Archive for the “tomatoes” Category
Posted by: Rose in tomatoes
 Tomatoes usually do not cross-pollinate, at least not the modern varieties. Potato leaf varieties should be separated by the garden’s length though.
Pick one ripe fruit of each plant (at least), squeeze the seeds and juice into a strainer. Then wash the seeds, spread them on a paper plate or thick paper sheet, and dry them.
DO NOT save seeds from double fruits. DO NOT save seeds from first fruits of large fruit varieties.
Store in paper envelopes in a dry and dark place.
Don’t forget to label your seeds. Useful information to note is:
- what kind of tomato the seed is from
- how long it takes the fruit to ripen
basic seed saving information
- basic planting instructions
- in which year the seed was saved
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I mentioned suckers in an earlier post, saying that you can pinch them if you wish, but don’t have to – well, some people do not know what a sucker actually is.
What is a sucker ?
Suckers grow our between a tomato leaf branch and its stem. If you pinch them off and stick them in the ground, they will root and you have another tomato plant. Here is a nice picture of a sucker on an early tomato plant:
What is the benefit of pinching suckers ?
If you choose to pinch the suckers off your tomatoes, you will end up with bigger fruit, but probably less of them. If you leave the suckers grow, however, you might get more, yet smaller fruit. It really depends on your preference and on how much work you are willing or able to put into your tomato patch.
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Posted by: Rose in tomatoes, tags: planting
 As tomatoes are most gardener’s favorite plant, especially but not exclusively amongst beginners, here are a few things that might be worth knowing about growing tomatoes. If those among you who have decades of tomato growing experiences are unhappy with my information or have things to add, please feel free to comment 
- Basically, all that tomatoes need is healthy, well draining soil, sunlight – don’t plant them in a shady spot – and sufficient water. To keep the soil from drying out too quickly, mound grass clippings or other mulch around the plants and cover the soil of the whole garden bed with mulch too. This will also improve the quality of the soil.
- If you have a square foot garden, plant one tomato per square foot, that should give them enough room.
- You can pinch the suckers if you wish, but you do not have to. Pinching suckers will lead to less, but bigger fruit, whereas leaving the suckers on the plant will lead to more, smaller fruit. If you are not sure what suckers are, just forget about them
- As for suitable companions, do not plant tomatoes and peppers within root distance from each other, as they stunt each other. The same counts for onions. Tomatoes like the company of carrots, lima beans, and parsley.
- Marigolds will help keep bugs away.
- Keep an eye out for the tomato horn worm. It likes your tomatoes (the leaves mostly) even more than you will. Here is a little site that is rather informative and has some pretty impressive pictures, too.
 Here is the link and one of the pictures you find there. http://www.gardengrapevine.com/TomatoWorm.html
- When your tomatoes get taller, you might want to stake them. You don’t have to, but if you don’t, you will have to be very attentive to ripening fruits that rest on the ground. If you let them sit there for too long, they will rot. If you stake the tomatoes, this will not be an issue.
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You might think it’s weird to think about the gardening season now, but it isn’t. Even though your garden patch might be buried in snow right now, depending on where you are, you still need to get off your hindquarters and start planning now.
2009 might very well be the year when, for the first time in a long time, many people will have to rely on their own crops or go hungry, so plan well, and order early, and order heirloom seed that you can save so you won’t have to spend money again next year. When I went through our seed catalogs earlier this week, I noticed just how many crop failures are mentioned, and how much more expensive seed has become compared to last year.
I suggest looking at Fedco’s, or Seed Savers Exchange, to get an idea. Both places let you order online or via snail mail. Fedco’s is a little less pricey, but they have hybrids too, so make sure you don’t get a hybrid accidentally.
In addition, buying a little seed dispenser might help you not to waste seed, and a germination mat, for example Hydrofarm MT10008 Seedling Heat Mat, 20 By 20 Inches , will make sure that the seeds you start indoors will grow nicely even if you start early. Hydrofarm even sells a Hydrofarm CK64050 Germination Station with Heat Mat which gives you the seedling pots and the heat mat all in one go. If you are new to the whole idea of growing your own food and don’t have a basement full of little seedling pots already, this might be the way to go.
If you have difficulties deciding what you want to grow, consider this:
- What do you like to eat ? (Don’t grow what you won’t wish to eat.)
- What will fill your family’s belly well ? (You might like radishes a lot, but they are hardly satisfying if that’s all you have to eat.)
- What stores well ? (What can nourish your family well through the next winter.)
- What can you process ? (Will you can, freeze, dehydrate, or store in a root cellar.)
Tomatoes and peppers are tasty and wonderful additions, but you will want to have beans, potatoes and corn too.
Be wise, and don’t go hungry !
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We just wanted to share a picture from our garden
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Via: Countryside & Small Stock Journal
(…) If you’ve got a garden plot rolling already you’re in good stead. While we normally have a long growing season here in southwest Missouri, we are about a month behind schedule because of the massive flooding and late frosts—but we’ll still give it the old college try.
If you don’t have a garden, help out the folks who do this for a living (CSAs, produce farms, etc.) and buy some of their stuff on bulk sale. You’ll be happy with your bargain and they’ll be happy to sell their perishable stuff while it’s still fresh.
Over the past decade, Jimmie and I at Timberlakes Farm grew veggies to supply upscale restaurants plus our own household’s yearly needs. But, as many of you already know, when that flush of zucchini, other squash, peppers and tomatoes ripens, you’ll feel there’s enough fresh produce to serve the entire armed forces! Most growers, like us, prefer to sell it at a “fresh” bulk-discount price to someone who can take advantage of it and feed a family, than to let it spoil and get dumped onto a compost pile or go to waste.
In either instance, the biggest question that always raises its ugly head is: how much do I have to grow (or purchase) to supply my family’s food needs throughout the year? Since I’ve done this for so long (first to feed me and the two kids [as little tykes] and eventually just the two of us seniors—Jimmie and me), I’ll give you the best average to yield a year’s supply of stocked food for a household of four. (I am saying “average” because of the varying ages, appetites, and menu preferences that come into play.)
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