PNW, when do you guys start?

[janezee]

Oh, Jeannine, I'm so glad you're joining us. Don't worry about being behind, I couldn't get it together until tonight, so I just finished putting in my peppers and all my tomatoes that are going in pots, including 2 dwarfs, Wild Fred, and Sleeping Lady. I haven't added them all up yet, but i'll let you know the tally soon. I just watered with warm water, and set them on the Christmas lights. I'll have to move them off the floor tomorrow. I'm too tired to set up the table tonight.

Off to Seattle in the morning, uh, afternoon. The movers come at 8 am on Monday. I think it's mostly ready. Hope so!

Tell us what you're starting, and when, Jeannine.

Too bad you already started, Len.
Next year.

[Jeannine Anne]

Len, your seed will remain viable for several years so hang on to it

It is funny you should mention that as I have pumpkin seeds en route as we speak from a friend in England who grows the biggie pumpkins for competition, he and his friend from Germany are sending me enough for the children on our community gardens to have a go, but thank you for offering it. It will keep though.

Taryn, I have no experience growing biggie tomatoes, ths all started because last ytear a rather ignorant gardener I know boasted he groes the biggest tomatoes in our gardens and women can;t garden anyway..ho ho I thought I can;t let that one go so quietly I am going to grow a few biggies to surprise him,

I have collected seeds this year but haven't started them yet , I have bought some and traded some.

PM me your address and I will send tou a couple of seeds of say two biggie varieties, will that do. Probably Big Zak,Behemoth .

Maybe we should put this on a new PNW thread and see if it goes, what to you think? Just for fun . It always seems to be the folks further south who win these things.

I don't think any of the ones you mention get into the real huge catagory but as I said I have no experience in this field.

XX Jeannine

[tgplp]

Well Jeannine, I hope you grow a PNW record breaking HUGE tomato, that'll show him! New thread sounds good, do you want to do the honors? Thanks for the seed offer, I'll PM you!

Jane and Jeannine, you guys are actually probably going to have germination at the same time as me even though I started a couple days earlier. I just got back from Idaho, and our friend took good care of my plants. However, the seed trays got pretty dried out, so I think the seeds may be pretty late germinating now. We'll see though!



Ok, off to bed now.

Taryn

[janezee]

OK, I'm back from the big move, and I'm exhausted. Too much cleaning.
But, I came home to seeds in the mail, (thanks, Mark and Tamara), and a bunch of teeny, tiny sprouts.
The Siberian Pink Honey that jennifer 28 sent me and Yamal from Tania the winners so far-6/8 up and growing. Ida Gold is 3/4, and Frühe Liebe is next with 2/8. A few others are onesies, including Wild Fred and Sleeping Lady. The big surprise was the Long Red Cayenne peppers, 2/9 already.

How goes it, girls? Are we starting another thread, or posting here for the sprouting season?

[Jeannine Anne]

I am still not going..every day something seems to stop me, unexpected visitors mostly, you know I love my friends and relatives but when they turn up mid morning without warning and stop till late evening some times I fell like chucking them out when I have seeds to start. Of course they don't garden.

I must start today..

We have decided not to answer the door or the phone, isn't that awful. Oh I am bad.

XX Jeannine

[janezee]

My mom gets so mad at me when I do that!

I used to be on call 24/7 when I ran a b&b, and a dance camp. I don't have to do that anymore, and I don't. I screen all my calls, and I play dead if someone pulls in the driveway that I don't want to see. I giggle, because it's like playing hooky. I can just say I was taking a nap.

I wonder if a "Do Not Disturb" hangtag on the door would work? You should get one that says "Maid Service Needed" on the other side, and maybe they'd leave you alone!

[Jeannine Anne]

My problem is I have four friends/relatives who for various reasons don't cook, 3 are widows who "don't bother " anymore and 1 never has, they freely admit they eat frozen ready meals etc.

I cook and bake everything from scratch, so popping in here is not a bad idea as they never go home empty handed either.

The problem is if I am really pushed for time I just work on and so does my husband but with visitors you have to stop.

As there are fouir of them and sometimes they pop in twice a week you can see the problem.

XX Jeannine

PS shhh, someone just knocked on the door..we are sitting here like criminals, there it goes again.. I feel really really guilty.. but it has all gone quiet.

[tgplp]

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been posting. My computer has been having problems with this site, or something like that. I'm not really sure what was going on...

Anyhoo, here are my seedlings! They are super cute.







I'm probably going to start some more today, probably some dwarfs (Micro Tom?) to use in a micro dwarf crossing project thingy. Tom Wagner wants to cross Micro Tom with one of the blues, like Dancing with the Smurfs. Could turn out to be something pretty cool.

I'll also start some of the yellow cherries people kindly sent me.

How are you guys and your seedlings doing? Jeannine, did you finally plant your seeds?
Jane, let's keep posting in this thread about our seedlings, but we can always start another thread when our big tomatoes start coming in!

Taryn

[janezee]

Good to have you back. I was worried that you were discouraged when you came back from skiing.

Yours are lots shorter than mine. I need to get stronger light bulbs. Mine are getting leggy already. Shoot.

j

[tgplp]

Jane,
I was wondering why my seedlings always so short compared to others!! I don't think I have much stronger light than everyone else... I was worried that maybe a nutrient defiency or something caused smaller seedlings? Do you think there might be something wrong with them? They seem healthy, and they seem to grow true leaves fairly quickly, but maybe not as fast as everyone else's plants. I never know...

Post pics of yours!

Sorry I was gone... I was freaking out! The site wasn't letting me post or PM anyone! Then after a few days the site started working again. Wow, what a releif! I had no idea how much I love Tomatoville.

Glad to be back!

Taryn

[Jeannine Anne]

Were off, finally got all the tomatoes for me sown today, including my choices for the biggies, I still have to do the ones for the community garden.

Also sowed all my hot chillies, sweet peppers, eggplants, a few greenhouse cucumbers

In a raised bed I sowed an old heirloom broad bean and planted out a couple of roots of yacon that I lifted in the fall. It was good to see all my fall sown garlic varieties have come up very well and all my fall planted varieties of shallots have come up well. I planted many differnt varieties of garlic this year and 4 types of shallots.

Tomorrow is pea planting day and inside sowing of all the rest of the tomatoes.

Parsnips are on moist paper pregerminating then going straight into toilet roll cardborad tubes of potting mix , then when growing well they go out in the garden, tubes and all. Takes the guess work and frustration of direct seeding.

Early potatoes are gpoing out this weekend with protection.

XX Jeannine

[Tania]

Jeannine, you are starting cukes so early? I was going to start them in a week or two, but your post made me reconsider and maybe start some this week.

I still have not started the crosses I am working on, and I completely forgot about peas! Thank you for the reminder!

It was a nice day yesterday and I managed to transplant 2 trays of tomatoes into 4" pots. 2 more trays to go... I have been so slow!

Stan put an electric heater into one of the cold frames we have on the balcony, and I am thinking about leaving a few trays of tomatoes there for the night starting tomorrow, setting the heater at 10-12C. Tried this with lettuces last night, and it worked (set at 5C, it kept the temperature above freezing point, which was perfect). This will help me to get more space under lights for the cucumbers and squash starts.

I had poor germination with some of the onion seeds that I bought in 2009 (they are probably older), so I am thinking about starting more today, there is still time I hope!

Tania

[Jeannine Anne]

Hi Tania, I always start a few cukes early, usually before now, and then some more a bit later, I can usually get a couple of plants pushed on to fruit earlier. Carmen, it is a hybrid but does really well in post in the greenhouse.

I never did get my onions started so you know I just might join you.

My peppers were really late for me this year and it is mostly old seed so fingers crossed on that one. When my son was her a couple of weeks ago He asked me to get him some seeds of the hottest pepper in the world so I have some coming. Goodness knows what he is going to do with them,and I guess I will grow a couple just to see.

The weather is supposed to be 11 degrees on Thursday, sounds like a good planting day.

We were almost ankle deep in water on the plot paths yesterday but the foot high raised timber beds we built were OK at the top of the soil so hopefully we can get some stuff in.

Here is a laugh for you. remember the Mayoral Blue that I said I kept as long as I dare as it wasn't really mature. I kept the seeds but wasn't holding out any hope as many were empty. The day I took them out I stuck a fresh one in the soil round a houseplant and would you believe it has germinated. I potted it into a 3 Inch post and it is under the lights,silly really as I cannot keep it in the house till planting out time but I didn't have the heart to chuck it.

XX Jeannine

[tgplp]

How are everyone's seedlings? How big are they?

I just potted mine up, most have two small true leaves. I'll post some pictures later. How exciting!



Taryn

[Jeannine Anne]

I now have all mt tomatoes sown and up, all of my peppers and chillies sown and up, all my leeks and omions are coming though ..just. Peas are in peat pots, should be germinating any day, parnips have germinated and are now planted in cardboard tissue tubes, they are just showing green, broadies are in. I am just sorting out brassicas for sowing this week. Sowing some summer leeks to day.

XX Jeannine

XX Jeannine