The Collected Seed Blog /

My thoughts on a variety of garden topics. Favorites include: vegetables, native plants, heavy clay soil, composting, and gardening with ornery dogs.

The Collected Seed

4 days ago
3 min

My favorite tomatoes: Vorlon

Vorlon were highly recommended by tomato growing gurus. Now I'm on the Vorlon tomato loving bandwagon. You should be proud of me. I resisted the urge this we...

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The Collected Seed

Mar 2
2 min

My favorite micro-dwarf tomato: Aztek

This little micro-dwarf tomato has the brightness of other yellow tomatoes, cute shape, and tiny growth habit. Above: Aztek (right) next to a Sun Gold tomato...

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The Collected Seed

Feb 24
3 min

My favorite tomatoes: Bendigo Moon (dwarf)

A cross of one of my other favorite tomatoes, Bendigo Moon wowed with impressive production. The picture above is Bendigo Moon (larger) beside its parent, Sn...

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The Collected Seed

Feb 17
2 min

My favorite tomatoes: Snow White cherry

This tomato came as a complete surprise, but became a staple in my garden after its first year. I stumbled upon my Snow White tomatoes while visiting my favo...

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The Collected Seed

Feb 12
3 min

Live plants vs starting from seeds

Whether a gardener chooses to start with seeds or live plants is as unique as their gardens. It comes down to the answer to some key questions. Cost is often...

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The Collected Seed

Feb 10
3 min

My favorite tomatoes: Sun Gold cherry

If tomatoes can have a personality, these definitely do with a cheery and vibrant persona that reflects their taste. I first discovered Sun Gold tomatoes abo...

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The Collected Seed

Feb 5
4 min

Creating my small space grow cart

Small space gardening means a smaller grow cart, but I had to build it myself

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The Collected Seed

Jan 30
2 min

My 2020 Grow List

It’s here! My 2020 grow list.

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The Collected Seed

Jan 14
2 min

How my wallet survives springtime

Raise your hand if you want to grow all the things! I'm guilty. I read gardening blogs, online threads, and get sucked into Facebook gardening groups that te...

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The Collected Seed

Jan 5
2 min

Cherokee Purple - better for fall

I've grown Cherokee Purple four times now and because of a common tomato fungus, I think gardeners will be happier with its performance if it's planted in Ju...

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The Collected Seed

Dec 10, 2019
4 min

Dwarf tomato verdit

As I shared this summer in my Dwarf tomato grow list post, I started with a packet of "free with purchase" seeds and ended up tumbling down a dwarf variety r...

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The Collected Seed

Sep 25, 2019
3 min

Get your frost blankets ready

My weather is set to turn on a dime which means I need to be ready for anything. Last week, temperatures were still in the 90s but in about a month, I can ex...

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The Collected Seed

Sep 20, 2019
3 min

My tomatoes are going gangbusters thanks to planting in July.

I've heard for years that it was a good idea to pull and replace stressed tomato plants once the heat caused them to stop setting fruit. It's a really hard t...

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The Collected Seed

Sep 10, 2019
2 min

Shishito and Bell Pepper Slaw

I have a tendency to experiment in the kitchen using whatever I have available and failing to write down what I've done. It's such a habit that at dinner my ...

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The Collected Seed

Aug 28, 2019
5 min

Frost tolerant? It’s 100 degrees!

Greetings from the edge of Mother Nature’s sanity! Here it‘s time to start the seeds of frost tolerant plants while we cook under the heat of a thousand suns...

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The Collected Seed

Jul 11, 2019
5 min

BER? More like GRRR!

I'm pretty sure that Blossom-end Rot (BER) shows up in every garden at least once a season, no matter how good the gardener. This year was the closest I've c...

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The Collected Seed

Jul 3, 2019
3 min

Dwarf tomato grow list

I know I'm not alone among gardeners when I buckled to a seed buying wild-hair in winter. Triggered by a packets of free seeds with purchase, I succumb to te...

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The Collected Seed

Jun 25, 2019
4 min

Egg Yolk Tomato - one to add to your grow list

On a hot summer day last year, I caught up on A Way To Garden podcasts and what better way to wrap up a podcast marathon than an interview with The Tomato Ma...

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The Collected Seed

May 19, 2019
2 min

Feels like the first time

With my tomatoes having finally set fruit, I'm daydreaming about the way those acidic berries' flavors will soon dance across my tongue. Meanwhile, lyrics to...

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Vegetables, native plants + composting... in suburbia.

The Collected Seed Blog /

My thoughts on a variety of garden topics. Favorites include: vegetables, native plants, heavy clay soil, composting, and gardening with ornery dogs.

My favorite tomatoes: Vorlon

My favorite micro-dwarf tomato: Aztek

My favorite tomatoes: Bendigo Moon (dwarf)

My favorite tomatoes: Snow White cherry

Live plants vs starting from seeds

My favorite tomatoes: Sun Gold cherry

Creating my small space grow cart

My 2020 Grow List

How my wallet survives springtime

Cherokee Purple - better for fall

Dwarf tomato verdit

Get your frost blankets ready

My tomatoes are going gangbusters thanks to planting in July.

Shishito and Bell Pepper Slaw

Frost tolerant? It’s 100 degrees!

BER? More like GRRR!

Dwarf tomato grow list

Egg Yolk Tomato - one to add to your grow list

Feels like the first time

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