Mortgage Lifter Harvest Savored

For the last two months I have been savoring home grown tomatoes from my garden. Not that I am bragging but if you don't grow you own tomatoes, you don't know what you are missing. Rutgers, Cherokee Purple, Beefsteak, Tami G, Sweet 100 and Mortgage Lifter. Of all the varieties the Mortgage Lifter provided the most pounds of big tomatoes.

I was taken by surprise with the massive production of Mortgage Lifter. As a matter of fact, if back in late April, you told me that one tomato plant was going to produce over 22lbs/10kg of tomatoes in one growing season, I wouldn't have believed it. Nonetheless, that is exactly what happened in my raised bed square foot garden.

The tallest plant is Mortgage Lifter Tomato 28 June 2013

Mortgage Lifter Tomato 18 July 2013

Here is how this went down. 

1. One store bought Mortgage Lifter plant was transplanted into the bed on 20 April.
2. On July 6, a 13.7oz/388g Mortgage Lifter was the first tomato harvested from the garden.
3. As of August 31, 22.19 lbs/10.065kg of ripe Mortgage Lifter tomatoes have been plucked from a single vine.

Let me repeat that. I think it deserves repeating.

One Mortgage Lifter tomato vine produced 22.19lbs/10.065kg of ripe tomatoes from July 6 through August 31.

A plant that is still producing wonderfully tasting vine ripened tomatoes.

Mortgage Lifter harvested 6 July 2013 weighed in at 388g/13.58oz

Production was not the most important feature of this variety. For hugh production of a rotten tasting tomato would just be, well, a waste. Of course, the most important feature of any tomato is taste. The Mortgage Lifter has that wonderful old fashion taste you remember as a child. A taste you can only get if you grow your own tomatoes and allow them to ripen on the vine. Or get them from your generous gardening neighbor.

http://carrot.mcb.uconn.edu/~olgazh/photogal/summer08/

I will probably plant at least one Mortgage Lifter again next year. Maybe two. If I transplant any more, I will surely need to set up a roadside stand at the foot of my driveway to sell the surplus tomatoes. Then I could spread to my neighbors, the pleasure of eating home grown tomatoes. I might even sell enough tomatoes to pay for the seeds, soil mixture, fertilizer and lumber for the raised bed frame. I'll have to consider that in the coming months.

In just three weeks summer will die to autumn. I will leave you with a thought I believe you should take very seriously.

Savor your garden while ye may.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved