I’m back from an awesome and ambitious family vacation (thank you maternity leave and line-of-credit), and now it’s time to start my tomatoes and peppers. Usually I start these in February, yet here we are in the second half of March!
While we were away we set up a somewhat elaborate self-watering system that monitored the moisture level in one standardized plant and extrapolated when to bottom water all of the plants in the same tray through a tube and pump system. It worked fairly well, in that most of my plants survived. Casualties included my pot-a-peno (mini Jalapeno for containers), some of my onions, and my indoor parsley and mimosa.
Side note on my mimosa plant – I have started and killed that plant more times than I can count. I even killed a flourishing plant that I bought from a nursery. It’s supposed to thrive like a weed! But, I prevail. One day I will have a healthy mimosa that loves me as much as I am trying to love it.
Without further ado, here are my starts for right now on March 22, 2023 (Zone 6a/b):
Tomatoes (all indeterminate):
- Cuor Di Bue beefsteak (heirloom)
- Copia beefsteak (open-pollinated)
- Chocolate Sprinkles (hybrid, plum)
- Italian heirloom (heirloom)
- Pink Brandywine (heirloom)
- Mortgage Lifter (heirloom)
- Cherokee Purple beefsteak (heirloom)
- Matt’s Wild cherry (heirloom)
- Valencia slicer (heirloom)
- Jubilee (heirloom)
- Mexico Midget cherry (heirloom)
- Coyote cherry (heirloom)
- Reisetomate (open-pollintaed – it grows in distinct lobes that may be easier to break apart than to slice)
- Pineapple (heirloom)
- Sungold (hybrid – a common favourite, it’s hard to beat this sweetness and flavour)
- Pineapple Ground Cherry (not a true tomato, but close enough)
Why are so many of these heirloom, and none are determinate? It’s just the way my ambitions landed this year. These things go in waves, so next year I’ll likely get the itch to try some determinate or hybrid varieties I haven’t grown before.
Peppers:
- Blushing Beauty hybrid, sweet (fresh eating, salads)
- Escamillo hybrid, sweet (fresh eating, salads)
- Banana, sweet (the kids enjoy these stuffed with the same cheese mixture I use to make jalapeno poppers for the adults)
- Paprika, sweet (‘paprika’ varies by region, usually it’s a mix of dried and crumbled sweet peppers – but this kind is particularly well suited for turning into paprika)
- Pimiento Largo de Reus, sweet (a variety imported from Valencia, Spain – if only I could also import Valencia’s weather! These peppers were huge and had incredible taste when grown in Spain)
- Shishito, sweet (excellent blistered whole in a little hot oil on a frying pan, with a touch of salt)
- Hot Portugal, 30,000 SHUs (new-to-me)
- Hungarian Black, ripens from black to red, 5-10,000 SHUs (new-to-me)
- Jalapeno, 5,000 SHUs
- Pot-a-peno, 5,000 SHUs (more suited to containers)
Herbs:
- Rosemary
- Sage (I love sage with salmon, but even if you aren’t going to eat it this herb’s smell is so comforting)
- Fennel (the pollen of fennel is an herb onto itself)
- Cumin (cumin is the seeds of this plant, and they smell divine when crushed. An integral part for many curries)
- Genovese Basil
- Summer Savory (excellent in stuffing with Thanksgiving turkey)
- Shiso (an unusual-for-here basil/mint hybrid)
Other:
- Purple Fingerling Eggplant (open-pollinated)
- Broccolini
- Caper
- Golden and Black sesame
- Cucamelon/Mexican Sour Gherkin – they don’t taste great but they’re pretty and the kids love them!
- Bok choi
- Cauliflower
- Loofah gourd
- Oaky Red Splash Lettuce
- Butter Crunch Lettuce
- Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts
I also decided to plant a few things perhaps a few weeks earlier than necessary – the weather is weird, I may need to restart some things and some things may be primed for outside sooner than I’d think. I will start more of these in a few weeks, but for now:
- Delicate winter squash
- Armenian cucumber (not a real cucumber, and likely started way too early)
- Yellow mustard
- Marigolds
- Shock-o-lat sunflower
- Green Apple cucumber
- Black Panther edamame
- Black Kabouli Chickpea
