How do you cope?

[crazyoldgooseman]

How do you cope with tomato season being so far away? I have already chosen and purchased my seeds for next year. Can I get survive by just staring at these seed packets for next couple months? Well I guess there is Christmas and family and all that . Maybe I will get some manure and lime for the garden and till it in. Oh well.

[Father'sDaughter]

Here's my plan --

First I need to get through the craziness of the holidays.

Then my bubble mailer will arrive from Tormato and the sorting, researching and re-sorting will occupy a couple of weeks, at least.

By mid January I'll be starting onion seeds.

By mid-February I'll be starting pepper seeds.

And before I know it, it'll be March and time to start the tomato seeds!

[b54red]

Luckily I don't have to cope for very long. I'll be starting my bell and other peppers in a week or two and follow with a few tomatoes the end of December. We are still eating the greenies we picked a few weeks ago and they are ripening nicely on the porch. Of course they will all be gone in a few weeks and then it seems forever before the first ripe one comes off the vines around late May or early June depending on the weather.

It may be miserably hot and humid here most of the year but guess what tomatoes like.

Bill

[Labradors2]

I'm growing some winter tomatoes in containers, and hope to have some ripe ones by mid-January.

Looking forward to receiving the seeds from Tormato's swap and, like Father's daughter, researching all the varieties that I get will occupy a lot of my time.

Then comes the arduous task of making a list of all my seeds, and trying to decide which ones will get the honour of growing in my garden in 2015!

Linda

[NarnianGarden]

I don't know how I'll cope, except for doing other things and waiting for January. As soon as the day is long enough, I'll sow the first seeds (micro dwarves). I'll wait until April for the larger indeterminates ...

The hardest part is to have to rely on supermarket cherry tomatoes for cooking - I so miss my own homegrown candies...

here's what I do- I have these "Cherry Punch" plants- they are supposed to be a very small plant, and I will see if I can get them to produce indoors.

[ginger2778]

Whadda ya mean??? Mine are growing and starting to ripen right now!

[heirloomtomaguy]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Whadda ya mean??? Mine are growing and starting to ripen right now!

That's what i was thinking! I picked a ripe one yesterday and have a few more within the week.

[Father'sDaughter]

Who do we need to talk to to ban the southerners from posting on these threads???? 😄😄😄😄

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

Who do we need to talk to to ban the southerners from posting on these threads???? ��������

I agree, may their gardens be infested with the eggs of a million stink bugs and their lands plagued with a hundred arctic cold snaps.

May their tomato cages rot and their soil become sterile.
May the fleas of a thousand camels infest their armpits.

Worth

[AlittleSalt]

Researching is fun and enlightening. I'm going to learn about vermiculite and perlite as part of seed starting medium. I've already talked my brother and sons into donating to WinterSown. This month and next, We're going to renovate a building just for gardening. The first thing we will build is a seed drying station. Then there is adding oak leaves to the garden and turning them under. Learning about and fighting insect pests before they happen. Starting peppers and tomatoes in January? Hmm, a lot of things to learn.

December is my off season this year - sort of. Well, not really.

Still, it will be 6 months until tomatoes

[Fiishergurl]

One of the perks of living in Florida.... :-)

Ginny

[KarenO]

Agree we need to ban the southerners from this thread :p
I miss my garden but am enjoying my orchids and amaryllis inside until after Christmas and then thanks to ChrisK I will get my lights set up and have a little fun with a micro dwarf winter science project to tide me over until things get serious in March
Kareno

[peppero]

I am glad to have my two greenhouses(small) filled with pepper and eggplant as well as a few other things. Taking care of them through the off season helps a lot.

jon

[ginger2778]

Here's what I say to all you Scrooge McCamelflea people. Don't forget, all those interesting varieties I am growing, and enjoying every fresh, succulent, juicy, delicious, overabundant bite of, means I will have interesting seeds to do an SASE offer for in January, so that you northern nattering naysayers can have some uncommon very fresh seeds! So there!!! Muahahaha.