OK, It’s that time of year to start thinking about growing tomatoes from seed….seed from the store if you didn’t save any seeds last year.
We want to start thinking about ordering our seeds now so we can get them in time to start them and get them well under way before we have to put them out for hardening off. If you want a rough idea of when you will actually start your seeds we have to think ahead a tad. What we what to do is think of a date when ALL danger of the last frost of Spring will occur….here in Michigan I use Mother’s Day as a planting date, other more daring individuals use May 1st as a “Safe Date” where frost is concerned.
Alrighty then, we have a date and now we need to work backwards 6- 8 weeks depending on the variety or varieties you plan to put out in the garden this year. So if we have a “Beefsteak”, especially one of the heirloom Beefsteaks, we want to use 8 weeks as a rule of thumb. Let’s use May 1st as aour “Safe Date” for planting….let’s do the math….we take may 1st and go back 2 months and we get to March 1st. Boy…that was easy….so we want to plant our little seeds on March 1st.
Yes…..I hear you thinking…..Geeezzz, why is Jack having us look at ordering seeds Now? Well, there’s an easy answer to that….depending on who you buy your seeds from it could take a week or two, but more important than that is there is no harm in ordering early and getting your seeds versus waiting until the last moment and taking a chance on the supplier being sold out…..you know, you’re not the only Tomato gardener out there, so get those orders in!!
If you’re going to pick up your tomatoes at your local greenhouse, I’ll be talking about some of the varieties I’ve grown recently and maybe spur some new thoughts about the Tomato Garden this year. I’ll be highlighting those next month….so stay tuned!
By David Harbilas
