New Tomatoes, 2011

Back on February 1st, I wrote down March 20th, "Plant out Tomatoes". Well if you do the math and look at the calendar, it is March 28th. The tomatoes have been planted for 8 days. When most are thinking about planting potatoes or even just tilling, I am busy planting a warm season crop. Growing with high tunnels takes a lot of work and willingness to "Roll the Dice" with Mother Nature.

I put out 1/3 of my tomatoes, about 70 plants on March 20th. Weird thing is, the first night they were planted I didn't even cover them, it was 83 degrees that day and the over night temperature was 63, great weather. Well today it 30 degrees over night and 43 during the day. However, my plants are growing just fine, with out any heat!

The are planted in the ground, covered with two layers of row cover and one layer of plastic. In addition, I have added a 2 liter bottle of water between every two plants. This bottle absorbs heat and then gives it off at night. I also have added a wireless thermometer that I can read from the house, just to keep an eye on the temperature. So far, I have been able to keep the temperature 15-20 degrees above the outside temperature.

This is what it looks like inside the high tunnel and under the low tunnel.

New Tomatoes, 2011

Potato Planters

I am biased, but I think we have the cutest potato planters on the block. I am amazed at how quickly our two-year-old figured out what we were doing and how much she wanted to help. The rows get finished faster and with a lot more giggling when we are all out there, buckets in hand... even if it does mean Jay has to go back and thin the seed potatoes a bit before covering them up.

Potato Planters

It's in the mail.....

Sure, we have all heard that one before, usually when it is a bill collector calling for that bill that you forgot to pay!

However, to me it is a fun little game I like to play. Using the tracking numbers to track your shipment of gardening supplies. It always amazes me at how technologically advanced UPS and FedEx is.

So my onions and potatoes are "In the Mail"!

Here are my onions from Texas. Delivery on March 9th.


My Potatoes from Colorado, I guess the shipping label got printed, not shipped yet.

It's in the mail.....