Happy Earth  Day everyone!  I think gardening is a great way to celebrate the earth, getting our hands in the soil.  Everyone was leaving the Farmer’s Market with tomato plants and I want to use that as an excuse to talk about microclimates.  Sonoma County is full of different microclimates and where you live makes a huge difference when it is safe to plant tomatoes and other warm season crops that will die if it freezes.  If you do not know when your average frost free day is ask a neighbor who has a garden.   I know that where I live and where I work are both cold spots that easily get frost into mid May. A neighbor who lives up the hill from you will have a different microclimate than you.  Remember cold sinks, so low spots are cold and tend to be wetter meaning later summer planting time.  If you live on a warm south facing slope you probably don’t need to worry, plant your tomatoes! I have never been one to push the season, too many problems and too much work when you try to maneuver around Mother Nature.  Summer plants don’t like growing when the soil is cold, they will grow slowly and have more problems.  Unless you want to create a protected and warmer enviroment for them with hoop houses, mini greenhouses or walls of water you might as well wait. 

If you are planting tomatoes, remember that those tall leggy plants like to be planted deep in the soil.  The stem will send out roots anywhere it is buried so snip off the leaves on the bottom and plant them as deep as you can.  The more roots the stronger and bigger your plant will be in the long run.  Some people lay them on their side and bury the majority of the stem and then bend the top up.  Also really important for tomatoes is adding calcium, a lack of calcium can be the cause of blossom end rot.  Add a good amount of oyster shell lime or gypsum into the bed while you are prepping it, (some say crumbled egg shells will work over the long run).  Too much nitrogen will give you a huge plant and few tomatoes, so hold back on the manure as this feeds the leaf growth not the fruit growth. 

I love to plant many things from seed, I am sometimes surprised by what I see in the nurseries as many plants really prefer to be planted by seed.  The things I always transplant are tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, onions, kale, chard, broccoli, and the whole  cabbage family  and most of my lettuce.  But I think that squash, cucumbers, beans, peas,  and beets all prefer to be direct seeded.  It is much cheaper to buy seeds than plants, but there is a care and commitment that is needed to direct seed, as the beds must be kept moist and the bed must be more carefully prepared and seeds feel more vulnerable (though I don’t know if they really are).  There is also something miraculous in watching a seed you planted sprout and become a plant.

When you are buying your vegetable plants look for healthy plants, that are not too big, see if the roots are root bound from being in a pot too long, but they should be well developed also. Try to avoid plants that are producing flowers already, you want them to put their energy into their roots when you transplant them.  There are so many great plant sales out there, with incredible varieties available, we are blessed with the access we have to diversity.

I ate my first little fava beans tonight with some green garlic.  Green garlic is the garlic before it has headed up, it looks like a leek.  I always plant my small garlic cloves closely together for a spring green garlic section to help me between the time when my garlic has run out or sprouted and the new stuff is ready.  Fava beans can be eaten really young to when they are fully mature in their pod.  So I always grab some of the young pods then leave the rest for another few weeks. 

Sara