Pico de Gallo Garden

Back when we lived in Virginia, about 10 or so years ago I started growing some vegetables. They didn't ever do that well and I gave up when we moved to North Carolina. Now that we are getting settled again here, I would like to give it a try again. I figure that this time I'll start small and then when I have proven that I can take care of a very small amount of garden plants I'll slowly start adding more. I always wanted to try Square Foot Gardening, so I figured that if I started with one 4'X4' bed that would be good for the first season.

Now the other fact of the matter is that I am a hopeless addict to fresh salsa. I can literally go through a whole big bowl by myself in no time flat. So I figured that the best thing to attempt growing was a salsa garden. After spending quite a bit of time out in San Diego I have settled on Pico de Gallo as being my favorite form. There is something about its elemental simplicity that I love. So since I have been piled under with seed catalogs for the last couple of months ago, I finally pulled out the Cook's Garden catalog to have a look at what they are offering this year. Here's what I'm looking at getting:

Persimmon Tomatoes - These are the tomatoes that I tried growing in Virginia. I am really debating whether to try starting my own seeds or just buying some plants instead. My seed starting efforts in the past haven't been that successful. So if I go with plants I will probably get something locally.

Red Baron Scallions - I am a sucker for things that have different colors in them. I figure if you're going to the trouble of growing your own veggies you should get something you can't just buy in the supermarket.

Jalapeno - The peppers are subject to the same dilemma as the tomatoes - try to start seeds or get plants. Jalapenos are the classic peppers for Pico de Gallo and I definately don't need anything hotter.

Cilantro Defino - I like limited amounts of cilantro in my salsa, it is very easy to overdo. When there's too much it reminds me of soap. Not a good thing by any means. I like this one because it's feathery so I won't have to try as hard to chop it up fine.

So there are my plans. Which do you guys think...start my own seeds or buy plants?