A Tomato Tale By Jack Bigej, owner of Al's Garden
CentersNothing – Let me repeat myself, just in case you
weren’t listening – Nothing, tastes as good as a home grown
tomato. Store bought tomatoes will never have the flavor of the ones
you grow right in your own backyard. It is impossible for a tomato
that is mass produced to taste as amazing as one that is grown with the
anticipation and love, that is picked within moments of becoming a part of
your meal. Tomatoes are easy and fun to grow. There
are just a few tips you'll want to know before you get started.
Growing Tips for Great Tomatoes
• Always grab the sunniest spot in your garden for
tomatoes. Don’t plant tomatoes in the exact same spot each
year. For healthier tomatoes move them around a bit.
• Prepare your soil by adding organic material to increase
nutrition and improve drainage. Add lime, just about one cup per
plant to the soil to help prevent diseases like blossom end rot.
• Plant your tomatoes after May 1st. That’s usually
the last day of frost in this area. If the weather is unusually
cold, use a Wall of Water to keep your tomatoes warm.
• This one customer came in and was having trouble growing
tomatoes. I asked her, "Do you plant your tomatoes standing up
or laying down." She thought about my question for a minute and
said, "I usually just kneel down to plant them." After I
finished laughing, I explained I was talking about the tomato plant - not
her. Many people plant their tomatoes straight down in a deep
hole. For a healthier plant, plant your tomatoes by laying them on
their sides, leaving only the top few inches poking out of the soil.
Dig a trench 3 or 4 inches deep and put some Tomato-tone fertilizer by
Espoma in the trench. Lay your tomato in the trench. The
tomato plant will sprout roots all along the planted stem, strengthening
the plant. The warmer soil is near the surface, so the entire stem
and its new roots will enjoy the warmth and grow strong.
• Water your tomatoes regularly until the Fourth of
July. Tomatoes like even watering, they don’t like to get too
dry, then too wet. I never water my tomatoes after the 4th of
July. If you give your tomatoes too much water they’ll grow
too much vine and you want harvestable fruit, not vines. If you grow
your tomatoes in containers, you’ll have to water a little after July
4th, but start to restrict the water. Don’t over fertilize your
tomatoes late in the summer. Fertilizers will encourage a lot of
green vine growth and you don’t want that later in summer. The
two most common mistakes I see people make when growing tomatoes are over
watering and over fertilizing.
• Prune your tomato plants by pinching off large leaves
that block the sunlight to the fruit. You’ll want to support
your tomatoes with a cage, or even a pole. I grew some tomatoes last
year that I staked to a 4 foot pole and kept pinching off the large leaves
so the sun could get to the fruit. I had more fruit off those
“poled” tomatoes than ever. You can expect to get
between 20-30 pounds of fruit per tomato plant. This summer
I’m going to try to espalier some tomatoes just for fun. Check
with me next year to see if it worked!
Which Tomato is Right for You? Selecting the right tomato is probably the most challenging part of
growing tomatoes. Each tomato variety brings something different to
your menu, so you need to choose your tomato variety according to how you
like to use your tomatoes. There are tomatoes that are better suited
for salsa or sauces, versus those you want to slice and put on a sandwich
or grill on the barbeque. There are also all those little cherry
tomatoes I call "candy". These are best picked and eaten
straight off the vine.
 When choosing a tomato you'll also see the
words “Determinate” or “Indeterminate” on the
package or plant tag. Determinate tomatoes are a compact tomato that
requires less staking and caging for support. Also, determinate
tomatoes ripen over a shorter span of time than indeterminate
tomatoes. Indeterminate tomatoes will grow until killed by frost and
can reach heights of 6 feet or more. Indeterminate tomatoes are
better planted in the ground instead of in containers and will continually
produce fruit throughout the growing season.There are also tomatoes called Heirlooms. Heirloom
tomatoes are generally considered to be varieties that have been passed
down through several generations because of their valued
characteristics. Many gardeners love Heirloom tomatoes because of
their distinctive taste, interesting shapes and/or markings.
Tomato varieties are endless, and just like everyone I have my
favorite tomato. We call her “Dorothy’s
Delight.” We met Dorothy's Delight's namesake when she lived
next door to my son Mark. One summer day our entire family was at
Mark’s house for a birthday party and Dorothy came over with a big
bowl of tomatoes she’d grown to share. Each of us were growing
our own tomatoes and had enough tomatoes to keep the US Army in spaghetti
sauce for a year. It was one of the ugliest tomatoes I'd ever
seen. I just had to try it. I cut a big slice into one of the
misshapen red tomatoes and popped it in my mouth. Oh my, was it the
best darn tomato I’d ever tasted; so flavorful and meaty. I asked
Dorothy what kind of tomato she was growing. Dorothy said she
wasn’t sure what variety the tomato was. The seeds had been handed
down in her family for over 90 years.
“Dorothy’s Delight” is the only tomato I grow in my
garden now, except for one Sun Sugar for my wife. The tomato is not
pretty to look at. It’s red, uneven and misshapen, but it has
ruined me for other tomatoes. Dorothy shared some of her seed with
us, and now you too can enjoy the best tomato there is with your
family.
I've been told I'm biased, so we grow enough varieties to make
everyone happy. Click
here to see a list of varieties we have grown this season, plus to
keep things fair, over here on the right a few of the Purple People have
shared their favorite tomato picks.
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“My favorite to grow, and xefinely to eat, is Black Russian Heirloom Tomato. It’s meaty and great fresh. Perfect for grilling or using in a Caprese salad. ” - Megan Dinsmore
“The Sweet 100 is my favorite. It has the sarliest harvest of all the super sweet tomatoes. My family eats most of these tomatoes picked right off the vine. I like to use them on salads and pasta.” - Peter Cook
“My pick is the Roma Tomato because is so versatile. You can use it in salads, sauces, sandwiches, and almost anything. I know that they’re available at any grocery store but they taste a hundred times better vine ripened and out of your own garden.” - Chris Cromwell
“I have been growing and canning tomatoes for over 30 years, and love both of these so much I couldn’t pick just one – Big Beef and Jet Star. They are the sweetest tomatoes with the best red color and high yield from the plants. They’re also very versatile – I make sauces, salsa, and even ketchup from these two varieties, and have convinced everyone at the greenhouses to grow them. My growing tip: plant marigolds between the tomatoes and the bugs will stay on the marigolds, not the tomatoes. ” - Patty Masaligin |
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