Out in the great outdoors finally

The hottest day of the year so far and maybe not the best day to transition these guys. I've got two tomato seedlings, one Japanese Black Trifele and one Sungold, now out in the great outdoors, repotted and all. I'll give them some time to adjust, then I plan to plant directly into the ground. Eight more seedlings to transition. Definitely easier to buy them ready to plant but the benefits of doing it this way is intangible.

Yesterday seems a long time away. Here they were.

Tomato on my mind

Grown from seed, planted 2/28/11. My babies are about a month old. I have been putting them outside at night to harden them for the great outdoors since our nighttime temperatures are up in the 50s. We've been getting these amazingly warm sunny days so my plan is to take them to my garden tomorrow to repot into a larger container.

Nine days ago, they looked like this.

The second day of spring

Our first day of spring was cold and rainy. I didn't venture out yesterday but today I did. The thornless boysenberries are blooming.

Hopelessly devoted

To tomatoes, that is. If you knew me, you would know I spend too much time meditating on my tomato seedlings as they sit perched on my window sill.

A late start for me this year: I planted only 12 seeds on Marcy 28th of this year.  About ten days later, I had ten seedlings.
Not bad, considering I was being a bit brash. I don't have much room in my garden so even a 50%  germination rate would be swell.  I've got three Momotaro, one Black Krim, two Sungold, two Japanese Black Trifele, two black cherry.

Transplanted a week ago from the yogurt cups, they are in a larger container.

In the next few weeks, I'll harden them off.  I may plant them again in another yet larger container before planting into the ground.

I'll keep posting their progress.

Disaster in Japan: resources

If you want to donate, this is a good site which makes it easy.  I read that the Japanese Red Cross Society was the first to respond.

Other organizations where you can donate. These are reputable US based charities.
Shelterboxusa provides emergency shelter in disasters and are sending their boxes to Japan. An organization based in the UK, their site has international links.

Page with a list of uptodate information, includes live streaming from major media and twitter with real time updates

update:
Excellent post by a garden blogger in Japan with even more information, personal story and more places where you can help