I just wanted to let everyone involved with WinterSown know how excited I am to be growing tomatoes from seed for the first time and how things are going so far. (For those who are new like me, Trudi at WinterSown sent me some seeds for the cost of postage that she collects from some wonderful growers who in turn share them with us.)

Here is what I have accomplished so far...

Yellow Pear: this is the only "exotic" tomato I have grown before and find out there is quite a bit of controversy about the flavor and whether to allow garden space. I liked the flavor of the one I grew in the past and it put out loads of cherry type tomatoes. It was very quick to start from seed, is the largest plant I have so far and has put on 2 flower buds so far.

Moonglow: I had difficulty getting the first ones to germinate but the second time they grew quickly and now are one of the larger plants I have.

San Marzano: Same difficulty germinating but did fine the second time quick to germinate. Nice size for the age but one of the smaller ones at this time.

New Yorker: Same as Moonglow.

Mennonite orange: same as San Marzano.

Cherokee purple: I have never grown these but buy at the farmer's market and loved the flavor. These were very quick to germinate and are one of the largest plants I have.

Cabot: Easy for me to germinate, nice size plants.

Italian Market Wonder: Very much like the yellow pear for me. Very thick stems on these and size wise only second to YP.

Brad's Black Heart: Have a drooping appearance to the leaves which made me think of wilting at first but the stem is smaller in size compared to the length of the leaves. Was fairly easy to germinate for me and is one of the larger plants I have so far. Is by far the deepest green in color of all my tomatoes.

White beaty: Took me the longest to germinate and I almost gave up. Now the 5th largest plant I have so far.

I do need to clarify by how I germinated these seeds. I put them in those Jiffy pellets, placed in egg cartons and put them on top of the hot water tank. Probably not the best way to get seeds going but hey it worked!

Today I planted them in a newly established raised bed and will keep an eye closely on the weather...I have row covers ready to go if it gets too cold.

Thanks for enabling me to get tomato fever!!! Kim