TOMATOES!! Hi, Gillian here with an update on current homestead projects. Our greenhouse has a new roof, not made of glass this time, and although it is still lacking a door it is toasty warm and full of baby plants. The tomatoes are still in the kitchen getting coddled, but they are already much bigger than in this picture. I sure hope the weather outside warms up fast so we can plant them out. As an experiment, I planted two "Cold Set" tomato seeds in an in-ground bed in the greenhouse in March. They haven't come up yet. But if they do, we may get some seriously early tomatoes. Alyssa's dad sent us the seeds from Minnesota and they have been known to survive temperatures down to 18 degrees Farenheit! 
Although Alyssa and Dan are the true quilters--they've knocked out three quilt tops in the past week, and nice ones, too--I have been diligently working on my log cabin chain piecing skills to make some blocks for Quilts for Quake Survivors. Anyone can make blocks and go to quilting bees at sewing shops around town to make them into quilts. On May 11th, come to a live auction and buy one of the quilts--all the proceeds will be donated to support Japan disaster victims.
And enjoy this beautiful chicken drawn by my good friend and one of my favorite artists, Claire Michie. We Gocco printed it last week, and isn't it lovely? I wish I could say it's a portrait of one of our girls, but this chicken is no one I know personally...
Teach me the art of the tomato!
ReplyDeleteI think that secret #1 is the Cold Set tomato--they germinated at soil temps between 50 and 65 degrees with no heat mat or extra light. But Secret #2 is that I now have a little grow light shining on them, and two other kinds of tomatoes are also coming up nicely. I got a floodlight bulb at Fred Meyer that said it was for plants, and put it in my old chicken warming light fixture, and the tomato plants seem incredibly happy!
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