An email. from a friend reminded me that I’ve gone quite silent lately. Time is just delightfully passing, and between returning to yard work (mowing, getting our flower gardens in shape), hiking (listening for spring migrating warblers, seeking trilliums and orchids), and veggie garden prep (straw bale treatments, transplanting), I’ve been in a pretty peaceful zone inhabited by just Sue and the dogs - and often, just me (when I am deep into the transplanting phase).

This may be the least attention I’ve ever paid my tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings. There is certainly less pressure, due to cessation of local seedling sales. My garden is not a video target this year. Yet, they look quite good considering the coolness of the spring and the time they spent on the garage floor.

I am well into my spring speaking schedule, with a trip to Gastonia happening on Thursday April 20, hosted by Gaston County Master Gardeners. I have but one Zoom on the calendar, for Joe Lamp’l, for his new Organic Veggie garden course. The target for getting plants into the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse garden is around May 1, and my plants seem on schedule for that.

The strawbales are ready to plant but I am going to hold off for a few weeks to get them go through their mushroom phase. I won’t settle on which plants go where until transplanting is completed and I start to set aside varieties for the greenhouse.

Here is my speaking calendar (to date - it is growing seemingly daily!)

April 20, 10 AM, Gaston County (NC) Master Gardeners - Citizens Resource Center, 1303 Dallas-Cherryville Hwy, Dallas, NC 28034 - topic will be tomatoes, 50 min content, 10 min + for questions. I will have books for sale, and a small number of seedlings.

April 29, 3 PM, Morganton NC - Grace Episcopal Church, 303 South King Street, Morganton NC 28655. topic will be tomatoes, one hour event, books for sale, some seedlings

May 6, 1:30 - Veterans Healing Farm in Horse Shoe NC - 2 hour event, topic is container and strawbale gardening - 20.00 fee to sign up, which will be refunded if you attend the event.

May 10, 5 PM, Sow True Seeds, Asheville NC - topic is tomatoes - this one is full.

May 24, 5 PM - Sow True Seeds, Asheville NC - requires registration.

June 8, Carriage Park Neighborhood, Hendersonville NC - time TBD, but near lunch time - local attendance only

June 10, Veterans Healing Farm, Horse Shoe NC - 2 hour event, requires registration (20.00, refundable upon attending), topic is the Dwarf Tomato Project and home breeding of tomatoes.

June 13 - Hendersonville NC Library, 5:30 PM - topic is tomatoes, one hour workshop

July 1 - Veterans Healing Farm, Horse Shoe NC - topic is History of Gardening in the US - registration required - 20.00, refundable upon attending.

July 21 or 22 - Seed Savers Exchange Campout, Zoom - History of Gardening in the US - time TBD - open to outside attending TBD

August 30 - Sow True Seeds, Asheville NC - topic is Gardening in Strawbales and Containers - will require registration - time TBD

I also will be doing frequent live Instagram from my garden from now until late summer - watch my Instagram feed for more info - @nctomatoman