Time away from society draws out different ambitions from everyone. For instance, Shakespeare wrote King Lear while in quarantine during the plague. And during our coronavirus quarantine Angelica is teaching her dog to play dead when she draws a fake gun in a duel.
Whether or not you're as ambitious as Shakespeare and Angelica, perhaps one of your plans this season is to plant a garden. Say, that's mine, too!
Perhaps we can help with your garden. At Old Plank Farm we've started some veggie bedding plants for you. We raise them organically and they are usually very nice healthy plants! Just like children, plants need lots of regular TLC when they're young in order to become healthy and productive adults. The better they are cared for in the nursery, the quicker they mature and the less needy they are at later stages of life. This is especially true for tomato plants, our best-seller. We have a dozen tomato varieties to choose from this year, including paste tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, and heirlooms of all colors. If you are perusing plant sales or garden centers this spring, here's a couple things to look for when deciding which is the best tomato plant to buy.
1. Color of the plant. Of course it should be green, right? Well yes, but I'm always amazed at how many plants I see at garden centers that have yellow or purple coloring too. These off-colors are from stress, usually related to moisture or fertility problems. Pick a tomato plant that is a vibrant and generally uniform green color.
2. Thickness of the main stem. A tall tomato plant is NOT better than a short one. It's not necessary older or more likely to give you tomatoes to eat any sooner than a short one, either. A tall plant was probably just stressed out by neighboring tomato plants crowding its growing space (tomato plants think social distancing is a great idea!). They grow tall but weak under space-stress. Instead of tall, look for stocky stems with lots of bushy leaves surrounding it.
3. Fruit on the plant. It may seem like fruit on a potted tomato plant that you buy will mean that you'll have fruit in the garden to harvest earlier. But in the long run you'll have a much lower yield from that plant than one that's not already making fruit while still stuck in a pot. Because once the plant starts making fruit, it won't have nearly as much energy to spend on it's own growth, limiting it's ability to set fruit later in the season. So the key to having a bountiful tomato harvest is to raise a young tomato plant to a large and healthy size out in the garden before it starts making fruit. We take great care to sell young, healthy tomato plants that are full of potential for high yields. This makes the gardening work easier for you!
All of our plants, including tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash, broccoli, kohlrabi, herbs and more will be available for sale at our farm from May 16-June 5 or while supplies last. This year you can pre-order plants on our website's Little Shop of Plants page. You can also stop by our farm-stand from 9am-8pm any day between May 16-June 5 to buy plants.
But if you'd rather stick with writing epic plays or teaching your dog to duel, you can leave the gardening to us! Just sign-up for an Old Plank Farm CSA box this season.
Old Plank Farm’s tomato plants for sale…all of them are healthy!!