Tomato Plants from Seedshow to grow tomato plants from seeds

If you love homemade salsa and love to garden why not grow a salsa garden? There’s nothing quite like salsa made with fresh ingredients from your own backyard. Below are four simple and easy to follow steps to get you started on your garden as well as a yummy recipe for homemade salsa.

Step 1 Choosing an Area for Your Garden

Whether you plan to grow your plants in pots, from the ground, or in a box garden, choose an area that receives plenty of sunlight throughout the day. Clear the area of grass and weeds. Use a tiller, shovel, or garden hoe to soften the soil.

Step 2 Select the Plants You Want to Grow

The typical ingredients for salsa are tomatoes, onions, peppers, cilantro, and garlic. You are not limited to these ingredients however. Roma Tomatoes are the most popular choice for salsa. They are easy to grow and provide a thicker and sweeter sauce. Other popular tomato choices are, red or yellow pear tomatoes, Sweet 100′s, or Celebrity tomatoes. Jalapenos are the most commonly used peppers. Habanera peppers are also widely used. If you prefer a milder salsa Banana peppers or even Bell peppers are a delicious alternative.

Step 3 Planting

After you’ve chosen an area for planting and have purchased the plants, it’s time to get them in the ground. The tomato and pepper plants are going to be the largest and will need the most room to grow. Place the tomato and pepper plants about eighteen inches apart. The onions, garlic, and cilantro should be about twelve to fifteen inches apart and eighteen to twenty inches from the tomato and pepper plants to ensure adequate sunlight. Place Bulbs in a hole about three inches deep. Partially matured plants should have roots fully covered and foliage at least an inch above the soil. Apply a starter fertilizer such as 20-20-20 to soil as directed on package and then water. Ideal planting time is early spring but you should not do so until nighttime temperatures have reached at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 4 Watering and Maintaining Your Salsa Garden

Water plants at least every other day. Ideally the soil should remain damp. Be sure to water the base of the plant. Do not soak the soil or water the foliage as the water will absorb excess heat from the sun and possibly scorch the maturing plant.

To assist the tomato and pepper plants in their growth, and prevent them from spreading out and blocking sunlight from the other plants, purchase wire cages to place around them.

You can expect produce to appear in about 45 to 90 days. The time will vary depending on the maturity of the plant when transplanted.

Growing your own salsa garden takes time and effort but is very rewarding. Of course the best part is the delicious salsa you’ll be able to enjoy. Below is a quick and easy recipe that you’re sure to love.

Recipe for Fresh Homemade Salsa

You will need

8 to 10 medium sized Roma tomatoes diced (If using a larger tomato, 5 will suffice)

1 medium onion (or half a large onion) Diced

1 chopped Jalapeno Pepper, Habanera, or banana pepper (suit to taste). For Mild salsa use 1 medium sized Bell pepper finely diced.

2 minced or finely chopped Garlic cloves (it is a good idea to add garlic as the final ingredient. This way you can add it gradually and sample the salsa until it suits your taste)

(Optional) Add chopped cilantro to taste

For a tangier salsa add 1 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix well.

Serve with tortilla chips or your favorite dish.

(Makes about 8 servings)

Try a little something different in the garden this year with an upside down tomato plant or two. Amaze the neighborhood children and yourself too. If you grow organic this method cuts down on the number of pests who can gain access to your luscious red delights. Some say they have better yields but so far production is about the same for me. This is a delightful way to grow tomatoes if you have limited space or just a need for more tomatoes.

Make sure that the place you choose to hang them is stable enough to hold the tomatoes when fully watered. Plenty of sunlight is just as necessary for the upside down plantings as for right side up. The container needs to have a handle for easy hanging. Five gallon plastic buckets and twenty five pound rice bags work well. I had a neighbor who used three liter soda bottles but the plants soon became root bound and did not produce that well.

Grow upright until plant is about four to six inches tall.

Cut or drill a three inch hole in the bottom and top of the container, one hole for the plant to grow out of and one for watering.

Thread the plant through an unbleached coffee filter till it rests between the second and third sets of leaves.

Thread the tomato through the hole in the bottom of the container leaving the coffee filter inside to keep soil from falling through the hole.

Pour six cups of peat in first to settle around the roots.

Add four to six cups of compost.

Fill with soil

Hang with tomato pointing down.

Water thoroughly.

Secure the lid or tape the top closed.

Watch them grow.

Eat more tomatoes.

So far I’ve had the best luck with grape, cherry and roma tomatoes. I tried a midsized golden but the yield wasn’t near as good as in the ground. Try this method with small peppers and pickling cucumbers. Hang one off the mailbox with a help yourself sign for the happiest mailman on earth.

Product Description
This heirloom paste and canning tomato is originally from Italy. Italian Roma tomatoes yield an abundance of 3 to 5 oz. fruit. With great flavor and few seeds, the firm, meaty flesh is great for cooking purposes! About 80 days to maturity…. More >>

Heirloom Tomato Seeds – ‘Italian Roma’ Vegetable Seed Packet

The tastiest tomatoes of all aren’t found in the grocery store. The Brandywine and the Cherokee Purple, the Mortgage Lifter and the Ananas Noir, the Principe Borghese and the Tiffen Mennonite, all the wonderful heirloom varieties and the new hybrids are only found in a few specialty markets and thousands of backyard gardens. Make your summer complete by raising healthy tomato vines loaded with tasty, juicy tomatoes. Whether you want them for fresh eating or grilling, sauces, canning, drying, or freezing, there is a variety – or two or three or ten – just right for you.

Raising tomatoes isn’t difficult, but there are some tricks to getting big, healthy, disease-free vines.

CHOOSE THE VARIETIES

What tomato varieties should you choose? There are hundreds of varieties available, and the choices can be dazzling. You can usually limit your choices quickly if you think about what you want the tomatoes for. Sauces? You’ll want firm-fleshed plum tomatoes, also called sauce or Roma tomatoes, such as Principe Borghese. Competing with your neighbors for the first ripe tomatoes on the block? You’ll want to investigate ultra-early varieties such as the old-fashioned Stupice or the newer Beaverlodge. Biggest tomato at the State Fair? Try the hybrid Big Beef or the heirloom Old German. Tiny tomatoes for salads? Try the classic cherry tomatoes, or newer grape and currant tomatoes. Or check out he heirloom variety, Yellow Pear, which bears pear-shaped yellow fruits no more than 1 1/2 inches long. Slicing or grilling? Slicing or grilling? Most mid-season or heirlooms will fill the bill. Also note whether the variety is determinate or indeterminate. Determinate plants are bushy and suitable for containers and small gardens. Indeterminate plants grow tall and vine-like. They will need strong support and ample room.

START INDOORS

Some specialty nurseries will grow heirloom variety tomato plants, but more often than not, you’ll have to grow your own if you want special varieties. Sow the seeds in sterile seed starting mix in 3 or 4 inch pots. A light sprinkling of cinnamon on the surface of the soil will help prevent damping-off disease. Put the pots in a warm place until the seed germinate, then put under strong grow-lights. If possible, keep the plants on the cool side, between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This helps prevent them from becoming leggy. The time-honored method of growing seedlings in tin cans in a sunny windowsill doesn’t always yield satisfactory seedlings