Tomato Dirt Newsletter
Volume 9, Number 4

Dear Tomato Dirt reader,

Welcome back to Tomato Dirt! A couple times a month, we’ll send you this newsletter packed with tips about growing tomatoes and using them.

Now: Great Clearance Deals for Kitchen and Home

This is the GS page where you can get fun and unique items for your home and garden at clearance prices. It's so much fun to browse around. And if you find something at a bargain price - well, go for it!

Plus, they donate 8% of their profits to home and garden improvement programs.

But apart from all that good stuff, their Home & Kitchen Outlet has great deals.

Check them out here.

Tomato Dirt is on Pinterest

FEATURE: Get Your Garden Ready for Spring with These 5 Easy Steps

• Till the bed
  Begin preparing your soil by cultivating the bed 8-10 inches deep with a garden spade or tiller/cultivator.
• Cover the soil so it warms
  Tomatoes like warm soil. Even if air temperatures start to heat up in the spring, it takes the dirt awhile to catch up. You can help prevent transplant shock by covering your tomato plot with sheets of black plastic, which absorbs heat from the sun and accelerates the warming process.
• Test the soil
  Take a simple soil test of your soil to know how to amend it.
• Note the pH
  Tomatoes grow best in slightly acidic soil with a pH level between 6.0 and 7.0 – optimum is between 6.5 and 7.0. If your soil’s pH isn’t within that range, make proper adjustments.
• Amend nutrients
  Check soil test results for an even balance between nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, all necessary for strong tomato production. Evaluating nutrients will go a long way in preparing your soil because you will know what you need to add.

Get more helpful details about preparing your vegetable garden soil - plus check out more tips for preparing your garden on our Pinterest board.

Best Tips for Growing Tomatoes

Really - That Many Kinds of Seed Starting Kits?

Deep-root growing kits … quick start seed kits … special potting mixes.

Yep, there's a kit for that! See for yourself.

We love how you can get replacement parts for seed starting trays, too. Our good friends at Gardener's Supply have all kinds of seed starting gear and will answer your questions, too.

Tomato Growing Tip: Use a DIY Soil Test Kit – It’s Easy!

Image: Tomato Dirt

Get more tips for growing tomatoes on our Tomato Growing Tips Pinterest board.

Get Your Garden Ready the Easy Way

Till ‘er up! Sun Joe and other tillers	Soil Savvy, Rapitest Do-It-Yourself soil test kits and soil pH testers	Garden plastic mulch: our favorite ways to prevent weeds

More Garden Prep Tips