5 Spring Gardening Tips for Beginners

With spring just around the corner – well, it’s here in some states – I thought it would be a perfect time to share some simple tips for gardening, what to start with, how to manage it and what works best for beginners.

Courtesy of chef/gardener/instructor Dan Brophy of Oregon Culinary Institute – the only independent culinary school in Portland – here are five tips to help get your garden off the ground:

1.  Now is the time to start tomato, pepper, and eggplant from seed.  You’ll have more choice of plant varieties by choosing your own seed.  Some varieties will thrive better in your micro-climate.

2.  Check with local Master Gardeners or County Extension for specific suggestions.

3.  Tomato, Pepper, and eggplant respond best if gentle bottom heat is provided for the 1-2 week period necessary for germination.

4.   After the 1^st set of true leaves appear, transfer plant into individual peat pots.

5.  Transfer plants only after “hardening off” (gradually exposing plants to sunlight, wind, etc).  I wait until soil temps are at least 50 degrees F. Remember, tomatoes respond best to full sun!

One extra tidbit from Brophy: "Best of luck!  Two things money can’t buy, true love and homegrown tomatoes."

Thanks Dan!

Happy Gardening!

5 Easy Tips For Growing Better Tomatoes

Growing tomatoes can be so much fun, but wouldn't it be nice to get more from fewer plants? Here are a few tips when planting and growing those tasty tomatoes.

1. Chose small Tomato plants- If you are buying a tomato plant from a nursery or if you have grown your own, you might want to choose the smaller less established plants because they do better being transplanted, and will most likely produce better and get  bigger than those gallon sized tomato plants!


2. Clip the lowest leaves off the tomato- When you are planting the plant, dig the hole extra deep and clip

Why Tomato Plants Get Diseases

We have always planted most of our tomato plants all together in the same grow box, or close together. Last year, after planting our tomatoes, they started going wonderfully like always, but then somehow one of them started looking dried out and soon died. So I pulled it out and threw it away quickly. However, it sadly and slowly it started to happen to the tomato plants closest to it. There were 3 left at the end of the season that were left untouched with disease. I had a tomato plant in the front yard, and it was very healthy all year. So as I analyzed what went wrong, I realized that if I had not planted them all together like that, they would not have spread the disease to each other as easily. So one of the lessons I learned this year:

How to Transplant Tomatoes Outside

Well it is that time, or close to it depending on your climate. Time to plant our tomatoes outside. The last few years we had to wait to plant them until close to the end of April because the soil was so wet, but this year has been a dry warm year- so we took a chance and planted them last Saturday. It was a windy day, but we worked fast to get the walls of water up around them to protect them from the wind. Here is what we did:

1. We dug a big hole and put in the gallon size jug- like a milk jug. The jug has holes in one side and the bottom. We placed it so that the holes are facing where the tomato will be planted. Then as we filled the hole back in, we mixed in some turkey mulch and humate.
2. Dig a slightly smaller hole for the tomatoes, but deep enough to bury the tomatoes up to the second real leaf. Before putting them in the hole, pluck off the 2 lowest leaves. Then gently pat the soil down around the plant. You don't want any air pockets, but you also want the plant to have room to breathe, and let the roots grow into.
3. Water the plants in.
4. Fill up the walls of water with a hose, and set them around a 5 gallon round bucket to stabilize them. Then pick up the walls of water and carefully put them around the tomatoes being careful not to smash the leaves or stems of the tomato plant.  Push the base of the wall of water out so that it forms a sort of tee pee.
5. Then we place the cage around the tomato plant and wall of water. This will help keep the wall of water from getting blown over, and also when you pull the wall of water off,  the plant is already inside and wont need to be threaded into the wall of water.
6. Keep watered.

The reason we put gallon jugs next to each plant is to make watering easier and fertilizing simple. We use an automatic watering system, but until we get it ready and turned on for the summer, we water by hand. Fill up the jug of water with the hose and your tomato plant is well taken care of. When it needs fertilizer, use a water soluble one, then place it in the jug and fill with water. Makes it simple and easy and gets it right to the tomatoes roots for use.
It is also a good idea to plant the tomato deeply. The whole area placed under the soil line will grow roots. This is not true for every plant, but tomatoes do best when they get transplanted deeply. It gives it a better base and more root growing opportunity. Then when it is warm enough we pull of the walls of water, empty then water, and fold up to store in a 5 gallon bucket in the shed.

For a guide to growing tomatoes visit our website.

Happy Gardening!

Transplanting Tomatoes to Bigger Pots

So we planted our tomatoes a few weeks ago, and they have been growing well, but they started to look too big for the pots we had them in, and they also started needing water more often. It was time to transplant them into bigger pots to keep them growing well.

First we prepared the extra potting soil by pouring it into a mop bucket and wetting it down so that it clumps together and stirring it around to spread the moisture evenly. We prepare the bigger pots and have them lined up.

Second, we gently tip the tomatoes on the side to pull out the plant. We place it in the bigger pot so that the root ball is at the bottom. Then fill the pot with dirt, making sure not to leave big air pockets. Gently tap down the dirt around the plant. When tomatoes are planted deeply, the stem that is placed under the soil will then grow roots from it.

Lastly water deeply and place back in the light garden.
It is an easy thing to do, but should be done to keep them healthy and growing quickly.
Visit our website for a more complete guide on how to grow tomatoes successfully.
Happy Gardening!

Health benefits of the Tomato

You’ve heard that the tomato is good for you, but why? You might be surprised to know that eating a processed or heated tomato is better for you than a fresh tomato. The bright red and orange colors of the tomato are tell-tell sign of Lycopene. Lycopene is reported to help prevent many kinds of cancer including: Prostate, cervical, skin, breast, and lung. It also helps prevent macular degeneration of the eyes and other degenerative diseases. With those benefits and the vitamin C content, they offer a great immune benefit.
The reason that processed tomatoes are healthier than fresh is because the Lycopene is stored in the cell walls of the tomato and are released for easier absorption when the tomato is heated. It is also of benefit of vitamin C to help boost your immune.
When eating tomatoes be sure to them with some fat, because lycopene is fat-soluble. Olive oil is always a great choice, or your favorite cheese.
A fun side note: Historically the tomato was thought to be poisonous because it is part of the nightshade family whose plants are poisonous. But did you know that the stems and leaves of the tomato are in fact poisonous? Only about 200 years ago was the stigma of the tomato being poisonous was changed. I am awfully glad it was I don’t know if I could live without the tomato.

The Tomato

One of my favorite vegetables to grow is the Tomato. They are easy to grow, and the rewards are almost endless. Here is just a little bit of information about tomatoes. For the how to's of growing them, check out our website: www.thegardenerspot.com

The tomato is botanically a fruit, but is considered a vegetable for culinary purposes.  Tomatoes are native to South America, but it is not known when it was first domesticated.  It was brought over to Europe during the colonization of the Americas and was first used in Spain and spread from there.  In Italy it was initially used as a table decoration before being used in food.  It was so easily grown in the Mediterranean climate that it was quickly adapted into their cuisines.  

It took much longer for the British and their American colonies to accept it as food.  They initially thought of it as poisonous.   Although it is a perennial plant in warm climates, it is grown as an annual in the cooler climates.

It is now one of the most commonly grown vegetables in home gardeners.  The reasons for this are obvious, the taste is so amazing when picked right off the vine, they are fairly easy to grow, and they are heavy producers.  The tomato is a good choice to include in your garden.