One Week Until June?!? (Part 2)

Okay, so in all my "catching up", I got a little long winded for just one post...

Earlier this week, Garrick called me from work to ask me if I wanted another Tomato plant (can we say, "Duh", ha).  I was expecting a small plant like the ones I currently had growing in planters on my back deck...that is so not what he brought home though!  This plant is huge compared to my little plants!  It's even got little tomato blooms on it already!  This one is a "Northern Delight", which I assume is red tomatoes but we'll see soon enough!  I planted this one using the same method that I did with the smaller ones, plopped it into its new home (a 20-inch planter that cost me $9.74 at WalMart because they were sold out of the cheaper ones), broke up the root cluster a bit, pulled off the lower leaves (to form more root shoots), and piled an entire bag of potting soil up around it!  It got pretty "wilty" having spent the day in an office building, but it is slowly perking back up thanks to a gallon plus of water added after planting.  For added support, we also got a Tomato Cage up around it. 

I had three of these cages left from last year, but went to buy two more for the rest of the planters.  Instead, I got stakes and "stake supports, but I'm going to have to return the supports and just use tomato twine instead, the supports are too wide for my planters!  All of my tomatoes are doing great, despite being left outside overnight during several frosty mornings!  The four "tiny" tomato plants have all grown several inches taller recently, with the Black Prince plant really leading that charge!  The photo to the right shows the plant stakes I bought today (they didn't have any cages), I'll go get some tomato twine (green twine that is"softer" than normal twine) in the next few weeks...these guys don't really "need" to be caged just yet.  The stakes were $0.88 each, so at least they're cheap!  Pardon the "dirty deck", we haven't gotten out there to do our spring cleaning yet!  The table is still sitting in our dining room (off to the side of the "indoor table") and I have yet to remember to measure it again for a new tablecloth this year!

I mentioned earlier (in part 1) that I went on a shopping trip today...mainly I went out to go to Home Depot to pick up an outdoor clothes dryer (otherwise known as a Clothesline)!  I was there last week and they were sold out (under $40 for the only one they stock in the store), but the gal that helped me looked it up and told me they were getting more in today.  We checked out the other options that Home Depot sells (Lowe's does not sell these at all...I looked), since there is only one option to purchase "in store" and the reviews on it kinda suck.  The first one I picked out was around $75, but did not qualify for free shipping (even though the site says orders over $50 ship for free).  With shipping and tax...it was going to cost us $155!  No thank you, next!  I settled on one that was about $10 more, but did qualify for free shipping (oddly enough, the tax was less on this one too...), bring the total just under $100.  Still, a little more than we really want to spend on the "umbrella" style clothesline...I really want a set of steel T-posts, but the only T-posts I can find are flimsy and come in pieces!  I want solid (hollow) steel darn it!  So, we got the $40 one at the store (long story short, lol)...if it breaks (as all the reviews complain) we can replace it once and it'll still be cheaper than the others...if it breaks twice though...I'm commissioning a steel worker to make me a set of sturdy T-posts!  For now...I just need someone (Garrick) to help dig the hole for the post anchor and I'll be off to line drying this summer, yeah!  This one even came with a couple dozen clothes pins...I'll buy more soonish, I forgot to pick them up at WalMart today while I was there.  I also got another screwdriver set while I was at Home Depot today...we have managed to lose our little Husky set!  I found a set for $6, so it's gonna live in the "junk drawer" in the kitchen...along with the bolt action for my 30-06 that's still in Oregon...I need to get those "home" someday.