Alchemy Garden Journal Entry 9: Planting Tomatoes

I looked forward to this all month long. Now that I have my garden bed, I can attempt to grow my first plot of vegetables. Since I have space for 3 tomatoes, I went with two Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes because they’re resistant to many diseases and pests, taste beautifully sweet, and are high yielding. For my third tomato, I went with the Green Zebra tomato, known for its mealy texture, sharpness, and tang.

For color, interest, and companionship, I bought amethyst basil, Dolce Fresca basil, and more marigolds. There wasn’t any more Genovese basil at the center when I visited, so the dolce fresca basil was the closest I could get.

I used two different types of soil for the garden bed: Bumper Crop Organic Soil Builder, and Espoma Organic Raised Bed Mix. I went with the Bumper Crop because it was the only product that had cow manure mixed in, and the cow manure has been sold out for weeks at my garden store. It also got positive reviews for being a very reliable and high quality soil. I also purchased Espoma soil because I couldn’t find peat-free soil. My garden book had a ratio of soil mixture to go by: 45% topsoil, 45% peat-free soil mix, and 10% coarse grit, and I could only find topsoil. So, I figured a soil blend designed for raised beds would give me a similar blend that could work for my plants.

My Green Zebra plant is the tallest and further along its growth than my cherry tomatoes, so I placed it in the center of the bed with the sun sugars on each side. On each edge is a basil plant, and adjacent to the Green zebra is a marigold and two amethyst basil plants. I still made the mistake of watering the leaves, but I promise I won’t do it next time. I also should slow down on the watering. My dad said to keep the soil moist, but don’t soak it.

At the very end, I spread wood chips all over the bed and sprayed the tomato leaves with a tomato fertilizer called Bonide Tomato and Blossom Set. It’s supposed to contain tomato hormones to help with growth.