Start Day 3/31/2012

This year the weather has been really out of the ordinary.  I broke ground and planted on March 31, 2012.  (Although this post is 4/24/12).

This year I have set out 8 plants in 1 box and 4 in the other.  The other half has some zucchini, squash, cucumbers, and beans.  I have planted about 5 more tomatoes outside of the box.

Here are some pics of my setup.

These were mid growth, after seedling stage moved into garage with fluorescent light on timer with a fan.

This year I am using newspaper in lieu of the black landscape fabric.  I had to tear up the fabric to till the dirt.  It was very easy to shred.  I want to see how the newspaper works.  I did wet it for like 3 days constant to form a paper mache type bond.

This is my potato bin.  Yes. I used a long pallet (10' x 4') and ripped it up and cut the long beams in 2.  Then attached the bottom ones around.  Its a bit wobbly so I used another board up top to assist.

3/31/12 - Begin to plant in the ground.  I was lazy this year and did not pay attention to what went where, so it will be a fun harvest when I see the fruits of my labor.  I planted, Brandywine from Croatia, Rutgers, Yellow Gooseberry, Yellow Pear, Oxheart, and some big red round tomato I do not know what it is so I call it Big Red Round.  If you see previous posts it was the gigantic tomato that weighed over a 1lb.

My little helper.

Planted some on the outside of the box again as well

Planted some veggies on the outside of the bins (Cucumber and Squash)

Season 2 (really 3) Start 2/12/12

I started my seed germination 2/12/12.  I was able to find peat pellet replacements at Walmart for both the Tomato Kit (larger pellet) and smaller ones for my regular trays.  I really don't understand how Jiffy sells the larger tomato peat pellet in groups of 16 but the Tomato tray has 36 slots.  The math does not work.

This year I am starting with the following:

12 x Rutgers (seeds bought from WalMart, read Organic Heirloom) ---we will see

8 x Brandywine from Croatia (seed thanks to one of my fellow online tomato peeps)

8 x Oxhearts (seeds from tomatoes I saved last year)

8 x Big Red Round (yes, these are seeds from the tomato that produced that monster last year.  I don't know what they are, but they are red, they are big, and round.)  I will most likely seek help in identifying what it is.

12 x Hartmanns Yellow Gooseberry (seeds from tomatoes last season.)  Originally bought seeds from Tomatobobs.

12 x Black Krimm (seeds from tomatoes last season.)  Originally bought seeds from TomatoBobs.  These are the tomatoes that OT'd me last year Best producer for me.

12 x Yellow Pear (seeds from tomatoes last season.  Originally bought seeds from TomatoBobs.)

I place the trays on top of the dryer.  I figure the warmth and vibration will expedite the germination process.  Worked for me last year.

Here are pics of the initial setup.