Funny you should say that. Last week, I got some herbs at the farmers' market for a window box-sized planter. After re-potting, all the herbs (Italian parsley, garlic chives, mint, rosemary, dill) are thriving, except for the cilantro which pretty much fell dead.

I didn't plant anything, but I finished installing cat-proof netting at the top of the fence, so Mack and Lucy are now allowed in the garden.

Cathy, is that a typo? I had to stretch bird netting across the boxes where I planted seeds, specifically to keep kitties out. Elsewise, they'd be really happy with their new giant litter boxes.

It hadn't occurred to me that the cats might think the planters were giant litter boxes. I'll deal with that if/when it becomes a problem, but I think they're more likely to trot back inside to the kitty toilet they know and love.

Lucy is SO excited about being outdoors!

I've found that cilantro needs a lot of care in transplanting from seedlings. I usually move them to a six to eight inch wide pot with the original soil ball intact. The contents of that new potl go into the ground whole.

Soil temp is important with cilantro (and basil). I usually transplant to a black hued pot to pick up a few degrees

Last year, I bought a small horseradish plant and sunk it in a large clay pot in the garden, hoping to secure a supply of the stuff without letting it run amok around the grounds (which it will in a heartbeat). Late in the season, I dumped the contents of the pot, expecting to find a nice fat bundle of horseradish root. Instead, I found a small tangle of skinny, mild roots too pliable to be of any use.

Today, I was out in the garden with a digging fork, loosening and pulling dandelions before they get established. I came across a little patch of something, the leaves of which were unfamiliar. I poked deep around it with my fork and loosened the dirt, then grabbed the throat of the plant and pulled. A few of the leaves stripped off, but the root remained firmly in place. I dug a bit until I could pull at the root, broke off a small piece and bent it in half so as to get a sniff at its nature. Mmm. Horseradish. That bastard sent a taproot down through the hole in the pot last season. We shall forever more have horseradish in the garden.

Okay, this is a very amateurish question, but whatever. I recently purchased a thyme plant, which has taken off like a rocket. I'm growing it indoors with limited space and would prefer not to repot it, even though it would obviously benefit from a larger pot. What's the likely outcome--a healthy plant that will maintain its current size or a dead bunch of thyme?

Also, any suggestions on growing tarragon indoors?

If it parts of it start to die or wilt, I would reconsider but I think it should be fine. I suspect that it'll "bush out" and just become quite big. That's what happens to my thyme in the summer. Then you can look forward to making lots of jokes like: "I've got all the thyme in the world!" or "Thyme is on my side." (preferably said when sitting next to the plant)

It's definitely bushing out. I figure even if it doesn't make it, this is how I'm getting thyme from now on. Rather than spend $1.75 for a tiny bunch at the market once a week, spend $5 for a decent sized plant that'll at least last a few months, hopefully longer.

Keep in mind that it makes beautiful ground cover.

That's my reasoning too. The plant should be fine when it gets cold. Maybe it'll thin out a little but it'll be a good little provider.

Update on my "garden."

Most of my herbs are planted: basil, sage, more thyme, parsley and cilantro. I think I"m going to bet a big-assed rosemary plant from Ted Blew. They're 8 bucks so why the hell not?
Arugula went in yesterday. I might do more greens but I swear no tomatoes or tomatillos this year.
Flowers are next.

I browsed the herbs at my local greenmarket today and decided to wait for Ted's - I'm thinking big rosemary plant too, Abby. Maybe some thyme and marjoram. Basil doesn't get enough light, even in the sunniest corner.

Garden guy came yesterday to put in a lot of perennials (I lost what I had when the fence was replaced) and replant the Japanese maple. It looked a little droopy after, but a night of rest and plenty of water perked it back up by morning.

The viburnum is flowering.

Why no tom's? Last year was a shit year for them but this year already feels different. No?

It was pretty hot last summer and I thought that should have been good for the tomatoes but mine just did not comply. I've tried for the last 4 or 5 years and for some reason, they won't produce fruit for moi.

Don't take it personally. Mine produced but because of the weird heat and my own casual watering schedule they were really tough-skinned and just not good. I'm going to try again and put a couple of bricks in the bottom of the pots so they don't tip over as easily. I'm behind with my herbs but I'm going to get on it.

"Thyme is on my side" -- har har har.

Speaking of tomatoes, are you supposed to water them every day? I keep getting differing opinions.

Well, take this from the novice I am, but yes -- I found that here in the Northeast I had to water them daily. I'm sure tomato experts can chime in on exactly how and when. I found that because I neglected them (soaking one day, forgetting the next) the skins turned really tough and the end result wasn't much good last year. This season I'm going to try to be much less flaky. Ha ha.

http://store.yahoo.com/sprouthome/sefl.html

What a brilliant contraption.

Would't tomatos rot, or develop wilt, with a constant supply of water? I water mine twice a week at the most.

I water pretty steadily until fruits set, and then I barely water at all.

Seeing the first flowers on my potted tomato plants!!!!

I agree with this whole-heartedly. I think that for many tomato varieties, the fruit does very well in hot, sunny, humid weather. Adding moisture to the soil never seems to do anything for them here in the humid summer months.

We have a total of 21 tomato plants in the ground. The most recent additions are from my wonderful friend, Cynthia Sandberg, aka "The Tomato Curator," from Love Apple Farm in Ben Lomond. One is a test variety that was developed by a tomato Olympian, Jeff Dawson, whom we met at the seed exchange Rancho Gordo organized. Cynthia, who by her own frequent admission has a terrible memory, nonetheless started jumping up and down (well, sort of) when we were introduced to him, because he developed one of her favorites, the Orange Russian 117 (which I mentioned upthread). They got in a long geeky tomato talk, some of which I comprehended, and he sent her some seeds for trials.

She set aside some seedlings for me, and those went into the ground this weekend, called "Lemon Head." Also from Cynthia: Great White, a strange tomato (I've never been drawn to white tomatoes—they seem like so-called "white chocolate.") About this tomato, she writes: "Large 1 lb. giant creamy white fruit, this tomato is superbly wonderful. The flesh is so good and deliciously fruity, it reminds one of a mixture of fresh cut pineapple, melon and guava. One of our favorite fresh eating tomatoes! Fruit are smoother than most large beefsteak types, and yields can be very high. This fine variety comes highly recommended by my tomato seed-guru. Indeterminate."

We also put in a Cherokee Purple. We tried this before without good results, but people around here are nuts for it. Cynthia writes: "75 days. A favorite of mine. I have a special strain (acquired from Seed Savers Exchange member Neil Lockhart), which I believe is a superior one due to the early ripening of fruit, its large size, and exquisite taste. Very productive plants bear loads of 10- to 12-ounce dusky rose/purple fruit with deep brick red interiors. These are absolutely delicious with a pleasantly sweet and rich flavor. Large yields, disease resistant. Indeterminate."

More descriptions from another local tomato god, Gary Ibsen, whose annual Tomato Festival is the single best fancy food event I've ever attended. (Best non-fancy = New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, out at the campground.) I'll get to go again this year, courtesy of Cynthia, woo hoo!

MARIANNA'S PEACE (seeds originally went for $25/6 seeds!): "No longer a TomatoFest exclusive. This is a pink heirloom that originated in Czechoslovakia. Seeds brought to America during WW2. Potato leaf variety producing moderate yields of 1-2 lb. beautiful, pink beefsteaks. Dense, creamy, sweet flesh with rich complex, old tomatoey flavors. Great gift for the tomato lover."

BRANDYWINE: (from TomatoFest) "Probably the first heirloom to achieve 'cult status' within the growing popularity of heirloom tomatoes. A pink, potato-leaf, Amish variety from the 1880s. Years ago, seed saving was done by individuals who understood that the greatest thing they could pass on to the next generation was some of the treasured food plants that had sustained life and had proven their value. One such pioneer was a man named Ben Quinsenbury, who lived in Vermont. He died at the age of 95, passing on his legacy. The Brandywine was Ben�s favorite tomato. In years of my holding tomato tastings for chefs and tomato lovers, the Brandywine has always placed as one of the top three favorites. It is legendary for its exceptionally rich, succulent tomato flavor. Fruits are reddish-pink, with light, creamy flesh that average 12 ounces but can grow to 2 pounds." We always grow monster Brandywines.

BIG BEEF: "This is a de-hybridized version of an American favorite. These large, juicy, fruits combine old-fashioned beefsteak flavor with heavy yields. 1-pound, round to globe-shaped. Flavor is full and hearty with lots of sweet juice balanced with that wonderful tomato acidity. These giants slice up perfectly for big sandwiches. Fruit stays large even at the end of a long harvest season."

PAUL ROBESON: "Seed for this Russian heirloom was made available by Marina Danilenko, a Moscow seedswoman. This favorite tomato was named after the operatic artist who won acclaim as an advocate of equal rights for Blacks. His artistry was admired world-wide, especially in the Soviet Union. This 'black' beefsteak tomato is slightly flattened, round, and grows to 4-inches. Its deep, rich colors stand it apart from others—a dusky, dark-red, with dark-green shoulders, and red flesh in its center. Very flavorful fruits with luscious, earthy flavors and good acid/sweet balance. This won 'Best of Show' at 2000 Carmel TomatoFest."

ORANGE OXHEART: this is one of my favorites, which I discovered at the farmers market, grown by Happy Boy Farms. I Googled, and it's in the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste (as is the Cherokee Purple). From the Slow Food site: "The Orange Oxheart has deep orange skin paired with dense orange flesh and is heart shaped. This rare fruit, which can weigh up to one pound, is a dense, meaty tomato with a rich aroma; it has small seed cavities and few seeds. This heirloom tomato has superior flavor and its meatiness makes it excellent for salsas and canning."

GOLD MEDAL: HeirloomSeeds.com says: "Intensely sweet, this variety tastes as good as it looks! The large, golden fruits are streaked with red, and have a rich, juicy flavor. A tomato worthy of its name."

The final two plants are Green Giants. There is a story with them: they turned out to be one of the best-tasting tomatoes a lot of people (including foodies who travel around the world to dine at fancy restaurants) ever tasted. Cynthia promised to make sure I got one or two of the seedlings—she has a seedling sale every May, and grows a few thousand seedlings that people come from far and wide to buy. She also does a couple of "how to grow tomato" classes that, even in the rain, are standing-room only.

Cynthia had exclusive seeds, and thousands of them, to sell to finance the conversion of her lawn to a much bigger growing area. Well, the way to save seeds requires, at one point, a sterilization in the oven. Alas, the seeds got baked, and she was left with only a few hundred. Which she put in a film cannister, and put "in a safe place." Lost, lost, lost. So with just a handful of plants, she couldn't give me any. Waaaaah.

I called her a week or so ago, and she told me that a friend of mine was there, buying tomatoes, and that someone from her tomato-growing class had brought back an extra Green Giant seedling, and she was selling it to my friend. I said, trying to conceal my dismay (remember her bad memory): "Now I'm heartbroken twice!" Then she remembered, and brightened up: "Hey, I can take cuttings from my plants and grow you a couple!" That was a fine solution, and I was very happy.

Instead, this weekend, Cynthia dropped off two full-sized plants, from her treasured eight, telling me she was going to grow the cuttings for herself. I was being rewarded not only for tech support and small things like that, but just for being her friend. These plants are so far and beyond the healthiest, strongest, most vigorous plants I've ever seen that it's insane. She's incorporating biodynamic techniques into her garden this year, and the plants look like East German ballerinas. They're graceful, but they'd kick your butt. And they're already in flower.

Here's a shot, not great, but demonstrative of the lines and health of the plants. They're about two feet tall.



I'm bummed about the carrot seeds I planted, though. Only a couple dozen came up. I must have planted at least 80. The cardoons are humming along though, about four inches tall. We also have two squash plants: zucchini and yellow squash. Two red and two yellow bell peppers are waiting their turn, and the grapevines are covered with glossy, spring green foliage. We bought some beet seeds, multi-colored, to plant in the half of the box where the carrots failed. (Only one seed came up, so I yanked it.)

Complete list of tomatoes:
Black/Dark: Black Krim, Bordo, Paul Robeson, Chocolate
Orange/Yellow: Orange Russian 117, Chuck's Yellow, Early Girl, Sungold (cherry), Orange Oxheart, Lemon Head, Gold Medal
Red/Pink: Julia Child, Marianna's Peace, Big Beef
Other: Green Zebra, Great White, Green Giant (2)

Bob says that's it, but don't be surprised if we add another couple, including a second Sungold.

Sigh. I so wish I had enough light for a tomato plant or two.

If I am able to travel to NYC this year, I will bring tomatoes and Meyer lemons.



And I'll auction them off.

Oh, I can get wonderful tomatoes at the greenmarkets. (Meyer lemons not so often...)

But it would be fun to watch them grow.

I make my poor mama cry when I tell her about growing tomatoes. She grew up in rural Georgia, where a good tomato is your birthright, rich or poor, black or white, old or young. Now they're like the ones that converted Rancho Gordo from a lounge lizard into the agricultural magnate that he is today: hard, sour pool balls. (For those who don't know the story: RG found hothouse tomatoes from Holland at his local grocery in Napa. The very idea! So he started growing things, starting with tomatoes, and the rest, as they say, will be history.)

Luckily, a few places around her (now very much suburban, alas) are bringing back Good Tomatoes. She said on the phone today, "I had a decent tomato recently. At least, it wasn't a bad tomato." We all know what a bad tomato is.

I once shipped a box of my best ones to my little sister. Didn't know they didn't deliver on Saturday...Monday was a holiday. She had moldy tomato soup instead of what left here.

I've got a flat full of young tomato plants in my makeshift greenhouse; they're doing just okay. What they really need is to start spending days outdoors in real sunshine. If we had any, that is (well, we had some yesterday, and I put the plants out for about 20 minutes – they need to be acclimated slowly).

Paul Robeson, Black from Tula, Marmande, Mortgage Lifter, and Patio Orange. I'll pick up a few Sun Gold or Sun Sugar plants from the nursery.

I loved the Paul Robesons I did a few years back. The yield was lower but the dense, bloody flavor was super. I got in a fight on a tomato list I was on years ago because I said it was pretty funny that a black Russian tomato was called Paul Robeson. I mean, someone had a sense of humor to name it that. They called me a racist!

I wouldn't say you are racist but you're obviously a commie.

I thought it was just me, but even the professional growers around here are complaining that their starts and seedlings are getting leggy from lack of sunlight. I tried moving my flats outside today, just for 20 minutes to start hardening off. But with little or no sun, temps right @ 50°F, and a stiff southwestern breeze, they liked it not at all. Now they all look like they've been for a ride in a convertible with the top down.

Same thing here. We are regularly turning our new rosemary plant so it doesn't permanently list to starboard. Every time we set foot outside, it starts to rain.
Fly

I had my first garden-aided meal. Zuni chicken with house-grown rosemary, sage and thyme tucked under the skin. Salad made of arugula that had been snipped moments before reaching my plate.

Can't seem to keep cilantro alive. I'm on my fourth little plant from the Greenmarket in a month. Any hints?

Picked up my tomatoes from the friend who starts them for me (and others) every year. Against my better judgement I brought home 5 healthy plants to nurture. Last year I was maxed at 3. I just couldn't turn down the new varieties he had -- husky and grapette and black plum -- plus the old standards, golden cherry and sun gold. Two of the new ones are bush plants, ie: they don't need cages or staking. I hope they stay compact so that I can move them around the patio.

MUST get them into their containers today. Their companion basil plants are barely holding on. Now that we've finally gotten some summer, everything wants to GO.

Could you put any of your tomatoes in the ground? You certainly have room!

A dill plant that was fairly unproductive last year, so bad that I let it go to seed, has actually yielded a patch of volunteers in my garden, 12 seedlings at least!
Had an arugula and red lettuce salad this weekend, broccoli is a foot high(no buds yet) and tomatoes are in the ground...well, three so far....Purple cherokee, black prince, and sungold...


Tomatoes all (8) in the ground, moved one of the few spinach plants that's growing, found some volunteer lettuce!

I generally grow cilantro only in the winter, and it will grow wild in my yard during a rainy year. I would recommend growing it from seeds, and put it in a fairly large pot. They don't need full sun, but they do need to be watered regularly.

I have Roma tomatoes and Salsa tomatoes (whatever those are) in my garden now, and my heliconia (schiedeana) is starting to bloom.

I planted a bunch of seeds this year that have sprouted, but I don't know what most of them are. I think I'm getting a Mesclan salad mix - at least that's what some of them look like - which will be nice, but I hope they don't all mature at the same time .

Orchid catus was blooming last month, but the season is now over.

These maybe?

my tomato plants seem to be doing well in their pots--though the soil in one pot is draining much faster than the others. my question: it will be three weeks since transplantation into pots on monday (when we take possession of the house); is it feasible to transplant them yet again into prepared beds?

THAT is one gorgeous plant.

Mongo, tell me the details of the tomatoes' condition(s) now and I will e-mail Cynthia, my tomato farmer friend.

Yes! We started tomato seeds in March (indoors). Put them in pots in late April. Then we moved and finally got them planted in the ground last week. They are doing well. Tomatoes are quite tolerant of moving while they are young. In just a week they have dramatically increased in size.

We planted various bean seeds last week and some of them are already 4 inches tall. I swear I can sit and watch them grow.

Cynthia says: "It is preferable to transplant them into beds. Just make sure you plant them a little deeper than they are in the pots."

Also: the reason your plants are draining is because you probably are using a potting mix not intended for tomatoes, which is high in peat moss. If peat moss dries out, "it takes a village" to rehydrate it. This can only be accomplished by soaking it in a tub of water for at least four hours. Simply pouring water over and through it will not work.

Hope that helps!

I realized today that if I waited for it to stop raining and warm up, I'd be planting out seedlings in August. So: trip to my favorite farm stand for a few things I didn't start from seed (fennel, Sun Gold tomatoes, jalapeno peppers) and 300 lbs. of Moo Doo. I added the Doo to 5 of the beds, along with alfalfa meal, turned over two of the beds, and planted out all of my tomatoes.

Then I finally got around to thinning the beets and carrots I planted over a month ago – not that they've really bothered to grow or anything. And while I was at dirt level poking around, I noticed that my soil is just riddled with earthworms. For which I am grateful, cheerful, and, like, totally psyched.

the best news today....

how did i miss all these posts? thanks, merlin and tana.

unfortunately, there's a misdiagnosis with the tomatoes. it is not that they are draining, but that 3 of the 4 pots are staying (relatively) waterlogged. i suspect i packed the soil in these pots too tightly. the potting mix does not contain peat moss as far as i know.

by the time i construct my raised beds and recover from the attendant surgery, these guys will be a month old. hopefully they'll still be tolerant of transplantation. i was told not to expect fruit from them till late july/august anyway.

Does anyone have roses?

When we moved into our new house, C and I were set to put in a border of rocks and just leave a big rectangle of grass for our garden. I have a history of killing everything so we felt rocks and grass was safest.

But after we moved in, what little that did exist in those flower beds was so pretty and the character of the house and garden seemed to call out for big lush blooms and English roses.

So, we planted a japanese maple (two more on their way) for a shady back corner with C's stone buddha. Planted in blue hydrangeas and big pink ones (a white one on its way too). A zucchini plant is currently flowering like mad, thyme, lemon thyme, and a variegated one, the basil in the ground is dieing slowly but the ones in the planter box that I brought inside are well and growing, rosemary, and hearts ease, moroccan mint in a planter. I have fallen in love with viola's and pansies and wherever I can find room under the shrubs growing on our south facing fence you see their funny little faces now. Two fuchsia plants that we put in the ground two weeks ago have just started to bloom. I've planted the front corner full of different types of lillies, I couldn't help myself, they are my favorite flower.

I'm very pleased with the things we've planted so far, except for the rose thingy. Its my own fault, I'm sure. I lost the little plant identification card on the way home from the garden centre and I don't know if the thing is a shrub or a climber... We put it in the ground (and I'm worried we didn't bury it deep enough) and it looked fine for three days, then we had a heat wave and now its dropping all its petals and I can see that the leaves all the way at the base are turning a scary yellow color.

Have I killed it? Is there no coaxing it back? Or is it just in shock from the move and the fact that the weather went so hot and dry last week?

the only thing I know about roses is that they require around eight hours of full sun a day, not considering any hours of morning light which is often clouded over

any newly transplanted plant will need extra attention, particularly in a heat wave; but this could simply be shock - keep it watered, but not drowning, and check back in with us in a week or so with news of any new leaves

I know you no longer have the card, but do you recall if it is a hybrid [require more attention to the common leaf spot diseases] or a hardier antique variety [since I don't know where you're based, I don't know if you have such - down here in Texas, we've a thriving trade in antique roses - see the Antique Rose Emporium]

Roses mostly do not like hot and dry. The reason they do so well in Englnd is the air is usually moist with not excessive heat. Then again, you may have done something really horrid to it.

Yes, actually we may have just last night! My worry about the thing not being far enough under the ground caused me to ask husband to carefully dig it up and plant it further down (I read something about making sure that the graft is under the ground (where the stems meet the lower part) and I think I could see part of that woody bulbous bit. In the process C managed to lop off the two remaining rosebuds and all the others dropped their petals. The bush is back in the ground now... but I deadheaded the whole thing to see if we couldn't get it to begin again.... It looks really lovely exactly what I was hoping for.