I know you ALL have been waiting for my latest tomato status, here is a
recap:

Planted seeds Jan 3rd indoors, in small peat pots, kept soil at 75 degrees,
45 of the 48 seeds I planted germinated.

Kept them in a sunny window until about mid-February when I repotted them
deep into 4" nursery pots and moved them outside.

Except for one high wind day they have needed no protection and are all
hardened off now. They average about 6" tall and I've shared them around
with my neighbors and friends. I've kept for myself six indeterminates and
five determinates and they'll all go into large black plastic nursery pots
on my patio.

Around the end of March I'll move them from the 4" pots and put them into
the 7-gallon pots, again planting them deep for good root production. I'm
planning on a drip watering system, something which will allow me to
fertilize at the same time.

Today the temp was in the mid 70's and sunny, a perfect spring day. How I
love living in the SF Bay Area!

- Dewolla Stepon
USDA Zone 9b, Sunset Zone 15

In article 0IP2c.499507$I06.5377572@attbi_s01,
"Dewolla Stepon" wrote:

I know you ALL have been waiting for my latest tomato status, here is a
recap:

[...]

Today the temp was in the mid 70's and sunny, a perfect spring day. How I
love living in the SF Bay Area!

- Dewolla Stepon
USDA Zone 9b, Sunset Zone 15



Boring weather. 80F. is a heatwave. 45F. is a cold snap. ~~~~

The Gray Area has awesome gardening weather, but too many people live
there now, and you've ruint it. California was a *wonderful* place to
grow up, until ya'll moved there and us 5th generation natives had to
flee our homeland...

Tomatoes: here in Alaska, we're just starting seeds for:

Stupice
Siberia
Brandywine
Sweet Million
4th of July

All to be grown in our homebuilt (definitely NOT up to to Gray Area
standards *sniff*) greenhouses.

I'll have snow on the ground here at the house until May 1. Will crank up
the coal oil stove in the greenhouse in the next week or so, but still
keep my seed flats in the house, under lights for a bit longer. I've got
lettuce, broccali and such seeded out in the greenhouse now.

What I lack in gardening weather, I make up for in ambiance, scenery,
and a damned nice place to live, in the slow lane.

As hard as you boys work, you still haven't figured out that money can't
buy happiness.

Jan, in Alaska
Swift Creek Ranch (organic beef)
USDA Zone 4

"Jan Flora" wrote in message
...
In article 0IP2c.499507$I06.5377572@attbi_s01,

Jan, in Alaska
Swift Creek Ranch (organic beef)
USDA Zone 4

Zone 4? Jan, you're in the banana belt. Why don't you try some REAL
gardening up where I am, a little place called North Pole just outside of
Fairbanks on the Richardson Hwy. Its Zone 1 (that's right - ONE) here.
Today's high will be 14.

But then, its best you just stay where you are. We have enough cheechakos
up here already.

Smokin' Monkey
-----------------------
"I've been naughty"

"Jan Flora" wrote in message
...
In article 0IP2c.499507$I06.5377572@attbi_s01,

Jan, in Alaska
Swift Creek Ranch (organic beef)
USDA Zone 4

Zone 4? Jan, you're in the banana belt. Why don't you try some REAL
gardening up where I am, a little place called North Pole just outside of
Fairbanks on the Richardson Hwy. Its Zone 1 (that's right - ONE) here.
Today's high will be 14.

But then, its best you just stay where you are. We have enough cheechakos
up here already.

Smokin' Monkey
-----------------------
"I've been naughty"

"Jan Flora" wrote in message
...
In article 0IP2c.499507$I06.5377572@attbi_s01,

Jan, in Alaska
Swift Creek Ranch (organic beef)
USDA Zone 4

Zone 4? Jan, you're in the banana belt. Why don't you try some REAL
gardening up where I am, a little place called North Pole just outside of
Fairbanks on the Richardson Hwy. Its Zone 1 (that's right - ONE) here.
Today's high will be 14.

But then, its best you just stay where you are. We have enough cheechakos
up here already.

Smokin' Monkey
-----------------------
"I've been naughty"

"Jan Flora" wrote in message
...
In article 0IP2c.499507$I06.5377572@attbi_s01,

Jan, in Alaska
Swift Creek Ranch (organic beef)
USDA Zone 4

Zone 4? Jan, you're in the banana belt. Why don't you try some REAL
gardening up where I am, a little place called North Pole just outside of
Fairbanks on the Richardson Hwy. Its Zone 1 (that's right - ONE) here.
Today's high will be 14.

But then, its best you just stay where you are. We have enough cheechakos
up here already.

Smokin' Monkey
-----------------------
"I've been naughty"