By Chrisanne Sikora
Social Media Coordinator

It’s been several weeks since I planted my tomato seeds and they’re now ready to be moved out into the back yard (probably a bit overdue as they’re overgrowing their greenhouse).  Actually, I’m happy with how many seedlings I have.  For a while it was looking like one of the trays wasn’t going to make it at all; there were a couple of sprouts soon after planting, but they died quickly from not getting enough water (oops).  A more concentrated effort at regular watering (and maybe a little help from Miracle-Gro®) and both trays were flourishing. 

The spot chosen for my vegetable garden is just underneath the back deck, next to a feisty old rose bush.  I prepped the area for planting the weekend before:  defining where the lawn ends and the garden begins, ripping out as much of the grass and weeds as possible, and turning over the top layer of soil with a pitchfork.  From there, it was just a matter of gently removing the seedlings from the greenhouse trays, separating them out (they were getting all tangled up) and planting them in the ground. 

Once all the seedlings had been transplanted, I set up tomato cages over them so they’ll have something to support them as they get bigger.  Since they’re so small right now, I secured them to the cages with twist ties to keep them stable—just until they can “stand up” on their own.  I’ll probably spread some mulch in the garden to help protect the roots and prevent some of those weeds from coming back (and so it’ll look nicer, too). 

So my home gardening experiment is in full swing.  Can’t wait to start seeing some tomatoes!  If you have any great gardening tips, leave me a comment below.