The home gardener may be motivated first by saving money and having produce close at hand and totally fresh. Tomatoes are one of the favorite choices for home gardeners. During a shortage of tomatoes some years ago, the price shot up from .99 cents a pound to 2.99. Unfortunately, when the shortage was gone in later years, the price stayed high. For those who love tomatoes, this gave them an incentive to “grow your own.” An added incentive is the big difference in taste between the store-bought and the home-grown tomato. Why the difference? One hears of gene splicing and altering of varieties to produce a tomato that looks good. But they forgot to leave that rich tomato taste in!
Consult your local nursery or agricultural extension–or your neighbors–to find out which varieties grow best in your locale. The nursery will stock local favorites, and this is where most of us start. It is more practical to buy seedlings than to grow tomatoes from seed. But if you are an advanced gardener, you may want to try it. You will have to start them inside in a sunny window or in an outdoor cold frame, as early as possible in Spring.
Take a close look at those tomato seedlings at the nursery. They should look sprightly, not droopy. Their leaves should be a deep green. For the best taste, consider heirloom varieties of tomatoes. These are becoming more available. If your local nursery doesn’t stock them, you can get them by mail order. Here you get that original tomato taste that has not been fooled around with by the big commercial interests.
Tomatoes like lots of sun. They should be well-watered–but not over-watered.
They like hot, dry weather. (Okra does too, and goes well with tomatoes.)
Don’t forget the fertilizer. If you can, enrich your garden soil with your own compost made from food scraps or leaves. You can also make a “weed tea” by placing weeds in a bucket of water for a few days. The resulting “tea” will be rich in nitrogen. What’s more, it is free. Otherwise, buy a good organic fertilizer to produce a bountiful crop.
You will await the first appearance of red (or yellow or orange) on those green tomatoes in your garden. Those first ripe tomatoes are especially sweet. But later in the season you may slack off in picking. Don’t let those beautiful tomatoes go to waste. If your plants are producing more than you can eat, do some home canning. Make some tomato sauce and freeze it. When winter comes, you will be glad you did.
Beware of diseases that attack tomato plants. Check with your local agricultural office. After all your work in planting and tending, it is a shame to lose your crop. Plant a little basil in among your tomatoes. Basil grows well with tomatoes and will help them develop properly.
We hope the advice given here will help you grow a great tomato crop. Along with local sweet corn, tomatoes are one of the great joys of summer eating!
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