very well in my opinion. You know how I just love tinkering with things!
Take care, and happy gardening!
EG
22 comments:
Looks good EG!! The Goose Creek looks like the Eva's Purple Ball that I grow. It may be very similar.
Boy, the Red Siberian sounds great! Can't wait to see how it does for you!
I will be starting my peppers very soon!! :)
What a nice selection of tomatoes. I'm doing the opposite. I'm growing fewer varieties this year. But last year all my tomatoes were different varieties. I need at least one year of easy growing (since I always make sure to have extras of all varieties).
I also love the unveilings! My Paul Robeson grew decently last year, and I grew the Black Krim and True Black Brandywines, they all have a smoky flavor, wasn't a huge fan but my hubby liked them. My green zebra did horribly, BUT it was in a container in all this heat and humidity so I'll be trying it again this year. Live and learn, I guess I always have to try things like containers myself before I believe it won't work LOL! I will be watching your Pineapple, I almost did that one for the beauty but decided on Hillbilly instead, just liked the name LOL!
Those are beautiful photos of your tomato plans. I hope the seeds all start for you as you want.
Wow -- you are going to be awash in tomatoes. Why the skew toward black ones? I found the CPs to be the best-tasting tomato ever, so I stopped there : )
Thanks for the pepper reminder. I have to get mine started asap.
Wow, what a wonderful selection of tomatoes you will be trying, that white one really sounds interesting...how fun. We will be trying the Blck From Tula for the first time this year as well.
Good luck with your tomatoes this year! They all look gorgeous. I'm going to be trying my first black tomatoes this year thanks to you and I'm pretty excited.
I got my seeds today and am greatly appreciative! Thanks again!
Robin - I'm hoping that red siberian will allow me to have ripe tomatoes before June.
Daphne - Daphne - I think that after this year, i'll do less varieties. But there were just a few left on my list to try.
Erin - I can't wait to try these new ones. I'll let ya know how the pineapple is later.
Gardener - thank you very much..
stefaneener - well, I just want to try more black varieties. :-)
Mr H - thanks!It's gonna be a good year, hopefuly...
Cloud - Wow, they sure did get there quick..hehe..You're welcome! Remember to save seeds from one, and you'll always be able to grow them.
What a great list of tomato varieties! I also absolutely love Cherokee Purple, but it doesn't grow very well here in the PNW. Our growing season is long, but it starts out cold and rainy. Then we get sun, but not enough heat. So I am trying a bunch of different varieties that like the cold, including Red Siberian. I got hardly any tomatoes last year, so I'm hoping for better results this year.
Good luck! I hope Jude keeps the squirrels away, and doesn't eat too many herself.
Oh EG! I am soooo drooling over all the varieties you are trying this summer. They look amazing!!
Goodness I love a good tomato. The Green Zebra is by far and away the best tomato I have ever tasted, but I haven't tried a lot of the others you have pictured... I'll have to wait a bit though, tomato growing season starts here in March.
Alison - I can imagine drowing in your climate would be quite a challenge. I'm thankful that Cherokee Purple does well here. Jude is a pretty good guard over the garden.
meems - thanks! I just hope that they all perform well.
Ali - thanks for the review on the Green Zebra, I can't wait to try it..
Fun! It'll be exciting to watch your tomatoes grow! You've got so many varieties this year!!
Ooh, I am very interested to see how the goose turns out for you- that tomato could take home-coming queen on the tomato boards.
Great selection EG!
White Tomesol & Red Siberian - hmm k, now I gotta have them.
The White for obvious reasons & the Red because who wouldn't want a fresh off the vine tomato in June?
CP is our all time favorite, followed by Bloody Butcher a salad tom.
Don't you just love gardening plans made in January.
You're going to be floating in tomatoes this summer! Can't wait to see how they all do. What is your germination process for the peppers? I know they like nice warm soil for germination.
Megan - I'm hoping for a good season - as i'd really like for all of them to make it.
kelly - me too! It's kinda small, but is supposed to taste really good.
pelenaka - hopefully the red siberian will let me have a home grown tomato before any of my friends at work - that would be great! I'll be sure to give a review on both when they start to come in. Thanks for the comment!
stephanie - my germination method is the same as tomatoes - little plastic containers/paper towel...
Cool selections EG! I started one black brandywine tonight for an early crop. Can't wait to try it either.
Dang I wish you were farther south. Russellville is over 5 hours North. :-( Otherwise I'd be good for 30 plants! :-D Love that Jude will get to guard the 'maters this year.
Those white ones are just freaky looking.
Great selections! I wish I could grow beef steak varieties here. We grow cherries and smaller, early varieties and hope we get something. I've started all I can this last weekend to get a jump on the season, but I still need to order some tonight.
Love that you tinkered with a fertilizer. I wanted to last year but was disuaded by folks that it didn't work the way I thought it did. I just have a mix of bloodmeal and an AP tomato one that I use sometimes.
Thanks for sharing!
Those tomatoes look gorgeous :)
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