Hello Gardening Friends,The temperature may be freezing at night, but we're having beautiful sunny days to start growing seeds indoors! This is the time of year when my bathroom is converted into a greenhouse (what a patient hubby I live with!).
In the past I have started numerous seeds indoors. Due to a neck injury, I plan to keep things much more simple this year. I planted only four tomato varieties.
Last year I received my Burpee magazine with glee and bought quite a lot of unique tomato varieties to try out in my (very small) backyard. Just like eating dessert, however, I ended up with too many plants and not enough space! I frequently remind myself that my garden space is small and I need to plant accordingly. So this year the only varieties I planted were: Super Sweet 100 (my absolute favorite!), Early Girl, Big Beef and Yellow Pear Tomatoes. This variety means I will have red and yellow cherry tomatoes, some larger tomatoes earlier in the year and hefty-meatier tomato by mid-summer. I know many people have other favorites or odd varieties, blah, blah, blah. With my limited space and mobility, I am sticking to four.
I also discovered in my Burpee buying spree that the cost of seed packets double (if not triple) the cost of the same seeds found in stores like Evergreen Nursery and Lowes. The seeds from local stores tend to have fewer seeds in each packet, but most average 20 seeds; enough for the backyard gardener. They also have less variety in the stores, but all the basics are readily available.
Tomato seeds take about 8 weeks from germination to being strong enough to weather the elements outside. Make sure to keep your seeds moist and in a warm sunny, indoor location. My advice would be to start your seeds within the next week or two...or simply wait until plants are available in the spring (which is perfectly okay too!). By mid-March, tomatoes planted now will be ready to plant!
Go buys some seeds, fine soil and get your plants off to an early start!
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