Spring is coming...

 Sunchokes, trying these again after the total failure last time.  These however came from Joseph Lofthouse and are part of his landrace project.  The box arrived yesterday and wow is it full! He claims the box has at least 10 different varieties in it and I believe him.  They will get split between my house and a friends house.  A few in the box were already producing green sprouts so those will go in a pot for now.

 Also in the box were a few "walking onions" that actually looked a lot  like shallot or potato onion bulbs.  One of those clusters went into my "onion bed" which also have bottle onions, other walking onion varieties and an elephant garlic plant.  

Apple trees are coming to replace the two we lost last spring.  This time they are a SnowSweet and a Starkrimson Red Delicious.   The serviceberry has survived the winter and we really need to figure out where it will live.  

More strawberries are in my plans but this time they are all Alpines and wild species started from seeds so need to see how that works for us. 

Ashley and I have reconnected thanks to a family meal with her sister who had come up from Georgia for a visit.  Turns out she still remembers all my different colored tomatoes and wanted to know if I was still growing them.  She and her DH have offered to help in the garden and I will help with their small area they have.   It should be fun. 

Tomato list has been modified a bit to really show off the varied foliage and tomato types  for the kids.  Currently in my seed starters waiting to be transplanted into cups are 14 varieties of tomatoes

1. Urbikany - these were a very pleasant surprise.  I found a 20 year old packet of seeds. I put them in a damp towel until they showed signs of life then planted them into a seed starter. Out of the 10 seeds in the packet I have 5 strongly growing seedlings and one late seedling that is just now coming up.  This is a normal leaf det plant with red tomatoes used for both eating fresh and canning
2. Cherokee Tiger - these seeds were from the MMMM Swap and labeled as being collected in 2017 so 8 years old.  I only started 5 using the same method for the Urbikany.  So far I have two nice seedlings one the proper chartreuse color and one with normal colored leaves. I am growing this dwarf to show off the chartreuse color so will only pot on the chartreuse colored tomatoes.
3. Fuzzy Wuzzy - another grown for the foliage which is fuzzy this dwarf has slightly fuzzy yellow and red torpedo-shaped with pointed ends.
4. Shadow Boxing - another odd one I am growing to show the kids. This one is a dwarf tomato that has antho in both the leaves and the tomatoes.  So there is a dark purple to near black over lay on the red tomatoes and dark leaves with a bit of a purple over tone.
5. Dark Stripe Micro - despite the name this is a dwarf not a micro dwarf. It is a multiflora which means it produces large  clusters of flowers that turn into a large number of cherry size tomatoes. This one makes lots of dark tomatoes with metallic green stripes. 
6. White Zinger - a dwarf plant making pale yellow/white elongated odd shaped tomatoes. Being grown for the color and shape of the tomatoes
7. Spanish Dancer - is a trailing or hanging basket tomato.  It makes torpedo shaped yellow and red striped large cherry tomatoes.
8. Elf Tears - my second trailing or hanging basket tomato.  This one make dusty pink tear drop shaped cherry size tomatoes
9. Whippersnapper- my third trailing or hanging basket tomato.  This fairly common tomato makes plain red round cherries. 
10. Big Hill - A normal leaf det plant this one makes large bicolor (red orange and yellow swirls) with a sweet fruity flavor when at their best.  Can be bland and badly cat faced in bad years.
11. Blaue Kasachstan - the seed is from 2020 and had poor germination but I do have one seedlings that is doing well. This is an indet plant that needs a trellis and makes medium to large size dark colored tomatoes. 
12. . Dark Orange Muscat - is also an indet plant which will need a trellis.  This one is a cherry that is an odd dark orange with and interesting flavor.   
13. Northern Lights - my third indet tomato for this year.  It produces medium sized round slicer bi colors great for fresh eating.
14. Russian Saskatchewan - This one is an interesting Canadian heirloom.  It makes red saladette to slicer size tomatoes and is under 20 inches tall.   

Long time no write

 Another spring is approaching and we did have some successes with our plans for last year. 

While the dogs continue to run rampant over my improved soil I did manage to get a small square fenced in OUTSIDE that area.  So instead of my well fenced improved area I have a 15 by 15 ft square of unimproved soil.  The three trees I ordered were planted inside that small area and I have the room around them.  Nope it is not the plan I have envisioned but it it what I got.  Two of the apple trees didn't survive our spring/summer weather but one was doing well before winter... 

One thing that did work out MUCH better then I expected was the Greenstalk.  We have two set up in the tree yard.  They are on each side of the gate so easy to harvest.  They will be even easier when we get the spinning bases installed. Honestly I love these which is why I have bought 2 more that we will set up in the spring.  This one had strawberries, tomatoes, nasturtiums, peppers, and baby bok choy all in a 2 ft square space.  Yep love um but make sure that is good quality potting soil you fill them with. 

The other stalk had beans, lettuce, and tomatoes in it.  The concrete pad is actually a large stepping stone and was used to ensure the Greenstalks had a level base so the watering system inside would work properly.  

The two new ones will be set along the fence and yes will have the spinner bases also.  One is a pale bright green, the other is a deep red violet. I can hardly wait for spring to get them in place. 

While I lost at least of 2 of my 3 trees I am not too badly upset.  I am hoping the other tree will survive our winter and start growing with vigor in spring.  If it does I will get another tree to provide pollination for it and see what happens. 

There is a lot of open space inside the small fence but most of the soil is totally compacted and hard to dig or even for weeds to grow in.  I have two plans for the area.   One is to toss out root crops and see if any takes and can survive that area to help break up the soil a big.   I am also planning on using that open space for Squash.   I have a vining type summer squash landrace that needs room to sprawl.  IF It is happy to grow in that dirt it could be a nice soil cover and later a chop and drop plant when winter gets here.   I may also try a couple of hills of bush winter squash giving each about a 3 sq foot sq space to sprawl and grow happily but I have a feeling I will need to fertilize and give them a bit of care to get them going and staying happy

The Greenstalks will have beans, lettuce, bok choy, strawberries, and some mini tomatoes,  PLUS whatever we need room for ....  

Potatoes in the front yard, corn near the squash even if that is icky dirt...  Tomatoes, greens, and root crops in the metal beds.