Spring(ish) tomato planting

Had a horrible time of growing tomatoes in the off autumn season so i'm hoping spring will be much more promising. I planted only one store bought transplant, a Parks Whopper. Had some small tomato seedlings growing in the compost (pretty sure thats what they are), so i transplanted one of those too. i'll see how it does. I planted borage around the tomatoes b/c i read that borage:

 "Deters tomato hornworms and cabbage worms. One of the best bee and wasp attracting plants. Plant near tomatoes to improve growth and disease resistance. After you have planned this annual once it will self seed. Borage flowers are edible.Borage deters tomato worm, improves growth and flavor."

so it got planted around both plants. Don't know if it will make much of a difference.


also read from Kathy Huber's blog at the chronicle that: 

"Fruit sets when night temperatures are 50-70 degrees and days are 60-85. Fertilize when you see the first tiny tomatoes. Continue applications every week or two through the growing season.To discourage tomato-pecking birds, hang shiny red Christmas balls on the plants. A bird bath may distract the thirsty fliers."

which is good to know b/c the last time i planted them in the spring i think i tried it WAY too late and it got too hot for the blossoms to produce fruit instead of falling off :(  and i just thought that the red christmas bulbs was a super funny idea.

I don't have enough good quality soil to plant what i want (nor do i have the time), so i think everything veggie is going to be very limited this year and i'm just going to focus on flowering seed this season mostly. I'll be piling up on grass clippings, leaves and kitchen scraps as much as i can so i can do things right and have no excuses. i don't want to plant in horrible soil and then feel so jaded when things dont grow as i want them to. Soil is the major foundation to grow anything worth much of anything so preparation is key.