Container Vegetables: Peppers and Tomatoes

I know this is the post you've been waiting for!  Let's start with peppers:

If you like 'em hot, you're in luck!  Here's a simple rule of thumb with peppers:  the smaller the fruit, the smaller the plant.  As hot peppers of all varieties tend to be much smaller than sweet peppers, you should have no trouble growing them in a container.  You'll harvest more than you can eat, even from one plant.  Try making your own hot sauce or crushed red pepper!

Sensitive taste buds?  No problem!  You can grow plenty of sweet bell peppers in a container as well!  (Just make sure it's of a decent size, and only one plant per pot.)

Peppers and tomatoes will need to be started from seed indoors six to eight weeks before last frost, and then moved outside into full sun when it's warm enough.  If you only want a couple of plants, you may be better off saving yourself the hassle and buying small plants from a nursery.  (Wait 'til just after Mother's Day, when the prices drop.)  Of course if you're feeling ambitious, there's nothing better than watching those cute little seedlings sprout up while there's still snow on the ground outside!

Tomatoes will need staking, so find yourself a nice round pot large enough to hold a tomato cage.  Your local nursery - if it's any good at all - will have at least one or two varieties of "patio tomatoes" which are recommended for growing in pots and may not even need staking.  Feel free to experiment with other varieties, though. Any tomato will grow in a pot with enough space and support!

If you're looking for something a little more interesting, the good people at Seed Savers Exchange have a few recommendations for you.  Try growing some really unique Cream Sausage, Green Sausage, Czech's Bush, Nebraska Wedding, or Silver Fir Tree Tomatoes!

Green Sausage Tomato

Nebraska Wedding Tomato

Another option for growing both peppers and tomatoes in containers is the Topsy Turvy Planter - As seen on TV!  My neighbor grew a fine crop of cherry tomatoes on one of these last summer.  I can't vouch for how a plant with larger, heavier tomatoes would do, though. 

Regardless of type, size, or turvy-ness, all tomatoes and peppers will appreciate hot weather and full sun!

Two New Tomatoes

I'm wondering now what is an acceptable number of hours to put into seed selection?  Ten?  Twenty?  Four thousand nine hundred and seven?
The good news is, I have chosen two varieties of tomato seed.  The bad news is, I'm now questioning my decision to order from Seed Savers exclusively.  Baker Creek not only has online customer reviews for some products- which are very helpful- but also may be more affordable...
Both companies offer these two varieties of tomato, so I feel confident in publicly announcing at least this much:
(Drum roll?)
This summer, in addition to Green Grape, Cherokee Purple, and Gold Medal tomatoes, for which I have hopefully managed to save some viable seeds myself, I will be ordering

BLACK FROM TULA!

An indeterminate 80 day Russian Heirloom, Black From Tula has been described as having a rich, full, old fashioned, sweet and spicy flavor.  Excellent review here.  Available from both BCHS and SSE.  I can't wait to taste one!  And

NYAGOUS!

A funny name for a funny looking tomato, this one is also indeterminate 75 - 80 days, and also an heirloom from Russia.  The Nyagous has been described as sweet, meaty, rich, and very productive.  Sounds good to me!  Find it at BCHS or SSE.
I will now devote a few more hours (days?) to making the final decisions on other veggies, as well as doing the math in order to choose which supplier -  maybe both? 
All this hard work and still six months away from tasting one?!  *sigh*  I'd rather be weeding...

Seed Savers Exchange Catalog

Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

It's January in the heart of the Heartland--  Hardly a time when most people are thinking about gardening, but I've spent the past two weeks pouring over seed catalogs, and I'm so anxious that I can almost smell the dirt!
Last year I ordered seeds from Seed Savers Exchange as well as Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  This year I've decided to narrow it down to just one source in an effort to save money on shipping, and Seed Savers wins in large part due to their catalog's beautiful and thorough photography. 
It's so much fun trying to decide what to order...  at least at first.  Of course my ideas are much bigger than my garden plot as well as my budget, so narrow it down I must.
I'm especially anxious to try at least one new variety of purple tomato.  I grew Cherokee Purple tomatoes last year, and they were the ugliest, most delicious tomatoes I've ever had!  Unfortunately I got a pretty small yield (surely due in part to the overabundance of shade trees in my back yard), so I'm hoping that another purple variety will be a better producer for me.  (I'm also planning to get a garden plot through my park district--  More on that later.)  I did manage to save some of my own seeds, so hopefully they'll be viable and I'll have some more Cherokee Purple along with one or two new varieties.

While I'm naming names, I'll also recommend the Green Grape and Gold Medal varieties of tomato that I also grew last year for the first time.  The Green Grape were so good--  In side by side taste tests, my run-of-the-mill red cherry tomatoes couldn't come close.  The Gold Medal had a more mild flavor, but they were absolutely gorgeous!  
Well, back to the catalogs...
My next post will (hopefully) contain a list of seed semi-finalists!