2nd Weekend in March: Mother’s Day was only 9 weeks away.

Mother’s Day is my starting date for planting the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant outdoors.  So I pulled out my seed tray starter kit and started planting them.  I have 6 trays sitting on my heating mat set for 75^oF.  I hope to see tomato seedling in the next 7 to 14 days.  The eggplant and pepper will sprout a little latter.

Here is my initial seed starter list for 2012.

Tomatoes
Brandywine: These heirloom pink tomatoes are large and taste great.
Black Krim: It is a little hard to tell when they are ripe.  The area around the stem may still be green and the lower section is a dark red (almost black).  This is my favorite for a bacon and lettuce sandwich.
Pink German: Pink Germans can weight up to 1 pound.  It does not take many of them to fill a quart canning jar.
Celebrity: A large perfect round red tomato.  This tomato is not an heirloom but it does produce well but not as flavor full as the three above. This tomato has been bred with resistance to many of the viruses that attack tomatoes.
Delicious: Another hybrid tomato which is a medium round size and colored red.
Green Zebra: When this tomato is ripe, its skin is yellow and green striped with green pulp inside.  I heard some say it taste like an apple but I do not think so.  To me still has the tomato taste but less acidic and not as rich as a red tomato.  It is nice to have different colored tomatoes to add visual appeal to a cold salad dish.
Gold Metal: A large yellow tomato with red streak in the pulp.  It is less acidic than the red and has good flavor.

Paste Tomatoes
Amish: After I told the guys at work that I started my tomatoes seed, one of them requested that I saved some Amish Paste for him.  He commented that they make a nice smooth thick tomato sauce.  All my paste tomatoes do not look like anything you can buy in the store.  Amish paste get about 4 inches long and about 2 inches wide.
Opalka: This is a new type for me and the description state 4-6 inch long with few seeds.
Federle: Another nice paste tomato about 4-6 inches long and 1-1½ inches wide

Cherry Tomatoes
Chocolate Cherry: This cherry tomato is large about ½ to ¾ in diameter.  The color when ripe is a dark reddish brown and has a nice mix of acidic and sweet flavoring.
Sungold: Pop this golden cherry tomato in your mouth and you will get a wonderful sweet rich flavor.  It is the taste of summer.

Tomatillo
Green Husk: Last year this plant grew to 7 feet high and it had the biggest tomatillo I ever seen.  The biggest were at least 2 inch across and produced tons of fruit.
Dr. Wyche's Yellow: When this tomatillo is ripe it is a little yellow color and tastes very sweet.  It only grows to about 5 feet in height.
Purple: Another 7 feet tall plant, the fruit has some purple coloring on the skin.  It grows to about an inch in size.

Sweet Bell Peppers: Orange Bell, Chocolate Bell, Purple Beauty, Early Sunsation Hybrid (Yellow), King Arthur (Fat’n Sassy, Red), King of the North (red).  All the peppers except Purple Beauty and Early Sunsation are green until they ripen into their color.  They can be eaten green or wait until they turn color.  The peppers are sweeter when fully mature.  The red is the sweetest with chocolate next.

Hot Peppers: Early Jalapeno and Ancho Girantea both are great.  I add roasted Ancho to green salsa made with tomatillo from my garden, and boy that was good!

Eggplants
Udumalapet: This egg shape fruit is a bright yellow and purple striped when ready for picking.  The fruit ranges from 2 to 4 inches in length.
Rosa Bianca: A nice round fruit and I picked it as big as 8 inches.  The prefer size for grilling is 4 inches.  I cut it into slices and brush on a little olive oil with some salt and pepper.  Melted provolone cheese on it and add fresh tomato, lettuce, onions and some vinaigrette on it and serve it on a toasted bun.  Mmm!


This coming weekend I will be sowing my cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and broccoli.