Garden Season has begun for me!

  

The nightshades are coming up in 4-inch pots, safe in their cat-proof chickenwire enclosure by the kitchen sliding glass doors.  As a newcomer to the Willamette Valley, I've chosen a mix of old favorites and some varieties more suited to this climate than to the SF Bay Area where I'd gardened for over 20 years.  I'm also growing fewer eggplants and peppers, as I have heard that close square-foot style plant spacing needs adjustment for this area.  

Tomatoes:  Instead of the beefsteak tomato "Pineapple", I've substituted the salad tomato "Dr Wyche's Yellow", reputed to have a tropical taste.  In place of "Aunt Ruby's German Green", I'm trying "Lucky Tiger", a green and yellow elongated cherry tomato which I hope will have a similar flavor.   I'm staying with "Speckled Roman" for my paste tomato, though I may switch back to "Amish Paste" next year.  Still have seeds for "Speckled Roman", so I thought I'd use them again.  I'm going to do single-stem trellised tomatoes this year, so I have room for six-- another cherry, "Honeydrop", and two interesting salad tomatoes, "Queen of the Night" and "Paul Robeson".  

Peppers:  I'm taking Steve Solomon's advice from "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades" and putting aside my beloved large bell peppers.  Instead I have "Golden Star", a 4-inch bell from Territorial Seeds, and a mix of Italian style sweet peppers.  Jimmy Nardello is a favorite that should grow well here.  I'm trying some new-to-me F1 hybrid versions of Corni de Toro, a red called "Carmen" and a yellow called "Escamillo".  Megan at Creative Veggie Gardener says they do well in her Michigan shorter season, so I'm hopeful they will do well here.  I'm also going to grow a few "Lunchbox" mini Italian style peppers in a planter for fun.

Eggplants:  Not many changes here, I've never gone in for the giant black oblongs that so many people love.  My largest eggplant is the softball-sized "Rosa Bianca", which I've grown for many years, along with the gorgeous "Listada de Gandia".  My other eggplants are Asian types, the lavender "Bride" and a generic "Long Purple" from Botanical Interests.  I won't rule out picking up a "Fairy Tale" mini-eggplant for one of my planters, if I can find a seedling.  I'm out of seeds for it.