Picking the First Tomato! Planting Early...

TIME TO PLANT?  Well, is it time yet?  According to the "ol' timers", anytime after Easter is safe.  However, the farmer's almanac says that we can expect a windy, cold period through April 24th with a possible light freeze.  Still, when the weather gets pretty, it's hard not to get started, especially in our country where it gets sooo hot sooo fast!  I feel a lot of pressure to produce not only the biggest tomatoes in the county but the earliest one as well.  Here are some ideas for a safe, effective approach to jump-start your garden.

PROTECTING EARLY PLANTINGS.  For tomatoes, peppers and other transplants, you can plant early with a little care.  Plants know what time of year it is so if the temperature and length of daylight hours isn't enough, you won't get much benefit, especially peppers who like it hot.  

For tomatoes, start with an early season variety.  People tell me Early Girl is an excellent early-season hybrid.  I plant several heirlooms that produce early including Black Krim, Santiam, and Orange Queen.

Once planted, a bucket or tarp over a plant can protect up to 5 degrees in my experience.  It's important that the cover not touch the plant and there are no air leaks around the bottom.  I have had plant tips burn when touching the side of a bucket or covering.  

START INSIDE.  I start inside.  I pot up my tomatoes several times building up to gallon containers and never allowing rootbound to occur.  I keep them in my greenhouse but you can easily leave them outside to harden off and bring them in whenever there is a freeze chance.  This seems to be the best way to get a head start even beating the Walls-o-Water.  For squash, watermelon, and cucumber, you can start the seeds indoors a few weeks before you last freeze date and get a little head start on the season.  Just drop a few seeds in a pot and keep near a lighted window.

WALLS-O-WATER are great ways to start tomatoes early.  These are plastic slips which, when filled with water provide protection from wind and cold in addition for providing a greenhouse effect of warmth giving the plants a head start.

PROTECT FROM THE WIND.  Regardless of when you plan to plant, give your tender transplants protection from the wind.  It is always windy this time of year and the wind literally sucks the growth potential right out of your plant.  You will receive huge benefits from giving your plant protection.  Any kind of recycled container can work including paper milk cartons and plastic milk cartons with bottoms and tops cut out.  Press them into the soil about an inch for cutworm protection as well.  People have used old black nursery containers with the bottoms cut out but be sure to remove them before it gets hot.  I wrap row cover material around my cages to protect them from the wind.  It only lasts a season but is relatively inexpensive and easy to install.

GETTING THE FIRST TOMATO (FOR ADVANCED (or crazy) GROWERS).  I like the bragging rights for the earliest tomato.  Last year, my first tomato was ripe April 20th.  It was a Glacier, an artic tomato that sets in 45 degrees.  It's not very tasty or a heavy producer, but I had the first tomato!  I used all of the ideas above including potting up and growing it in the greenhouse much of the time.  Another, more useful idea is to grow Gold Nuggets.  It is a golden cherry that produces in 45 days and provides tasty fruit throughout the summer.  You can usually get a Gold Nugget by May 1st!