The Plants I'll Grow This Year

I ordered live plants online at territorialseed.com.  I've ordered from them before and received very healthy plants.  This way I was able to buy the varieties I preferred and not had to depend on what the local stores around here had to offer from Bonnie Plants.  Though they are usually healthy, the varieties are very limited.

Early Cherry Tomato.  This one produces about 55 days after transplanting outdoors so its one of the very early ones.  Living in Maine, I like early producers and mid-season producers best.  The late-producers often don't get all their growing done before I am hit with a frost in September.

The fruits of Early Cherry are small, 1 to 1 1/2 inches of orangey-red round fruits borne in sets of 5.  Its a Determinate so bears all its fruit over a short period, but its robust and full-flavored so a winner in my book.

This one is Open-Pollinated so you could save its seed with the proper precautions and use them for next year's plants.

Red Robin is another early tomato, fruiting I about 55 days like Early Cherry.  This little cherry tomato is only 8" to 12" tall but its covered with little tomatoes.  I've grown this one before and I was pleased with the juicy, tasty fruits.  It bears in clusters, the plant is very compact, and its a potato leaf compared to the usual shape.  You can even grow this on a windowsill because it only needs an 8" pot. 

Little Napoli, Roma-style, will produce next, in about 60-65 days.  This one is not only a good slicer, but it makes great sauce.  A nice one to roast and freeze to use during the winter.  Juicy and meaty with a tangy flavor and its a heavy producer.  It only grows 12" to 18" tall and 24" to 35" wide so its compact and works well in a container. A Hybrid so don't save this seed.

Sungold.  There are very few home growers who have not heard of Sungold tomatoes.  This one produces in about 65 days with 1 1/4" apricot-orange fruits borne on trusses of 10-15 fruits.  As an Indeterminate (one that continues to produce til fall), this gives lots of fruity, tropical-flavored fruits right up to the first frosts.  Being a Hybrid, you can't save seeds from this one.

Tasti Lee.   This is my special choice since I could not find Compari.  I've heard good things about this one.  A Triple Crown Winner for Flavor, Nutrition and Shelf Life.  Its claimed there are 50% more anti-oxidants in this little gem.  With a slightly flattened shape, fruits are about 3 1/2" wide and 2 1/2" long so a good size for slicing.  I hope its as tasty as Compari which is the only tomato I will buy from the grocery store, it having the most garden-fresh flavor I'm used to eating, having grown my own for so long.

I also bought English Thyme.  I love fresh thyme in my kitchen.  I use it on chicken,  potatoes and in soups and sauces.  I was unable to find this sold in the local garden shops the last couple of years so I bought some from Territorial.  This one grows upright about 12" with grey-green leaves and robust thyme flavor.  If I can find a good safe place in the garden, I'd like to try to transplant some in the fall as a perennial.  It's hardy to Zone 5.

Well, that about does it for now.  I plan to buy some lettuce starts this month, the leafy kind so I can transplant them, let them grow a bit, cut them back to about an inch above ground to enjoy in my salads, and watch them regrow new shoots thru the season.  I've done this before cutting them back 3 times before they bolted.  I got lots of lettuce out of those 3 plants I grew in a pot near my kitchen door in the past. I plan to try it again.

Have a good day.