Well-Stocked Pantry

Okay, so maybe all the items in my pseudo-pantry aren't edible, but these great handmade shelves (put in by a previous owner under the basement staircase) are coming in handy for storing all my canned goods this summer.

I've managed to fill six shelves so far (with another batch of tomato sauce on the way). 

I've really been cranking out the tomato sauce this year. I'm on my fifth batch!

In addition to tomato sauce (bottom right), I also tried dilly beans (bottom left) and tomatillo salsa (top right) this summer. After gifting many jars of my humongous batch of apricot jam (top left), I'm finally getting down to a more reasonable supply.

In addition to the apricot jam, I also made blackberry apricot (bottom left), black raspberry (top right, my favorite), and sweet cherry jelly (top left). The six jars on the right side of the bottom shelf are leftovers from the 2009 and 2010. They still taste just fine, so I'm not too worried about their advancing age.

Green Tomatoes

I have some nicely sized (and interestingly shaped) tomatoes forming in the garden. Hopefully a few will start ripening soon!

Polish Linguisa, a paste tomato

Martino's Roma, my favorite paste tomato

Taxi, a small slicer. This is my brother's favorite, but I'm not it's biggest fan. I put one plant in my garden just so I can save the seeds and grow him some plants next year.

Pricipe Borghese, a tomato for sun-drying. I'm really exited about these. The yield is going to be huge!

Japanese Black Trifele, a unique tear drop shaped purple tomato. This is my first year growing this variety, so hopefully it will add another favorite to my list of black tomatoes.

Orange Sungold, the only hybrid plant among my tomatoes, and possibly in my entire garden. I've heard rave reviews, so hopefully it's worth breaking my (unwritten) no-hybrids rule.

Verde tomatillo.

Black Krim

Very fasciated tomato! This is why I love heirlooms.

Look! What's that? Could it be? My first Purple Russian tomato is finally turning purple. Hopefully I'll be eating it in a few days!

Transplanting Peppers and Tomatillos

After about 2 weeks in their starter trays, my peppers and tomatillos were ready to transplant into cell packs. I was pleased by how well they had rooted out. 

Quick Tip: When transplanting seedlings, always pick them up with the cotyledons, not by the stem. While they can survive with a torn cotyledon, they cannot survive with a broken or crushed stem.

If you start your seeds in a "communal" seed tray, carefully tease apart the individual seedlings using a pencil or other pointed instrument.

Starting Peppers and Tomatillos

This past weekend I started all the seeds that need to be sown 9 weeks before last frost. For me, this included swiss chard, sweet peppers, and two kinds of tomatillos. Normally, peppers and tomatillos would be grouped together with the tomatoes (to be sown 7 weeks before last frost), but I've had a really difficult time with these two crops in the past. I'm hoping my heating mat will help things along this year.

Still no sign of germination in the celeriac from last weekend. Hopefully they're coming along okay.

Next weekend I will be starting broccoli, kale, and kohlrabi. The real fun starts in two weeks when I get to start sowing my tomatoes (all 20 varieties, over 100 plants total).

I can't believe it, but I sowed the entire packet of 'Carnival Mix' sweet peppers. Assuming they all germinate, I will be inundated!

I probably only need 4 tomatillo plants, but I think I must have sown at least 30 seeds! I think I'm overcompensating because I've had trouble with tomatillos in the past. 

I have struggled with starting swiss chard indoors in the past too. Maybe these peat pellets will give me better results (or maybe direct sowing is the way to go)?

From the sounds of it, my week 9 crops will be the trickiest of them all. Maybe I'll have better luck this year. If not, I can always buy seedlings from the garden center.

Are there any crops you have a particularly difficult time with?