Tomato Transplants Are In

I did it! I transplanted my precious seedlings into the garden. (Those specks you see are organic weed-preventer granules.)

I started these from seed about 6 weeks ago and decided it was time they moved into their new home. It was touch and go there for a while. Poor little babies. Sun was scorching, heat was dreadful — I had to water them twice while I was out there! But they made it. The fates were shining upon me (actually rained upon me – better luck, in the case of sprouts) and all turned out well.

Until the next day. Not one to waste water, I turned off the sprinkler due to the massive rainstorm the night before. Bad idea. I was so busy during the day, I forgot to check on them! Wasn’t until late afternoon I remembered. Ugh. Multi-tasking gone wrong. They almost died.

My peppers suffered, too. But a fresh spritz of water brought them back to their grand stature in no time!

A good thing, because I nearly fell over from heat stroke getting them in. It’s hot in Florida and presents quite the dilemma for this gardener. Do you keep your sprouts on the patio for a longer period of time, sparing them (and yourself) the horrendous heat of September? Or do you go ahead and get them in to set roots, deep and early.

Remember last year? Our first frost came and caught my tomatoes in full bloom! I had a wagon full of green tomatoes and my family was none too happy about it. No red tomatoes means no red tomato sauce. A bad day in an Italian household, let me tell you.

So this year I’m going with sooner rather than later. I put out these lovely kitchen towels for inspiration.