The Mommie Maven: The Garden Project - Part 3 (Seeds & Starts)

So now that our fabulous beds were in place we had no excuse to not plant this year. Since we didn't get the beds in place until well-after the normal planting season (usually mid-April), we knew we had to buy starts in order to have harvestable plants this year. We were driving by the Black Mountain Farmer's Market - this little white house with gardens outside on the corner of a road - and saw tomato starts that were buy 5 get one free. That was an easy sell!
We stopped by after picking up Mason at school and were met with a list of about 50 varieties to choose from. Of course I had no idea where to start (other than knowing I wanted my all time favorite snack-sized tomatoes, Sungolds). So I just kind of picked and choose colors, sizes, and harvest times, so that we had a variety throughout the summer. One of the owners, Harry, promptly set about educating me on all things tomato and garden. Here are a few things I learned:

I learned that Michael should be peeing on our compost pile because the phosphorus in urine is essential for plants and that in 10 years we are looking at a phosphorus shortage that is cataclysmic and that "no one is talking about" (he said if we were really committed, I should be peeing in a bucket for the compost pile, too). Reminded me of my uncle for a minute. You can read more about it here.
Then he set about explaining how to plant the starts and that the little white fuzzies at the bottom of each plant were actually preemie roots. Before planting, I needed to trim off the lower branches and bury each plant about half way up it's stalk and those white preemies would become roots and secure the plant.
I learned that egg shells should not be put in a compost bin, but should be crumbled and put directly on the soil at the base of each plant because some mineral in the shells gets lost within a compost bin, but exerts the most direct nutrition possible if put directly on the soil.
I learned that it wasn't too late to plant seeds directly into the soil - especially squash and the like.
I learned that nightshades like potato and pepper plants an carry the tomato blight, which is possibly why our tomatoes failed after the first year in our West Asheville house. We had planted a couple of potato plants in an upper bed. He said that if any small bit of potato is left over, it can get your tomatoes.

I think he could've gone on for another couple of hours, but we had a hungry baby on our hands, so we left with our six tomato plants - 4th of July (because that's when they'll be ripe), Old German, Principe Borghese, Sungolds (2), and Tappy's Finest.
When we got home I set about planting the 'maters and selecting seeds for the rest of the beds. Since it was too late and hot for a few varieties, especially lettuces, I opted to try out our putanesca zucchinis (can't wait until these babies are ready...my favorite!), some beans, dill, beets, leeks and cucumber. So far the tomatoes have been very happy.