View from the rear corner of the 2021 tomato forest
There’s something different about this year’s garden. It is vertical, well staked, well pruned (most indeterminates suckered to provide 4 growing stems), and in a few cases, topped at the height of the stakes. Last year ended up in a random collection of leaning plants supported by saw horses, tables, chairs and ladders. I lost a lot of tomatoes to critter damage, rotting because they were hidden, and an early demise of the plants due to so much density - it created a perfect pathway for the spread of disease. Not this year!
Driveway part of the garden - the R and D area
Before I talk more tomatoes, a word about an event that I will be involved in next week - Tuesday, July 13. I will be giving a talk for the Nantucket Garden Festival, the topic being - guess what! - tomatoes! Those who haven’t seen my picture filled, comprehensive workshop on tomatoes should register and check it out. Most of the festival is in person in Nantucket - I get to do this virtually, via Zoom, from the comfort of my Hendersonville office. I will be live, showing my slides, then taking your questions. Information can be found here. The Nantucket School is a really great cause, well worth the fee for my event. I met folks at Monticello a few years ago, and that led to my invitation, and I am so excited to be doing this (it would have been an in person event for me, but…COVID - which cancelled last year’s event).
Our flower garden, which has given us endless delight all spring and summer, with more to come.
My current garden schedule involves weekly feeding of all plants, regular staking, tying, pruning and suckering, and regular inspection for diseased foliage (which gets removed), and critters (which get crushed). I am not spraying a thing on my garden. Our weather has been ideal - overnight temps between 58-62, day temps between 75 and 85, with just enough rain to keep the grass green and the flowers happy.
Yesterday I picked my first ripe tomato - 4 Mexico Midgets, from 2 different plants (I am growing 4 plants, all along the fence where I hope to drape the plants into our neighbors’ yard so that they can enjoy them as well). The plants are healthy, fruit set is excellent, and I expect an avalanche of ripe tomatoes to begin coming in within the week. I estimate that Taxi will be the first non-cherry variety to ripen, followed by dwarf project in progress variety Capri Show Stopper, and perhaps one of my new hybrids, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Speckled Heart.
We are eating beans! And squash! The straw bales are working brilliantly for both crops. For the past two weeks, our appetizer before dinner is a big plate of green beans (a mix of the varieties Marbel, Fowler and Jade) cooked in boiling water for 7 minutes, until al dente, with a pat of butter, some chives, salt and pepper - the best finger food. We are also now providing our neighborhood with summer squash, as we can’t keep up. The garlic, planted in my two raised beds last September, worked out great, and there are about 20 bulbs hanging in the garage drying, ready for using in our recipes.
I am back to doing Instagram Live shows, but am not adhering to a particular schedule. These can be found on my Instagram TV channel - follow me there @nctomatoman . Most of my time (aside from the above - and hiking with Sue and the dogs, and hammock afternoons with books) is spent on weekly Zoom calls with Joe Lamp’l, answering questions from the students of our course Growing Epic Tomatoes. Joe returns to my garden in a few weeks so that we can film material to finish off the course. Check out the link - anyone can sign up for the course, any time - it is self paced, and material is there for about 6.5 of the 10 modules that will represent the full course.
A new F1 hybrid I created - Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Speckled Heart, on the cusp of ripening. What color will it be? What will it taste like?
Other odds and ends - I will be on the WPTF 680 Saturday gardening show this coming Saturday, July 10. I was on Niki Jabbour’s radio garden show last Sunday and you can find the audio here. I will be giving a presentation on the Dwarf Tomato Project at the Seed Savers Exchange campout, on Friday July 16 at 11:30 AM central, virtually - you can register and get information here.
The Taxis are on the way!
That’s where things stand. Time is flying, I am loving the course with Joe Lamp’l and our great students, interacting on Instagram is a blast….there are so many mysteries coming along in the garden. This time last year we were desperate to find canning supplies (the COVID wipe out!), but friends came to the rescue. We are well armed this year, and from our 63 quarts we are down to 11. I so appreciate the gardening friendships from places all over the world. I am learning as much from all of you as you are learning from me. And - yes, that third book - on our dwarf tomato breeding project - will happen (HAS to happen) sometime late this year into next year. Really. I promise!
View on the Avery Creek trail, during a hike - in the Pisgah Forest