Anyway, here are the Cherokee Purple tomato plants growing in the 4x8 box that look as good as any plant that's been grown by myself in over 20 years. Needless to say, this makes me really happy, because these 8 plants are gonna bring alot of happiness to me and my family this year. The homemade salsa that's gonna be made this year will be with these tomatoes, and I bet the sweetness of the tomatoes will make it really good. You'll notice a couple of really small plants in the front, which are some suckers that were rooted.
Photo below - since the plant acquired from the workshop at the extension office eventually bit the dust, it was replaced with one of the volunteer jelly bean plants from my place of work. Oh, it's quite happy in here, and I expect it to thrive.
Photo below - one of the jelly bean plants that I started from seed is setting fruit like crazy. This particular one is growing in a swp constructed from 2 cat litter buckets. In all, there are at least 4 jelly bean plants in the garden, because me and Austin sure do like eating 'em! Since it's likely that we'll be completely covered in salad tomatoes this year, i'll probably try to use most of them in different things - like spaghetti sauce and who knows what else. I bet a really chunky sauce would be good.....
Photo below - the first beefsteak tomato to have fruitset is on one of the Giant Oxhearts, and I can't wait to try this one....In all, there are four Giant Oxheart plants in the garden, and I sure hope they are good. This one is being grown in a swc by the shed.
Photo below - Here's the heavily pruned Brandywine plants that are experiencing foliage issues right now. Copper fungicide has been applied to the entire plants, and i'm keeping my fingers crossed that it slows the problem down. After some research, it appears that Brandywine is one of the worst heirloom tomatoes a person can grow in the deep south, because it has all kinds of problems. Oops!
The weekend was spent working on the big flowerbed for my wife, and the construction of it will occupy at least 2 posts. If you have thought about constructing a raised bed on a slope but didn't know how to do it, then this project should be of some help to you. I really enjoy showing people how to build things, and this project is gonna be a really good one to follow. While out there working on it, my son told me "Ya know....you could have your own tv show". Yeah, I guess it is possible, but who would want to sponsor me? Hehe....Anyway, because of the numerous photos and detailed tutorial, these posts will have their own pages, and links to them will be present on the right side of the page. I'll let you know when the links become active....
Take care, and happy gardening!
EG
11 comments:
That's a lot of good looking tomato plants! What do you have your Brandywines tied to the supports with? It looks like cloth.
Glad I'm not the only one having trouble with the Brandywine. I wonder if it's our humidity. I eventually just pulled all of mine. Granny may have to grow them for us and ship down a few for us to try.
Glad to see your tomatoes are doing well. I have tons of flowers but they are taking FOREVER to set fruit.
Hi EG! Your plants look fantastic!
We are so far behind you in northern Wyoming!
I'm just putting plants in the ground!
Love that awesome trellis supporting your Brandywines. Does that bed have a bunch of trellises?
Have a nice day!
Nice tomatoes! I can't wait for salsa this summer too! Bring on the tomatoes!
I'm not even trying to keep up with commenting on your blog -- you're too busy for me!
The CPs do look good, and you know they're my main tomato this year. I don't know how you eat all the ones you have. Good luck fighting the various fungi; it's been a baaaad year for them here, too.
We have had a really bad year for tomatos here in Las Vegas. The Spring was cold and super windy and the last few days have been at least 110. I have about 5 tomatos on each plant and they keep getting blossom end rot. Ughhhhhh!!!!!!
ribbit - I'm sure humidity level and frequency of rain is why it's a problem to grow them here. I'm not pulling them yet, though.
Robin - thanks! I use strips of old bed sheet to tie the plants up with.
Thomas - thank you. Oh, it'll happen very soon for you too!
Toni - thanks! Yeah, that one particular bed has 4 separate trellises, and get used to their fullest potential each year.
ShawnAnn - thanks! I'm ready for them too!
stefaneener - indeed...I stay extremely busy. We usually just eat tomatoes on sandwiches and burgers....
Peggi - you poor thing. BER is certainly very discouraging, and my paste tomatoes were jusy awful last year because of it.
Looking good, EG! I have no idea what I'd do with all those tomatoes. Have you ever tried grafting tomatoes? Johnny's Selected Seeds has videos and supplies. Apparently you graft the heirloom onto a disease-resistant hybrid, and it helps with issues like your Brandywines. I'm thinking of trying it one of these years...
sb - thanks! I've heard of grafting, but didn't know anything about it. Sounds like it would be a good thing to get into doing. Thanks for the info!
I've tried Brandywine in my garden too. It never really grew well and didn't produce much fruit. I think there are better tasting and more prolific plants out there.
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