Tomatoes planted in the spring heatwave

The first two weeks of March are usually when we are checking the weather forecast constantly to see if we will be able to plant the first tomatoes of the season on the farm.

This year with the March heatwave we have had there was no question that it was time to plant the tomatoes and we did that last Thursday.

We planted over 800 plants, a mix of early girls, heirlooms and cherry tomatoes, to hopefully have much larger amount earlier in the season than we have in previous year.

It was so exciting to be able to get the tomatoes in the ground after some challenges with the ones we started in the greenhouse but we managed to have enough for the first planting.

Since we planted them on Thursday we already are seeing new leaves starting to grow as they as loving the warm, sunny days we are having mixed with being irrigated.

Like last year we created raised beds for this planting to help the soil warm up a little quicker which the roots will grow better in warmer soil.

Normally in mid-March the daily lows are in the 40s and we have to cover the tomatoes with row cover to help keep them warm if it drops below the forecasted temperature but this year the daily lows are in the 50s.

We likely still will put on the row cover next week as that helps provide a more ideal environment to grow in but even when it cools off next week the lows are still forecasted at 50 degrees or above.

In just two more weeks we will be planting the second round of tomatoes along with many of the other summer veggies growing in the greenhouse including peppers, basil, eggplant, cucumbers and melons.

Most of the spring veggies have all been planted since they take some time to grow but we still are seeding lettuce and direct seeding some of the quick crops.

The hotter than normal weather means we have to do more irrigation which the plants are enjoying but also the weeds are thriving so there has been lots of weeding and it will continue for the next two months.

All of the spring veggies are growing rapidly and in addition to the arugula we started harvesting last week we will have some French Tarragon this weekend.

After cutting off all the dead stems remaining from last year the tarragon has exploded doubling in size in just the last week.

The french varietal of tarragon we grow is the best for culinary uses as a seasoning for salads, cheese, fish, eggs and poultry along with being in many spice blends and an integral part of Béarnaise sauce. The licorice and anise like flavor of it makes it one of the popular of French herbs.

We also just started harvesting parsley from plants we transplanted in the fall but they grew so slowly all winter.

Planted just over a month ago the potatoes are starting to pop out of the soil in the last few days and have some good growth.

We will use the tractor to hill the potatoes four or five times to weed them and help encourage more growth before the plants get too big.

It is great to see pretty good germination of the potatoes and likely in early May we will begin harvest new potatoes.