| Lettuce | Black Prince Tomates |
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I started these plants about a week ago. The lettuce germinated within two or three days and the tomatoes broke ground yesterday. I didn’t grow 1/10th of the lettuce I needed last year so I am starting much earlier this round and have it worked into several places in the garden.
Last year was the first year I had ever grown or eaten Black Prince tomatoes. They were one of many that I picked up from the nursury and were by far the best. I had many go wrotten because I was waiting for them to turn red, which they never did. I finally figured out that they only turn a tinge of dirty red on the outside and are then ready to eat. They are brilliant red and green on inside, with a sweet, full flavour. I don’t think you will ever see them in a store because they are tender and wouldn’t tollerate transport. They were almost totally resistant to bottom rot too.
My friend Genèvieve and I got started planting outside today as well. Her companion planting book “Carrots Love Tomatoes” suggests that radishes will be more tender if planted alongside leaf lettuce so we sowed a couple rows of each directly in the cool spring soil. I thought it would be too early for lettuce but her package of mesculine mix seeds indicated that they could be planted two to three weeks before the last frost of the season. Radishes are eager in the cool spring too.
Lisa and I ate some rogue spinach last week that had laid dormant over the winter and made an early dash to life in February. It was amazingly crisp and fresh so I wanted to get more seeds in the ground as soon as possible. Genèvieve and I transplanted a couple chard plants that survived the winter into plot two and then weaved an infinity sign of spinach seeds around the two plants. Hopefully we’ll see some small plants poking their heads above ground shortly.
Greens need to be staggered and planted at least weekly to keep a steady supply available throughout the season.
[tags]Urban Agriculture[/tags]
