Out with the Old – In with the New

Things don’t always work out like we plan.  This year’s tomato crop is Exhibit A.  We did produce tomatoes, but both the quality and quantity of the yield was dismal in comparison to previous years.  I attribute that to several factors:

1.       We got a late start.  I planted our heirloom tomato seeds indoors a little later than I normally do and this meant that I transplanted them into the garden later and they started producing later which meant that the heat and pest pressure really put a number on them.  I’ll get the seeds started earlier for the 2017 tomato crop for sure, but that’s not the only problem.  As an “insurance policy” we purchased some hybrid tomatoes and planted them in the garden as well.  The plants were much larger than the tomatoes we planted from seeds and they didn’t produce much either, which leads to the second reason:

2.       Plant placement.  I rotated the tomatoes and planted them toward the southern part of the garden this spring, and even though they were planted on rows pulled up high, the southern part of the garden is low.  Water accumulates between the rows after big spring rains and the roots stay wet, causing the plants to scald, turn yellow and stay sickly and delay fruiting.  To combat this, I’ll purchase a load of topsoil to move in and raise the level of the garden.

We ate some of the tomatoes that we did produce sliced with salt and black pepper.  We also cooked with them and made an Italian tomato salad with olive oil, olives, onions, and parsley.  That's Tricia's favorite way of eating them.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough extra to can a bunch of salsa, stewed tomatoes, or tomato sauce.  I pulled up all of the tomato plants in the garden and threw them over the fence for the chickens to snack on.  Then I pulled up all of the t-posts that made up the structure of our Florida Weave trellis.  It was a disappointing tomato season, but we’re not going to give up that easy this year.

I did experiment with a small fall crop of tomatoes last year and it was a successful experiment, yielding beautiful tomatoes without much bug pressure at all.  As a result of that, I’m putting in a bigger crop of tomatoes this fall, hoping to fill the pantry with all sorts of canned tomato products, if the Good Lord’s willing.  I planted a bunch of seeds and most of them are up.  Just as we pulled up the remnants of the spring tomatoes, the fall tomatoes are germinating.

Fall Crop Tomato Seedlings

I’ll baby them on the back patio until they are big and healthy, and then I’ll transplant them into the garden in time to grow and produce before the colder weather hits.  Hopefully our fall tomato crop will be a big success, making up for the disappointing spring crop and rewarding us with a pantry full.

Big fat sliced heirloom tomatoes and avacadoes!

 Homegrown Fall Tomatoes...  Coming soon, we hope.