To grow tomatoes or not grow tomatoes, that is the question


 

Last summer we had a late start on our tomatoes due to the renovations at the community garden. It was a little disappointing. By the time the tomatoes started to flower the weather was so hot, the fruit wasn't setting on the vine. By the end of this fall I'd decided that I wasn’t going to waste any space in my raised bed garden on tomatoes. 

Last weekend I took out the last tomato plant, collected all the green Roma tomatoes and let them sit out on the table to see if any would ripen. 

Today we were having tacos  We had purchased a beautiful blemish-free organic large roma tomato from the supermarket. I checked to see if there were any semi-ripe tomatoes from the garden that were on the table and there were three very small roma tomatoes. They weren't free from blemish. As I sliced them, the inside was a brighter red. When I sliced the tomato from the supermarket, it looked anemic next to my home grown tomato.  

Taste test time.  The tomato from the supermarket tasted bland. Next, I tasted the garden grown tomato. It was tart and sweet at the same time, bold in flavor. I asked my husband guess which one was from the garden and which was the store bought one. He was also impressed with the garden grown tomato.

Nancy grew Purple Cherokee tomatoes this year, a dark red/purple lower level with a green-capped top. I sliced into the tomato she shared with me this week. The depth of flavor and color in the tomato was amazing. 

I've decided that this year I will try growing tomatoes again. In just a couple of weeks it will be time to start tomatoes from seeds.

Week 2 of 52 weeks of gardening

This week: planted the pepper seeds, Planted a few radish seeds to replace the radishes I've harvested, transplanted kale Nancy shared with me from her garden, and moved some buckwheat in the Native California plant section  

Comments

  1. 120pgsJanuary 17, 2022 at 8:41 AM

    I'm looking forward to tomato season and using tomatoes in new ways including homemade tomato sauce and also dehydrating them.

    ReplyDelete

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