Does anybody have experience with early tomatoes?

I'm only just seeing some other previous posts. Sorry all, I just realized that clicking the post in the alerts brings you to that certain post and skips all the rest.

@S-H - I always get seeds from a certain heirloom farmer. I don't have mites, but I do have ants.
I also recently noticed that I'm low on worms. Odd... I was planning on purchasing some fishing bait worms just to repopulate my garden.

@Growingpains - I don't use epsom salts, but I've heard of using it. What do you recommend?

 

I have a weather4us app on the roku. I need graphs and pretty pictures. Tables glaze me.

 

Now that the storm has passed, I've gone outside and found one of my husk tomato plants. It is about two feet tall and has one husk tomato growing on it.
That is all. The rest of my tomato plants are all about two feet tall and pale green with nothing on them.
My 4 squash plants each are about one foot in diameter with about 3 or 4 true leaves and two flowers each. Thankfully I scared the rabbit away before she ate the flowers. We will be patching the hole in the fence today.
The carrot flowers are all over 6 feet tall and have gone to seed. I imagine the carrots themselves will be tough and tasteless. At least I'm getting seeds from them.
For reference, I planted 20 tomato plants (12 early toms and 8 regular), 5 husk tomatoes (aka ground cherries), 2 summer squash, 3 winter squash, 8 peas (4 dwarf and 4 regular) and carrots.
The regular tomato seeds were old but half still sprouted. Half of the early tomatoes sprouted, the peas sprouted but didn't grow taller than 5 inches and then did nothing. The squash sprouted right away. Only one winter squash didn't sprout. They were off to a great start but then stopped. Everything is staying tiny, except the carrot flowers... and the weeds are thriving.

 

Hmmm, Beeker this sounds odd. Do you enrich your soil every chance you get? Have you kept the weeds to a minimum? Kept an eye out for damage due to bugs? Critter problems?

Most years I will have one crop or two not do well: planted too early or too late, a late frost, incursions from bugs that i couldn't get ahead on, etc. But usually most things do ok.

So I'm not sure what to think. I'm in Massachusetts. Where are you?

 

@Cayuga Morning
I'm your southern neighbor.
I admit that I don't keep the weeds to a minimum.
I watch for bugs and critters. I have ants and rabbits, but the rabbits have been kept at bay for a while. Only yesterday did I find one get through the fence. We patched the hole today.
I am trying my best to stay committed to organic gardening, so the beds have been nourished annually with peat and organic compost. My only concern is that, especially this year, the top layer of soil may have been sterilized by the hot sun beating down on the empty beds until the seeds began sprouting. I haven't seen many worms at all in my garden, which also bothers me.

 

Beeker, I have had good luck in using the Garden Planner provided by Mother Earth. It tells you when to start seeds indoors, when to start seeds outdoors, when to put transplants out, when varieties will be harvestable, how to rotate your crops from year to year so that you don't get a build-up of soil born diseases, when you can plant another crop, (succession planting)etc. I think it's a great resource. You create your own garden plan. Forgive me if you know about this already. I think there are other garden planners out there too.

To answer your question, seeds you can start now are lettuce, kale, swiss chard, beets (for their greens), possibly peas. A bit later you can plant garlic for harvesting next July. Garlic is the easiest crop, totally fool proof.

You could also sow a cover crop now to enrich your soil for next year.

Another thing you can do is send a soil sample to your local Agricultural extension service. They'll tell you how your soil is, if it needs lime, more organic matter, nitrogen, etc.





BTW, here's my plot plan from Mother Earth earth. Can you make it out? M.E. will also give you a chart that tells you what to plant when for your area.

 

This was to be my new garden venture this Spring..grow loads and loads from seeds.
Some survived most did not..Mainly I am almost certain due to the weather. It took a turn for the worst just when I needed some heat on them The unusually cold spell lasted for far too long and the seeds just would not grow except a few..

.....Tomatoes were a complete disaster..... I ended up buying some plants from the nursery. I had this year purchased seed compost, I found it to be expensive but I was prepared to do things correct this time...Feels such a waste right now.
The seeds all came form a highly recommended seed specialist in the UK..just arrived before Brexit stamped business down.....


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I like the look of this planner, Cayu.

 

@Cayuga Morning
I used to have that planner. I used to subscribe, but let it lapse.
How are your beans doing?
Mine never did well when I planted them near my tomatoes. Then, while I was reading about companion planting, I found planting enemies. Beans and tomatoes don't like to be near each other. Do you see any evidence for or against this information?
Thank you for reminding me of that planner. IMHO, it is the best out there.
I just received the garlic I ordered a few months back. I bought heirloom, organic hardnecks; the easy variety for beginners. The instructions said that I should plant them around mid-October. I was thinking a little earlier for our area. What do you think?

I do want to grow lettuce, but it is very difficult for me. I never know which is a weed to pull and which is the lettuce. I was thinking of purchasing a tray to plant them in. Does anyone have any recommendations for how to grow and control leaf lettuces and how to recognize the weeds that might grow with them and know what to pull?