Now that the daily temperatures are consistently in the 90's, the tomatoes have kicked it into high gear! I've only frozen tomatoes in the past, which has worked very well. But I need to learn how to can, in order to save room in the freezer for other things (like chicken!). My gardening techniques this year have been the most relaxed of past seasons. I only tied up about 4 plants and the rest I have just left "to do their own thing". I have always meticulously staked, caged and pruned suckers in the past. The only thing I have done this year is water them when needed. I have always battled some insect (the lovely horned green worm!) or disease in the past. But, knock on wood, this year everyone looks awesome! The staked plants look better and may be easier on the back to harvest from, but I have noticed no difference in the yields. On the staked plants, inevitibly, I always bend or break a beautiful limb full of flowers or maturing fruit trying to secure it up. The ones on the ground, definitly take up quite a bit of space, and I suppose if we were having a wet season, I would be fighting molds and disease. I also bought those red trays you see in the seed catalogs boasting it helps with watering and promotes more fruit. Haven't noticed any difference in the plants that have them v. have not. (Except for my wallet!) I believe in the future, I will always contiue to stake all small tomato plants, ie; cherry, grape etc., and will continue to stake most of the larger plants, maybe leaving a few to "be free" on the ground, and watch how they do during different weather cycles. I think I will be making tomato, pesto pizza tonight! (I'll post a picture on the Cooking Page!)
RSS Feed
