Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Ashvegas plans to regularly cross-post some of the great content over at Farmer & Chef South. What is Farmer & Chef South, you ask? It is a collaboration between nationally published cookbook author, Debby Maugans and Christine Sykes Lowe, Asheville-based owner of T3 Creative Group, marketing and PR collective with special focus on culinary and hospitality promotions.
Farmer & Chef South has already held a couple of cool events in town, and it is planning to publish a cookbook, Farmer and Chef: Asheville. The website has amassed an impressive list of contributing writers, including local chefs and food experts.
Check out award-winning garden designer Rebecca Bull Reed’s timely post on planting tomato starts. Reed is also associate garden editor at Southern Living. A snippet:
Get Ready
Choose a clean container that has drainage holes and fill it a pre-moistened, sterile seed-starting mix. Make shallow furrows with a pencil or chopstick about 1/4 inch deep. Sow seeds by dropping them along the bottom of the furrows 1/2 inch apart.
Gently pinch together soil to cover each furrow, covering seeds 1/4 inch deep. Water cafefully and label each variety. Put container in a warm place, 75-80˚ F. As soon as seeds begin germinating and stems start to show above the soil, it’s critical to provide a strong light source such as florescent bulbs or a very sunny window.
Watch the calendar
Day 7: Seedlings have should have germinated. First to appear are “baby” or “cotyledon” leaves. Careful labeling of each variety is important, as they all look alike.
Day 15: Seedlings are still tiny and have only cotyledon leaves, but are growing well. The little leaves should be bright green. This indicates that plants are getting enough bright light to thrive.
Day 30: The first set of “true” tomato leaves begin to appear above the baby cotyledon leaves.
