How embarrassing...no blog since early May? So sorry....here's what I've been up to and why the blog took a back seat

early July view down “tomato alley”

What can I say? I love to share my gardening exploits with you through my blog, but I also feel so drawn to my days in the garden that I can’t seem to sit still with my laptop - hence, the big blog gap. There is actually another reason - in a way, I’ve moved my updates from this blog to my Instagram feed, and, most recently, my regular weekly Friday Instagram Live “shows”. So, a big mea culpa from me to you. I will work to keep this blog current and interesting starting tonight. Goodness knows, there is certainly enough going on out there to share.

some of the dwarf tomato project plants

It is remarkable to realize all that has transpired since that early May blog. Just looking at the pictures drives home how very different things are now out in my yard vs then. The picture of the just-planted straw bales is a perfect example. The bales are now totally obscured by vigorous growth. The lettuce grew, provided countless great salads, and bolted. The raised bed still contains bush beans and beets, but also watermelon and muskmelon plants. The elevated raised bed gave us a wonderful crop of carrots and spinach, and is now planted with chard and hot peppers. The straw bale indeterminate tomatoes are 4-5 feet tall and loaded with green fruit. We are nearing the end of the green bean crop - it was spectacular - and I am about to pull the plants and replant with some different bush bean varieties. The sugar snap and pod peas were a success (but there are never enough of them) - that bed is now planted with flowers and pole beans. Seedling sales are long completed.

Bush Bean bale

The main garden tasks at the moment are regular tying, watering, feeding of tomato, pepper and eggplant plants. I am removing lower foliage showing signs of fungal diseases (septoria, early blight), and starting to find a few hornworms and stink bugs. I’ve made a lot of tomato crosses, and the vast majority seem to have taken. It is all terribly exciting and engaging and keeps me busy hours each day.

A gardening friend suggested that I use a blog to discuss a bit about crossing tomatoes, some elemental tomato genetics, and fill in some of the information that my Instagram Live sessions can only touch briefly upon. I will get to that very soon as a follow on from this blog - but I really wanted to get my feet wet again and get things rolling here once more.

To end with some news items, I’ve decided to retire from the road. All future gardening workshops (except for very local ones) will be done using Zoom or equivalent technology, upon invitation. (I’ve had wonderful webinar experiences with groups in Oregon, Missouri, Florida, Wisconsin and North Carolina - there are more to come). I am also getting ready to launch my own webinar series that you will be able to sign up to attend - watch for coming details. Finally, please do tune in to my Friday, 3 PM (Eastern time) Instagram Live shows - I am @nctomatoman there - they run for 45 minutes, and I will answer questions that you can ask live. They are fun for me to do, and I hope provide value for those that take the time to watch. You can find them on my Instagram IG TV area.

Last words from me in this blog - tomatoes are on the cusp of ripening. There are 129 plants, all different varieties, and once they start to ripen, it is going to be great fun tasting them and sharing my impressions. The best is definitely yet to come!

summer squash bales

Where did the month go? It is PAST time for a blog. Garden progress, seedling sales, various news...

One of the last garden mysteries to be revealed in our new yard is this stunning true red rhododendron, just beginning to open

Well here we are in the first week of May. I hope all of my blog readers - my gardening friends - are staying safe and well. It certainly is a uniquely unusual time for us all.

I just read my April blog and can’t believe how much has developed in the garden and with my seedlings. The weather here in Hendersonville NC has been quite delightful, a true spring with mild days and mostly cool nights, with no shortage of breezes and just enough rain. We actually have a frost threat on the way on Friday and Saturday night. I am hoping that the forecast changes to warmer overnight temps, but will do what I have to do to keep things alive. Particularly vulnerable will be the plants in straw bales, in the ground, in self watering containers, and the driveway full of seedlings. I can see some plant relocation and lots of covering up happening during the day on Friday.

A view of seedlings, planted self watering containers, raised bed, and bean, squash/cukes, and tomato straw bales, all planted and growing well

We continue to harvest and enjoy the greens that were shared with me by my friend Ralph last fall, and made the trip with us after repotting (various kale, collards, bok choy, lettuce and chard). Some of the lettuce is bolting, and it has been replaced with plants started from seed here in early spring. A double row of beets also reside in the raised bed pictured above.

Recently planted lettuce in the new raised bed

We purchased two 4-paks of spinach from the wonderful gardening shop at the WNC Farmers Market, and it is really spectacular. I seeded a rainbow color mix of carrots alongside the spinach, and they look great too. This is a real difference already noted between my Raleigh gardens (so hot, so soon) and the long cooler weather here.

Raised planter with carrots and spinach

There are 24 indeterminate tomatoes growing happily in 12 straw bales, and an additional 5 in the ground near our back deck (the cherry tomatoes, in a very convenient spot for snacking). The self watering containers are planted with sweet peppers or eggplants.

Indeterminate tomatoes happy in their straw bale, with the typical show of mushrooms

The double quartet of bales that were prepped and topped with potting mix are up and growing. One set is for bush beans, and the other for summer squash and cucumbers.

The bean garden - Marbel, Maxibell, Jade and (just planted down the center) Fowler

I am just about to plant the rest of the tomatoes - some small pot indeterminate just for seed saving and pollen, and lots of dwarf varieties - some releases, and some project selections of works in progress. I will then turn to planting chard, basil, and annual flowers started from seed. Rather than my typical gardens - either a large side yard rectangle, or the driveway area - gardening here will be more of a foodscaping principle - planting food crops and flower crops here and there, throughout our yard and gardens, for more flexibility and interest.

Sugar Snap peas starting their climb, with Wando bush snap peas in front.

Now for some news items:

Weekly Instagram Live - Friday, 3 PM EST, for 45 minutes. @nctomatoman is my user name. These are proving useful as a vehicle for me to share garden progress and to answer gardening questions. Please check them out - and I am also beginning to go live on Instagram spontaneously, as something worth sharing arises.

For the most part, my speaking engagements from this year that were cancelled due to COVID-19 are being rescheduled for next year. Watch my speaking page for revised dates.

Local seedling sales - Hendersonville/Asheville area - are underway. I’ve got a nice selection of tomatoes, and a limited selection of peppers and eggplants. Please email me to get a Word doc that has all of the details. I expect to have plants throughout May. I will probably not get into shipping plants this year.

Seedlings ready for new homes

I am also starting to be contacted for providing some workshops using video technology. Watch my newsletter, future blogs, and Instagram for updates. If you are a member of a master gardening group or garden club and are interested in me providing such a workshop, please get in touch with me.

I am just loving my new garden playground/laboratory!

Finally, I am in communication with Joe Lamp’l about appearing on a new episode of his wonderful Growing a Greener World TV show. Stay tuned for more.

I think that gets us all caught up. The above certainly represents a good month of progress! As always, thanks for reading.

Koda and Marlin…best buddies!

2020 Garden Progress Report - staying safe and sane in these unusual days

A very happy spinach plant, one of 8, in a raised planter

Today was my second in what will likely be a weekly Instagram Live Q and A session. At this point, the day and time are Fridays at 3 PM EST, and they run for about 45 minutes. Today’s involved a “show and tell” demo of my transplanting process, followed by a lightning round response to the many questions that flowed in. I love doing them and hope more and more people find them and join. Just go to Instagram and look for the live stream from me - @nctomatoman - on Fridays at 3 PM. I will also pop in live do some ad hoc live Instagrams when the mood hits or there is something particularly interesting I want to show and discuss.

The weather is becoming pretty spectacular, and our gardening activities are taking up big swaths of our days. We are flitting about doing a variety of things - weeding our flower beds, hunting dandelions in the lawn, relocating various flowers and shrubs and spending time improving the flower gardens.

My domain is the vegetable department, of course. I’ve now purchased and am in the process of preparing 20 straw bales, spread out in our back yard. 12 of the bales are in a double row and will contain indeterminate tomatoes. The rest of the bales are in two groups of four, and beans, squash and cucumbers will eventually reside in them (I will put a layer of planting mix on each group and direct seed the crops).

the bales are positioned and prepping is underway

I hope to tuck tomatoes, eggplants and peppers here and there throughout our yard, in edge flower beds, and in containers of various sizes. My Raleigh driveway garden was highly concentrated and quite limited in crop type. The garden here will range all over our yard and some crops I’ve not planted in years are in progress.

The new pea bed is doing great - the sugar snap and sweet peas (flowering types, not edible - climbing) are nearly ready to start twining up their supports. The rest of the bed is planted with the sweet shelling pea Wando, and they are up and growing as well. There is one area remaining with strings, and I will plant pole bean Fowler there tomorrow (the soil has warmed sufficiently for beans).

three types of peas are up - Sugar Snap, flowering Sweet Peas, and Wando bush pod sweet pea

The raised bed planter which contains the spinach plants (purchased at the nursery at the Asheville Farmers Market) also has a nice set of germinating rainbow mix carrots. The new raised bed contains all of the greens that we dug and took from Raleigh - a nice mixture of lettuces, bok choi, kales and collard and chard. We are already enjoying cooking with them and making salads.

Spinach and tiny just germinating carrots

A very special bush bean - Marbel - which I grew decades ago, but is now no longer listed in any seed catalog, has an interesting story. I reached out to Johnny’s Selected Seeds and the Seed Savers Exchange. Both had old samples, but were unsure if they would germinate. The great news is that the SSE sample germinated rapidly, and a few of the Johnny’s seeds are popping as well. I hope to grow as much of this bean as I can and save seeds and see if I can get a company interested in carrying it again.

As for tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, transplanting into 3.5 inch pots is underway. With the pandemic situation, it is unclear if or how I will distribute seedlings, but we shall see…I hope to be creative and find a way to sell some locally. The plants really look great - carrying out my annual processes in Hendersonville seem to be working just fine.

it’s transplanting time!

My Dwarf Tomato Project seedlings - will I...can I fit them all in?

Let the transplanting begin! Each cell is labeled - I will pop each cell of seedlings into 3.5 inch pots, which will allow them to hold longer and in better health while I work through transplanting in the coming week.

First - a news item! Last Friday I held my first of a series of Instagram Live shows. It started at 3 PM, and went for 45 minutes - my daughter Sara moderated for me (reading and asking the posted questions). I hope to do this regularly, every Friday at 3 PM EST - please check it out - find me @nctomatoman on Instagram.

In my last blog I listed various plants that will be available in the Hendersonville area, or for my garden - indeterminate and dwarf tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. The missing piece is the 2020 plan for the Dwarf Tomato Project.

As always, I was ambitious in planting seeds. Why not?! I have lots of seeds, and we have lots of work yet to do. We also have some of the really unusual things to finish off. I will write brief rationales as to why I chose each seed to start.

New F1 hybrids to create new Dwarf families - I have four of these, and each provided indeterminate seedlings meaning the crosses worked. The Mikey family is from a cross of a small purple fruited, green striped microdwarf with Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom. Shorty is the result of crossing Cherokee Purple on to Fuzzy Short (a very compact, very fuzzy leaved determinate). Neither of these are actually part of the dwarf project, just curiosity - and though I can guess what the hybrid will look like, all bets are off in the F2 and beyond. I crossed the very unusual, historic Honor Bright (Livingston 1890s, white flowers, yellow foliage) with Dwarf Blazing Beauty to create the Blazey family. Finally, Dwarf Sweet Sue was crossed with Peach Blow Sutton to create the Suzy family - I am hoping for some fuzz fruited, tasty dwarf varieties out of this one.

The Acey family is represented in Dwarf Walter’s Fancy (variegated potato leaf foliage, yellow tomatoes) and Dwarf Elsie’s Fancy (variegated potato leaf foliage, white tomatoes), as well as two others with the sexy names 6939 and 6941 - regular leaf variegated foliage, pale or deeper yellow tomatoes.

I have seedlings of three that are promising, and close to completion - Dwarf Modern Roman, Dwarf Stony Brook Speckled and Dwarf Stony Brook Heart. All three have potato leaf foliage.

From the Anthy family are my latest attempt at Dwarf Ann’s Dusky Rose Plum, and Dwarf Mocha’s Cherry. Both have heavy antho shoulder shading. From the Steamy family will be two attempts at Dwarf Liz’s Teardrop. The Anthy and Steamy offspring can be frustrating, with few to no seeds in the tomatoes!

I am growing Teensy Pink, Dwarf Speckled Heart, Dwarf Buddy’s Heart, Dwarf Kodiak King, Dwarf Gloria’s Treat, Capri Show Stopper (which came up indeterminate, so probably won’t be grown out), Dwarf Waverley, Aussie Drop, Dwarf Laura’s Bounty, Dwarf Snakebite, Dwarf Tanager, Dwarf Strawberry Lemonade, Dwarf Noah’s Stripes, Dwarf Pink Livjia, a Fancy orange offspring with a rose colored center, Sandy vial 7000, a chocolate striped heart (I hope!) from Hearty, and three from the weird and wonderful Scotty family (created by crossing the yellow leaf, white to orange to red fruit Surprise with Dwarf Scarlet Heart) - my T19-51, 52 and 53 - and two green flesh with stripes from the Beauty line I grew last year.

The first 10 straw bales are positioned, and treatment began today

Not counting the four new hybrids, that means I will try to fit in 30 plants for the project (at least - some of the above will have differing seedling types - leaf, color, etc). I also want to grow some of our released dwarfs (either the ones we love to eat the most, or ones that are running short on seeds).

The beneficiary of my over-planting will be gardeners in the Hendersonville area, if they want to join in the Dwarf Tomato Project fun!

Morning hike of the Pink Beds trail in the Pisgah National Forest. Sue, Koda and Marlin a bit ahead of me.

Here it is - the "What's Craig Growing" list.

Potato leaf seedling showing first true leaves

This list will serve two purposes. For those of you nearby (the Hendersonville/Asheville area), these will be available for purchase or sharing in a month or so - watch for timing and availability updates. For those of you not nearby, this will provide an opportunity to glean my growing strategy.

Eggplants (some in very limited quantity) - Twilight Lightning, Midnight Lightning, Skinny Twilight, Mardi Gras, Snow Globe, Green Goddess

Peppers (some in very limited quantity) - White Gold, Royal Purple, Fire Opal, Carolina Amethyst, Chocolate Bell, Gemstone, Bouquet, Pinata, Manzano (Rocoto - red fruit), Experimental variegated leaf and fruit sweet

Tomatoes - indeterminate - Andrew Rahart’s Jumbo Red, Aker’s West Virginia, Brandywine, Ferris Wheel, Polish, Stump of the World, Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, Cherokee Green, Casey’s Pure Yellow, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Green Giant, Lucky Cross, Little Lucky, Sungold, Mexico Midget, Egg Yolk, Striped Sweetheart, Don’s Double Delight, Roman Figun, Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe, Cancelmo Family, Speckled Roman, Dester, Mahoning Valley Beauty (from Mimi Koch), Fruity, Peak of Perfection, Gerald’s Mystery Striped, Sungold F2

Tomatoes - dwarf - released varieties: Waverley, Aussie Drop, Dwarf Laura’s Bounty, Dwarf Snakebite, Dwarf Amy’s Ohio, Dwarf Cache Valley, Dwarf Hazy’s Dream, Dwarf Metallica, Dwarf Beauty’s Kiss, Dwarf Audrey’s Love, Dwarf Suz’s Beauty, Dwarf Idaho Gem, Dwarf Perfect Harmony, Dwarf CC McGee, Rosella Purple, Rosella Crimson, Summertime Green, Dwarf Emerald Giant, Dwarf Firebird Sweet, Chocolate Lightning, Dwarf Blazing Beauty, Dwarf Sweet Sue, Dwarf Mr Snow, Dwarf Wild Fred, Sweet Scarlet Dwarf, Dwarf Golden Gypsy, Dwarf Beryl Beauty, Tasmanian Chocolate, Dwarf Wild Spudleaf, TastyWine, Dwarf Beauty King

Tomatoes - Dwarf Tomato Project works in progress - numerous varieties in small quantities for people to try out and share results and seeds - around 25 different types.

I hope to start transplanting to individual pots this coming week - and depending upon the COVID situation, will come up with some safe mechanism for availability from mid to later April.

Watch for more updates in my newsletter, Instagram and my upcoming blogs - and you can also email me at nctomatoman@gmail.com for answers to your questions.

Violets = Spring!

Gardening in the time of COVID-19. This is weird, and scary, folks.

Looking at today’s blue sky through our blossoming saucer magnolia tree

First, I hope all of you reading this - all of my gardening friends - are safe and well, and stay that way, over the complicated coming weeks and months. The oddness of it all hit me a few days ago - the day after our Governor called for all restaurants and coffee shops to cease the eat-in part of their businesses. I was out doing a few errands when I stopped into my favorite local coffee shop. All of the chairs were up on the tables. It was dead quiet - the typically teeming parking lot was nearly empty. I put in my order with my typical “room for cream” - and was told they had to put in the cream and honey. There are so many wonderful restaurants here - Asheville, not far to the north of us, seems to be composted mostly of restaurants - and I hope all of them find a way to get through this and survive. I hope all of us do, of course. We will each have our own personal stories to share some day - lots of them, I suspect.

Now, on to gardening. Since my last blog, about a week ago, I’ve been using gardening as therapy and escape more than ever - as has Sue. The garden layouts, the weather, the soil - it just seems more fun to get out there and dig. Because we moved in mid-January, we are getting to see what pops up from previous gardening efforts (this house being mid-1960s, it is clear that at least one inhabitant loved to garden). Among those things we’ve noted and identified, some of which are in bloom, are Red Bud and Magnolia trees, rhododendron, azalea, forsythia, mountain laurel, sweet spire, hydrangea, butterfly bush, lilac and abelia shrubs, grape hyacinth, crocus, daylily, iris and daffodil bulbs, and various perennials, such as columbine, lambs ear, bleeding heart, hosta, astilbe, apple and pepper and spearmint, malva, echinacea, phlox and bee balm. More things pop up each day, so this is just a partial list.

To that we’ve added some plants retrieved from our Raleigh gardens, such as sage, rosemary, phlox, miniature rose, elberberry, choke berry, spirea, salvia hot lips, camellia, kalimeris, chrysanthemum, clematis, butterfly bush and fig. We purchased a few azalea, some parsley and oregano and snapdragons and coral bells and a Lady Banks rose. We are off to a good start - the weeds in the flower beds were pretty aggressive, but we tackled them pretty quickly.

I’ve also made an area near the fence for peas (currently, Sweet Peas, Sugar Snap Peas and a shorter growing pea), and Gardeners Supply sent me a few items to test out (raised planter, raised bed and trellis) - I will write separate blogs on those. I do have spinach and various greens planted in them, as well as carrot seeds.

Sue giving a nice drink to one of our weeded and planted flower and herb gardens

As far as seed starting, four flats of 50 cells are nearly all up and growing. I spoke about flats 1 and 2 a few blogs ago. Flat 1, planted on March 2 (eggplants, peppers, indeterminate tomatoes) had but 1 no-show tomato (it was replanted in flat 3 from a different saved lot). Flat 2, planted on March 6, has a few additional indeterminate tomatoes as well as lots of Dwarf Tomato Project varieties. It also has but one no-show tomato, of lower priority, so no worries.

Flat 3, planted on March 10, is quite a curious mix - various flowers (different hibiscus, zinnias, hollyhocks, dahlia, echinacea, rubdeckia, cosmos, roselle), a few types of basil, lettuce, chard and beets. Some of the seeds were a bit old so I didn’t expect 100% success. 14 cells are no-shows, which is fine - I significantly over-planted (no surprise there, I bet).

Flat 4, planted on March 13, is another mish-mash - some eggplants, indeterminate tomatoes, sweet peas, beans, morning glory, and indeterminate and dwarf tomatoes. 11 no shows to this point, and not surprised at any of them.

My four flats, sunning themselves

What has been very different for me this year - I’ve set up no grow lights (yet) in the garage, but haven’t needed them. We’ve had nice mild days, and my side porch has filtered sunlight, so they are already hardened off despite being a week or more from the onset of transplanting. Doing it this way does mean watching the plants closely and easing them into the sun gradually.

I’ve started far more tomatoes than I can fit. There are some “must grow” varieties, though - Don’s Double Delight, my new hybrids for the dwarf project (there are 4 of them), the historic variety Peak of Perfection, and some dwarf project varieties. I will fit what I can, probably using a mix of straw bales and containers, with a more extensive garden plan next year.

I may have plants for sale, but the COVID-19 situation makes it uncertain - and if I do, the process is certainly to be determined. I’ve been speaking with my daughter about the possibility of scheduling some on-line Q and A sessions - stay tuned for details. With all that is going on, and the cancellation of my imminent speaking events (my guess is all of the events this year will be cancelled), my focus will be on pacing myself, enjoying every minute, hour, day and week spent out among the flowers and bird songs, finish the Dwarf book, and just see what happens in this weird, uncertain time.

Marlin and Koda watching me do my thing in the yard

Big changes to my speaking events - a very short blog tonight

Indeterminate tomato seedlings happily growing in my office

We are in one of those times that we will likely remember for the rest of our lives. The Corona virus pandemic (COVID-19) is, and will continue to, impact the entire world. I am sure each of us is pondering what our present and future activities will be, and need to be so we can keep ourselves and our families safe.

The impact of the virus hit my speaking schedule the last few days. The Clinton Library event for May has been cancelled, and I’ve decided to pull out of the St. Charles Builders Home Show series of talks in early April. Being in an age risk group, the thought of getting on a plane and in crowds is not a pleasing one. As of today, the event was still happening, but I noticed that Missouri declared a state of emergency today, so the show may not go on.

I am in contact with Nantucket and New Mexico event folks - so far, no cancellations, but it is possible. Same with the DC Botanical Garden - still on, but watch this space.

Most important - be careful, everyone - be safe, be healthy.

I now have four flats planted with all sorts of seeds. Reports on progress will follow in the next blog.

Marlin taking stock of his new domain

It is finally time to talk gardening. About what I am planting, and seedlings in Hendersonville!

Cell of Sun Gold waking up

Enough about moving, hikes, podcasts, seed sending - it’s time to talk about what this 2020 season may (key word there) end up looking like. Certainly comes when seeds get planted - and as I sit here tonight typing, one flat is germinating well, another was just seeded. One more flat remains to be planted; that will happen over the next few days.

Flat 1 contains peppers from my Islander dehybridization work, eggplants from Orient Express dehybridization, and indeterminate tomatoes. I am growing lots of my favorites - the three Cherokees, Polish, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Green Giant, Lucky Cross, Sun Gold (of course), Egg Yolk, Mexico Midget. Joining them are a bit of this and that - the new F1 hybrids for the Dwarf Tomato Project, some interesting volunteers that showed up in my garden last year, and much more.

Flat 2 have a few indeterminate varieties I couldn’t squeeze into flat 1, but it is mostly about Dwarf Tomato Project works in progress and some of my favorite releases, as well as many of the newly released varieties now listed at Victory Seed Company. I’ll go deeper into full variety lists for each flat over time.

Growing seedlings is one thing…what to do with them is quite another when one has a completely new garden space. There is simply no way I will be able to grow out everything I am starting. That means there will be seedling sales in Hendersonville - details and timing are yet to be determined.

One exciting possibility is use of some greenhouse space quite close to our home. If that happens, the Dwarf Tomato Project could be locally super charged. That’s all I will say about it at the moment…stay tuned.

It promises to be a really interesting season - and a complicated one - no matter what I grow, or where/how I grow it.

It’s complicated! This is what cataloging seeds, sorting through garden communications, and planting seeds all happening at once looks like.

A quick blog post to highlight a just-posted podcast - Joe Lamp'l and me!

Seed sending time is complete!

I really enjoy my opportunities to talk with my gardening friend Joe Lamp’l (whom many of you know as joe gardener). Very recently, I received a late night email from Joe asking if I would be a guest on his podcast again - of course I said “yes”, and tossed a few possible topics at him.

We recorded, Joe edited, and it is posted here. As I told Joe, he caught me in a pretty unique place. In all of our other podcasts my plans and progress were crystal clear. Due to our recent move, this podcast was recorded at a time of a true crossroads for me - a time of great uncertainty, but also of high excitement and infinite possibilities. All I know is that we went all sorts of places, and our hour together passed very quickly. I hope you enjoy listening - it will give you a clear idea of my current state of relative chaos!

First flat planted and in my office - it is fun to work out how and where to carry out garden processes that were pretty well worked out in Raleigh!

Just a few news items. All seed requests have been fulfilled. I appreciate the many emails I’ve received acknowledging such, as well as some lovely, appreciated donations to the seed sending postage cause. If anyone does with to help with postage, as I posted in my last blog, you can go to the Dwarf Tomato Project page, scroll down a bit and find a donate button (which is Paypal). Thanks!

March 2 did see the planting of flat #1, primarily indeterminate tomatoes (our favorite varieties), and some peppers and eggplants. I hope to get flat 2 planted tomorrow (Dwarf tomatoes), and flat 3 the following day (miscellaneous things - greens, beets, flowers, herbs etc).

Once the weather warms and dries, I will start to scope out the yard and decide a few things about this year’s garden. There will be grow bags, straw bales, and at least one raised bed. Where will they be positioned? I will figure it out eventually, and am glad I have the nearly two months until the seedlings are plant-out ready. It will take all of that time to get my plans together.

Koda and Marlin…best pals and loving the new house.

Catching up at last! Loads of seeds on the way, and first seeds about to be planted.

Sue with Marlin viewing Bridal Veil Falls in Dupont State Forest today (March 1)

Finally - finally! - I am getting caught up on all sorts of things. In my last blog I described the amazing seed conference in Corvallis, Oregon. I had just enough time to unpack and repack and head for Hartford, Connecticut to provide four workshops at the Flower show. It was such fun, with the conference room filled with enthusiastic gardeners. I appreciate all of those who attended, many of whom purchased my books. Thanks!

One of my audiences gathering for tomato talk at the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show in Hartford

With those two events out of the way, my efforts turned to fulfilling seed requests. I am happy to say that by the end of tomorrow, all requests will have been fulfilled, and that includes many new to our Dwarf Tomato Project. I think that around 150 padded envelopes of seeds left Hendersonville for destinations the world over!

I have just one small request. If anyone wishes to contribute to the postage and handling of my seed sending effort, you can go to the Dwarf Tomato Project page, scroll down a bit and find a donate button (which is Paypal). Give it a click if you wish to lend a financial hand to my seed sharing efforts. Any donation will be deeply appreciated.

A very fragrant display at the Flower Show in Hartford.

I am about two weeks behind where I would typically be with regard to seed starting, but this is Hendersonville, not Raleigh. The potential for frost will linger a few additional weeks here, so I think all will be well. My goal tomorrow is to get those first seeds planted, with a focus on a few eggplants, peppers and tomatoes (primarily our Dwarf varieties, but a few of our favorite indeterminate types as well). I am not yet sure if I will be selling plants here - at least not yet.

In fact, as I walked around the yard the other day checking out our various growing areas (there are nearly 20 patches already planted with various things that are beginning to emerge), it isn’t at all clear what I will plant, and where - dig a garden, create raised beds, grow bags or straw bales. With my next trip being early April (St. Charles, near St. Louis MO), and seed sending complete, I will finally have time to figure out my 2020 garden plans.

I will tell you that I ordered some seeds - including some corn, melons, sugar snap peas and even sweet peas. I am ready to branch out, and go beyond the driveway, and beyond the typical tomato/pepper/eggplant garden. It’s time…it’s about time!

One final thought. We’ve lived here for a month and a half. From the day we walked into the front door, it felt like home. We are where we belong, and are just loving being here!

Caitlin, Sue, Marlin and Koda walking at the Pink Beds trail in the Pisgah National Forest a week or so ago