Peas are Blooming in the Hoop House!

As of April 25th, my Snow Peas have been blooming the the Hoop House. My Little Marvel peas have not bloomed yet, though they are getting close.The weather in northern Utah has continued to be cool and wet, so gardening outside the Hoop House has been very sparse. The forecast for the coming week is sunny and warmer, so perhaps I will be able to get some root crops in the ground towards the end of the week. One can only hope!

Hoop House Progress

It looks as if I picked the right year to put in a Hoop House because it has been very cool and wet this month in Northern Utah, and I have been unable to do much planting or any tilling outside. What I have planted is barely sprouting and a few weeks behind normal schedule at best. But the plants inside the Hoop House have been progressing at a excellent pace. My peas are getting ready to set flowers, the cabbage is doing well and the lettuce and spinach is ready to be picked.

Even on a cool, cloudy day, I find that my Hoop House can buy me a least 20 extra degrees of heat. A problem to watch out in the future is when it finally gets warm and sunny, I have to be careful and not overheat everything. Usually opening the doors in the morning can keep the temperature under control for the day.

I have also planted tomatoes in the center strip, and they seem to be doing well at the moment. In the center rack I have some onion plants growing, along with some squash and melon starts. Starting plants in the Hoop House is experimental, so we'll see what happens. With a little luck I should get some sprouts from them in a few days, as long as I don't fry them or drop the dang things, which is always a threat!

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomaato

 

On April 6^th, I started my main crop of tomatoes and peppers for growing under the lights. They started popping up over the weekend and as of today it appears as if most of my tomatoes have germinated. The peppers always take longer and I try to plant them a week or two earlier than the tomatoes. My tomato variety selection philosophy is to grow them small and sweet, or sweet and humongous!  I think I will give a semi-quick rundown of the varieties that I like to grow:

Mortgage Lifter:  A great open pollinated variety that is pretty consistent in growing monstrous tomatoes for BLT's.  This is a pretty consistent variety that I have been happy with for many years. It’s available through many suppliers. 

Delicious:  Another great type for monstrous gorgeous red tomatoes.  I grew one of this variety that gave me a tomato of two and a half pounds! A good type if you enjoy having your tomato slice on a BLT bigger than the bread itself!

Hybrid Beefmaster: I started growing this type about ten years ago, and it has been very consistent.  Properly watered and fertilized, it is probably my most consistent type in growing large tomatoes year in and year out. 

Watermelon Beefsteak:  A type that I got from Shumway Seeds a few years ago. I’m not as excited about this one as a consistent producer, but I have had some decent production out of this type, but in my experience it can blossom end rot easily if I am not careful.

Big Zack Hybrid:  A variety whose results for me have been similar to Watermelon Beefsteak. I also got these from Shumways.

Giant Belgium:  I think that I got this type from Shumways a few years ago. I think that this type does better back east, but I find it an okay producer here most seasons. I keep trying to give this type a chance. 

Celebrity : This type grows really well in northern Utah, even though I don’t grow it some years, probably one of my more consistent producers for medium size tomatoes. I hear that it’s a good one to can, but I have never done so. 

Ace:   And excellent variety similar to Celebrity, with a nice medium size roundish shape, that for me is easy to pick out amongst my other tomatoes.  It has always been a very reliable producer for me. 

Sweet Baby Girl:  Probably the favorite type of tomato I have ever grown, of any size. This cherry type is a great producer, and one of my earliest to produce too.  I can go out in the morning and pick an entire colander’s worth, put it in the fridge and comeback home later in the day to find the colander empty! My kids say it’s almost like eating candy for them. I guess this year this seed has been almost impossible to find, so saving seeds from prior packets has really paid off for me this season! This one is usually available through Gurney’s.

Sugary : This is another very sweet cherry type, I grow this one along side of Sweet Baby Girl. Sometimes my family cannot tell the difference between the two.  It’s available at Mountain States Seeds and Gurneys.

Jelly Beans:  This one is a very good grape type tomato. Very consistent variety every year I have grown it. 

Tomatoberry:  This is a new favorite from Johnny’s Seeds. These tomatoes resemble small strawberries with their distinctive heart shape. My family reports the flavor is sweet and firm. The seeds for these are about the most expensive that I have every planted. Johnny’s are quite proud of this tomato, and it’s available exclusively through them. 

Red Pearl: Another variety from Johnny’s, and I grew it for the first time last season. It seems like a good one, but my family has not reported anything special about it so far.  It’s a red grape type. 

Roma: The great old-fashioned paste variety,  that actually saved my bacon when my Big Moma’s had a rough time with blossom end rot last season.  

Big Momma: This one is a very large paste variety that in the past has been available through Burpees, but I don’t think they offer this type anymore.  I have grown this one for years with excellent results. One tomato can equal three regular size Romas’, so some members of my family say it is better for canning because they don’t have to peel as many. This last season however, conditions were not just right and I had a real problem with blossom end rot on most of the fruits, especially early in the season.  I have a few seasons of seeds left for this type in my seed storage, so that should hold me over until I find a replacement. 

Viva Italia Hybid: A great paste type that is a great producer and is more disease resistant than Big Momma or Roma. I grow it most years. 

Juliet: A very good small roma type that I grow every year. I like to mix this one in with my salsa for texture, but my family does not like to eat it raw as much as Sweet Baby Girl or Sugary. 

Rio Grande: This is a new paste variety that I am trying for the first time this year, the package from Ferry-Morse says that it is a large Roma type, so it may be a potential replacement for Big Momma. 

I really appreciate my families input with their favorite tomato varieties, because I do not like raw tomatoes and never have for some reason. But I do eat them in salsa and spaghetti sauce, so all is not lost.  So far my plants are progressing well this spring, and I will keep everyone posted on their progress.