Wow, I didn't realize how far behind I was on documenting my garden until now. I guess that speaks to how wrapped up in it I was. I really don't understand how people fill their blogs with beautiful pictures and helpful info while managing their gardens at the same time. I guess having a few growing seasons under their belt helps :)
Tomatoes. 1,000 pounds.
Sold about 750 pounds, donated about 150, and composted the rest. And too many over-ripened on the vine due to having a lot of weekend trips planned and not enough time to harvest. Probably would have had about 1,300 pounds with more harvests.
6 heirloom varieties: Nepal; Pink Berkeley Tie Dye; Grushovka; Galina; Heirloom Black Cherry; Silvery Fir Tree
I ended up basically dry-farming the tomatoes since I did not have a good water source at the garden. That meant smaller fruit with more intense flavor and a shorter life for the plants. They were dying by mid-September and I pulled them all by the end of that month. Can't say I wasn't relieved. Turns out working full-time and traveling a lot makes it very difficult to manage 180 tomato plants. I had a sense it was going to be challenging going in but I wanted to give it a try anyways.
I planted the tomatoes using a method taught to me by Cynthia Sandberg from Love Apple Farms. I didn't use every ingredient in her recipe in my planting hole because I couldn't afford it all, but I got about half in there: fish parts, eggshells, aspirin, and tomato fertilizer.
I had a little blossom end rot on the first ripe tomatoes from the Nepal and Silvery Fir Tree varieties but I picked those and the rest were awesome! I really liked 5 of the 6 varieties I grew. The Pink Berkeley's were a favorite of mine from last year that I had to grow again (and most likely will for as long as I have a garden). The same goes for the black cherries. The Grushovkas are a roma variety that just pumped out perfect fruit after perfect fruit. Seriously awesome plant. And the Nepals were just like those big round red tomatoes you see in the grocery store but with much better flavor. The cherry on top was the Galinas (yellow cherries) which had the sweetest, most delicious flavor and produced like crazy. Next year I will definitely not plant 60 cherry tomato plants but I will plant a few!
I wasn't crazy about the Silvery Fir Tree. (medium-small round red fruit) The plants produced like crazy but the flavor wasn't great.
The best thing about growing all of those tomatoes is the number of new friends I made in the process and neighbors that came out to help harvest and eat them all. I swear there is nothing better then connecting with people over food and a hard day's work in the garden.
Crazy thing is before last year I didn't like fresh tomatoes. Now I am craving tomato and lettuce sandwiches but not any of those winter tomatoes. Only fresh off the vine for me. Until next summer...
Tomatoes. 1,000 pounds.
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| Nepal, Grushovka, and Silvery Fir Tree varieties |
Sold about 750 pounds, donated about 150, and composted the rest. And too many over-ripened on the vine due to having a lot of weekend trips planned and not enough time to harvest. Probably would have had about 1,300 pounds with more harvests.
6 heirloom varieties: Nepal; Pink Berkeley Tie Dye; Grushovka; Galina; Heirloom Black Cherry; Silvery Fir Tree
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| My allstar tomato pick'r (my momma)! |
I ended up basically dry-farming the tomatoes since I did not have a good water source at the garden. That meant smaller fruit with more intense flavor and a shorter life for the plants. They were dying by mid-September and I pulled them all by the end of that month. Can't say I wasn't relieved. Turns out working full-time and traveling a lot makes it very difficult to manage 180 tomato plants. I had a sense it was going to be challenging going in but I wanted to give it a try anyways.
I planted the tomatoes using a method taught to me by Cynthia Sandberg from Love Apple Farms. I didn't use every ingredient in her recipe in my planting hole because I couldn't afford it all, but I got about half in there: fish parts, eggshells, aspirin, and tomato fertilizer.
I had a little blossom end rot on the first ripe tomatoes from the Nepal and Silvery Fir Tree varieties but I picked those and the rest were awesome! I really liked 5 of the 6 varieties I grew. The Pink Berkeley's were a favorite of mine from last year that I had to grow again (and most likely will for as long as I have a garden). The same goes for the black cherries. The Grushovkas are a roma variety that just pumped out perfect fruit after perfect fruit. Seriously awesome plant. And the Nepals were just like those big round red tomatoes you see in the grocery store but with much better flavor. The cherry on top was the Galinas (yellow cherries) which had the sweetest, most delicious flavor and produced like crazy. Next year I will definitely not plant 60 cherry tomato plants but I will plant a few!
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| My right-hand gardener, Robert, helping to harvest Galinas (yeallow cherries). |
I wasn't crazy about the Silvery Fir Tree. (medium-small round red fruit) The plants produced like crazy but the flavor wasn't great.
The best thing about growing all of those tomatoes is the number of new friends I made in the process and neighbors that came out to help harvest and eat them all. I swear there is nothing better then connecting with people over food and a hard day's work in the garden.
Crazy thing is before last year I didn't like fresh tomatoes. Now I am craving tomato and lettuce sandwiches but not any of those winter tomatoes. Only fresh off the vine for me. Until next summer...
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| My small piece of paradise |
