- 22 tomatoes planted out (1 each of Cherokee Chocolate, Omar's Lebanese, White Rabbit, BFG Dark Horse, BFG Nirvana, Gold Medal, Kellogg's Breakfast, Black Krim, BFG Mad Hatter, Amish Paste, Stupice, Persimmon, Shady Lady, Monica, Bobcat, Sunsugar, 6 Sungold) - 20 tomatoes still in their seed starters because I got a really late start (Cherokee Purple, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Isis Candy, Striped German, San Marzano 2, Snow White, plus a tomatillo) - lemon cucumbers (10) - bush beans, Blue Lake (18 - admittedly, not enough, and the slugs will probably get more than I do at this rate) - eggplant, Ichiban (4) - radishes, Reggae and German Giant (45 and 22, respectively, planted as an experiment to see if they'll bulb up with the weather warming up...plus I just wanted something green and fast growing in between the tomatoes) - pineapple tomatillos (3) - garlic chives - pattypan squqsh, Early White Bush (7 - I seeded them all and couldn't bear to let them die, so I stuffed them in where I thought they might fit) - zucchini, cocozelle (4) - pole beans, Kentucky Wonder (70 or so?? I'm not sure... probably too cramped, but they have big teepees to climb up) - Sweet Banana pepper - Habanero pepper - Green Bell pepper - Anaheim pepper - Ancho/poblano pepper - Jalapeno peppers (2 - overwintered from last year, so I don't know if they'll produce at all) - Thai dragon peppers (1 - but overwintered along with the jalapenos, so again, not sure if they'll produce, since the foliage is still just coming in) - kale, lacinato (leftover from this winter, and it hasn't died or bolted yet, so it gets to stay) - collards, vates (same issue as the kale. I had one plant last from late spring last year and into spring this year, so I'll cross my fingers for this one!) - Herbs: mint, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, catnip, large leaf parsley I'm waiting on my Tromboncino and Burgess Buttercup squash to germinate, and I'd like to start some Chinese long beans, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Oh, and I'm expecting this to all fit in 144 sq. ft. of raised beds and countless plastic storage totes. Other than the tomato seedlings, everything is planted out, so I just need room for 20 more tomatoes... LOL!

I learned something this season that I knew was coming down the pike but didn't know when, now I know when. For the first time in my gardening history I'll have to stop expanding the garden and start to shrink it next year. I've reached my upper limit on what I can successfully maintain and due to slowing down myself so goes the garden. Missing from next year's planting list will be Onions, Cantaloupes, and perhaps Butter beans. I'll still grow watermelons but on a smaller plot with smaller melon varieties, I just can't pick up those Big ones trying to tippy toe through vines without twisting my ankle or getting a hernia, ha. Will hold onto planting the main staples of the veggie world....as long as possible :)

these somehow were downloaded backwards, so the pics with the words have their sprouts ahead, not after. At some point I'll figure it out :) My typed list is as follows: Gaillardia � burgundy * Black hollyhock * Poppy- fancy mix Hibiscus moschetuos � yellow * Iberis umbelatta � mixed pinks " � white * Red poppy Scabiosa- mourning bride * Trailing soapwort * Carnation � chabaud mix * Un named red hibiscus * Veronica speedwell � royal blue * Dianthus � pinks Rudebeckia � Irish Eyes Poppy � drama queen Malva zebrina * Poppy � Himalayan Blue * Poppy � breadseed � Hungarian Blue* Verbascum � milkshake Lupine Poppy � pink with ruffled edge Hosta * Poppy Iceland mix Aquilegia � mix * Agastache � honey bee blue Digitalis � apricot beauty * Phlox drummondii � fordhook�s finest mix Stock � giant imperial mix * Hollyhock � peaches n dreams Poppy � venus * Night scented stock Penstemon � rocky mountain blue * Poppy � ladybird * Sunflower surprise Rudebeckia * Lavatera * Larkspur � shades of blue * Sweet peas � pink Blue forget me nots * Pentsemon � huskers red Canterbury bells mixed Lavender � purple * Poppy � oriental- brilliant red Bunny tails grass Chinese cabbage Rudebeckia � Cherokee sunset Rudebeckia � cappuccino Poppy � fruit punch Mountain garland Snapdragon � northern lights Cupids dart � alba Black magic batchelor buttons Dill Detroit dark red beets Cardoon Platycodon � white balloon flower Alaskan daisy Shasta Creeping thyme * Nepeta cataria � catmint Black krim tomato � two sprouts Hibiscus � white with red eye * Bells of Ireland * Turnip greens Pyrethrum � pink and red daisy Baptisia � false indigo Echinacia paradoxa Lavender � hidcote Heuchera � bronze � coral bells * Verbascum � shades of summer Apricot foxglove * Batchelor buttons mixed Pincushion flower � lavender Armeria maritime � sea thrift * Strawberry blonde sunflower Poppy � oriental mix Wildflower blend for full sun Velvet queen sunflower Mexican tea � epazote Lemon queen sunflower Blue flax Swamp mallow Hollyhock � chaters double mixed Globe thistle * Convolvulus � blue enchantment Swiss chard � bright lights Onion sweet � white Spanish Hollyhock � black Baby�s breath � white Switch grass Society garlic Mesculin greens * Blue balloon flower Here is a link that might be useful: WS sprouts as of Easter Sunday 2011

dsieber: Yes, we do tomatoes. We are lucky in that a good portion of our property faces south (ranging from SE to SW depending on which part) and that we are thoroughly in the 285 corridor valley (right near a massive cliff face that gives us extra reflected light and heat). That lets us be just a bit toastier than most of the area. I've had the best luck with the smaller tomato varieties. Tiny Tim cherry tomatoes and Extreme Bush tomatoes give me the best yields of what I've tried so far. I've also gotten some Rose and Moskvich tomatoes as well, although the season ended last year before they got truly productive. I'll probably give in this year and use some miracle-gro or other chemical fertilizer to boost the growth speed on my tomatoes, peppers, and cucurbits(squash, melons, and such). I haven't used chemical fertilizers on my tomatoes in the past. I'm hoping that if I do I'll be able to get a full harvest on them. I normally pre-sprout some inside as starts and plant them out the first time the weather forecast is showing a week with 40 as the lowest low. I also pre-sprout some seeds to direct sow as well since sometimes if I lose the starts, the ones started outside will still come through for me. I'm still trying different varieties to see if any other tomatoes will do better than the ones I listed previously. This year I've got three new varieties to try (Juliet, Eva Purple ball, and Debarao). Essentially if the seed site I use has any tomatoes on sale and they are relatively short span to maturity I'll pick them up to try. So it is still a work in progress. Thralen