The Tomato Lady

Good News! If you cannot find parking in our driveway (it happens) you can park in the street at the back of our house. Our backdoor neighbor has graciously allowed our customers to walk through his yard. Please DO NOT PARK IN HIS YARD! If you come in through the back and don't see us, give us a call so that we don't miss you. It's going to be a great year!

We try to garden as organically as possible. Our plants are fertilized with steamed bone meal, worm castings, epsom salts, mycorrihzae, seaweed extract, fish fertilizer, kelp and alfalfa meal. We DO NOT use pesticides or herbicides. I don't want for myself or my family to eat that stuff and I am sure you don't either.

We accept checks, cash and credit cards (minimum $30 purchase for credit cards please)

Plants We Are Offering This Year:

Tomatoes: We have 391 varieties this year, some very limited. We have some you won't find anywhere else unless you grow them.

Peppers: We are offering 165 different varieties, hot and sweet, plus superhots.

Vegetable Plants: Currently Gourmet lettuce, white, orange, yellow and purple cauliflower, Green Magic broccoli, kale and 3 types of bok choi and cabbage for early planting. Our cucumbers and some squash will make their appearance this Saturday, April the 19th

Flower Plants: We have a LOT of flower plants. Some you won't find at the big box stores. Amaranthus - elephant head, stock, gazania, zinnias, echinacea, snapdragons, petunias, marigolds, to name a few. I even have salpiglossis, as requested by a customer last year.

Herbs: Beautiful Genovese basil that's ready to go know. I will have lime, lemon, thai, green globe and more a little later on.

We have a standing invitation to each and every one of you to visit my garden. You will be amazed how I transformed one of our greenhouses into a sunny entertaining spot. Just call first. I kid my customers that they only visit when they want something! I’d love to share my garden with you.

OTHER INTERESTING BITS

Dates to Maturity

I changed actual days to a seasonal range since our weather is so unpredictable:

Very Early - 54 days or less

Early - 55-69 days

Mid-season - 70-84 days (most of them are mid-season)

Late Season - 85 or more days (late yes, but worth the real estate)

Meet Your Friendly Tomato People

Steve and Elizabeth Casteel

Elizabeth, The Tomato Lady with a Feher Ozon Paprika pepper and amaranthus "Love-Lies-Bleeding". The man in the picture below, is her Honey, Steve, The Tomato Man. I would be remiss if I didn't mention him. After all, It takes two to make this whole operation come together.

My partner in "crime", Steve Casteel. husband extarordinaire, affectionately known as The Tomato Man (or King) as he likes to think!

Home and Business Address

822 N University

Spokane Valley, WA 99206 (see map below)

info@thetomatolady.com

blog: http://thetomatoladyblog.com

facebook: www.facebook.com/thetomatolady

Phone (landline) 509-928-3342 (we don't text)

Hours: Mon - Fri 10 am - 6 pm

Sat 10 am - 4 pm, Sun - closed

Facebook and Blog

www.facebook.com/thetomatolady

www.thetomatoladyblog.com

This is a picture of one of our geenhouses several days ago. I like to try different colors and shapes that you can only grow if you sow them yourselves. This year we have over 391 varieties on offer. It feels really good to know where our veggies come from and what they have been treated with. We can be self-sufficient if we need to be.

One of our customer who was waiting patiently for his wife to make her selections. Such a thoughtful husband, don't ya think? He's still waiting!

We are open!

This year we have 391 varieties of tomatoes and 165 varieties of peppers. Don't ask me how I did it. I really wanted fewer but you know how it is, you start getting catalogs and before you know it, you end up with more than you counted on. I sometimes think seed catalogs are like dirty magazines for us gardeners! (That could almost be construed as a pun.)

I am excited this year, our plants are stunning this time around. I have flowers, vegetables, cole crops, and herbs (primarily basil). this year I am going to have the best cucumbers and squash. Last year, I couldn't get them to germinate to save my life.

This is one of my new dwarf tomato plants, "Zoe's Sweet". When it first came up, I almost had a heart attack thinking it had a virus or nutritional deficiencie. Upon doing some research I found out that that is it's normal coloration. The chartreuse gene also causes it to be about a foot taller than other dwarfs which are normally in the range of 3' to 4'. The tomatoes are supposed to be one of the sweeter ones.