Sunday, June 24, 2012

But, What If.....?

I was thrilled to have learned a few months back that I was the winner of the seed giveaway by Donna at Gardens Eye View.  But immediately, I began to panic.  I'm not the best vegetable gardener.  And I knew she would want to know what happened to those seeds!  Aaack!  All I could think about was the What Ifs.

1st basket of tomatoes

What If...
     the seeds didn't grow?

Well, that actually happened.  I'm sorry to report that the melon seeds never came up.  Not one.  So, I'm not sure if I planted them at an incorrect depth, or if they just hated my soil.  Or if some critter came along and dug them up.

What If...
     they didn't do well?

There's a couple in this category.  I'd never grown peppers before, and although I didn't get a record harvest, I did harvest a few.  So, maybe not great, but they turned out o.k.

And, the poor cucumbers have had a hard time.  They were the favorite of some hungry deer that passed through one night.  But the cucumbers sprang back up and now have blooms.  I'm looking forward to having cucumbers soon.   So, in their short little life, they have gone from "not doing well" to "doing o.k" and will soon be "doing great"!

Which brings me to:

2nd basket of tomatoes

What If...
     they actually did well?

Like the tomatoes!  I've been amazed at the tomatoes!  The one thing I didn't count on was the fact that we wouldn't have a drought, and the plants would actually grow!  Initially, I didn't have much hope for the tomatoes.  You see, in this area, tomato seeds should have been started inside about a month to six weeks before I received Donna's seeds.  So, instead of starting them inside, I planted the tomato seeds directly in the soil.  There was no danger of frost.  But I didn't know how well tomato seeds would do directly planted.


It seems they do great!  Although they are a little bit behind the rest of the tomato plants that I have planted in my garden, they are pumping out tomatoes at breakneck speed.

Wahoo!  (Happy Dance here.)


Tomato seeds directly planted do great!  (Picture taken a few weeks back)

When I received the seeds, I realized there was one more What If that I hadn't thought of!

What If...
     we have different planting zones?  (thus different planting times)
 
Well, there were some seeds that Donna probably plants in the summer that I need to plant in the fall.  So, there are some seeds still waiting to be planted.

But, now,  I won't think about what might go wrong.  I will only think about each seed's future potential.

And even more tomatoes!

Thanks, Donna, for the seeds.  But. also, thank you for helping me turn the apprehension of What If into the promise of What Could Be.

53 comments:

  1. Hey they look great. My cucumber seeds didn't come up, probably need some new seeds. My tomato plant looks great but bought that. I have it in a container. No red ones yet but we are behind you in planting time. Can't wait.

    Cher Sunray Gardens

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    1. Fresh tomatoes are one of the best things about summer! Good luck with yours!

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  2. I am quite envious of all your tomatoes. All we have are some small hard green bals to stare at patiently.

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    1. Those green balls will soon be fresh, red tomatoes! It does seem to take the first ones a long time to turn red, though!

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  3. I am very envious of all your tomatoes. We are staring patiently at green marbles.

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  4. I have considered planting tomato seeds directly in the ground too. That epiphany came to me this spring as I watched a volunteer plant grow as big as the ones I planted inside. Maybe next year I'll do that and see what happens like you did.

    So far only green tomatoes here.

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    1. I was very surprised how well they did! I am definitely doing that again!

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  5. Hooray for you!!! I have tomatoes growing, too, but I cheated and bought a seedling. :o) Your tomatoes look delicious! :o)

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    1. Seedlings always seem so much easier. But directly planting the seeds was super easy, too. I'm going to try that from now on, I think!

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  6. I started some tomatoes indoors this year. It turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. It looks like you might have a lot of canning to do.

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    1. I always have a hard time with the hardening off stage. I think I'm just impatient!

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  7. Those are amazing looking tomatoes - I LOVE home grown tomatoes and I can't wait for mine. I know that feeling and have had disappointments but most of all great delight!!

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    1. I am thrilled to have so many tomatoes this year. I am canning most of them, and they will be great to eat this winter!

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  8. Holley all I can say is yippeee!!!! I am so happy that the seeds are doing well and all because of the gardener. I am honored to have helped you...this was such a wonderful post and I was so surprised to see it. My tomatoes are just getting flowers and only those in containers..we had such horrible weather that it put my tomatoes weeks behind, but I have hope now. My only question is how do the tomatoes taste? They look yummy and lots for you to can :)

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    1. Donna, they taste fabulous! There is nothing better than home grown tomatoes! My husband had a hamburger from a restaurant the other day, and he said the tomato tasted terrible! haha That's what happens when you get used to the taste of home grown!

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  9. envious of your weather and your harvest. Glad to see you have not put all your anxieties into one basket ;)

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  10. I'm not a veggie gardener either. But ... what-if I copied you, Holley, planted some seeds anyway, and just had a go? Inspiring stuff! Enjoy the tomatos - they look superb.

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    1. Try it! You might be pleasantly surprised! I hope so!

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  11. What a great outcome! You must have a green thumb when it comes to tomatoes!

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    1. The ones last year didn't think so! And I guess a gardener never knows about the next year, either!

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  12. I am full of envy: you have so many tomatoes already?? Here it got hot briefly but now cooled off again, so my tomatoes are dropping flowers again. Oh well, maybe next year...

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    1. Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your dropping flowers. The weather can be so unpredictable. I hope the rest of the summer will be better weather for tomatoes.

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  13. Congrats! Nothing like fresh tomatoes direct from the garden. I am soooo looking forward to that! Enjoy!

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  14. Love your tomatoes, I planted some in a huge container this year due to the critters gobbling up mine last year. They look delicious!

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    1. Sorry to hear about your critter problem. We have deer, but they usually don't eat the tomatoes, thankfully!

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  15. Can you recommend a disease resistant climbing rose for the south? I'm in zone 7A. I'm adding another rose to the garden! :o)

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    1. I'm thinking about adding Jacob's Robe. Are you familiar with it?

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    2. Sorry to take so long to get back to you. I've had company that literally just left about 30 minutes ago! How exciting to get a new rose!!!! I don't grow Jacob's Robe, but it has a good reputation and should be a good climber for you. Good luck with it! :)

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  16. How fun! Sometimes you just have to take the plunge. That's great that you are getting some produce from your seeds!

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    1. I love that the tomatoes are producing so well planted directly in the ground. From now on, I'm going to remember plant directly!

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  17. I'm so glad you're not dealing with a drought this year, Holley, and that the tomatoes can set on to their little hearts' content! Planting seeds is one of my favorite parts of gardening, because there are so many what-ifs, and it's incredibly happy-making when they all work out.

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    1. I love planting plants, but seeds are not something I feel very successful at, at least not so far! I should practice that more, I think!

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  18. Oh so glad to here you are getting the rain. It seems to be avoiding us though. I am not much for starting seeds, especially tomatoes, but they self seed, like so many of my flowers, that I just let nature do her thing. Your tomatoes look beautiful.

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    1. I have a few that self-seeded from last year. I was quite surprised! I didn't realize they would self-seed so readily!

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  19. HollyG! What a great post! First, totally jealous that you were able to start tomatoes from seed in the ground and now have a crop! So cool! Second, way to stick with it. Really, starting veggies from seed is intimidating. I'm giving you a virtual high five right now! Cheers, Jenni

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    1. I think starting vegetables from seed really is intimidating. I'm so glad the tomatoes did well. I was worried after the melons didn't come up! Have no idea why. That's what's frustrating. There is no way to improve next year because I don't know what I did wrong this year. Of course, I've learned with vegetable gardening there is a LOT more to it than just sticking seeds in the ground! Thanks for the high five! :)

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  20. Another rose question - My roses have horrible blackspot. I've never had such a severe problem before. I've heard out wild winter is the culprit. Do you spray your roses after you've pulled off all the infected leaves? Do you cut them back? What do you do to prevent blackspot in a humid climate. Help!.

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    1. Cool, wet weather is what blackspot loves best. For me personally, I don't spray. I'm just too lazy. If you want to spray, there are organic sprays made specifically for blackspot. I would look for those. I'm lucky enough that blackspot can not take our high heat in the summer. But you may just be in the perfect climate for blackspot. In that case, I would suggest that you may need to spray. OR if you don't want to spray, look for roses that are Earthkind. They may get blackspot, but they only lose less than 25% of their leaves, so they may not look beautiful up close, but they are still a bush and not a stick in the garden with no leaves. I really do notice a big difference in my own garden with the roses that are Earthkind and the ones that aren't. I did a post on Earthkind roses here: http://dreamingofroses.blogspot.com/2011/06/earthkind-dream.html Good luck! :)

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    2. Thanks! Since we've been dry as a bone for two weeks, I'm not sure where it's coming from. I'm headed out to spray tomorrow am. I'll have to check out Earthkind roses. I've heard great things about them. :o)

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    3. I hope you can get the blackspot in check. One year we had a wet, cool, fall and most of my roses were covered in blackspot. That was an unusual autumn, but it was interesting to me to see then just how disease resistant some were, (and some that weren't).

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    4. Check out the Garden Love column on my blog. I sent you a bucket full!

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  21. Holley, Your tomaoes look delicious.This spring I planted beans. The bunnies got them! I planted poppies. Not one showed up! Galardia. Dido!
    Last summer the dogs decided that they liked cherry tomatoes. They feasted on some and dropped others mid-mouthful. Now I have tomatoes from the seeds that dropped in all manner of odd places. I didn't see that one coming at all.

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    1. I have never heard of dogs eating tomatoes! :O I didn't realize tomatoes would reseed themselves, either, until this year. I have a few coming up here and there that I did not plant! The garden is a never-ending classroom!

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  22. Holley - what a great post! I have yet to venture into vegetable gardening (and for some reason men think this is so bizarre and look at me like I have a 3rd eye in the middle of my forehead? "You garden, but you don't plant vegetables?!! Huh?!). Knowing even a veteran gardener like you had "what if" trepidation, makes me realize that I need to be bold and go for it next season.

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  23. Congratulations are in order. Those are two baskets anyone wood be proud of and the quality looks good. If we can keep them watered, tomatoes thriven this heat. 'Celebrity is the star performer in our area. Do you grow it?

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    1. I don't grow Celebrity, but am glad to hear you recommend it. I'll put it on my list for next year. :)

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  24. What a wonderful way to get to try something new. Plants that you might not have planted otherwise and trying a new way of planting (I've never direct seeded tomatoes either but considering how they always spring out of my compost I should have realized). what fun and such a great learning experience.

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    1. I never realized tomatoes would self-seed so easy, either. But now I'll probably ONLY direct seed them!

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  25. Holly, nice tomatoes, I hope you'll enjoy them! Mine are too small now. Happy 4th July!

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    1. I have a few small ones, but most of mine are quite big! I'm actually surprised how big they are! But better than that - they are tasty! :)

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