Planting Day

The day has finally arrived when the danger of frost and cold night temperatures are gone! I couldn't be more happy to finally be able to plant my tomato and pepper seedlings that I started back in March that have become quite big and lanky!

Last weekend my friend Jacob helped me expand my garden area a bit by adding three rows for my tomato plants.

Behind the new rows and behind the small mound, there is garlic plants that were planted last October that should be ready this summer sometime. I believe there are 39 garlic plants there, but we planted around 50.

Today (well, I actually started yesterday and planted two tomato plants), planted 17 tomato plants of at least four different kinds (Pink Brandywine, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Ukrainain Purple, Amish Paste, Igleheart Yellow Cherry, and maybe another type or two) and approximately 15 pepper plants; two different types (Pippin's Golden Honey and Etuda).

I have four metal cages that I put around the one row that I could manage only to get four plants in. The other rows I managed to get five plants in and have already created one cage of my own making with stalks from a type of switchgrass in our front and yarn. I try not to waste stuff from my yard including the big stalks from the ornamental switch grass that I cut every sping.

I try to make these as strong as possible by tying at least three stalks together after removing the soft outer layers and then taking off the flimsy top. Then I put them in the ground and connect them with yarn as tight as possible. It takes time! I need to make at least twenty or more for all the tomato and pepper plants. I only got 14 tomato plants in my three new rows and planted the rest of the peppers and tomatoes in other areas like with the garlic, beans, and in other areas that are open.

I will update this when I finish making all the cages for the plants and keep you updated with how everything goes. I am hoping to get some good tomatoes and peppers from some of these varieties I haven't tried before, and especially since the seedlings have been so strong this year! However, I love Pink Brandywine tomatoes and cannot wait for the first juicy one of the summer!