Windsor Garden Club Organic Spring Plant Sale is Here!

Tomatoes & Veggies & Herbs & Flower Starts For Sale

The Windsor Garden Club is holding its annual Spring Plant Sale right now - This Year in Covid-Safe format!

Starting this Sunday, April 18, the club is offering a selection of organic veggie starts that can tolerate cool night temperatures dipping into the 40s. Another crop of organic veggie and flower varieties that can't be planted until night-time temperatures warm up will be available for sale beginning Saturday, May 1. Sale ends May 6 or as long as supplies last.

Plants will be available for purchase and pickup in Windsor at the home of WGC Past President Cindy Fenton's house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends and 10 a.m. to noon Mondays, Thursdays or Fridays. Please wear a mask and maintain social distancing while browsing and buying plants. For directions to the plant sale location, email Cindy Fenton at cfenton1957@gmail.com.

Prices for plant starts are $3 for singles, and $5 per 6-pak. Proceeds from the sale go to fund the Town Green Community Garden bed rebuild project. Cash and checks only -- no credit card sales available.

Scroll down for growing instructions and list of plants available.

Instructions & Tips from Cindy Fenton

Instructions

When to plant your summer garden:

When night time temperatures are ~50 degrees. This is often the last week of April or the first week of May. The forecast from the 18ththru the week is for lows from 47-51 so it is a great time to plant. (Lemon cukes, basil, peppers, winter squash should wait until May to get the best results. Buy and protect at night if you want to take a chance. If temperatures drop to 45 it can be as easy as popping a black nursery pot over the top to keep the damp off the plants.

Tomato and Veggie Definitions

Indeterminate = a tomato that grows and bears fruit until frost, lack of water or a disease halts growth. Good for kitchen gardeners but usually requires a large cage. In tropical areas indeterminates can grow 25 ft vines and live for 3 or more years.

Determinate = a tomato that grows to a determined size (sometimes listed as bush) and produces a lot of tomatoes in a smaller window of time. Good for canners and can take a smaller cage or sprawl. Slugs can eat if uncaged.

dth=Days to Harvest How many days it takes, on average, to pick a ripe tomato after planting. Tomatoes usually get better and better through the season. First harvested fruit can be a bit bland so hang in there if trying something new. Make sure to pick a good variety ( 60 dth) to tide you over to your 80 + dth varieties.

OP = Open pollinated. You can save these seeds if you wish and they will come true to type of plant from which they were harvested if they do not cross pollinate with another tomato next to them via the wind or an insect.

Hybrid = A tomato that has been crossed by a breeder for disease resistance that will likely not come true to type if you save seed. Heirloom marriage tomatoes are newer OP varieties crossed for flavor for the home and market grower.

Container Friendly =a smaller tomato that can be grown in the ground or a very large pot if given extra fertilizer monthly. 15 gallon Smart Pots out of fabric or a plastic pot will work well.

April 18th Varieties for Sale

Cherry Tomatoes

· Super Sweet 100 Hybrid-Trusses of sweet red cherries. Productive OP large indeterminate plant. 60dth. *

· Yellow Jelly Bean hybrid-Very sweet pear shaped fruit. Large productive indeterminate hybrid- 72 dth. *

· Chocolate Cherry- extremely flavorful heirloom taste for sauce or fresh eating. 1” round fruit in trusses that hold the stem well and can ripen on the counter. productive with good disease resistance. OP indeterminate, 72 dth.

Popular Easy to Grow Main Crop Tomatoes

· Early Girl Hybrid-the most popular main crop tomato. A productive, disease resistant, reliable hybrid. 6-8 oz fruits, Indeterminate, 50 dth

Large Slicers

· Heirloom Beefsteak-For those of you who want to grow a large slicer for sandwiches. Productive OP heirloom, Indeterminate, 80 dth *

Sauce and Drying Tomatoes + Tomatillos

· Italian Roma- An Italian heirloom roma, 3 inch oblong meaty, thick walled tomato primarily for cooking. A compact determinate reaching 4 tall. 80 dth

· San Marzano Lunga No 2- Dry and meaty for sauce, this productive tomato is considered the best tasting paste tomato in the world by gourmet chefs. That is why it costs a dollar more/can at the grocery store. It also requires good calcium absorption and a regular watering schedule or it gets blossom end rot rather easily. This variety is reported to be more resistant. 3-4 inch long oblong fruit, OP, Indeterminate, 74 dth.

· De Milpa Tomatillos- Smaller and more purplish, these are the the sought after gourmet tomatillos rcommended by our community gardeners from Michoacan. Hard to find seed but I finally did. The fruit hangs on the plant in lantern-like husks and is ready to harvest when it drops to the ground. Freezes well. Must have 2 plants to guarantee fruit because it is not self-fertile! If you are in the community garden you can probably get by with one plant.*

Container-Friendly Tomatoes

· Bloody Butcher- A container friendly saladette with 3-4 oz fruits that have a rich tomato taste. Good canner. Potato leaf, Semi-determinate. Steady supply for smaller family. OP. 55 dth *

· Maralinga Dwarf-a container friendly beefsteak that is a new trial variety from Victory Seeds. A cross of a Cherokee Purple and the Australian dwarf tomato Wilpena. 4 ft high, OP Indeterminate. 75 dth. Great reviews from down under.

· Principe Borghese- (Prin-si-pee Bor-gay-zuh) A container friendly cook’s tomato. Bulletproof 4 ft Italian heirloom for drying, roasting - not fresh eating. Can whole with basil for winter. Dave’s Garden has rave reviews + canning instructions. Very productive all season and sets fruit even in 100+ heat. I will always plant this one after growing it last year. The cooks tomato. 1-2 oz oblong fruits, OP, Indeterminate, 78 dth.

Peppers

· Padron-The classic Spanish tapas pepper that you pick at 1-2 “ and quickly fry in a hot oiled, salted skillet for an appetizer. Prolific but if you let them get large they are super hot. Occasionally a small one is hot as well. OP 60 dth -

· Jalapenos-The mild pepper that is prolific and versatile in the kitchen. Makes wonderful easy quick pickles to add to dishes as a garnish. OP 60 dth or 80 dth for red peppers.

· Big Red Bell-Thick walled juicy big bell peppers that can be harvested green or allowed to turn red and sweet. 18-24 inches tall. Smallest tomato cages can help keep branches from breaking. OP 75 dth for red sweet peppers.

· Jimmy Nardello-A very prolific sweet Italian frying/roasting pepper. 20-24” tall with thin 10” long peppers. OP 80-90 dth

· Poblano-The mild/medium heart shaped pepper used for stuffing in chili rellenos. When dried it is called ancho and is used in sauces like mole. 2 ft tall. OP 70-80 dth.

Flowers for Pollinators in $5 jumbo 6 paks

Everyone needs flowers to bring the garden to life with much needed habitat for butterflies and pollinators. We have selected old fashioned easy to grow annual varieties that bloom all season long and serve insects well.

· Marigolds: Butterflies can nectar easier on the open blooms of French Marigolds. The roots help control nematodes, and the edible petals can be used to dress up salads. We offer two 8-12 inch tall mounding types:

Naughty Marietta & Queen Sofia

· Purple Prince Zinnias -2-3 feet tall, easy to grow, and great for nectaring monarchs and other pollinators. Plant a large border in a sunny location along with our native milkweed for an instant butterfly garden.

· Cosmos -a favorite for bees! Feathery green foliage & season long blooms.

Daydream Cosmos 3-4’ Dazzler Cosmos-3-4 ‘ Candy Stripe Cosmos 3-6’

Varieties Available after Saturday May 1

Tomatoes · Sun Gold Cherry-Most popular cherry tomato in the world. Productive and needs a very large, well staked cage. 2 oz fruits, Indeterminate, 60 dth

· Better Boy-Main crop tomato & holds the production record for single plant in a season@350 pounds! Disease resistant hybrid, Indeterminate, 70 dth.

· Cherokee Purple- A dark beefsteak that is complex, juicy, productive, easy to grow, and very popular. 10-12 oz fruits, OP, Indeterminate.75 dth

· Cherokee Carbon-A cross between Carbon and Cherokee Purple. Better production of 10-12 oz smoother fruits, and had the rich Cherokee flavor. Heirloom marriage hybrid, 75 dth

· Green Giant-Super productive, 1-2 pound taste test winning GRW (green when ripe) tomatoes. Good disease resistance. Nice color on a plate. Large OP plant, Indeterminate potato leaf, 85 dth. Yellow tint is overripe.

· Siletz- Container Friendly & a very early, and flavorful slicer. determinate 7-10 oz fruit on an OP 4 ‘ plant 75 dth.

· Golden Jubilee-An OP Indeterminate low acid tomato with heavy yields. 80 dth. Good flavor.

· Green Zebra-A green and yellow striped tart and juicy tomato that bears prolifically. OP, Indeterminate but needs calcium and even watering as blossom end rot can be problematic in some years.

Zucchini and Squash

· Black Beauty Zucchini- Compact bush that requires about 4 feet of space. Traditional green zucchini. 50dth

· Raven Zucchini-Compact open bush for easy picking. Dark green with great flavor.

· Max’s Gold Zucchini-Very productive and mildew resistant compact hybrid bush zucchini that lasts over a longer season.3’x3’ space. Tender, straight yellow squash that is easy to find for harvest. 55 dth.

· Costata Romanesco Squash- These are the very large striped and ridged vining squash that win the largest zucchini contests. A small seed cavity that provides firm nutty flesh even when very large. Plant it at the edge of your home garden where it can spread out over the lawn or under a tree or trim it down to a couple shorter vines and harvest fewer fruits.52 dth.

· Red Kuri Climbing Squash-A beautiful small Japanese hubbard squash with bright red/orange thin edible skin. Also known as Orange Hokkaido. Each squash is 3-5 pounds and makes good pies and purees or can be roasted and added to other dishes. Vines can grow 5 feet trained up a trellis with the pretty hanging squash.92 dth –

· Honey Nut Butternut Squash- Great little super sweet butternut squash to serve 2. Keeps well and is very productive on a trellis. Beautiful and tasty. Hybrid. 110 dth

· Sugar Pie Pumpkins-Productive vining plant with 6-8 inch pumpkins. Can be planted in a large pot and let run. Just for fun for anyone who wants to grow their own pumpkins for pumpkin pie or make mini jack-o-lanterns.

Eggplant and Lemon Cucumbers

· Black Beauty Eggplant - Important ratatouille ingredient. 2-3 ft tall. Small cage good for protecting against broken branches. It is suggested you do not plant until nights are reliably above 55 degrees. Wait until May. OP -71 dth

· Lemon Cucumbers-Another heat lover. These do miserably if you plant them too early. An incredible treat that scrambles up a trellis to produce a ton of fruit. Does not ship well so it is a gardeners only treat!

Basil

· Sweet Genovese Basil-Sow on the East side of your tomatoes after hot weather sets in. Tip prune early 3x to produce a bushy productive plant.

· Italian Pesto Basil-A little zestier with smaller leaves. New this year.