Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes!!

(Cherry Tomatoes, 11 Weeks from plant to Harvest)

     Everyone asks me when it comes to planting and caring for tomatoes, what are the best kind to do well in the desert. I always tell them, any variety you want can do well the trick is taking care of them and pruning the plant properly. I always prune the extra foliage, which was the technique passed down to me by my forefathers, in order to put the tomato plant into a form of stress. This stress will push the plant into producing more seed to ensure a future generation of crop will be available. When you do prune the plant, that specific site will be a future node for flowers to form. DO NOT throw away your foliage that is viable as a transplant. Simply shave a bit of the stem off and drop the plant in a bit of water so it can create fresh roots.

(Julietta and Caprese Tomatoes, 10 Weeks from plant to Harvest)

     Every single time I prune my vines that way I end up with an extremely healthy bountiful harvest, like in these photos. To ensure the plant continues its flowering and growth cycle I use another technique called "trench composting". What I do is find the main root mass in the earth and bury composting crops about 1-2 feet into the ground and bury it. This will ensure that the eggshells or rotting veggies with breakdown properly without any smell and that the plant will access these beneficial bacteria through their roots without having to stretch too far to find nutrients.

(Caprese Tomatoes, 10 weeks harvest from planting)

    I always say it is better to experiment with quantities of trench composting rather than not trying it at all. We all learn from mistakes and won't exceed our boundaries without a little experimentation and R&D. I hope this helped you with some information regarding how to care for tomatoes. Be on the lookout for plant care videos in the future. I promise I won't blast you with music this time :).

Happy Gardening!!

Farmer Jeff


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Tomato Cultivars for Beginner Gardeners

   There are so many people out there who want to start gardening, then these individuals end up buying temperamental vegetable/fruit seeds, get frustrated with the certain care these seeds need and all together abandon gardening from this bad experience. I have found and recorded various tomato cultivar so that I could make this Beginner Gardeners Tomato Cultivar List.

Organic Italian Roma Tomatoes

Roma Tomato - Fast Germination. Can yield up to twenty tomatoes at a time. Took seventy days for first mature fruit.

Super Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato - Fast Growth. Full half-dollar sized fruit. Took fifty-five days for first mature fruit.

Yellow Pear Tomato - Fast Germination. Pear-shaped fruit the size of ones thumb. Took sixty days for first mature fruit.

Organic German Heirloom Tomato

German Heirloom Tomato - Average Growth. Pinkish hue. Great size and best as a slicing tomato, in my opinion. Took sixty-five days for first full fruit.

Organic Cherokee Purple Tomato

Cherokee Purple Tomato - Fast Germination. Average sized slicing tomato. Purple hue to flesh. Took seventy-seven days for first full fruit.

 * I used dead plant matter, sand, compost and manure for my soil base and re-mulched every other month.

   All of these cultivar take little effort to keep alive. All you need is a timer for your watering system and to prune them every other week. Remember this is all just a little bit of your time for amazing healthy organic food you grew for your loved ones and yourself. Not only will you feel accomplished growing your own food but you can also make your garden a place to hang out in your back yard. Which is pretty cool because then you get to show your friends/family how simple gardening is and the fruits of your ridiculously easy labour. Thanks again for reading my posts, follow/ subscribe for future updates.
Until next time my fellow green thumbs...

¤ Keep it GREEN and Keep it GROWING

HyperSmash