MY QUALITY TIME: Just A Garden Post… Mostly a Tomato Post… LOL

A special thanks to Burpee and Jung Seeds….for this years garden. I really enjoy starting all my plants from seeds. I usually get started about Feb. 1st of each year.

I am basically a tomatoe and green pepper gardener.

I need some more garden area soooooooooo..

I constructed two new 4’ by 8’ raised beds for the tomatoes. I have four different areas about this size for the tomatoes and one of about 25 square ft. for the green peppers.
TOMATO AND PEPPER SELECTION FOR 2017::
1. Mountain Merit Hybrid Tomato An AAS Winner!
If you like Celebrity Tomato, you'll love Mountain Merit! (VF,F,N,TSWV,LB) We think this tomato matches all the fine qualities of the popular Celebrity tomato with some notable improvements. The 3" to 3.5" round, beefsteak-type fruits are larger, weighing in at 8 to 10 ounces each. They have deep red color inside and out with smooth, crack-resistant skin and barely noticeable blossom end scars. A mild, true tomato flavor along with a firm texture makes them perfect for slicing and sandwiches. The determinate, compact plants offer superb resistance to multiple diseases common to home grown tomatoes, including resistance to Fusarium 123, Verticillum, TSWV and Late Blight. Plants grow 4 to 5 feet tall and yield a prolific supply of tomatoes in a 4 to 5 week harvest window. Harvest first fruits about 75 days after transplanting.
2. Celebrity Hybrid Tomato 1984 AAS Winner!
(VFFNTASt) Outstanding disease resistance and hybrid vigor make this tomato a standout. Strong semi-determinate plants adapt well to bush, cage or short stake production. Fruit is large and deep red with exceptionally good flavor. Very productive with the ability to produce under a broad range of conditions.
3. Amish Paste Tomato This Amish heirloom dates back to the early 1900's. One of the largest, meatiest, and best-flavored paste tomatoes. The oxheart-shaped fruits weigh up to 8 ounces or more, and have thick flesh with few seeds. Superb for sauces and one of the few paste tomatoes that tastes great fresh. Indeterminate vines.
4. Mariana Hybrid Tomato VFFNA) Extra large roma-type fruits keep exceptionally well. The blocky, 4 to 6 oz. fruits are very uniform with deep red, smooth, unblemished skin. The tomatoes have excellent firmness with thick walls and rich red internal color. Determinate plants are small to medium size with excellent vigor, disease resistance and heavy fruit sets. Flavor is top notch, making Mariana an excellent choice for canning, salsas, sauces and juice. Tasty for fresh salsas and salads, too! The fruits have excellent shelf life so you'll have tomatoes long after the tomato season is over.
5. Defiant Phr Hybrid Tomato (VFF)-This is the first tomato to crack the genetic code for late blight resistance. It has high resistance to late blight, intermediate resistance to early blight and great flavor, all in one. The 6 to 8 ounce globe-shaped, bright red fruits are smooth with medium firm, deep red flesh that has great, old-fashioned flavor. The high-yielding plants are widely adapted. Determinate.
6. Opalka Tomato Without a doubt, this is one of the best tasting sauce tomatoes you'll find. Flavor is much richer and sweeter than other paste tomatoes, so delicious you can eat them right off the vine. Sauces using the nearly seedless fruits are something special. The bright red elongated 3 to 5 inch fruits are produced in clusters of 2 to 5 on vigorous, high-yielding, indeterminate plants. Fruits hold well on the vine.
7. Pepper, Sweet Great Stuff Hybrid A colossal stuffer at 7" long and 5" wide, ripens from green to dark red. Full Description The right stuffer! This Burpee exclusive produces enormous peppers at 7" long and 5" wide, ripening from green to dark red. Very productive and disease-resistant. Produces excellent yields under varied conditions. Days to maturity are from time plants are set in garden. For transplants add 8-10 weeks. Space plants 18-24" apart.
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As far as planting I’m trying a couple different things.
This is what goes into the bottom of each hole::

Yes…. egg shells and banana peels… 10 Ways To Use Banana Peels In Your Garden As Fertilizer….. Homemade Eggshell Plant Fertilizer.. I didn’t do anything fancy. I just put some of the above combination in the bottom of the hole then covered with a small amount of peat moss.
Next::

I made a solution of Miracle grow to which I added two 5 grain aspirin tablets…. Why the Aspirin tablets??? Using Aspirin For a Healthier Tomato Plant.. I added two cups of the above solution to each hole on top of the peat moss. (will use aspirin spray later)
Next:: I planted the tomato plants using… Extreme Gardening Mykos we will see…. LOL

Mykos Pure Mycorrhizal Inoculant… Mykos is a fast-growing, beneficial fungi that is needed to break down, cycle, and retain nutrients, providing plants with a balanced intake of food, moisture and a front line of defense against pathogens and disease. This greater nutrient availability leads to a 'xplosive root and plant growth and an 'xceptional harvest! READ MORE

This is the above ground planter by my shed.. contains Mountain Merit tomato plants.. Yes they are probably planted to close together but I’m going to try what they call “extreme pruning” if I have any problem with leaf mold. (maybe not this extreme)

This is my “Quality Time” garden.. The tomato plants I chose were based on flavor/disease resistance/ and the use for the tomatoes…eating or sauce/canning…. Wish me luck. I am probably a little obsessed about my tomatoes, but for me it’s a lot of fun…..and good eating…