Starter Veggie Progress

As you know, Megan and I started our heirloom tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, and leeks from seed at the beginning of March. We took approximately two weeks to harden them off and on Monday we planted them directly in our garden. In total we planted 11 tomato plants, 11 peppers, five musquee de provence pumpkins, and a row of leeks.

Yellow Pear

 Of the eleven tomatoes we planted, two were Yellow Pear. Of the varieties planted last year these were easily one of the favourites. The tiny pear-shaped tomatoes are so sweet that they're almost like candy. We felt two plants of these would work well since each plant produces continuously until it is killed off by frost. I felt like we were eating these for weeks and weeks last summer.

Red Zapotec

 Since none of our Red Zapotec's made it to the garden last year, we decided to plant three of them. All three of the plants are beautifully proportioned and we're excited to see what this variety tastes like. Apparently Red Zapotec are huge red tomatoes that are ruffled and excellent for slicing and fresh eating.

Green Zebra

 Another favourite from last year is Green Zebra. This year, however, we only planted two in the garden as opposed to the three planted last year, because the tomatoes are smaller, and therefore, the plant produces more. We felt we had a difficult time getting through all the tomatoes we got last year, so two plants would be safest.

Purple Cherokee

 Like last year, we planted two Purple Cherokee. These were among our least favourite of the tomatoes last year, but they are still quite good and maybe this year we will gain more appreciation for them.

Purple Calabash

 This Purple Calabash looks somewhat windblown, but today the two that we planted are perked right up. This variety didn't make it to our garden last year either, are similar to the Red Zapotec in that they are ruffled, and apparently have a very rich flavour. It will be interesting to see how these ones turn out!

Jimmy Nardello or Bulgarian Carrot

Finally, here is a photo of either a Jimmy Nardello or Bulgarian Carrot pepper (I can't tell which). We planted six Jimmy Nardello's and five Bulgarian Carrot peppers. Last year we didn't get too many peppers due to how late we started our plants, but this year I plan to use the Bulgarian Carrot pepper in a number of recipes that include jalapeno, because while they are orange and not green, they have a similar spice level to a jalapeno. In addition to these peppers, we planted some sweet red Shepherd peppers that we bought from our local garden center. We still had room in our pepper row, so why not?

I don't have any pics of our pumpkins or leeks, but rest assured that they are looking wonderful!

Jennifer