In March, I found seeds. Some were a year old, some even older, so I wasn’t sure if they’d grow. With that uncertainty in mind, I planted them all. 

too many tomatoes and peppers

You guessed it. Almost every single seed produced a seedling. I even had to transplant the tomatoes into larger containers in mid-April because they were overcrowded. Last year, a late blizzard took down my starters. This season, I have many – some would say too many. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Chuck, you can say “I told you so!”

 

plan ahead

I did what I do – what teachers do, anyway. I took inventory of my seedlings and planned for the use of the garden space. I thought I could plant all the tomatoes in the triangle and plant all the peppers in the plot behind the garage, the area that last year was home to lettuces. Then I realized the tomatoes would need support. Supports? Both singular and plural, you grammar-loving sorts.

Of course I don’t have enough. With creative use of the square cage, I can contain and support the Large Red Cherry tomato plants. No comments from the peanut gallery, please, I recognized the oxymoron. i did. I have straight supports that will do for the Beefsteak variety when combined with gentle tie-ups made from old tee shirts. My favorites, the red spirals that stand about six feet tall, are in limited supply. As far as I can tell, Fleet Farm no longer carries them. The Bonny Best will climb what I have, and the yellow pear tomatoes will have to make do with the V-shaped stands.

cages, old and semi-useless

I still have several old wire tomato cages. These are too short to be of much use in the multi-tomato zone because my tomato plants usually grow quite a bit taller than the wires. I might, however, use these to help keep the pepper plants contained.

Oh, were you looking for my usual election reference? Check out the little purple notebook next to the clipboard above. The “I Voted” sticker was my exit sticker from the recall primary. 

So there you have it, readers. Tune in tomorrow for the next installment in Daisy’s Garden Takes Shape.