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Let the shipping begin! Here we go...Another fantastic season of tomatoes, vegetables and herbs. We are so excited to bring you our plants this year. With better than usual weather here in Alabama, although rain has been plentiful (we are not complaining!), which prevented an earlier shipping date of tomatoes, we are good to go now. As usual the hot peppers run a bit behind the tomatoes, no matter how early we plant them. A nibbling creature got a hold of our first batch of Cherokee Purples which has delayed them a little as well. Have no fear, we have plenty of them planted so we should be back up to speed with them shortly. Most herbs are ready and the vegetables are mostly on schedule. Every season is an adventure and a challenge for us which makes always makes gardening fun and interesting.

This month we have a great article about soil pH. How to test your soil, what you are testing for, why does pH matter and so on. We also feature a few new tomato and pepper varieties and also, How to order...when should I have my plants shipped?

These are questions we get frequently around here and the answers are right here... You can order anytime from now until a week or two before you want your plants. We strongly suggest ordering early as this year orders are up considerably from last year and we want to make sure your plants are in stock when we are scheduled to ship. Orders are pulled each week by order date so the early bird usually always gets the worm and the last minute orders will get what is left that week. If you don't mind substitutions, this is not a problem but if you really want to receive exactly what you order, please give us time to grow them and order as early as you can. Unlike our competition, we plant every two weeks throughout the entire season so we never run out of your favorites if you get your orders placed early so we know what to grow.

You should schedule your plants to arrive around the time of your average last frost date. Frosts can vary from year to year but the average date has been calculated over several years and they are pretty accurate. Weather can fool us and with our El Nino, La Nina weather patterns recently, anything can happen. The best suggestion we can make is that it is better to be safe than sorry. Tomato and Pepper plants prefer warm soil conditions and nice weather in the range of 55-85 degrees.

Although you can plant in cooler weather, you may not see much growth and stressful cold nights can be rough on young plants. If you wouldn't be comfortable sleeping outside at night, your plants will not either! Every year we have customers that are rushing to cover plants or even worse, end up having a late freeze, not just a frost, which can kill tomatoes completely even if they are covered. Don't try to get your plants shipped too early unless you have a sunny warm place to keep them indoors. Tomatoes are not house plants and must have lots of sunshine while they are waiting for planting. Better to let us grow them in our protected greenhouses to just the right size for you to plant, that is what we do!

When your plants arrive, it is best to let them acclimate to your backyard for a few days. Although we "harden them off" for you, a few days of darkness in the box is a bit of a shock to them so a couple of days to stretch out and get used to your weather is a great idea. Start with a half day of sun, then put them into full sun and leave them out at night until you are ready to plant. Click here to see our earliest recommended shipping dates for your area.

A few years ago I was told a story about an old farmer that used to taste his soil. He would stand out in the field and pick up a handful of dirt and actually taste it. He could tell if the pH was acidic by just a quick nibble! Well, I am not sure I want to do that but every year we check the pH of our soil with a small testing kit or we have an evaluation of our soil done by our agricultural extension service. The small test kit is fairly accurate but of course the extension service can be more exact as well as tell you how to correct the pH to the appropriate level for vegetables.

The soil pH value, which is really the Potential Hydrogen of a liquid mixed with your soil, is a measure of soil acidity or alkalinity. This pH value directly affects the nutrient availability to plants so that even if you have lots of great nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium etc. in your soil, the roots of your vegetable plants may not be able to take them up because of the chemical actions that must take place. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 as neutral. Numbers less than 7 indicate acidity while numbers greater than 7 indicate alkalinity. Soil humus, the dark black stuff in your soil, contains the highest CEC or cation exchange capacity which means that plants are most able to transfer nutrients from it and compost runs a close second. If the plant cannot break down the nutrients properly they don't get fed. This can lead directly to Blossom End Rot which is a condition where the plant cannot take up calcium. Using some types of fertilizers which leave salts behind such as ammonium or urea, which is in most grass/turf fertilizers, can make soil more acidic.

In areas with plentiful rainfall it is almost always necessary to add lime, which is ground limestone, to your garden every year to correct pH to the neutral level and in areas with very little rainfall over the year, it is likely that your soil is alkaline or may have a buildup of salts. Rainfall passing through the soil leaches out basic nutrients such as calcium and magnesium from the soil. They are replaced by acidic elements such as aluminum and iron. For this reason, soils under high rainfall conditions are more acidic than those which were formed under dry conditions. Sulfur can be added to alkaline soils to correct pH or gypsum can be added to flush away salts in alkaline conditions which can correct pH levels slighly.

Vegetable plants prefer to have the soil pH between 5.5 and 6.5 and above or below that range must be limed or adjusted with sulfur to bring soil back into the neutral range. For small adjustments, 1 lb of lime per 100 sq. ft is enough but if your garden is new, it may require more than that to bring it up to "normal" such as 2 lbs. per square yard. Liming is basically adding natural limestone to the soil which over a period of time will change the pH value. Wood ashes can also be used so those with fireplaces can add them every winter to the garden.

Two materials commonly used for lowering soil pH are aluminum sulfate and sulfur. These can be found at most garden supply centers. Aluminum sulfate will change the soil pH instantly because the aluminum produces the acidity as soon as it dissolves in the soil. Sulfur, however, requires some time for the conversion to sulfuric acid with the aid of soil bacteria. The conversion rate of the sulfur is dependent on the fineness of the sulfur, the amount of soil moisture, soil temperature and the presence of the bacteria. Sulfur can be very slow and take several months to correct pH. So most people use the aluminum sulfate. Both of these should be worked into the soil after applying to be most effective. If these materials are in contact with plant leaves as when applied to a lawn, they should be washed off the leaves immediately after application or it can burn leaves. Take extreme care not to over-apply the aluminum sulfate or the sulfur.

some facts from Wikipedia

Soils and acidity

Under conditions in which rainfall exceeds evapotranspiration (leaching) during most of the year, the basic soil cations (Ca, Mg, K) are gradually depleted and replaced with cations held in colloidal soil reserves, leading to soil acidity. Clay soils often contain Fe and hydroxy Al, which affect the retention and availability of fertilizer cations and anions in acidic soils.
Soil acidification may also occur by addition of hydrogen, due to decomposition of organic matter, acid-forming fertilizers, and exchange of basic cations for H⁺ by the roots.
Soil acidity is reduced by volatilization and denitrification of nitrogen. Under flooded conditions, the soil pH value increases. In addition, the following nitrate fertilizers -- calcium nitrate, magnesium nitrate, potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate -- also increase the soil pH value.
Some alkaline soils have Calcium in the form of limestone that is not chemically available to plants. In this case sulfuric acid or Sulfur may be added to reclaim the soil.
A pH level of around 6.3-6.8 is the optimum range preferred by most good soil bacteria, although fungi, molds, and anaerobic bacteria have a broader tolerance and tend to multiply at lower pH values.

Factors affecting soil pH

The pH value of a soil is influenced by the kinds of parent materials from which the soil was formed. Soils developed from basic rocks generally have higher pH values than those formed from acid rocks.
Human distractions like pollution alter the pH of soil. Researches have also revealed that soil pH is affected by the vehicular and ongoing traffic. This largely hampers the soil pH and in turn the primary productivity by compacting the soil and decreasing its friability.
Application of fertilizers containing ammonium or urea speeds up the rate at which acidity develops. The decomposition of organic matter also adds to soil acidity.

Marianna's Peace is an absolutely delicious, nice sized beefsteak tomato which has a sweet, full flavor in a perfect shape for slicing on sandwiches. Vigorous potato-leaved vines are relatively productive for an heirloom plant. You will not be disappointed in these beautiful flavorful tomatoes. When this tomato was first discovered, the seeds were selling at an exorbitant price because of high demand. Now they are readily available to us so we have brought them back.

Honey Hybrid is a wonderful, sweet rich flavored tomato that is growing like crazy in our greenhouse this year. We have voted it our prettiest tomato plant for outstanding branching and leaves. Large yields of beautiful, smooth 8 oz. fruit keep coming all season long on vigorous, disease-resistant plants.

Big Zebra, a new heirloom cross tomato that is red and green-striped, so unusual that it's safe to say that you've probably never seen anything like it before. Although deep red and green outside, its interior is green with pink extending up into the middle. The appearance is so striking and different we really love it. Fruit is medium to large with a mild, sweet flavor.

Super Red Ruffled is beautiful and extremely sweet, this bell type pimento pepper starts green and ripens deep scarlet red with a flattened shape great for stuffing. This is a really delicious colorful pepper which is great for salads or even for roasting.

In our catalog: Fertilizers of all kinds! Everything you need to grow your garden healthy this season.

Order a beautiful Basket of Herbs! It makes a great gift or just order one for yourself, you deserve it! Our herb growing kits and gift baskets can be ordered with your selection of herbs from our collection.

Check out our beautiful set of stainless steel bowls in bright red! One huge, 1 medium sized and a colander to match.

Happy Spring! We hope that Spring lingers down south and comes quickly up north.

Visit our website today for more helpful growing tips and the best plants on the web!