Garden prep; moving into heirlooms

The growing season is short in my Wisconsin climate zone. I don't dare put in tomato or pepper plants until late May, usually Memorial Day. At the end of the growing season, when die-hard locavores are canning their salsa and preserving their heirloom seeds, I'm starting a new school year. I've used that timeline as an excuse to plant only mass-produced garden center seedlings for years. This year, I'm branching out.

I planted seeds for broccoli, two tomato varieties, and several herbs, using the handy dandy cardboard egg cartons. These will ultimately biodegrade into the soil as the plants grow in their garden homes. The other containers are from Chinese take-out food; they're plastic, so I'll have a little more work to transplant the herbs inside as they grow.

The tomatoes and broccoli are organic heirloom varieties. I took the step of labeling each packet. Sounds simple, yes, but I rarely bother when I'm only planting Best Boys and Early Girls. This year, it's important. I'll be preserving the seeds from the yellows and the pepper-shaped paste tomatoes, so I must know what they are!

I also noted the source of the seeds. The broccoli and the yellow tomatoes came from Hometown Seeds as part of their variety pack. The paste tomatoes were a gift from City Slipper, host of Small Kitchen Garden. I'm looking forward to seeing, eating, and cooking with these exciting new additions to my garden!