Tomato Triage
In preparation for the predicted frost, I did some major work on the tomato plants Saturday afternoon. Wait, no, that's a total lie. I had no idea it was going to frost until someone mentioned it in passing at about 7pm. It was sheer luck that the weather was good this afternoon and enticed me into the back yard to take care of some business. But then it turned out not to have frosted - but I can't claim to mind that!
One thing I definitely learned about tomatoes this year is that not only does everyone know that tomato plants need a lot of sun and a lot of fertilizer and prefer to have plenty of space, the thing is, it's actually true!!! I had seedlings in two different beds in the back yard, and the resulting plant sizes and number of tomatoes were vastly different.
Last summer, we grew the tomatoes in the the bed off the patio, because that was the only bed there was. It seemed sunny enough, and they did just fine. We planted 8 plants there again this spring, and had two left over. Fortunately, we'd spent March and April building a new raised bed and filling it with "SuperLoam" (50/50% blend of loam and compost which was almost the same cost as just plain dirt ) so there was a fine spot to put the extra 2 plants. On the left, you see almost all 8 plants - 2 cherry, 2 BigBoy, 2 Romas, 2 Cherokee Purples - along with the harvest that I pulled in off them one day in September. On the right, you see the other 2 plants - 1 Brandywine, 1 Roma - and the same day's harvest for that half the yard. It's pretty amazing how much bigger the plants grew, and how much more they were bearing.
Anyway, that was September, and now it's seriously autumnal. Time to triage the tomatoes.
Group 1: pick everything that's mostly red, or fallen off the plant. Bring it inside, and put the not-all-the-way ones in the window.
Group 2: pick everything that's still solidly green, because it won't have time to ripen. Time to make green tomato salsa!
Group 2: leave on the vine anything that is starting to blush pink or not quite ripe; it may stand a chance. Pull out any bushes that are now bare.
Conveniently, this meant that after I found out last night would be cold, I had way fewer tomatoes out there to worry about, not only fruits but also plants. I did throw a tarp over the big plant just in case, which may or may not have been enough had the frost alert not been just alarmist.
And now I have a monster-sized bowl of green salsa.
One thing I definitely learned about tomatoes this year is that not only does everyone know that tomato plants need a lot of sun and a lot of fertilizer and prefer to have plenty of space, the thing is, it's actually true!!! I had seedlings in two different beds in the back yard, and the resulting plant sizes and number of tomatoes were vastly different.
Last summer, we grew the tomatoes in the the bed off the patio, because that was the only bed there was. It seemed sunny enough, and they did just fine. We planted 8 plants there again this spring, and had two left over. Fortunately, we'd spent March and April building a new raised bed and filling it with "SuperLoam" (50/50% blend of loam and compost which was almost the same cost as just plain dirt ) so there was a fine spot to put the extra 2 plants. On the left, you see almost all 8 plants - 2 cherry, 2 BigBoy, 2 Romas, 2 Cherokee Purples - along with the harvest that I pulled in off them one day in September. On the right, you see the other 2 plants - 1 Brandywine, 1 Roma - and the same day's harvest for that half the yard. It's pretty amazing how much bigger the plants grew, and how much more they were bearing.
Anyway, that was September, and now it's seriously autumnal. Time to triage the tomatoes.
Group 1: pick everything that's mostly red, or fallen off the plant. Bring it inside, and put the not-all-the-way ones in the window.
Group 2: pick everything that's still solidly green, because it won't have time to ripen. Time to make green tomato salsa!
Group 2: leave on the vine anything that is starting to blush pink or not quite ripe; it may stand a chance. Pull out any bushes that are now bare.
Conveniently, this meant that after I found out last night would be cold, I had way fewer tomatoes out there to worry about, not only fruits but also plants. I did throw a tarp over the big plant just in case, which may or may not have been enough had the frost alert not been just alarmist.
And now I have a monster-sized bowl of green salsa.