Lots of work, not so much produce

Spring is really here, and the warm weather makes me realize just how far behind I am! I don't have time to think, never mind blog... but here are some random garden observations.

I started almost 300 tomato plants (for about 18 people). Previous years it was in the 100 range. 300 is over the edge where the transplant-twice system works, and with so many people and so many varities organization is key. I'm organized, but not organized enough. I started starting on March 1 and the last ones were started on April 5. The early starts are nice and big, the late march ones are wimpy, the april 5 ones are teeny; although it's still some days short of the traditional tomato-safe day which is May 15. But I think for me, first week of March is ideal.

I ran out of pots (of course), so I tried newspaper pots again. Last time I wasn't too impressed. But this time I had lots in newspaper pots and pushed them close together, and the tomatoes did very well - I think since the newspaper stayed wet. The roots came right through the pots! I don't really like the official potmaker - I still need to tape the bottom about half the time. So any old jar will do just as well.

This year, like last year, I didn't have enough onions started. I started seeds in flats as early as January. Some of the early plantings were last years seed and didn't germinate well (onion seeds are like that). I think I need to start in December or something, though, if they are going to be large and robust by April.

"longkeeper" tomatoes lasted until April 1, at which time I said forget it and gave the rest to the chickens. Amazing.

For some reason the earwigs are late this year, and the chard is nice looking. We're eating a lot of chard. Well, to be honest, we're eating a lot of pizza, since we don't have time to cook :-) but when we do cook, there's just greens (and frozen, canned or dried stuff). There are a few potatoes left (getting sprouty) and some squash. We've had a couple of stalks of asparagus, but our bed is still young and the first shoots are like knitting needles (size 5). The first non-leafy-green I generally get is kohlrabi, which is just the stem of a green; we might be just a couple of weeks away for that. It takes forever for the carrots and beets to be ready and the peas are still only about 6" high. And there's rhubard, but that's not a proper vegetable.