The Price of Tomatoes - updated with gardening suggestions!

[Cudedog]

(scroll down to the bottom of this thread for my gardening suggestions)

Amazing.

I have done vegetable gardens many times, over many years (sometimes with a large gap in years between gardens).

One of the plants I have always grown have always been tomatoes.  I always did well with tomatoes in when I live in the foothills - maybe because of the ready availability of horse manure from my neighbor's across the road, maybe because the weather is just a tiny bit cooler there than it is here in the valley.

The first year - 2020 - I tried tomatoes here, I had about fourteen plants, maybe ended up with ten pounds of tomatoes - total, for the entire growing season.  And it was HOT, and hot early, in 2020.

2021 wasn't much better - a few more tomatoes, but HOT HOT HOT.

I had always read that tomatoes require full sun, but by late afternoon on these really hot days I could see the tomatoes wilting as the 110 degree temps pounded down on them - no matter how much I watered.

2022, I changed my strategy - I planted my tomatoes near my wooden fence on the western side of my backyard - so they would be shaded by about 5:00 p.m. by the fence.  BOUNTIFUL tomato harvest in 2022 - plenty to freeze.  I finally ran out of frozen tomatoes in about March of this year (2023).

Also, the weather was MUCH cooler in 2022 at least in the beginning of the summer than it had been the two years previous - although the weather did warm up later in the summer.

This year, 2023, I planted my tomatoes within a foot or so of the fence, so they are getting into the shade by about 4:00 p.m.  AND it has been unusually and remarkably cool so far this summer (I am LOVING it).

AND. . . I have never seen so many tomatoes on plants that I am growing in backyard in my entire life - even more tomatoes than I ever had in the foothills.  Ever!!

There are large (still green) tomatoes almost everywhere I look - and more coming on!!  I can't wait for tomato-eating ecstasy!!  Oh, YUM!! 

If all of these tomatoes actually ripen (keeping fingers crossed!) my freezer will fill up quickly, and I may be taking my organic tomatoes to the local food pantry!!

One major thing I have done differently this year than in years past:  The tomato plant will grow very rapidly when conditions are just right.  I have read that one needs to "prune" tomatoes, in order to achieve the maximum harvest.  So I have been "pruning" my tomatoes, which consists of going out almost every day and just pinching off new growth.  This theoretically forces the plant to put energy into flowering and fruiting, rather than in growing long vines.

I never did this in the past (I have grown tomatoes off and on for probably fifty years) and always got a good harvest when I lived in the foothills.  I have thought on this a lot, and I am now wondering if the genetics of today's tomato varieties were different then than they are now - so that this pruning, or pinching off, is now required with newer tomatoes.

I dunno.   

I have also learned - the hard way  - to select heat-tolerant tomato varieties to grow, instead of just picking the reddest and juiciest-looking tomatoes out of the tomato catalog.

I am growing 5 different tomato varieties this year:  Cherokee Purple (an heirloom tomato, with a flavor to die for), Celebrity, Mortgage Lifter (not doing so well as the others, will not try this variety again, Early Girl, a grape tomato (forget the name) and a "volunteer" cherry tomato of unknown lineage that just came up all on it's own.

For fertilizer I just use steer manure and grass clippings, that's it, nothing fancy.  No herbicides, pesticides, or chemical fertilizers - so my tomatoes are 100% organic.  Oh yes, I do generally also use a bag or two of Miracle Grow Potting Soil - but I think that is organic as well.

Or maybe this tomato abundance is all due to the lack of hot weather we have had thus far this year (hooray!)  the hottest it has been has been the mid-90's, and only in these 90's for a couple of days.  Mostly in the mid to high 80's so far this year. Today the high is predicted to be 77 degrees - unheard of for this time of year here in California's reliably hot-hot-hot central valley north of Sacramento!!

Had my first semi-ripe (couldn't wait) tomatoes off the vine yesterday.  It was a grape tomato, not (yet) too sweet (because it wasn't quite ripe) but very yummy!!!

Cucumber plants blooming - I am again growing the Ashley variety this year, they have a wonderful and mild cucumber flavor - I can almost live on tomato-and-cucumber salad in the summertime!!

Anne

[OregonLuvr]

Anne I agree about the tomatoes not tolerating too much heat. When I first moved here I bought some large containers to plant in as my soil is heavy duty clay. They grew okay but the tomatoes were small, they were all Early girls. Last year I tried again, BUT I was super sick as most of you know so I ignored them.............they died LOL This year I rototilled my small garden area that I rototilled and mixed in soil and manure to break up the clay the first year. Wasnt easy. So this year I rototilled it again adding organic compost, manure and some fertilizer. I planted 3 tomatos in the ground. They are doing great even tho due to the cold weather got a middle of May start. I have lots of blossoms and even a couple small green tomatoes. I planted 2 Early girls in the tubs but they get some shade during the day. They are doing ok. In my raised bed I planted another couple Early girls they are also doing well. Have 4 Bush bean plants with lots of blossoms. In the other raised bed I have 4 acorn squash plants. In the garden area I have 1 yellow squash and 1 zucchini plant and so far they have lots of blossoms. Have a couple of tub containers with onions, they are doing great. I think this might be a good year for veggies. I am still just trying to see what works and what doesn't. In my other house I always had a great harvest but so far not here.

[JudyJB]

My dad had 8-9' tall tomato plants and never pruned them. (He did stake and tie them up, however, and he and my mother did a lot of canning.) But he did water them heavily every single day and used a lot of fertilizer. My tomato plants were always in half-barrels on my front porch which faced south, so I also had to water mine every day because of the heat, but they grew about 4-5' tall and I got tons of tomatoes. Tomatoes need a lot of water and fertilizer, especially where it is hot, and it sounds like giving yours some shade helped. Sounds like you might need to do some canning, as well as freezing! Wish I were in your area to relieve you of some of your harvest!!!

[Bethers]

My sister would be avidly reading and sharing on this and all the gardening posts. I didn't get that gene. But I love following along with her and all of you.

[JudyJB]

The only thing I miss from not living in a house is the gardening. Just thinking, Anne, I'll bet the grass clippings are shading the soil and keeping it cool. However, I had a neighbor a long time ago who overdid the grass clippings. He put on about 6", and they were so thick that they mildewed and caused his tomato plants to mildew as well. The rotting grass clippings also stunk up the whole neighborhood!!

Never heard of those hot weather varieties, but they are interesting.

[snowball]

I'm just wishing that I lived close to you Anne... would love some home grown tomatoes...
yes they take lots of water
sheila

[Cudedog]

Gardening suggestions are below in this post!

The only thing I miss from not living in a house is the gardening. Just thinking, Anne, I'll bet the grass clippings are shading the soil and keeping it cool. However, I had a neighbor a long time ago who overdid the grass clippings. He put on about 6", and they were so thick that they mildewed and caused his tomato plants to mildew as well. The rotting grass clippings also stunk up the whole neighborhood!!

Never heard of those hot weather varieties, but they are interesting.

The Cherokee Purple are an heirloom tomato, have a deep, rich tomato flavor, overlaid with a slightly smoky taste. I had never grown them until last year, started plants were available at the local Big Box store, so I tried them. Best tomatoes I have ever tasted, and they seem to grow well in the hot weather here, which is an added bonus!

As for grass clippings - I have developed a method of "no work" gardening. Just start on grass (I have bermuda grass here, and it is generally unstoppable - except for with my method).

First, I just decide where I want to put my garden - no digging or rototilling required.

Second, I mow everything, then spread the grass clippings on top of the mowed grass where I want my garden.

Third, once the grass clippings are spread out, I put a couple of bags (however much is required to cover the area deep enough so I can't see the grass clippings - an inch or so) of steer manure over the grass clippings.

Forth, I cover the grass-clippings-and-manure-area with opened and flattened cardboard boxes (and I have been saving cardboard boxes for this all year - we all know how fast cardboard boxes accumulate these days).

Fifth, I cover the grass-clippings-and-manure-and cardboard area with garden cloth, and stake the garden cloth down with metal "u" shaped garden stakes made for the purpose.

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Then I cut holes in the garden cloth at the right spacing for the veggie plants I want to grow, I dig out about a gallon-size hole, refill the hole with a mixture of mostly the original dirt, but mix in some steer manure and some Miracle Grow potting soil.

Plant the plants, put out my drip hose to water my plants (the hose comes with the drippers pre-installed), attach a battery-powered water timer to the hose. . . and I am 100% done for the summer with garden work for the entire summer (except for the harvesting part).

Yes there is a bit of work "up front" - but NO weeds come up through the garden cloth/cardboard/grass cuttings layer. And this layer also insulates the soil from becoming too hot in my climate, PLUS this layer ALSO really cuts down on the water that is needed - because the water spreads out around each plant as it drips, of course dampening the soil under the layer - but the garden cloth/cardboard/steer manure/grass clippings layer really retards the evaporation of the water under this layer.

I COULD NOT do a veggie garden here without this method - the bermuda grass will return and take over no matter what you do.

FINAL major benefit: the cardboard/manure/grass layer begins to decompose as it gets warm and damp (this layer is not up against the plant, but about two inches away, because the plant sits in a circular hole in the layer, in the middle) and so this cardboard/manure/grass layer acts as a kind of "timed release" fertilizer as the summer goes on (yes, the cardboard decomposes also).

Again, I don't do any major digging (except for the individual small holes in the layer for the plants and/or seeds) and I don't rototill - and (maybe best of all) I don't even dig up the grass that is already there, I just put everything on top of the grass.

There will be a smell (as Judy mentioned) if you leave the thick layer of grass clippings uncovered - but if you put the layer of steer manure, cardboard, and garden fabric on top right away (being sure to stake everything down with the metal garden stakes) there is NO smell.

This will last about two years. When the weeds start appearing, I don't remove anything that is still there - which will just be a layer of thin (and now shredding - it decomposes also it our hot climate, but more slowly than the organic matter) garden cloth (because everything else beneath it has decomposed - and is gone, including the cardboard).

I just start over with a new layer of grass clippings/manure/cardboard/garden cloth on top, and I am good to go.

I have had wonderful harvests using this method, NO work - at all - once the layers are in place (which might take a day or two, depending on one's garden size).

No weeding, mowing, dragging the hose to do watering - NO work. If I want to go someplace, no worries - the timer does the watering for me, whether I am at home or away.

I don't know if this method would work in places that are cooler and more moist, places that get summer rain (we NEVER get rain in the summer here) - but I think it is worth a try - if someone is unsure, try a small plot at first and see how it goes.

Final, over-all added bonus: No barrels of grass clippings set out every week for trash pickup, no piles and piles of empty cardboard boxes filling up a dumpster - or your local landfill! Recycling done at home!!

Try it! You might like it!

Sheila, if you lived closer I would love to give you tomatoes.

Anne

[Redetotry]

I just paid $3.00 for 2 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, which were 3 very small ones, at the Farmers Market this morning! Wow!! Blueberries were $8.50 a quart. I overbought blueberries last year so still have enough in my freezer for this year. I will probably by buy a few pounds just to have some fresh ones to eat when the variety I like come in. My friend has a garden so I won't need to buy any more tomatoes.

Anne unless your Miracle Grow is the one that say Miracle Grow Raised Bed Soil and says 100% organic on the front it does have chemicals.