Woo hoo!

Looking for decent pics.

OK, some current cherry blossom pics here, scroll down. Peak Bloom still a few days off:

http://havecamerawilltravel.com/washington-photos/cherry-blossom-watch-2013

so that is the first step here......but it is still so so cold. They tell us that we may get to the 50's this weekend, but with a lot of wind so far, it feels bitter out there to me. I hope winter is over soon.

Soon.

Would this be the same switch that was turned on last week? Two weeks before? The week before that?? They all were turned off. Still waiting for another cold SNAP!

Love your posts with pics of your seedlings!

Still wet in Oregon. Overnight temps are in the mid to upper 40s with 50s being the typical daytime highs. Cool season crops like peas, carrots, lettuce, spinach and chard are emerging/growing in the ground. It fluctuates depending on the number of slugs (though hazelnut shells have worked well this spring).

My tomatoes - all four, all Indigo Rose- are still under the lights and will be until Memorial Day. I do have cloches but I'm still loathe to put them out too early as they just don't do much in the cold.

I'd love some warmer temps now but it wouldn't be NW Oregon if it were 70 and sunny in April!

we fell in love when we lived in Seattle during my post doc in 1983...been back a few times. My daughter is moving to Seattle in a few months, so we will have an added excuse to go visit!

Ah, yes, we remember the slugs well!

have a great gardening season

to town. Slush is not easy to drive in.

Here in Sonoma County.

I hope it holds because our baby plum tree from last year has little tiny plums on it.

I bought spinach and an heirloom lemon squash yesterday, so wish me luck!

And we had 7" of snow on Thursday. Still, everything seems to be coming up on schedule and I'm especially happy that the Clematis vines I planted last fall all survived and have new growth.

today - more transplanting.....come on, tomato seedlings, grow!

i've got four 'maters in pots now, growing like crazy: cherokee purple, better boy, golden globe and sweet 100. hopefully, they'll do better than last year.

nraleighliberal, i know you are the resident tomato expert , so tell me, is it always a good idea to pinch off suckers? i've heard that not doing so provides the plant with more shade. all of my plants are south-facing, so they get LOTS of hot summer sun. i'm in sacratomato (hee). no really, that's sacramento's nickname.

It depends



actually, it really does. Suckers are nothing more than additional fruiting stems. Pruning is the way to gain control over a plant, for those who stake them/grow vertically. But it reduces potential fruit set, since flowers form at various points along the main stems - and once they form and either set fruit or drop, that's it. More flowers won't form. So allowing additional fruiting stems (suckers) grow on provides more flowering, hence more fruit. Additional stems also meet additional foliage, which shades the developing tomatoes and prevents sunscald.

So the "depends" choice part is all about how you wish to grow and how much yield you hope for....and how massive a plant you can handle!

I prune minimally, but mostly just keep tying everything loosely to the stake very foot or so - I use 8 foot stakes. The plants do get quite huge, and minimal pruning, esp. with high temps (which can lead to blossom drop) means a better chance at a decent yield.

I think our switch is frozen in the off position; it's still snowing.

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be over a month to thaw the snow in the bush up here in Northern Ontario.

Only way for it to thaw out quicker than that is major rains, and that makes a real mess of the bush roads for awhile(just bought a place on a remote bush road - ergo my attention)

And our weather isn't promising -

I think we ain't gonna have spring this year

Just jump into summer a couple of months down the road.

CLIMATE CHANGE????

nawwwww -

CC