Congratulations to all of you who have tomato sprouts! Trudi, I have never heard of any of those. Have you grown them before, and what kind of tomatoes are those? We are still having lows in the 20's and occasionally the teens, so I guess it's a good thing nothing has sprouted yet. On 3/12/08 I WS: Azoychka, MiniBush Yellow Cherry (Russian Heirloom), Moskvich, Roma, Stupice, Sungold, and Supersweet 100's. On 4/1/08 I started indoors: Black Cherry, Cherokee Purple, Kellogg's Breakfast, Opalka, and San Marzano. My vegetable garden hasn't gotten any bigger, so now I'm thinking maybe I should invest in a couple of earthbox type containers. I wish I could find a less expensive version, other than the homemade ones. I'm not crazy about setting a Rubbermaid container in the front yard. Does anyone know of a source for a self watering planter that's that cost less than the Earthbox? Last year, I shared some extra pumpkin vines with my DH's coworkers, and now they are asking me to start tomato plants for them. To me that is such a compliment, since I still consider myself a novice. I'm a surrogate mother now! Bonnie

Okay then - here's my WS tomato experience from last year (first year to try WSing). I sowed the tomato seeds in the same order as I usually would, i.e. longest DTM to shortest. I don't keep much in the way of records, but I know I began on 21 January with 80 and 85-day varieties and continued on through mid-March. I had the best success with sowing only 3 seeds per milk jug. I didn't have puny plants, they were bushy with sturdy, fat stems. This could've been because of: Beginner's luck The jugs being set in a raised bed directly up against the house with full southern exposure The fact that I didn't set them out until late May due to more-unpredictable-than-usual weather, or All of the above Once I set the jugs outside I utterly neglected them - no peeking, no nothing. Really, the only attention I paid was to glance at them on warm days to make sure there was condensation. If I remember right, I think it was late April before I ever added more water to the jugs, and at that point I just turned the hose on'em. By the time they went into the ground they were growing out the tops of the jugs (yeah, yeah, I know - I'm a bad tomato mommy). Our weather heated right up not too long after Memorial Day and the tomatoes really took off. Usually it seems to take 10-14 days for transplants to get going, but I clearly recall being astounded when I could see new growth on the WSown toms after only three days! That made me a true believer. For what it's worth, I did bell peppers & chilies right along with the tomatoes, and they did just as well. In fact, last year was the first that I haven't staked peppers - I didn't need to, since they were so fat and sturdy. I kept thinking that they were like little trees. And yes, depending upon where they end up at the end of the season, tomatoes readily reseed here. Last year I had dozens popping up all around the compost pile.

Yes, Bonnie. The amount of time the fruit stays on the vine increases the sweetness, it also becomes softer to the touch and deeper in color. The tomato is a fruit that has seeds inside. The plant knows that the ripening seeds are close to maturity, during this time the tomato starts to color. The color intensifies as the fruit ripens. The fruit is ready to pick when you clasp it and it comes freely off of the plant. Tomatoes continue to ripen after being picked. Let a few get more strongly colored before you pick them and see if you notice a flavor difference. I think the taste will be much more palatable. I'm growing several cukes this season but the ones I've already harvested are "Green Fingers" which are picked small--about four inches long. They are AWESOME!!! Here is a link that might be useful: Green Fingers

I just was writing about this at a lovely tomato website I frequent, they're so sweet--they made a little WS forum and on an almost one on one basis I can relate WS info with people who are not beginner gardeners but have a huge level of experience with plants. We were talking about WSing vs cold-frame and the differences of the two and the differences of climate. Because I am here in zone seven I have learned that in my garden I can have bitterly cold weather followed by a warm spell. I would never sow anything except nut seeds now because they need multiple freezing and thaw to get that shell cracked. We just had a weekend of bitter cold and our first snow, today it's raining and 47 degrees. The warm spells can last for a few days. But when I lived in the Upper Catskills zone 4/5 we were usually frozen rock solid from the end of October until mud season in mid April. Up in zone five, you're putting out your tomatoes and they go into a prolonged dormancy. It's is really cold for months on end and a period of warmth during the usually cold months long enough to stimulate germination is a fluke, it can happen but it's not the norm. I envy your ability to sow a tender annual that early...it's very convenient and I wish I could do that here in zone seven. We all know our own climates best. I've got a maritime climate with air warmed by the gulf stream and any tropical storm down in the Caribbean is going to effect my garden three days later and send me a blast of ground thawing warmed rain. Other states with zone seven will have different weather patterns without much fluctuation which could cause premature germination of a very tender annual like a tomato or a pepper. I'll reiterate, we all know our own climates best; sow based on what you know. T