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I went to Tomatomania this weekend. Tomatomania is an event
put on by Hortus, a local nursery, where they have over a hundred
varieties of heirloom tomato plants for sale as well as lectures on growing
and cooking with tomatoes.
It was so tempting! All of the plants were in gorgeous shape and each plant
variety had a photo of the tomato it would produce along with a description
of uses and growing habits. I ended up buying 11 plants, Enchantment, Garden Peach, Granny
Smith, Gold Medal, Omar Lebanese (for Ula, she
likes LARGE tomatoes), Yellow Pear, Bush
Celebrity, Italian Gold, Husky Gold Husky Cherry
Red and Pineapple. Another
friend that went bought five plants, Sun Gold,
Jolly, Marvel Stripe,Juliet and Bush Early Girl. We have decided to split our
crop and share, that way we can maximize the variety. It should be nice
assortment of color but I think we will both have way too many tomatoes.
Lets hear it for canning!
In addition to the tomatoes, I bought a pineapple
sage, a banana pepper, mustard, and fancy
leaf parsley. I love pineapple
sage, It gets enormously large and smells fantastic. I also
bought a Buddleia Harlequin (which is a
beautiful variegated shrub with scented purple flowers that attracts
butterflies) and a Salvia Superba (also
known as Blue Hill) The Salvias
do so well in our mediterranean climate. I absolutely love them, they make
me feel like I have a green thumb.
My front perennial garden is really starting to fill in, I have no room for
any more plants, and as a result of the latest purchase I am going to be a
slave to cutting it back all summer. It is very deceiving to look at now
because it looks perfectly fine, but I forget about the dormancy. In June I
am sure I will have a jungle going. What I wouldn't do for a real size yard
instead of an apartment sized one. I guess it is a good exercise in self
control.
I spent the entire weekend planting my vegetable garden and getting
everything settled in. I staked and trellised all of the tomatoes, put down
mulch and fed all of my plants.
I also went to a lecture on growing tomatoes in southern California, since I
had a bit of bad luck last year. I know, I am a geek, I just want to make
sure the plants do well this year. Everyone will thank me in the end. It was
very insightful, I will list some of the tips I learned for anyone
interested.
Tomato Growing Tips:
Always amend the soil, you have to give back nutrients that
you took away in the previous growing season.
There are two types of tomatoes, Determinate and
Indeterminate.
Determinate ripen their fruit all at one time.
Indeterminate have fruit production throughout the season.
Determinant plants are better for container growing because they will stay
compact.
(also the Husky variety, a dwarf indeterminant, is also great
for containers)
Indeterminant plants get huge and will need support. Don't expect those
little
tomato cages to hold them. They can get to eight or nine feet.
There is no need to pinch suckers off of Indeterminant plants,
the suckers will eventually produce fruit.
You need at least 6 hours of full sun to grow tomatoes,
except with certain varieties that can tolerate less sun, like
Enchantment
Beefstake tomatoes will not product fruit after 85 degrees F.
Russian varieties will tolerate less sun and cooler weather.
Water deep and Infrequently.
Mulch helps a great deal to detract weeds, insects and keep moisture in.
Transplant on cloudy and overcast days.
Don't over fertilize, this causes beautiful plant growth, but no fruit.
If you get any sort of virus, like Wilt take the whole plant out
and be very clean about it, these diseases spread easily.
Some photos of my garden
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