Tomato season is here!

Saturday, July 20, 2024

 

In our garden, the Fourth of July marks the beginning of tomato season.  This is when the first tomatoes are ripe.  Time for BLT's, juicy burgers, tomato cucumber salads and many more dishes that ripe tomatoes shine!

I always look forward to the Fourth of July in the edible garden as that is when I can bank on tomatoes being ripe.  If I'm lucky and started early ripening or cherry tomatoes, I will get a few before the holiday, but after the Fourth, I can count on ripe tomatoes daily all the way through the first killing frost.  

Key to on-going tomatoes is some basic maintenance, harvesting regularly and keeping an eye out for pests or disease.

Tomatoes are native to Mexico so a little dryness doesn't hurt them; some feel that keeping them no the dryer side enhances the flavor of the tomatoes.  Too much water can cause rot and disease.  If Mother Nature doesn't provide the inch of rain, I use a soaker hose to give the bed a good watering.    I make sure they get an inch of water each week, to not get the foliage wet when watering and to water in the morning to ensure that the foliage drys during the day.

Some think if a little water is good, a lot of water is better.   Not so with the tomato plant.  They are susceptible to fungal diseases which love moisture.  Too much water will also leach out nutrients like calcium from the soil, causing "blossom end rot" which is a rotten spot on the bottom of the tomato.  Lastly, overwatering can cause tomatoes to be tasteless and to crack, inviting rot in the cracks.

I fertilize with an organic dry fertilizer that I put under the mulch at planting, at first flowering and then monthly.  If not mulching, dig the fertilizer into the soil.  I use a fertilizer for tomatoes which provides the balance needed for all fruiting vegetables.  Some think that if a little fertilizer is good, more is better.  Not so.  If you over fertilize, you can end up with a huge bushy plant that produces no fruits.  If you see that the leaves on your plant are turning yellow, you can use a water soluble fertilizer like Alaskan fish fertilizer that you mix in with water and water the plant.

A plant will do its best to produce fruits to ensure that there will be more tomato plants in the future.  If you pick the fruits, it will stimulate the plant to make more fruits.  And a plant can only support so many fruits at once.  Harvesting often will keep the tomatoes coming!

I have found harvesting when the tomatoes just start turning red keeps the raccoons and birds from eating them before I can pick them.  I just put them on the counter where they get some sun and they are fully ripe in a day or two.

If I get more tomatoes than we can eat, I slice and freeze the extras.  Come fall, I will can all the frozen tomatoes from last year into sauce and any from this year that I don't think we will need for winter and spring cooking.  I have found that I don't need to blanch tomatoes or peppers before freezing.  I slice what is ripe that day and put in a freezer bag in the freezer with what it is and the year.  When I have a full bag, I move to the upright freezer.

Since tomatoes are susceptible to fungal diseases, many recommend that you put some kind of mulch around your tomato plants so dirt and fungal spores don't splash up onto your plants.  I prune any leaves with spots on them.  If they did have an infection on them, it keeps many diseases from spreading to the rest of the plant.  Any leaves that may have disease should be put into the trash and not composted.

The only pests I have with my tomatoes that cause any issues are birds that peck on the ripe fruits, raccoons that ferret away ripe fruits, hornworms that will quickly eat every leaf on your plant and voles that dig holes through the roots of plants and eat roots they like.  This causes my plants to wilt and the leaves to yellow.  They seem to recover on their own over time if I hand water them every few days to allow the roots to regrow.  I have tried vole vibration deterrents and it may have helped but not eliminate them.  I read that they don't like coffee so I am trying putting my coffee grounds around the garden and in any holes I dig up.  Fingers crossed!

For hornworms, I look at the leaves of my pepper and tomato plants.  When it looks like something has been wolfing down the leaves, I inspect for the large green hornworms, both on the stems and leaves as well as the undersides of the leaves.  If you find any, check back over the next few days for any you might have missed. 

Some gardeners see their production go down over the summer.  My plants usually produce until the first killing frost.  If you want to hedge your bets, you can start seeds or buy transplants now.  They will start producing faster planting now than in spring since there is much more sunlight and warmth now than spring.