[habitat_gardener]

My plan was to grow only tomatoes I'd grown from seed this year.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay away from nurseries or plant sales (or kind offers from other Tomatovillians!). "I'll stop in and see what they're selling this year," I told myself. "Only looking."

Here's what's in the ground, each in its own greenhouse-equivalent (wall-o-water and bubble wrap).

Sun Sugar F1 -- planted March 9, so that I could have early tomatoes. Plus, I told myself, it's only one plant, it's not like past years where I've planted 5 or 10 too early and spent too much time trying to protect them every time a storm hit. I've grown it before and it's reliable and tasty. Now 4 ft. high with blossoms!

Caspian Pink -- also planted last month, it's the third time I'm trying it. Already 3.5 ft. high with blossoms. Several years ago, the squirrels sampled almost every one before it was ripe, but the one I got to taste was so good I wanted to grow it again. Last year, it got to 4 ft. high before the mid-April winds killed off all the top growth. It survived to produce 2 tomatoes. So when I saw a plant this year, I wanted to be sure I got one, even though I saved seeds.

unknown pink -- a tiny seedling with only 2 true leaves offered by another community gardener, who found it in his tray of lettuce seedlings and asked if I wanted it last month. How could I not rescue it? I'll have to find out its name. Almost a foot high.

Marianna's Peace -- almost got this one last year but restrained myself, so when I saw a nice one at the nursery, gave in. It's sturdy and a foot high now.

Dagma's Perfection -- I don't know why I went to the master gardener sale this year, but it occurred to me that I haven't tried any large yellow tomatoes, and the description seduced me.

Fox Cherry -- Also from the mg sale. I really love cherry tomatoes, and haven't tried this one. I vaguely recall it being on someone else's favorites list, so...

Green Doctors -- This one was on my wish list, and Damon was kind enough to offer big seedlings of this one and the next two. Really looking forward to a bowl full of cherry tomatoes in a rainbow of colors.

New Big Dwarf -- Interest was piqued by the dwarf tomato project. Plus, this is one I can grow in a container. And maybe make some crosses?

Kosovo -- My seeds didn't germinate, so I was happy to get this one! I had a great harvest of Orange Strawberry last year and have been looking forward to trying more oxhearts.

Purple Russian -- The first of my own seedlings I've planted. I planted my seeds on March 13 in a cold frame, and everything was still in its original densely planted cell, so these were spindly and thin. I put two in one spot rather than risk breaking another stem (but I potted up the broken one anyway, thinking that since it's under the soil it might heal or grow new roots.) The seeds came from a farmers' market fruit.

So that's already 10. Usually I have room for about 20 tomatoes, but even that's stretching it. But I have ideas for squeezing in a few more. Problem is, I have more than just a few more: I'd like to find space for about 20 more!

The seedlings I want to plant this week, many from seeds I got from Tomatovillians, a few from Wintersown, and a few other sources, are
Opalka -- has been one of my favorites both times I've grown it before, red oblong
Ceman -- from Carolyn's seed offer, a large pink plum shape that sounds irresistible
Prue -- ditto, a red bomb shape or heart shape
KBX -- looking forward to orange tomatoes!
Toedebusch Pink -- large pink that sounds wonderful
Dr. Wyche's Yellow -- was going to be my first large yellow, now I have 2 large yellows
Cherokee Purple PL -- maybe: it's not PL, but I'd like to try a different strain of CP
Earl's Faux -- another big pink I've been wanting to try
Anna Russian -- eager to try more oxhearts
Black Brandywine -- I've liked most black tomatoes
Brown Berry -- bought a seedling last year, but it was mislabeled
Chocolate Cherry -- another addition to the cherry collection
Cherry Roma -- my only nonround cherry
Nebraska Wedding -- seeds either didn't germinate last year, or else I planted a volunteer, so still looking forward to this orange tomato

I went a little overboard saving seeds last year. It was my first year, so I saved everything, then I put off testing germination until it was time to plant, so I ended up sowing about 10 seeds of each. I got anywhere from 3 to 12 seedlings each (after the snails ate their fill, before I realized they'd invaded my cold frame). I spent all day yesterday potting up my seedlings into small pots (72) and 6-packs (15 packs, so 90 smaller seedlings, which may or may not survive), most of which I'll take to a local plant sale and plant exchange tomorrow and Saturday.

The ones I will definitely plant from my saved seeds are
Aunt Ruby's German Green -- has been a favorite both years I've grown it
Black Cherry -- a favorite the two years it did well, but 2 years ago the seedling was mislabeled, and last year none of the cherries did well
Druzba -- recommended it to a neighbor and saved seeds from that one; pretty good for a red round tomato
Orange Strawberry -- one of my favorites last year, and produced pretty well in a poor season
Momotaro F2 -- eager to see what I get

The seedlings I don't plan to plant are
Caspian Pink -- already have a plant
Cherokee Purple RL -- trying PL instead
yellow-red bicolor -- saved seeds from a neighbor's squirrel-bit tomato before I composted it

Of the remaining varieties, I'd like to plant some of these, but these are the ones that (at least today) I'd leave out.
Bonny Best -- grew it from seed last year, it was pretty good but it's a basic red round
Camp Joy -- grew it for 2 years, but hasn't produced a lot and hasn't had outstanding flavor; willing to give it another try but maybe not this year
Paul Robeson -- didn't produce a lot last year, and I don't recall the flavor as out of the ordinary
Russian 117 -- produced only a few tomatoes last year, which were good, but I seem to have enough other hearts
black plum -- this is what I got from the Brown Berry seedling I bought last year, a consistent producer and actually one of the best ones last year, but ...
orange banana/plum lemon? -- from a farmers' market fruit, a yellow plum/lemon shape
orange salad -- from a mislabeled Mr. Stripey, one of the best producers last year, but not striped and more like a large cherry tomato
Pineapple -- from an old seed packet, I wanted to see if these were still viable
Ponderosa Red -- remaining seeds from last year, none of those seedlings survived