Planting Spring Tomatoes in the Middle of the Winter

Last week we ate the very last tomato from our fall tomato crop.  Our fall tomato experiment was a big success and we will definitely plant fall tomatoes again.  But it is no longer fall.  It is cold outside and the ground is saturated with rain.  It is muddy and just plain nasty out in the garden and pasture. There has been frost on the ground for the past few mornings and planting anything in the garden is still quite a ways off.

However, it is time to plant several things for the spring garden - in seed pots indoors, of course.  The items we'll be planting are tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. The first thing I did was to mix up a bleach/water solution and spray all over the containers that I'll be starting the seeds in to sterilize them to kill any bacteria.

A little pre-Spring cleaning on the seed containers

I'll be planting 10 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes this year, including:

• Money Maker
• Mortgage Lifter
• Gypsy
• Thessaloniki
• Amish Paste
• Black from Tula
• Black Krim
• Pink Brandywine
• Big Rainbow
• Organic Beefsteak

These are all varieties that I've planted in the past and had success with.

Here is the line-up for our 2016 Spring Tomato crop

I purchased some seed starting mix and after the seed containers were sterilized, Benjamin and I filled them almost all the way to the top.  The seed starting mix is real light and won't pack.  I think it is mainly peat moss and perlite.  At this point we're ready to plant!

Filling the containers with seed starting mix

I planned to plant one tomato variety on each row in the seed container.  There are six containers on each row, so I poured exactly 6 seeds into my hand.  It is kind of amazing when you think about the power and nutrition that is contained in each one of those seeds.  They'll produce numerous tomatoes for us this spring and then, in turn, will give us more seeds to save and plant next year as the cycle continues.

The miracle of a seed

I placed one tomato seed in each container, right in the center.  To clarify a little, a few of the seed varieties that I have were from 2009 (most were from 2014).  For the 2009 seeds a planted a couple extra seeds just in case the germination percentage had fallen off due to the age of the seeds.

Dropping a seed in the seed pot

After all the seeds were dropped in their respective pots, Benjamin sprinkled 1/4 inch of seed starting mix on top of the seeds in each container and shook the tray to level the soil.  Then, and this is an important step, Benjamin wrote the names of each seed variety on some freezer tape with a marker and taped the labels below each row of seeds.  This will enable us to keep the various tomato varieties separate once it comes time to put these in the ground.

Labeling the seeds

I like some of the names of the old varieties.  Here's a couple of interesting ones. Money Maker and Mortgage Lifter tomatoes.   Hmmm.  I can't say that our tomatoes have made us any money or paid off our mortgage, but they sure have kept us well-fed!

A wealth of tomatoes

I sprayed the soil liberally with water to soak the soil, causing the seeds to get moist, swell, and start to germinate.  Then I put some plastic wrap over the top to preserve the moisture in the soil.  I placed the trays of freshly planted seeds up on top of one of the cabinets in the utility room.  Hot air rises and this spot has been a good spot in prior years to get the seeds up and growing.

Now we wait

In 5 - 10 days, we should see some tomatoes sprouting.  Each day I'll keep a watchful eye on them, keeping the soil moist.  Though things are dormant outside, now is the time to get your tomatoes growing inside so that they will have a good head start when it comes time to put them into the garden soil this spring.