I think I'm the perfect one to answer this question. Yes, I am obsessed, really, with growing stuff. I overplant dramatically. I have a household of 3 people, a medium sized dog, and an increasing number of backyard poultry (about 2 dozen right now) that do clean up extras. I hope to add some rabbits yet this year. So, the question is -- does a family of 3 NEED the results of 3000 onion plants, 100 plus hills of winter squash, 400 plus tomato plants? Will I get enough apples off of the now almost 50 trees I've got going to get me through the winter? Will I get enough peaches this year from 20 trees to make jam? It's like my own little soap opera, I guess. Well, yes and no. I will be the first to admit that most years, I am rolling in excess, and some of it goes to waste in the sense it isn't eaten. But, none of it ever really goes to waste, because I compost it all, and that makes for the best soil. We do can and freeze large quantities -- this year, I need to do a lot of tomato products, and my goal is about 300 quarts total, including canned toms, salsa, tomato juice, spaghetti sauce. I have like 6 freezers going. It's definitely a lifestyle choice -- we almost never go out to eat, maybe twice a year, and perhaps once a month at most pick up takeout, usually something ethnic like Chinese or Thai or Indian that isn't as easy to do at home. We cook at home, from scratch, so we use a lot of our own food products and augment with things we cannot grow or make for ourselves, like meat, dairy, bulk flours, etc. And, there are "dud" years. Last year, I planted like 400 tomato plants, too, and got about 5 bushels for my effort. This was due to a combination of things -- a really awful, cold, and dry summer, lack of time to garden and properly tend to the plants as I caught up on some home upkeep and improvement projects. Luckily, I still had a lot of canned tomato products from the past year. I give a lot away, too, although there are mixed results from that as seen on other threads -- a lot of people stare at you with strange looks when you offer them produce -- they only eat from heat and serve containers and fast food places. But, I have some family members who still enjoy it, and they take a LOT (gave my one sister almost 100 quarts of blueberries in 2008 for her freezer). It is definitely a lifestyle choice. The neighbors think I'm nuts. A little more lawn dies every year, and I get flack from the rest of the family about it. I haven't left the state of Michigan in 20 plus years, and the farthest away I've been from my house is about 150 miles. Haven't spent a night away from home in over 10 years, and at that, it was in the winter. But I love my lifestyle and frankly wish I could devote 24/7 to it. I guess I was really meant to be a farmer.

Welcome, Johnny! Here's what I'm thinkin' 'bout the dealio. What kind of tomato is that 'un? If it is a hybrid tomato, you might be disappointed at the results. If is an heirloom (aka open-pollinated) type. This website is a rich source of knowledgable people, so take advantage of it. And for Pete's sake, if you fail, try again, and again... Nobody ever learned all this stuff overnight. And most of all, remember.. "Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed." Best!

I space mine evenly in the container because I'm anal like that, lol! Actually, the main reason I space evenly and in lines is that it helps me identify the seedling as opposed to a weed. When I first started WSing, I sowed my vegetable seeds in jiffy pots and put them inside a foil roasting/lasagna pan with a plastic lid. Since I'm fairly new to vegetables, this gave me a bit more feeling of security when transplanting the seedlings, so I didn't disturb the roots. I still have the pans,and still do some veggies that way, but I find as I'm gaining confidence I am sowing vegetables just like flowers, in containers. I like to use the big rectangle water dispensers, the kind that are of the same material that milk jugs are made of, and you place on the shelf in the fridge and open the tap to pour. I place them on their sides, cut open, sow, and tape shut. They're bigger than the milk jugs but are nice and sturdy and easy to work with. :) Dee

Granted I got a late start, but not a good harvest. The carrots are still pencil sized, tomato production was lame and flavorless (probably too much water). So do you pull the determinant tomatoes and start over in Aug? The two season thing is new to me. The infestations seem to be non-stop too. Army cutworms, then tomato hornworms, then spider mites, then leaf miners, then gulf fruitilary cats. Did I mention the coons that ate what few tomatoes I had? The one thing that seems to be fairly immune is the asparagus and peppers (even the peppers were attacked). Luckily the coons gave up on vegetables after a stalk or two.