Sow It Begins

   It is a sunny, mild afternoon here, 4 degrees at 3:00pm.  Slowly but surely, the snow is starting to melt.

   In an attempt to quell my restlessness to grow things, I started rosemary, parsley (Italian Flat-Leaf) and leeks (Giant Musselburgh and Giant Carentan) on March 4th.

   March 13th, I started green jalapeño peppers, Tam jalapeños (they're supposed to be milder than regular jalapeños), and Orange Spice jalapeños (dark orange in colour). I hope to can pickled jalapeño slices for the first time this Fall.

   My intention - the wise thing to have done - was to wait until the end of this month to start my tomato seeds.  Antsiness won out.  I started the tomatoes yesterday (March 14th).  I hope that May is mild so I can harden them off and transplant them by Victoria Day.  Maybe I can get the people I am growing transplants for to take theirs off my hands by then, too.  The house is going to look like a jungle by May!

These are my tomato selections for this year:

Repeats

Early Annie  (red, heirloom, 3-inch round, determinate, early DTM 65-70, canner/slicer)

Scotia  (red, open-pollinated, determinate, medium fruit, origin Nova Scotia, early 60-70 DTM, prolific, slicer/canner)

Dwarf Roza Vetrov  (pink, open-pollinated, dwarf/determinate, small/salad fruit, round pointed fruit, origin Russian “Wind Rose”, early)

Malakhitovaya Shkatulka  (green-when-ripe, heirloom, indeterminate, medium sized fruit, Russian origin “Malachite Box”, early – 70 DTM, slicer)

Work Release Paste  (pink, heirloom, heart-shaped, paste, indeterminate, large, origin Italian, mid-season ~75-80 DTM)

New

Midnight Sun  (yellow & pink bicolour heart,  large fruit, open-pollinated,  indeterminate,  potato-leaf,  developed by Karen Olivier (“Northern Gardener”), early ~72 DTM

Brad’s Black Heart  (dark/”pink-black”, blunt oxheart, open-pollinated, rare, indeterminate, wispy/droopy foliage, classic rich black-tomato flavour, origin: Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms, ~75-80 DTM)

Hungarian Heart  (reddish-pink, large oxheart (often 1lb or more), heirloom, indeterminate, paste/canner/fresh, crack-resistant, few seeds, origin: Hungary, ~ 80 DTM)

Anna Russian (Heart)  (pink, heart-shaped, heirloom, large, indeterminate, juicy, Russian origin, ~75 DTM)

Orange Strawberry (Heart) – (bright orange, heart-shaped, heirloom, indeterminate, droopy foliage but vigorous plants, few seeds, ~80-85 DTM)

Black Sea Man  (brown/black, heirloom, beefsteak, 8-12 oz, rich flavour, slicer, determinate, can be grown in large containers, Russian origin, early, ~ 75 DTM)

Dwarf Purple Heart  (purple, open-pollinated, heart, heavy yields, 6-16 oz fruit, plant spreads/branches, wispy leaves, dwarf/determinate, early, 70-75 DTM)

Striped German  (bicolour – yellow marbled w/red, heirloom, indeterminate, large beefsteak, fruity flavour, ~ 85 DTM)

Polish Linguisa   (red, heirloom, paste/sauce, indeterminate, long & narrow shape ending in a point like a pepper, sweet flavour, 1800’s Polish origin, ~73 DTM)

Coastal Pride Orange  (orange, open-pollinated, dwarf/indeterminate, sweet/fruity flavour, slicer, can grow in containers, ~ 3-4 feet tall, ~ 85 DTM)

   I have done a few small trades in the last three months, mostly for tomato seeds.  I was able to get a few of the oxheart varieties I'd been after (e.g., White oxheart, Brad's Black Heart, Midnight Sun (rare), Dwarf Purple Heart (must be rare, because people are loathe to part with them), Orange Strawberry, Orange Russian 117, Cour di Bue, etc).  One of the unexpected - and funniest - varieties I received is a tomato called, "Evil Olive".  It is an indeterminate, tricolour grape/oval cherry.  The colours look pretty, judging from the pictures I have seen - green, pink, and orange all in one small tomato. In the same theme, another variety name that made me chuckle was, "Sinister Minister"!  It is a brown, plum-shaped cherry.

   In one of the trades, someone sent me Banana Cantaloupe seeds.  I think if we had a nice, warm September, I could pull this off.  The question is, would I have room for them?  Maybe next year, if I'm feeling adventurous.

Update - April 1st 

  The germination rates for the Black Sea Man and Dwarf Purple Heart seeds have been dreadful.  I want some black tomatoes in the garden in addition to Brad's Black Heart (those seeds did fine), so today I started Black Prince: 

   Black Prince  (brown/black, heirloom, Russian origin, indeterminate, round 3 - 5 oz fruit, low acid, rich flavour,  does well in cooler climates, ~ 70 DTM)

   Sadly, the germination rate for Orange Strawberry was very low as well.  It looks like Coastal Pride Orange and Striped German will be my bright tomatoes this year!