Big update!

Our tomatoes are growing at an aggressive pace. We had to skip out on tying them for 2 weekends in a row and they really got out of control.  It took several loops of yarn to bring them back into their rows. All the tomatoes are producing at this point, though some more than others. We have had a handful of ripened sungold tomatoes. They were quite delicious, though, they were also on the small side. Still waiting on our first ripe full size tomato. Maybe next week!

Our garden since March 23

Finally going into the ground!

This Saturday, we built 15" deep raised beds out of cedar planks. We inserted 8 ft stakes that are pressure-treated to have support structures for a Florida weave pattern. The ground underneath was dug out 1 spade and mixed with compost. Then the beds were filled with a topsoil/garden soil mix. It was about 2 days worth of work...sooo tired. Then the tomatoes were planted about 2 feet apart. 1 cup of Tomato-Tone and 1 cup of earthworm castings went into each planting hole, well mixed. Then the beds were well watered. We also planted some herbs and greens in the ground next to the beds.

Below are some other pictures: (top going clockwise): Green giant blossoms, Sungold blossoms, Tomato seedlings reading to go into the beds, two (2) Prue's planted next to each other because their foliage is supposed to be sparse, a fused superbloom from Aunt Ginny, the "herb garden comprising of purple sage, English thyme, Russian kale, Curly kale, cilantro, and a stick of Thai basil.

Hardening off seedlings!

Here they are on our balcony on the first harden off day. 

Each day they get a different thing: Shade for a few hours, then overcast sun for a few, then overcast sun all day, then sunny all day, then sunny all day + overnight, and they're ready.

Toward the end you can tell they don't like it because our apartment doesn't get a lot of sun. So they are reaching a lot... Can't wait to get them into the ground! Going to give away about 7 of them. 

 

Gratuituous picture of kitty with a young plant

 

JD's Special C-Tex plant, getting big (4-6" tall now). Almost ready to be hardened off. 

***Note, don't actually let your kitties eat tomato leaves because they are toxic to cats. Good thing Iroh doesn't like the smell of tomatoes***

Growing under the lights

Younger seedlings get their own tray because they are propped up closer to the lights. They are: Lucky Cross, Sungold, Cherokee Purple, Virginia Sweets, Earl's Faux, JD's Special C-TEX, and Prue (replant). You can see one of the fans blowing under the lights to remove some of the heat.

Older or taller seedlings are kept a bit further from the lights. They are Bull's Heart, one Sungold, Aunt Ginny's Purple, Brandywine Cowlicks, Brandywine Sudduth's, Cherokee Green, one Prue, and Green Giant. There is a larger oscillating fan that is blowing across the top of all the seedlings but is not shown in the picture.

The 2014 garden plot!

This is where the tomatoes will go. Over the winter we amended the soil with compost and chicken manure, inoculated it with earthworm castings and planted some Austrian winter peas as green manure. At the end of February we're going to roto-till the entire thing and add some more compost. Probably we'll grow 14 tomatoes, 2 squashes and 2 eggplants. The support system is going to be a Florida weave. Super exciting!