It is a stand still season.  The length of the days change, the calendar moves each day,  but the temperature is at a stand still. Last week there was no rain nor was there any sun.  This week looks to be about the same.  The temperature is in the 60's range, the nights drop about 10 degrees.  It varies so little that warmth to the skin by sunlight is remembered and discussed over dinner!   Good for growing pea, spinach and potatoes, I assume but a challenge for all of us that wanted stone fruit or tomatoes.

I have created hoop houses for my tomatoes.  I sense in late winter, it would be a false reference to say early spring as we did not experience that this year,  my only hope, was a hoop house.  They are very easy to create and inexpensive with reuseable material.  Hoop houses are the answer to location but they also present special skills needs by the gardener. 

Tomatoes grow ideally with day time temperature of 70-75 degrees and night time no colder than 65 degrees. A little humid and a light breeze to vibrate the plant will help with the pollination to make for the perfect picture.  Strong sunlight will develop strong fruit, so that should be mentioned.

Now under cover my plants are growing.  I lift the plastic ends to my hoop house each day to create a little air flow but is it enough?  Should I gently shack my plants each day around noon, the best hour for pollination?   Should I add a light to the hoop house to bright up the environment?  Do I simple wait the 60 to 80 days and see what developed?  How much do I fertilizes?  Will the egg shells and the worm tea be the magic for these plants?