For A Few Tomatoes More

Mortgage Lifter, 20 Oct 2013

Temperatures are dipping below the point for comfortably wearing short sleeve shirts outdoors. With that ripening has all but come to an end in the garden, but for a few tomatoes more.

Sweet 100, 20 Oct 2013

There are just two tomato plants remaining in the square foot raised beds. A Sweet 100 in near bed, and my prolific Mortgage Lifter in the far bed.

Quite a few pink and plenty of green tomatoes still cling to the vines. There is a chance I will get some ripe tomatoes before temperatures fall below freezing.

Once the tomatoes are all gone, I will don a poncho, cut down the vines, remove the trellises and cover the growing medium with fresh red plastic. To keep out unwanted seeds. If I get ambitious, I just might create a greenhouse over at least one bed with clear plastic and black plastic tubing. When and if I do, I'll plant lettuce seeds. Bunching onions would be nice, too. For a few 2013 harvests more.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Season's Massive Mortgage Lifter

Behold the season's most massive tomato, a Mortgage Lifter. Harvested 17 October. I guess the vine saved its best for last.

While the average weight of Mortgage Lifters were in the 340g/12oz range this baby weighted in at 688 grams. That is 1-1/2 pounds.

One slice from close to the top of the tomato nearly covered a slice of bread. The grilled cheese, bacon, tomato and jalapeño sandwich with oregano was quite delicious. I will surely miss freshly picked tomatoes from the garden until the first harvested in July 2014.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Hades Returns to Claim Persephone from my Garden

Persephone must return to her husband, Hades, deity of the underworld. Her poor mother, Demeter, begins her slow decline into a dark depression. And so the garden begins its slide down the same path. But, not before the cornucopia is full.

It was a good summer for tomatoes, in my garden. Specifically the production of Mortgage Lifter and Tami G varieties. The above bowl of fruit was harvested on October 8. What you see amounts to 7.75lbs/3.5kg of ripe tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumbers and Nacho chiles. Of that total Mortgage Lifter contributed 3.36lbs/1527g and Burpee Burpless cucumber 2.9lbs/1327g of weight. After culling out the unripe fruit, the Tami G grape tomato weighed in at 0.5lbs/259g.

Mortgage Lifter, Rutgers, Tami G, Red Bell Pepper and Burplee Burpless

Mortgage Lifter was by far an away the largest producer of any plant. The total weight of Mortgage Lifter tomatoes harvested, from one 11'/3.35m vine starting July 6 and running through Oct 8, was an amazing 35.53lbs/16.114kg. Let me say that again. Thirty-five pounds of delicious heirloom delights. As for the next runner up, the Tami G grape tomatoes total weight was 11.6lbs/5.67kg from one 9'/2.7m vine.

Mortgage Lifter and Tami G

The third must prolific producer was one the the two varieties of cucumber planted, Burpee Burpless and Tender Green. Burpless was the winner for both production and taste. The total weight of Burpless harvest 30 July through 8 October was 9.58lbs/4.68kg from two 6'/1.8m vines.

Burpless

Overall, it was a good year of gardening in two 16 sq ft/1.48 sq m raised bed square foot garden beds. A grand total of 91.5/43.47kg of produce was harvested. I am a happy gardener in 2013.

During the dark hours that cover my garden until Hades allows Persephone to return to Demeter, I will plan the garden for 2014.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

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

Tomatoes - Beginning of August 2013

Early August finds the raised bed square foot garden beds doing well. You can see in the above photograph the Mortgage Lifter tomato is quite tall. Easily 9'/2.8m in height. As of 3 Aug, 6.5kg/14.5lbs of Mortgage Lifter tomatoes have been harvested from just one plant.

On a sadder note, to continue my problems with tomatoes this year, I believe the Cherokee Purple plant is dying. I haven't seen a new flower on it since the weather got hot. By hot I mean above 90ºF/32ºC in July. I must say I believe the tomatoes from this vine were the best tasting harvested this year.

Rutgers

Beefsteak

Along with the Mortgage Lifter, I continue to harvest Tami G, Super Sweet 100, Rutgers and Beefsteak tomatoes. However the Rutgers and Beefsteaks are small in size.




Sandwiches with tomatoes are quite popular since the beginning of July. Bagel with cream cheese, tomato and sweet onion, grilled cheese with tomato, oregano with and without bacon are the top choices.

Although the homegrown tomato season is not over, I will really miss them when they are gone.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Produce Harvested from Garden as of July 30

I have been keeping track of all the produce harvested from my raised bed square foot garden, with the exception of lettuce. Following are the vegetable varieties and their weights harvested since the first planting/transplanting into the garden on 20 April 2013. 

Clockwise from the top - Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifter and Rutgers

Starting with the most total weight to the least:

1. Mortgage Lifter Tomato - Heirloom 4.291kg/9.46lbs
2. Cherokee Purple Tomato - Heirloom 3.334kg/6.82lbs
3. Tami G Grape Tomato - 1.088kg/2.23lbs
4. Rutgers Tomato - Heirloom - 0.589kg/1.21lbs
5. Anaheim Pepper - 0.305kg/0.62lbs
6. Sweet Red Bell Pepper - 0.274kg/0.56lbs
7. Sweet 100 Grape Tomato - 0.267kg/0.55lbs
8. Mucho Nacho Jalapeño Peppers - 0.255kg/0.52lbs
9. Carmen Pepper - 0.09kg/0.18lbs
10. Kaleidoscope Carrots - 0.067kg/0.14lbs

Total weight of all produce through July 29 2013 from two 4' x 4'/ 1.219m x 1.219m raised beds was 11.034kg/23.26lbs.

That is an amazing amount of produce for July here in USDA zone 6B. It must be a combination of the raised bed, non-soil planting mixture, red plastic mulch, ambient temperatures and earlier than normal planting/transplanting. No matter what the reasons I am happy with production. I have the tomato seeds running down my chin to prove it.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Mortgage Lifter Production

By far, the tallest tomato plant in the raised bed square foot garden is the indeterminate Mortgage Lifter. The trellis is 8'/2.4m tall and the plant bests that by another 1'/30.5cm.

It is not just all vegetation either. It was the first to produce a large ripe tomato. On July 6 a 13.7oz/388g tomato was harvested. Up to and including July 19, the total production of this variety has been 5.46lbs./2.5k.

The other tomato to produce anywhere near that weight in red deliciousness was Cherokee Purple. The first Cherokee Purple was harvested July 10 and has produced a total of 3.9lbs/1.785k in the same period. I have to say this tomato has the best taste of all those harvested to date.

At this time the one Mortgage Lifter is out producing all the other tomato varieties in my raised bed square foot garden beds. I like every bite of it.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Ripe Tomatoes - Slicing, Snacking or Salads

Two varieties of tomatoes were ripe on Sat., 13July.

Tami G, grape tomato and Mortgage Lifter.

I am weighing all the produce, as I did last year, and keeping a spreadsheet of dates and weights.

This handful weighed in at 14oz/397g. One slice covered a hamburger completely.

The total weight of Tami Gs was 11.28oz/320g. These babies are good just popped into the mouth as a snack with some cheese and fresh bread, kind of like a raw pizza.

Of course, both varieties would be good in salads.

A good harvest for this early in the growing season in USDA zone 6B.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Waited Nine Months for Homegrown Tomato

The first two full size tomatoes ripened 6 July. Both were the Mortgage Lifter variety. Transplanted commercially started plants on April 20, the earliest I have ever placed tomatoes outdoors.

Not quite a handful, this tomato weighed in at 209g/.46lb. 

The shoulders still had a touch of green in them. It was firm. Could have used a bit more ripening. I was impatient. No surprise there.

Sliced they appear dense with very few seeds. There won't be much dribbling down the chin with this tomato on top of a sandwich or burger.

I have waited almost 9 months for any kind of home grown tomato. I really appreciate them. Those pale or tasteless store bought cannot compare to any homegrown tomatoes. I will miss them when they are gone. The time to savor them is now.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Tomato Plant Mistakes Made 2013

20 April 2013 I put four commercially started tomato plants into the new raised bed #2. Boy, they looked good and I took credit.

The bed has 16-1' x 1' squares in a 4' x 4' frame. I numbered the 1' square starting with #1 in the lower left and continued numbering them moving to the right through #4. Numbers 5 through 8 in the second row, so on and so forth until the last square in the top right corner is numbered 16.

Planted in position #9 was a Beefsteak, which I purchased at my wife's request. In position #10 was Mr. Stripey, whose taste is rather buttery. In position #11 a Mortgage Lifter, a prolific producer.  A Tami G grape tomato finished out the third row at position #12, a variety I had never heard of until this year. 

At that time there were no supports in place. No trellises, cages or even stakes. Over the next month the plants gained in size. Without stakes or support the tomato plants bent over from their own weight and were touching the ground. 

By the time the new trellises were made and installed along with the trellises made last year, the stems of the tomato plants were rigid. Rigid and bent. I was worried the stems might break if I tried to straighten them and tie them to the trellis. Starting down low, I tied the stems loosely. Hoping I would be able to change the shape of the stems slowly, over the course of days if not weeks. That I would be able to get the tomatoes upright, off the ground and tied vertically to the trellises.

Unfortunately, I was impatient that day. I lacked finesse. I pushed the stem of the Beefsteak tomato too far. The stem broke. Not completely severed. Just cracked, half way through. At the time I thought, "You dumb #*∞§!"

My mind went into first aid mode. I triaged the situation. I looked at the materials and tools at hand. I was going to save this beefsteak or else.

What did I have on hand? I had 1"-2"/25mm-50mm wide strips of knitted bed sheet rolled into a ball, like a knitter rolls yarn. I expected to use the strips to tie the vines to the trellises as they grew during growing season. These bed sheet strips resembled bandages. You know, the kind women boiled and rolled back in the old days. Seemed perfectly clear what to do.

Cut my wrists.

No! I wasn't going to take the easy way out.

I fashioned a face mask out of my red bandana and prepared to begin the operation. I wrapped the damaged stem with a long strip of bed sheet. I figured that would pull the stem together to keep out insects but allow some flexibility in the stem. With the stem closed, I hoped it would somehow heal itself, the sap would continue to flow and keep the plant alive. I wound the bandage snuggly around the stem. Then I tied it to the trellis.

I removed my face mask and stepped back to evaluate the situation. The wound was closed and the vine was off the ground. Only time would tell if the operation was a success.

With my face mask down around my neck I continued to survey the remaining tomato plants. That is when I saw the Beefsteak wasn't the only tomato damage I inflicted.

Trying to keep the plants healthy and as productive as possible, soon after transplanting I began pinching suckers from the tomato plants. Suckers are branches that grow from the crotch where a side branch connects to the leader stem. Many people believe the suckers take energy from the main portion of the plant and are not necessary. It seems I was a bit too aggressive pinching the suckers from Mr. Stripey. It wasn't the sucker I pinched off at all. I mistakenly pinched off the leader stem. Once that was done the plant stopped growing, all together. It looked really sad. All the leaves were curled and discolored. A sad looking plant.

There were some flowers below the point where the leader was pinched. Those flowers went on to set fruit. Those tomatoes continued to grow in size. I had no idea where they got the energy to grow with the leaves in such bad shape. I hoped some new growth would emerge below that pinch site. New growth that would take over for that missing leader stem.

Of the four tomato plants transplanted on 20 April, 2013 neither Beefsteak nor Mr. Stripey look good. I take full responsibility. It is all my fault. You dumb #*∞§!

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved