Out in the Garden

Tomatoes Galore!

I am growing 20 different tomato varieties this year. A dozen of them are from seed. I like growing from seed because you can be sure that your plants are truly organic from the beginning. There are also many more tomato varieties available from seed than as starts. It took about two weeks, but I finally planted 2 of each variety out in the garden. 

In each hole I put about a tablespoon of TomatoesAlive, an organic fertilizer sold by GardensAlive. I have had this container for years, but it still seems good. If you don't have any organic fertilizer, I would suggest adding some crushed eggshells for the extra potasium that tomatoes need.

Why am I growing both from seeds and from starts? Well, I was only going to grow the ones from seed, however my father-in-law is excited about me having a big organic garden again this year, and he brought me a flat of his favorite tomato varieties from the garden center. So much for truly organic, huh? Well I can't disappoint him, or let tomato plants go to waste can I? The varieties he brought me are: Beef Steak, Big Beef, Mountain Pride, Supersonic, Golden Jubilee and Pink Girl. The cultivars I am growing from seed came from Pinetree Seeds, Burpee, Park Seeds and Totally Tomatoes. They are: Celebrity, Jet Star, Burpee Supersteak, Burpee Big Boy, Brandywine, Brandy Boy, Sun Sugar, Jelly Bean Grape, Lemon Boy, La Rossa, and a variety for sun-dried tomatoes. I missed a couple in that list but wow - That's a lot of tomatoes!

My Father-in-law's plants are taller than mine and quite leggy. This is a common problem with store bought tomatoes or if you start from seed too early with not enough light on them. I planted his tomatoes out in the garden early but thankfully it didn't frost. I just recently finished planting my cultivars. I was carefully to mark each one with its name. At harvest time, we will have quite a taste test. I'll have a regular tomato trial garden!

The way I handled his leggy tomatoes was to plant them very deep. You can deeply bury the stem and new roots will grow from the underground portion of the stem. If you can't get a deep enough hole, you can plant the tomato sideways in a trench and carefully bend it upright so the above ground portion is straight. Even if it isn't all the way straight, the plant will adjust itself later.

Look at how much taller the plants are in the cell pack than the one we just planted with the trench method. This will help its root development quite a bit. I planted two of each variety and watered them well. I will be telling you more about them as the growing season takes off. I hope to add to this blog much more frequently.(daily maybe?) Please pray for me to have the time to do that. Happy gardening!

Untitled Comment

05:32, Thursday, May 25, 2006 .. Posted by GrandmaRosie

Do you have plans to sell your produce or are you going to preserve them for your own use? I can and freeze tomatoes every year. I love the Celebrity for canning.

Welcome

11:06, Thursday, May 25, 2006 .. Posted by southernbelle

Nice photos! I have used that same planting method before with good results. Especially if I'm planting early, before the ground is really warmed up. (I live in the South) I would think places farther north would really benefit from this method especially. I'm curious too as to what your plans are for all the tomatoes! One year we planted 75 plants and sold what we didn't keep or give away at the local farmer's market.

Salsa!

04:35, Friday, May 26, 2006 .. Posted by naturehouse

I used to make a lot of homemade salsa. Many of my friends have been asking if I would make some again, so this year I plan too. We will can some tomatoes too, and eat fresh tomatoes until we have a mouth full of blisters!