My Year in Tomatoes, and What Comes Next

What I grew

Up here in the Northeast, we couldn’t have asked for better tomato weather…you need it hot, and we got it.  My tomatoes have been almost disease-free this year, with just a few minor problems, very minor. 

Surprisingly, I started harvesting early this year - June 15th, in fact, when I began picking cherry tomatoes, like Sun Gold and Sun Cherry.  Now all the medium-size to large varieties are ripening so fast I don’t know what to do with them. 

Of course I’m harvesting my Brandywines, too.  I love this heirloom variety and for me it’s what summer is about.  I grow lots of it because it doesn’t produce heavily but man what a taste!!  Slice those babies up with some buffalo mozzarella and a little pepper, creamy Italian dressing, maybe some fresh basil (I don’t like balsamic…too much heart burn) and yum.

In addition to growing the heirloom Brandywines, I round out my tomato garden with some terrific hybrids.  I’m talking varieties like Celebrity, Big Beef and Better Boy, all producing large, round, blemish-free tomatoes. 

A new variety that we carried this past spring and that I’m growing in my garden is called Mini Charm.  It’s a cocktail tomato or also described as “small grape tomatoes”.  And seriously, they’re small and oval like an olive but the plant’s huge!   In fact, it looks a lot like a Sweet 100 plant, which is quite aggressive and productive, with an absolutely great taste.  I’ll go so far as to say I’d put its taste up there with Sun Gold and Sun Cherry, and they’re my absolute favorite cherry tomatoes. 

What next? Fall crops

And now that my tomatoes are at their peak I’m harvesting them like crazy,  but it’s also time to start my fall cold crops. So today I spent my morning sowing carrots and beets in empty spaces wherever I could find them, and I’ll harvest those in October or November.  To me there’s nothing like fresh carrots from the garden - they just have more taste than the store-bought. 

Another crop I love growing in fall is lettuce and its leafy greens.  You’re probably seeing more of these in the garden centers this year, starting this month but also into September, thanks to the growers stepping up at the supply end.

Speaking of which, I got some lettuce flats the other day that I need to get in the ground soon, so I’m back to the garden for now.      

Brandywine tomato photo by RS Green.  Carrot photo by Sunrise.