When can we plant tomatoes?

Will it ever warm up? It is still too cool to plant tomatoes and other warm weather crops outdoors, tomatoes need night time temperatures that are consistently over 50° and soil temperatures over 60° Peppers would like it even warmer!

Until it warms up I recommend moving tomatoes from  4" pots into a gallon sized pots, then to a 2 gallon pot. Setting them in the sun each day (or sheltering them from rain and hail) and moving them inside at night. Once the weather has warmed, dig a deep hole, remove the lower branches and leaves and plant the tomato deeply, allowing the stem/trunk to sprout roots. The video below was taken 4 years ago, since then I've perfected my tomato growing method, now I train them onto a trellis instead of staking them; however you choose to grow them. be sure to use a very sturdy support.

Trellised Tomatoes.
Each plant is pruned to 2 to 3 main stems that are tied to the cattle panel trellis.

It is time to plant warm weather veggies!

It's not too late to plant tomatoes! The weather is warm enough to plant all of the warm weather crops, AND it is time to start planning your FALL and WINTER gardens :)

Planting Leeks

The Campbell Community Garden is producing enough produce right now to warrant once a week donations to our Harvest Sharing Garden recipients; soon we will be harvesting twice a week. Last week I chatted with Mary, who is enjoying the veggies I drop off each week; I told her we harvested our first snap peas and there would be more to come for the next several weeks, and that our tomatoes were planted, but quite a ways off from harvesting. She asked me about leeks, telling me that they were a big hit with a lot of people receiving our donations. Our leeks are still many weeks away from harvest time, but they are planted!
Here is a video, filmed a few weeks ago, showing how to plant Bandit and Tadorna Leeks, thanks to Straw Bale Films!



The leeks are growing fast, June 9, 2013



Early Spring Planting

Spring is in the air! What to plant right now? Peas, radish, lettuce, beet, and chard are all pretty safe bets for right now, we will probably still see a few frosts this season, cold tolerant veggies should come through fine.

It is too early for tomatoes, even though you will see them on the big box nursery racks any day now, it is too cold for them to spend the nights (happily) outside. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and many other warm season fruits and veggies need over night temperatures above 50 degrees. Is that bare tomato patch just too empty looking? Plant some lettuce from purchased starts or plant radish seeds, both will be ready to harvest by tomato planting time. Here is a link to the Clackamas County Master Gardeners information on Growing Tomatoes in the Home Garden

Here is the first in a series of videos filmed in the Campbell Community Garden. Thanks to Straw Bale Films for their support of our garden!


THANKS to Straw Bale Films for their support of our community!