Home Grown Tomatoes!

[sixdogsmom]

You know the kind! Fix a BLT and you can almost forget the B and the L; the T just runs down from the wrist to the elbows! Yum! Yum! We are fortunate to have some great ones this year, have been harvesting for about three weeks but they are just now coming into their own. One slice of most of them covers a piece of bread and the ugliest are used to make Catalina salsa! I missed setting some blooms by not following Teds' advice but I'll listen better next time. I may even start the seedlings earlier next year and set out a gamble garden for earlier production maybe. I threw some cucumber seed along the edges of the bed and they are shading the toms very nicely. I learned that from my Vietnamese friend, they use cucumber vines extensively for shading crops as well as production. They also use vining beans, and can grow an astounding amount of produce in a very small plot. I planted Better Boy toms this year, has anyone heard of a better brand?

[srkruzich]

I planted Better Boy toms this year, has anyone heard of a better brand?

Yes!


I plant only heirloom tomatoes.  These are the ones like my grandpa and great grandpa used to grow.   I lost a bunch
this year to that hail storm we had the end of april. 
Mortgage lifters are about 2lb tomatos, you slice them and they cover a entire slice of bread and have real tomato flavor.
Black Prince are a black tomato that are from russia.  Excellent flavor.  Not as big as the mortgage lifters or others but well worth eating
Black Brandywines are a beefsteak type tomato, purplish color.  Great tomato taste
Porters  are grape tomatos 
I have some heirloom romas that are great for sauce and things like pica de gallo

I grow tomatoes from seed and sell them too.  So next year if your interested, i'll probably have the plants ready by april or so. 

[Jo McDonald]

Fred plants Pink Girl -- they are delish! And this year he planted Sugar  Cherry...they a so very good, smaller than a regular  cherry - more like the grape tomato.  Wonderful flavor.
  Home grown veggies are the best of the best -- never have to worry about all the "stuff" that happens to those you buy in the market, you never know what has happened to them from the field to the grocery store.

[sixdogsmom]

Yes! Yes! And yes! 

Steve be sure to let everyone know when your plants are ready next year! I grew these from seed, but wouldn't mind having a few different ones.

[Catwoman]

I am impressed that you all get them to grow from seed...Wally World is usually my sprouting place.  I usually put out my tomatoes early, around the 3rd week in April...and have always had good luck in getting early tomatoes.  I love to plant grape tomatoes but planted Romas and Roma grape tomatoes this year...and will be probably planting those pretty much exclusively next year.  I have one or two Beefmaster tomatoes but don't eat enough sandwiches to justify planting those again. 

[srkruzich]

I am impressed that you all get them to grow from seed...Wally World is usually my sprouting place.  I usually put out my tomatoes early, around the 3rd week in April...and have always had good luck in getting early tomatoes.  I love to plant grape tomatoes but planted Romas and Roma grape tomatoes this year...and will be probably planting those pretty much exclusively next year.  I have one or two Beefmaster tomatoes but don't eat enough sandwiches to justify planting those again. 

Uhmm mortgage lifter or beefmasters make good salsa and sauce lOL.
LOTS of tomato there to make sauces.

But where wally world only sells the no taste hybrids usually, i grow the ones that have flavor
I honestly would rather never have another tomato than to have to eat one of the hybrids anymore.  You know, if yall want a particular type of tomato, i can usually, not always but usually find a heirloom equivalent.   I mean theres over 800 varieties of tomatos in this world that we know of

[hhjacobs]

We planted Ox heart, Giant Belgium, Sprite, Patio and an odd one with no tag. The odd one is sorta pear shaped and a funny red.The Ox hearts are just starting to ripen. Very good!! Our garden is  in a circle made of old foundation rocks. Poles in tepee shape hold a 6 inch pvc pipe in the center. Water by filling the pipe and it comes out under the dirt. Cucumbers and pole beans climb widly. I over planted so it takes excellent vision to find things. i also have okra, peppers potatoes lettuce radishes and onions. I plan to do some fine tuning next year. Marjean

[Diane Amberg]

How do you grow your potatoes? I've read about growing them in stacked up tires and then dismantling the whole business when it's time to harvest them. I've never tried growing potatoes, but I might next summer. Delaware grows a lot of potatoes so they are pretty cheap, but now I'd have to figure in the gas to go downstate to get them. We used to be able to get 50 pounds for $4.00 at harvest time.

[hhjacobs]

That's part of the fine tuning. They did not do well, just little ones. My Dad's were planted in a hay storeage yard on top of the ground in the old hay. Then a bale was rolled out to cover them. They seem to be doing fine.

[srkruzich]

How do you grow your potatoes? I've read about growing them in stacked up tires and then dismantling the whole business when it's time to harvest them. I've never tried growing potatoes, but I might next summer. Delaware grows a lot of potatoes so they are pretty cheap, but now I'd have to figure in the gas to go downstate to get them. We used to be able to get 50 pounds for $4.00 at harvest time.

Well i didn't grow any this year.    You can just grow them in hay.  I put my starts on the ground in the soil, and then throw hay on top.  As the leaves poke through the hay, add more hay on top. Keep adding until they start producing and then when harvest ti9me comes you can just move the hay around and recover you spuds.  Their clean and ready to store.  Then your hay you can let compost down for next years potato bed