One of the best experiences in life, I think, is being able to go outside on a warm, sunny day and go to the tomatoe garden and pick yourself a beautiful red sun-ripened tomatoe. You can definetly taste the difference between a home grown tomatoe and store bought tomatoe. The taste, color, and smell are three great reasons I can think of to grow tomatoes.
So far this year I have planted 3 differnet types of tomatoes. There are SEVERAL types, shapes, colors and sizes of tomatoes. My favorite are cherry tomatoes, for salads (or just snacking) and large tomatoes for juicy bar b qued hamburgers or anything else you want to put tomatoes in.
The two larger tomatoe plants are Better Bush Hybrid tomatoes (maturity 68 days after planting) and the Big Beef Hybrid (matures 73 days after planting). You want to plant them in an area that gets full sun (at least 6 hours a day), and after there is no more danger of frost. I also planted Sweet Baby Girl cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket to save some space. This year I bought young plants from the garden center but I thought about doing research for next year to sow them from seed. But this year I planted them in organic soil, water them regulary and watch for disease. You don't want to over water your tomatoes because it will dilute the flavor. A great book that I have purchased "How to Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes" by Annette Welsford & Lucia Grimmer who are plant nutrition and disease specialists. It is a a great reference guide to providing basic information on growing tomatoes at home. Some of the things it covers is health effects, varieties, preparation, cultivation, pests and disease and much more. It has 260 color photos. You can order the actual book that comes with a CD containing a huge database of 1300 varieties plus 4 extra bonus files. It's also avail by ebook which is the way I purchased it because I didn't want to wait. You can also get this book by going to http://www.bestjuicytomatoes.com
I can't wait to start seeing some tomatoes on the vines. I will continue to update you all with pictures and text as to how they are doing.Thank you for stopping by and reading about My Edible Garden of Eden.
I'm mostly a flower gardener and landscaper, but can't resist growing tomatoes. I've tried this many different ways and one of my biggest frustrations has been that the squirrels tend to eat them before I do. So I even started putting moth balls around the base of the plants to deter the squirrels. So far this seems to work pretty well but they DO really stink so I don't want them too near the house. Last year I tried growing those upside down kind of tomato plants, seemed a brilliant idea but it didn't work too well. They must be watered daily and if you miss even one day, might as well kiss your plants goodbye.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the little critters will leave anything I plant in the ground alone. We have racoons and possums here as well as squirrels, so we'll say.Hopefully I won't have to stand guard over them. LOL. Thanks for stopping by.
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