my plants are growing!! Look!!
Yellow Toms!
Beefsteak-like red toms!
cherry-like red toms!
I snapped these pictures while the sun was out, briefly, on an otherwise rainy day. The earlier part of the day, while it was raining, Mei and I were out running errands – we stopped by the library to return some things and scope out their rather meager collection of gardening books, hoping to score a book written for gardening specifically in England, since most books I seem to come across is very specific to various regions of the United States – and found one called “The Complete Guide to Growing Tomatoes: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply – Including Heirloom Tomatoes” by Cherie H. Everhart. Can we say SCORE?!
a great find!!
she's a little too short for it....
Once we got home and got Mei’s bouncy activity chair was built (which she LOVED) and Patella and I had played a little soccer in the backyard, I got to settle down and thumb through my new book and start to paint my nails in this brilliant shade (marketed for the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie… but a cute shade anyways) called Mermaid’s Tears by O.P.I., and start to answer some of my questions about growing tomatoes and hopefully get some tips for getting plenty of fruit to mature in the coming weeks.
Lots of things I have been reading lately has said to test the soil’s pH to determine how healthy and abundant the soil would be for growing tomatoes. Tomatoes grow the best in a soil that has a pH of between 6.2 – 6.8, a slightly more acidic soil – which means a higher alkaline level. They also need phosphorous (which ensures a strong root system), potassium (for healthy, heavy fruiting plants), and nitrogen (which can affect yield, foliage, growth and the quality of the fruit) – which makes me think I should have moved more of the “oil dirt” out and purchased another bag of compost to replace the previous soil with. Ugh.
after running a few laps around the yard with her soccer ball!
It’s possible that I could weed out some more of the unused raised bed that I started some of the tomato plants and plant a couple more plants now to yield more tomatoes, later into the harvest season! Hmm…. this is making the gears twirl and grind hard, considering if this would be a good idea, seeing as I could not use the raised beds next year to plant tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes or peppers. Which is not entirely a bad thing, I just don’t like the idea of not being able to plant my tomatoes here again next year. I will have to read on to find out how likely the introduction of bugs and diseases would be the following year if I could not rotate my “crops.” But of course, planting too late will cause “fruit set” which means hot summer temperatures will inhibit fruit set in tomatoes as the ground temperature will be too hot and the fruit will become limited this way.
I think I have been careful not to over water the plants. Generally speaking, I have been waiting to water until just before nightfall when it hasn’t rained during the day or threatens to rain overnight, so that I don’t over water. And if it does and I havent watered in a couple of days, I water a limited amount of water with a little tomato food in it, so that I can replace some of the nutrients that are naturally washed away by rain. I don’t want to bog down the soil because a soil that is too damp will result in poor drainage and aeration.
Without knowing it, I planted my starter plants in the late afternoon – since thats when I got home, and got Mei and Patella settled so I could work a bit in the garden, which is recommended apparently, so that fresh plants can’t be damaged by sunburn. Go us!
I love this color and it has a great name!
Oh no! I never give my plants enough space and I over water… probably part of the “trinity” reason why my plants never survive. The third is probably due to my lack of knowledge of how to get the seeds to sprout or the sprouts to germinate into something other than sprouts or long, thin “vines.” Apparently, some tomato plant’s roots can grow up to FIVE FEET laterally seeking out nutrients and moisture! SO of course, this would limit the sunlight available to lower foliage and compromise growth, once the plants start to get bushier and grow fruit.
I have no idea how low I planted the stems of the plants into the ground, but according to this book, the taller the plant, the deeper it should be planted in the garden. This will lead to developing a stronger, more stable root structure for the plants. Oi. The back of the cards that came with the plants said not to cover the crown of the stem. What does that mean?? I don’t know and didn’t care to Google it, so of course, I planted them the same just a bit deeper than the original plant was planted, which means I probably just ensured a less stable stem for the overall plant. Just when I thought I was getting ahead or at least staying on par!
HA! It says here that:
“Cardboard boxes or buckets can be used as covers at night to protect against frost. Popular frost covers are gallon-sized milk jugs with the bottom cut of out them.”
So then I’m going to assume that making a tent for them or some other structure to protect them from the rain, wouldn’t be completely crazy! I’m sure it would also protect against heavy winds, if we have any…. ah ha! Although I did learn that I should probably invest in a bag of mulch that I could just have for next year to lay over the soil under all my garden veggies – that will help to maintain moisture of the soil, which is important also. Of course it is!
ACK! Caging! I knew it! While I was out a couple of weeks ago to the gardening shop to find some tomato food and some insecticides or pesticides, I was looking for tomato cages and found none. I should have looked harder or at least persisted! Apparently cages, as well as stakes need to be sunk into the soil next to the plants by the root system before the roots get to growing laterally too far or else the caging or staking will disrupt the growth of the roots and impede on the health of the plant. There is one cage around my yard somewhere and I’m going to try a trip to a nursery a few minutes from my house in the next few days to see if they offer some kind of support system for tomato plants. I knew it! I hope it is not too late to “train” my plants to grow into the cages so that I could (hopefully) support well producing, heavy tomatoes!
Chin up! I can use a trellis system! Yay! Basically a trellis will allow me to tie in supports when they become necessary, as often and as many as I will need. I just need to get over to a hardware store and buy some wooden stakes, small nails, and soft twine. It would be much more economical, and a lot easier for me to wrangle while my husband is away and unable to help me with this particular project.
There is a man, named Tom (of course), that lives on Vashon Island
Tom's tomato trellis
in my native Washington! Yay! And he grows tomatoes, obviously, and is a big help already! A big fan of trellising and also not pinching off the suckers! I think I’m going to scour his blog, and then send him the link to my gardening posts to get any and all advice he may be able to give on the health and productivity of my plants. I can’t wait to see if he replies! I could use the help of a seasoned gardener that could look at my plants and try to help me figure out what I need. We also have a valve thing lying around the greenhouse that you attach to a 2 liter bottle of whatever, empty, filled with water and jammed into the ground so that you can better water the roots. This is a really good idea since the dirt here is not very porous, and holds all the water in the first couple inches of the soil and not getting much wetter below that point. But I don’t want to over water the roots, knowing the water wont drain very well…. decisions, decisions!
Here is the link to his blog (http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/1655/tomato-trellis-a-cagey-alternative ), and his little intro – doesn’t he sound like someone you would like for a friend?
“My name is Tom and after years of city living, I moved to the country, and settled into a sweet old farmhouse on four acres of possibilities.
When not shooing deer, or plotting against brambles and Scotch broom, I’m a Bulldog booster, writer, grower of fruit, lover of pies, kitchen alchemist, and seasoned hammock tester. This is where I write all about it.”
Tom's trellis sketch!
My peppers can also take advantage of the trellis system, as their fruits start to weigh heavy on their branches, so it was a good thing after all that I planted the cayenne pepper plant right next to my three tomato plants. Maybe I should name my tomato plants…any suggestions?
Until next time! Start thinking of all the delicious things you can make with fresh garden tomatoes! I’m (secretly) hoping for some late season green tomatoes that don’t ripen so I can make some early-mid fall fried green tomato treats!
P.S. dinner tonight? polishing off the last half of the chicken, mushroom and asparagus risotto from the other night and the last pot of creme brulee – mmm…. all while Mei is napping!