Garden Detective

Of the 6 freaky tomato seedlings I planted last week, only one has survived. I noticed this morning that it has sprouted two tiny little leaves. It just might make it.

In the meantime, Matt Ippolito, a reader who was a top contender in last year's "Garden Detective Great Long Island Tomato Challenge," sent me an email:

"Some info to pass along on your tomato seed sprouting question-----------

http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/weeklypics/3-3-03.html

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/57/Surprises-In-Snacks"

Apparently, Bernadette isn't the only one to have stumbled across a sprouting tomato. There still doesn't seem to be an adequate explanation for it, just evidence that it sometimes happens. Hmmm.

In the meantime, all my in-ground tomato plants might have suffered a tragic fate, but the four I have growing in Earth Boxes are taking off like crazy.

The box on the right contains contains the Earth Box organic mixture, lime and fertilizer; the one on the left has standard issue stuff. Aside from health benefits, I'm curious to see if there's any difference in the way the plants develop. So far, no.

They're all just about ready for staking now. Problem is, the Earth Box staking system is prohibitively expensive, so I'm going to try to improvise with stakes and string or something. Any ideas?