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April 29, 2008 at 1:53 am #586845
JoBParticipanti jsut put one of my cherry tomato starts in a pot.. on the deck.. semmed liek a good idea till the wind picked up.
i live where there is often a fair amount of wind on the deck.
should i be moving the tomato down to the yard where it is more sheltered?
any thoughts or experiences?
April 29, 2008 at 2:32 am #623286
ShibaguyzMemberBefore we moved to our current house here in West Seattle, we were gardening on our balcony in Downtown Seattle. Just keep the tomatoes caged well so the wind doesn’t break it off and you should be fine.
Probably too late to do it now, but putting some heavy rocks in the bottom of the pot both helps with drainage and keeping the pot securely upright even in the wind.
April 29, 2008 at 3:39 am #623287
JoBParticipanti put rocks in the pot and it is very well caged.
April 29, 2008 at 1:43 pm #623288
KenParticipantUnless the weather breaks, I don’t intend to put any tomatoes out until mid may and even then I use stretch wrap to cage the raised bed into a mini green house to concentrate the heat.
I got about 150 lbs from 5 plants last year.
The weather looks good today here in the south end so I might get some of the overdue prep work done on the other boxes.
April 29, 2008 at 4:54 pm #623289
JenVMemberuh, Ken, if you have a tomato surplus I would be happy to help! :) That greenhouse sounds like a great idea. I never had any luck growing around here.
April 29, 2008 at 4:58 pm #623290
JoBParticipanti didn’t think of doing the stretch wrap thing… that’s not a bad idea…
for both the plants in the box and the potted tomato…
in Vancouver,Wa.. where we lived before Minnesota.. buying fuscias for mother’s day could be a big mistake.. and you didn’t put out tomatoes until the snow was gone on the surrounding hills…
but i am told the sound makes it different here even tho we are further north.
so what is the prevailing wisdom here?
April 29, 2008 at 5:05 pm #623291
ShibaguyzMemberWe had tons of tomatoes last year… plenty for the table and even some left over to can. Not sure about how many pounds we harvested but there were quite a few.
Wrapping the bottom of the cages/beds does sound like an interesting proposition and we might just have to try something like that this year.
Our tomato starts are going in next weekend (knock on wood). We have all the prep work done on both the planting beds as well as the pots they will inhabit. We’re just waiting to hear from our nursery that they have our heirloom varieties in stock… might be a shipment on Friday!
We did end up bringing in a whole lot of green tomatoes last year to ripen on our windows and counters… it sounded like it was a bad year for everyone for getting anything to ripen. Again, sounds like the mini-greenhouse idea is a good one to experiment with.
April 29, 2008 at 5:09 pm #623292
beachdrivegirlParticipantShibaquyz and Ken maybe you could start a WSB forum virtual farmers market for any unused tomotoes…:)
That is the one thing I miss from growing up. ALL of my fruits and vegtables were fresh or home canned/frozen/jarred etc….when I first went to college I literally had a hard time eating for the first 6/months becuase of the differnec ni fresh and home grown vs store bought (even organic!)
April 29, 2008 at 5:58 pm #623293
JoBParticipantbeachdrivegirl..
that’s why i try to grow at least some of my own…
when i was in Minnesota.. i really missed the local food scene in the Northwest.. so i ended up growing my own and learning how to use them..
even my own dried herbs tasted better than that found in organic groceries…
i am not doing heirlooms like the shibagyz, but can’t wait for that first picked tomato all the same:)
April 29, 2008 at 7:20 pm #623294
beachdrivegirlParticipantmaybe I will just have to try doing it myself… not sure how good I would be at it, but it doesnt hurt to try. :)
April 29, 2008 at 7:26 pm #623295
JoBParticipanti was a success my first time out…
though i have not yet been a success from seed.. i confess. i buy starts…
the veggie stand on 35th and Barton had tomatoes 2 for $5… since this is my first year gardening here and i figure i have a lot to learn.. that is wherei started..
good luck…
just don’t plant mint in the ground unless you are looking for a ground cover.. in a huge space. you will never contain it:)
it does make a pretty ground cover though.. and it smells good.. and i think spearmint.. which grows pretty bushy.. is good against ants and other insects.. so maybe good in a contained space by the door:)
April 30, 2008 at 2:58 am #623296
MsElaniousMemberDon’t plant tomatoes until after the full moon in May. That’d be after May 22nd. It gets too cold here for them to take off without being shocked by the possiblilty of a late cold snap.
Langley Gardens (from Vashon) will be carrying lots of wonderful heirloom starts at the Farmer’s Market starting soon.
April 30, 2008 at 3:22 am #623297
herongrrrlParticipantWe’ve been raising tomatoes here from saved seed for 5 generations in my family, and I agree completely, don’t put them out until late May/early June. You can put them out to catch some rays on sunny days, but bring them back in at night. Also, if the growing season winds up short and you have a bunch of green tomatoes left on the vines, you can ripen them in a dark cupboard or a box. They don’t taste quite as good as sun-ripened, of course, but some years that’s the best we can do and we still get fertile seeds from those. Love and home-grown tomatoes are the two things money can’t buy! :)
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