Tomatoes are Growing!
Last year on our Homestead we canned just over 260 jars of tomato products: salsa, diced, and sauce. That's why we are excited to have them sprouting!
Last year we put out 100 plants but only 2/3 produced good tomatoes. Simple reason I only had enough cages for 62 and the ones without cages grew on top of the hay. Not a good method, cages are the key to having a good crop.
This year we are planting 90 plants. All 3 are new varieties we have never grown on the homestead. I am a little worried about switching varieties but I am trusting the Lord and information of fellow gardeners on Baker's Creek.
The Mortgage Lifter... "1 pound pink tomatoes"
Henderson's Pink Ponderosa... "huge size, some over 2 pounds"
The German Pink..."high yield of 1 and 2 pound tomatoes"
We are slowly preparing our garden area for both tomatoes and peppers. In the last 24 hours we have had 3+ inches of rain so we will be on hold for a few days to week. We are hoping to plant in mid March and we will share how we prepare the ground and the cages we use.
Thanks for reading and commenting. I would love you hear what type you are planting this year and the successes you have had with tomatoes!
They are just popping though the soil!
Link to tomatoes on Baker's Creek website if you want to read the whole review on these tomatoes plus many more:
https://www.rareseeds.com/search/?keyword=tomato
Why are you switching varieties?
Beef steak and Arkansas travelers have been our go to crop for the last 4 years and Beef steak was what I grew up growing. We switched because we are looking for a tomato with more meat. If we find one with more meat we can possibly plant less (not likely since family is growing) in the future or at least not expand our garden. Do you have a favorite variety?
No, I'm on the hunt for better (meatier!) tomatoes too. My Husband bought a bunch of different varieties last year and none of them did particularly well; and they were SO watery when I tried canning them. All my canned diced tomatoes are mostly juice! I intend to try growing Amish Paste this year for canning, and haven't decided on a slicing tomato for fresh eating, but the Husband is partial to the Better/Big Boy types.
Thanks for sharing, I hope we are not disappointed with our change. I will make a mental note to cut some apart and show them on a post.
Ponderosas are not overly meaty. They are really juicy, but they won’t let you down. You’ll really enjoy them.
Mortgage Lifter tomatoes are always a good option!! ;)
We will likely be starting seeds here around the first of March and we are so excited! Just ordered some strawberry plants, asparagus crowns, Jerusalem Artichokes, and rhubarb to plant!! With the baby coming and having so much to do around here we are keeping our vegetable garden small this year and focusing on getting more perennials going. :)
I think you are making a very wise decision with the young one coming. Smart idea of getting some perennials going! Any grapes on your list?
We planted 4 grape vines in the fall! :)
Great news!
Looking forward to more posts on your tomatoes this season! You guys are very fortunate to get all that rain...I just got half an inch, but I'll take it...
Thank you @texasoffgrid, very fortunate for the rain. I pray you all get some more! We are excited and looking forward to our new varieties. I will try to post a few times during the season so others can decide if any of these varieties will work for them.
We’ve been growing pink ponderosa for several years. It’s our favorite! Always produces large quantities of huge tomatoes before any of the other varieties are ready. Tomatoes keep coming from them until frost.
Growing a couple of different tomatoes as well this year. Can't remember the name of them at the moment but here is a picture of one of them, this one is called the Dark Galaxy Tomato. Also looking forward to seeing your cages, I need to redo all of mine this year!
