After leaving Abil Bradshaw's "Food Folly Follies" http://www.abilnutritionist.com/ Monday night I stopped by my favorite grocery store in Puget Sound: Uwajimaya in Seattle's International District. http://www.uwajimaya.com/

While stocking up on udon, dashi and stuffing my mouth with all the sushi I could eat (Kobayashi-style) I also picked up these:

Uwajimaya has many varieties of Japanese and Asian vegetable seeds. Many I'm not familiar with but I figure you can't go wrong with shiso and onions.

I'll let you know how they do in Freak of Nature garden this year.

Now, if only the snow would quit falling...

Reaching into the reader question grab bag, here's what I came up with:

I want to try to grow tomatoes this year. In the past years, I had no success. Usually my tomatoes developed "blight." Can you advise me as to how to avoid this? Second, I was going to either plant a "raised garden" or plant the tomatoes in a pot. How deep does the dirt need to be for the tomato plants to grow?

If you have any advice for the reader, comment away.

I've never had trouble with blight. It could be because I only grow tomatoes from starts I buy at the annual WSU master gardeners sale (this year, May 10 and 11 at the WSU Research Center, 7612 Pioneer Way E., Puyallup).

When I grow my tomatoes, I use a compost rich soil in a raised garden bed. I bury the plants deep and strip off the bottom layer of leaves before planting. I make sure they get plenty of sun. And that's pretty much it beyond watering regularly. I don't like growing tomatoes in a pot because I think they are difficult to manage when the weather is really warm.

I dug into our story archive and I found a great article we ran last May by our freelance writer Jean Parietti. Here is a quick list of tips she recommended for getting your tomatoes off to a good start:

Growing tips

Cindy Knight, owner of Cindy's Plant Stand in Elma, and Joyce Harms, a King County Master Gardener, offer these eight tips for growing tomatoes from starts:

1. Select plants with sturdy, thick stems; avoid the tall, spindly ones.

2. If the plants are fresh from the greenhouse, harden them off before planting. For a week, place the plants outside during the day, then bring them inside or into a protected area at night.

3. Boost the plant's root system by removing all the leaves except the top few. Then sink the plant into the ground up to those leaves; for a gangly plant, dig a trench and lay the tomato in sideways, leaving just the top stem and leaves exposed. Roots will develop all along the bare stem, producing a stronger plant.

4. Mix some 5-10-10 vegetable fertilizer into the planting hole; check the package for the proper amount. Water well after planting. Additional fertilizing usually isn't needed; if desired, side-dress the plant with fertilizer in mid-June or July.

5. For indeterminate plants (those that keeping growing and fruiting all season), use stakes, trellises or tomato cages to keep them off the ground and support the weight of developing fruit. Secure the vines to the support structure with cloth, plastic tape or plastic tomato clips; wire and string will cut the plant.

6. Never water a tomato from above - it encourages fungus. Water deeply at the base of the plant, in the morning, as often as the soil dictates. After watering, the soil should be moist 4-5 inches down.

7. Tomato blossoms are self-pollinating, but if desired, tap the blossoms or shake the plant to help things along.

8. If planting in a container, make sure the pot is at least the equivalent of a 5-gallon bucket (larger tomato varieties need larger pots). A light-colored, plastic pot retains water best, but the plant still may need to be watered daily. Include a trellis to support indeterminate varieties.