Spring came early this year. I bought the first tomato plant I saw for sale and put it in the ground in early April. I added a couple of “100s cherries” plants shortly thereafter, and later a couple of Better Boys. This past week I was rewarded with six ripe cherry tomatoes. They’re yummy like candy.
It looks like tomorrow a big fat juicy red Boy will be ready for pickin’ and eatin’.
The tomatoes have arrived. Let us rejoice. For life is good when one can walk out the back door and pluck a luscious globe, literally the fruit of one’s toil.
Only two things that money can’t buy, and that’s true love and home grown tomatoes.
– Guy Clark
Oh, you fortunate soul, how I envy you! We’ve tried (and tried and tried) to nurture the beautiful red fruit but with success tending from marginal to none. Here’s a big ol’ jar of Dukes mayonnaise, some Merita bread, and some fresh black pepper. Enjoy!
Ours are just beginning to come in as well! However I have a problem. The dreaded tomato hornworms! I killed 5 of them yesterday and since we only have 6 plants they have already done some serious damage.
Anybody have any suggestions on how to get rid of the things? We are trying to stick to organic gardening so chemicals are not preferred.
Bummer about the hornworms. Do they have little white things sticking on them? If so, those are the eggs of some kind of wasp that will suck the life out of those little bastards (which is only fair). Some folks suggest leaving the doomed hornworms on your plants, as that will produced more wasps to kill more worms next season. But I can’t stand to see my plants suffer, so I pick them all off.
Regarding organics, I have always been happy with products from www.GardensAlive.com. Most (but not all) of the products they sell will not harm people or pets. For pest control, I use the stuff that’s made out of castor oil, and I cannot remember the name of the product right now…
They also sell an EXCELLENT weed and feed for your lawn made from corn. It works so well that you don’t mind if your lawn smells like creamed corn for a day or two.
Mmmmm, tomatoes that are still warm from being in the sun are pure drops of heaven! I’ve got tomato six plants - two Early Girls, two Juliet grapes, one beefsteak, and one heirloom. One Early Girl has at least 15 tomatoes growing, but there’s not even a twinge of red yet. I can’t stand it! My husband took a close up of some of the luscious fruit and surprised me by making it the wallpaper on my computer. I call it Tomato Porn.
My dad was a big tomato grower when I was a kid and I remember him showing me those nasty hornworms. He spoke of them like they were his arch nemesis. Then he’d show me what we do when we catch these creatures messing with our stuff – his eyes would narrow and he’d very dramatically cut them in half with his garden snips. Quite gross, but it was pretty funny. He was every bit as vengeful and intense about it as Clint Eastwood in a Dirty Harry movie. I would just nod my head silently and agree that the worm got what was coming to him.
And, just because I feel like it, here’s a bit more Guy Clark…
*I don’t know how much we ate,
But we all had a belly ache.
And everybody stayed up way too late.
It was a watermelon dream.
Ain’t nothin’ sweeter than a watermelon dream,
‘cept sittin’ on the front porch, eatin’ that peach ice cream.
When life is really sweeter than it seems,
That’s what you’ve got to call a watermelon dream.*
That’s what happens when you hit the wrong button!
Anyway I was going to say thanks for the info and the site Nadia218, I checked with www.garden-ville.com and they both offered pretty much the same advice. I’ll just pick em off and kill them as I find em.
I’ve been picking cherry tomatos for the past couple of weeks and cutting them up for salads. My 16 month old daughter loves them too.
I just picked my first big tomato the other day, and have a couple more that will be ready tomorrow or so. I love home grown tomatoes.
You’re welcome Craneop2. And if anyone has trouble with slugs, there’s a product called “Escar-Go!” that works beautifully. Safe around pets, much more effective than other home remedies I’ve tried (shallow pans of beer, etc.).
This looks like a great year for tomatoes. Mine are just starting to ripen, but I had my first BLT with my own tomatoes (and the last of my garden lettuce) last weekend.
For some reason jalapenos are slow this year. Mine are just starting to bear, I’ve just started to see them at the farmers’ market, and the ones in the stores have been dreadful - they look good, but with no taste. Anyone else notice this.
(And anybody want 8 ball squash? I already have too many!)
I live in a very hot and sunny area of northern california, so pretty much all I had to do was put a couple tomato plants in full sun and then water every other day.
I’ve got a roma tomato plant that we’ve gotten a few off of, but has much, much more green and ready, but the full-sized tomato plant is still in “grow to unbelievable sizes” mode, not a blossum to be seen.
We’ve tried (and tried and tried) to nurture the beautiful red fruit but with success tending from marginal to none. Here’s a big ol’ jar of Dukes mayonnaise, some Merita bread, and some fresh black pepper. Enjoy!