A Few Facts

The cotyledon is the first leaf that appears as the seed bursts into life and if you look closely you will see as the other leaves appear they are of a different shape. The cotyledon feeds the seed and helps to develop the next set of leaves, known as the true leaf and so life begins all over again. Now its time to feed the seedling. I have been using a weak solution of worm tea just 10 mils per litre of water, this helps the seedling to develop strength in the stem and the first few sets of leaves. the trick is not to over do it as too much of a good thing (in this case worm tea) can have your seedling shooting up too quickly and becoming lanky. Like everything, use in moderation. Tomatoes are my current favourite. Im aiming to have enough tomatoes to make sauce, relish, bottled whole tomatoes and pasta sauce, plus tomatoes for fresh eating, how many to plant is my next dilemma. my first Christmas (hopefully) tomatoes will be moneymaker they are a nice table size firm and well flavoured, Matts Cherry is on the list along with a Beef Steak of some variety possibly Aunt Ruby's German Green. I grew this last year it had great flavour but it felt a bit weird dishing up green tomatoes with the salad. The Black tomato in the image is one called indigo Rose, I have grown it once, it looks super impressive on the dinner table but it does seem to take a while to develop its flavour. By next week I will have made my final decision, so stay posted.