Welcome to Gardening with Doug

Welcome to Gardening with Doug, this is a place to learn about what to plant, when to plant it and how to make it grow.
I've accumulated lots of plants over the last couple weeks, then had a week out of town leaving lots to do when I returned.  Right now is the time to plant tender crops like tomatoes, peppers and anything that can't stand cold. Look at the flats outside my greenhouse.

As you can see, I've got lots of work to do, but this is the fun part, right?

The most important job is to improve the soil where you're planting. Add compost or well-aged animal manure to the area. Feed the soil, not the plant and you'll be rewarded with plants that will thrive all summer.

Always water each transplant as soon as it's put in the ground, don't wait to finish two hours of planting and then water the whole patch. And if it's plants going in the ground, wait for a cloudy day or plant at the end of the day so the plant is not stressed with hot sun.

I'm looking forward to planting these giant tomatoes from Yarnick's Farm in Indiana. I was speaking there and couldn't resist getting two big tomato and one huge pepper plant.

Go out and get a couple big tomato plants. You'll harvest early and have a jump on the season. Some might call it cheating, but for the first taste of a homegrown tomato, it's worth it.