I'm Growing 20-25 Small Sized Tomatoes for 2014: All Kinds of Colors and Shapes from Pea Sized to Large Cherry

I'm Growing 20-25 Small Sized Tomatoes for 2014: All Kinds of Colors and Shapes from Pea Sized to Large Cherry
I have focused several seasons on the 1-2 pound tomatoes. I am still growing them but will be dedicating the 2014 vegetable gardening  season to small sized tomatoes. I have 21 varieties at current count and they vary in shape, color and size. I have the small currant/pea sized tomatoes up to the large cherry sized. I will be doing blog and video entries one each variety and spending time shooting a lot of videos on caring for and growing tiny tomatoes.
This is what I am growing so far. Please let me know if you have grown them before and your opinion on them. This is a mix of determinate and indeterminate varieties and some of them produce earlier in the season.
Baxter's Bush (Large Cherry) (Red)

Black Plum (Large Grape) (Mahogany/Purple)

Black Cherry (Small Cherry) (Mahogany/Purple)

Blush (Large Grape) (Yellow w/ Pink Streaks)

Brandywine Plum (Elongated Cherry) (Red)

Coyote (Small Cherry) (Creamy Ivory)

Flamme (Large Cherry) (Orange)

Glacier (Early) (Small Cherry) (Red)

Grape Tomato (Elongated Cherry) (Red)

Indigo Blue Berries (Small Cherry) (Indigo/Black)

Isis Candy (Small Cherry) (Yellow w/ Red Marbling)

Kimberly (Early) (Large Cherry) (Red)

Linda's Mystery (Small Cherry) (Orange)

Matt's Wild Cherry (Currant) (Red)

Principe Borghese (Small Plum) (Red)

Purple Bumble Bee (Small Cherry) (Mahogany/Purple w/ Green Steaks)

Red Pear (Small Pear) (Red)

Riesentraube (Small Cherry/Pointed) (Red)

Sarah's Galapagos (Currant) (Red)

Sweet Pea Currant (Currant) (Red)

Yellow Currant (Currant) (Yellow)





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For New Gardeners Only!: What is Perlite, Vermiculite, Peat Moss and Seed Starting Mix

For New Gardeners Only!: What is Perlite, Vermiculite, Peat Moss and Seed Starting Mix 
I have a YouTube Channel that is geared towards new gardeners. It is called My First Vegetable Garden! The videos are a bit longer and have a more detailed explanation of the topics than my videos on my original YouTube Channel: The Rusted Garden.

Bagged Seed Starting Mix - The Rusted Garden 2014

Seed starting mixes should be sterile. You don't want to bring in diseases. Don't use garden soil, top soil or even potting mixes unless the potting mix is sold primarily as a seed starting mix. You have a greater chance of fungi and diseases with those products.
Perlite and Vermiculate are natural products treated with high heat. They are used to make starting mixes and are added, in varying amounts, to (typically) Peat Moss. They help with aeration and drainage. All three products are sterile because of a heat process.

Peat Moss is dried and is really really... really absorbent. It holds moisture which is a must for germinating seeds and growing indoor transplants. You can make your own starting mix as these products are sold individually or you can buy a pre-made seed starting mix. 
Either way... seed starting mixes, again, are typically just peat moss with the addition of perlite and/or vermiculite. Sometimes a starting mix like Jiffy brand is mostly vermiculite. 

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My 2014 Tomato Seed Order and Tomato Planting Strategy: Woo-Hoo!

My 2014 Tomato Seed Order & 

Tomato Planting Strategy: Woo-Hoo! 

I just order about $100 worth of tomatoes seeds. I think it is 27 varieties in all. That does not include the 15 or so varieties I have that I saved seeds from 2013 for 2014. 

Now there is a method to my tomato madness (I think). I selected and bunch of early varieties and no varieties that take over 75 days to mature first fruit. My late July and August temperatures get to high for many tomatoes. That being said I bough a few heat tolerant varieties to test out.

Cherry and Small Tomatoes - The Rusted Garden 2014

I also bought about 10 different types of cherry and currant tomatoes. I will do a complete small fruited tomato garden that will be highlighted in a YouTube series. Along with a series on heat tolerant tomatoes.

I also have a planting strategy to plant the early tomatoes, 60 days or so, two times in 2014. Once in April and again in July. I want to get two plantings. I will see how that goes. I will be using containers, a green house and some tricks for cold weather protection.

606 MATINA 1 $2.95
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6002 FIREWORKS 1 $2.95
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2522 NEW BIG DWARF 1 $3.15
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3776 HEINZ 1439 VFA 1 $2.95
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3566 ARKANSAS TRAVELER 1 $2.95
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5827 ZAPOTEC PINK RIBBED 1 $2.95
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4484 NEVES AZOREAN RED 1 $3.10
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3037 TODD COUNTY AMISH 1 $3.15
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2752 BRANDYSWEET PLUM 1 $2.95
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5546 COYOTE 1 $3.00
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5038 MINT JULEP -- AWAITING 2014 CROP 1 $3.25
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6166 YELLOW CURRANT 1 $2.95
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5806 PURPLE BUMBLE BEE 1 $3.25
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6761 RIESENTRAUBE 1 $2.95
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5362 SWEET PEA CURRANT 1 $2.95
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5320 RED PEAR 1 $2.95
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3641 BLUSH 1 $3.00
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4675 COPIA 1 $3.25
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5319 INDIGO APPLE 1 $3.55
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5368 INDIGO BLUE BERRIES 1 $3.55
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3176 KIMBERLY 1 $2.95
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5860 ISIS CANDY 1 $2.95
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5009 JAPANESE TRIFELE BLACK 1 $2.95
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5082 FLAMME 1 $2.95
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4701 ORANGE BANANA 1 $2.9
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6721 GRAPE TOMATO 1 $3.25
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4242 SIOUX 1 $0.00
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Join My New YouTube Channel Just for NEW Gardeners: My First Vegetable Garden

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2014 Vegetable Garden Seed Give-A-Ways and Other Items at The Rusted Garden: Follow Me on Instagram and Twitter to Win

2014 Vegetable Garden Seed Give-A-Ways and Other Items at The Rusted Garden: Follow Me on Instagram and Twitter to Win
To promote my garden blog and YouTube channel, I will be giving away vegetable seeds through 2014 and other items that are hopefully of interest. This will be a monthly event.
The first vegetable seed prize pack will be given away in January 2014.

It will be about 6 packs of tomato seeds that are cold tolerant and early varieties. They will labelled and packed in coin envelopes. There will be 20-40 seeds per pack.

Seed Give-A-Way: The Rusted Garden 2014

To be eligible for the prizes, please follow The Rusted Garden on Twitter and please follow The Rusted Garden on Instagram. I will send out a Tweet or Instagram stating a prize is available and how to win it. Most likely, I will just be taking the first response to the prize Tweet or Instagram. Simple and easy.I wish you all a great year of family and gardening in 2014. 
ThanksGary (The Rusted Garden)
Join My New YouTube Channel Just for NEW Gardeners: My First Vegetable Garden

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How to Have A More Successful Vegetable Garden: A New Series for 2014

How to Have A More Successful Vegetable Garden

Seed Starting Mix Preparation for Germination:

Pre-Moisten, Pack Cells and Bottom Watering

Gardening is not about perfection. It is about enjoying, learning and changing methods. The best thing you can do is to just get gardening, have fun and see how it goes. I will be doing an ongoing series for 2014 called: How to Have A More Successful Vegetable Garden. The key word is more... each year we improve a bit. The series will follow my general path in the garden which typically starts with getting ready to grow plants indoors in my grow-closet come January.

Vegetables that will be in the 2014 Garden Series

This is the first entry in my new series for 2014 called How to Have A More Successful Vegetable Garden. I will be posting the series here on my new blog for new and beginning gardeners: My First Vegetable Garden! The series will be primarily published there and links will be set up to find the series. If you like this entry, please join and spread the world for 2014. Great gardens are on the horizon! 

Seed Starting Mix: Seed starting mixes or mediums should be sterile. You don't want to use soil from your garden for seeds, seedlings and early transplants. You don't want to bring in soil diseases or a fungus. 'Damping off ' diseases are a cotton like fungi that will cover the stems of seedlings and kill them.

The typical ingredients for seed starting mixes are vermiculite, perlite and peat moss. They are typically heat dried and sterile. You can buy them in various mixes. I often make my own to save money and my process can be found in this video. It is 5 or 6 parts peat moss and 1 or 1 1/2 bowls of perlite. Nothing has to be exact.

Preparing Seed Starting Mix: Never start planting seeds with a dry seed starting mix. Most starting mixes come 100% dry. I prefer them. Some are wet with a wetting agent. Why they don't say water, I don't know. I prefer the dry mixes because I feel they are most sterile.

Because they are dry.... you absolutely need to pre-moisten the starting mix before using it. Just add warm water and mix the water in evenly. You want the starting mix to be moistened through but not the point you can squeeze water out of it. You will add more water later. A dry starting mix actually resists absorbing water. It will float on water as seen in the video below.

Thumb Packing Seed Cells

Fill the Seed Starting Cells: The first mistake I made was how I first filled the cells. The moist starting mix fills them up easily. It is really a fluffy mix. The first round of filling them really makes starting cells that are too loosely packed with starting mix or medium. Seeds can fall down deeper into the cell because of the 'fluffy' medium and this can effect germination.

You want a tightly packed cell that has well packed medium. It will help with germination and it is better for root growth. Fill the cell once (first round) and pack the medium down with your thumb into the cell. Fill it again (second round) and you have a great base for starting seeds. The starting mix really can't be overly packed. The video shows you the process for preparing the cells for seeds.

Bottom Watering: Bottom watering is very important for germinating seedlings and small transplants. If you water from the top (like in the video) you will splash out seeds, small transplants and run the risk of spreading diseases. And it is just more difficult and time consuming to water from the top. Watering from the bottom just means filling the tray or flat the seed cells sit in. They will draw water up from the bottom. With time you get pretty good and knowing how much water to use. Whatever is not absorb in 20 or 30 minutes... just poor out into a bucket. You don't want them sitting in water.

I really enjoy gardening. If you enjoyed this entry and videos and would like the series to continue please give it a G +1 or a thumbs up. That is how I monitor interest and it helps me focus on my next project.

Thanks
Gary (The Rusted Garden)

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The Rusted Garden YouTube Channel Introduction. About My Channel - The Rusted Garden 2013

The Rusted Garden YouTube Channel Introduction: About My Channel - The Rusted Garden 2013
Well I am getting ready for the 2014 gardening season. I'll be ordering my seed catalogs soon. I just finished the promotional video that will run on my  main YouTube Channel: The Rusted Garden. If you are already are subscribed to my channel it won't run when you visit it. So here it is...

One of my goals for 2014 is to be on camera more but still keep the videos focused on useful gardening information that is quick and to point. If you have friends that may be interested in gardening, I could use the help sharing this video. Thanks and good luck in 2014! I already have some new tomato varieties picked out... no hybrids!
And yes it is hard getting a THUMBNAIL image that isn't a picture of you with your eyes shut and mouth open. LOL!
Join My New YouTube Channel Just for NEW Gardeners: My First Vegetable Garden

Join My Google+ Community Our Tomato and Vegetable Gardens (2500+ Members!)
250 HD Short and to Point Garden Videos: My YouTube Video Gardening Channel
Follow and Organize The Rusted Garden on Pinterest