If you already know tomatoes, you might want to shred this booklet and use it as mulch. If you’re new to growing tomatoes, but don’t want to be bothered, we can keep it simple for you: plant deeply in a sunny patch of good soil that is well-watered, and come back in two months. If you want to invest a […]

You’re in for a treat. Unlike those hard, uniform tomatoes you get at your grocery, your fruit will come in a wide range of shapes, and its flavors will be so much better. Let’s get started! Ripeness & Storage: You may love fried green tomatoes (we do), but in general, the key to great fruit is picking it when it’s […]

Being a gardener comes with the understanding that, for the most part, you are in a cooperative relationship with Nature. It’s an ongoing relationship of learning to become a more capable manager of the favorable and unfavorable conditions and variables that present themselves. Acceptance In the past, I’ve experienced major disease loss (10,000 plants killed by a blight), periodic infestations […]

The following is a list of tomato terms I assembled to provide you useful information while you shop for the most suitable varieties of tomatoes for your garden. Beefsteak – A type of tomato rather than a variety (although there really is a particular variety named ‘Beefsteak.’) Usually considered a large, irregular shaped tomato with solid flesh.Cotyledons – The first […]

Tomatoes are a great, nutritious, and rewarding plant that you can enjoy for many months to come – but how do you grow them? And, more importantly, how to grow tomatoes in pots? If you have a small garden or no garden at all, you can still cultivate these wonderful fruits with just a little bit of insight – and […]

The Tomato is highly esteemed as a delicious food when cooked or eaten raw and as a source of juice. It is known to be a source of health­ protective vitamins and because of the ease with which it can be cultivated, it is one of the most popular of home vegetable-garden crops as well as a commercial crop of […]

Manage Plant Growth: Your seedlings will grow best around 65F (18C) with gentle air circulation and lots of light. Research has proven that lowering seedlings’ night-time temperature (55-60 degrees) and occasionally brushing your hands gently across the tops of the seedlings a couple minutes a day will contribute to stronger plants. When your seedlings develop their first true leaves, they […]

If there’s one thing we gardeners in the Pacific Northwest know about, it’s how to grow tomatoes in the most difficult conditions. It’s bad enough that our summers are normally very cool but now the coming weeks are filled with hot days and warm nights, the perfect breeding ground for late blight disease. Phytophthora infestans, the fungus that causes this […]

Purchase and Prepare Your Tomato Seed Because your garden soil compacts too easily and can harbor organisms that may cause diseases it’s a better choice to purchase a prepared seed starting mix. A good commercial seed starting mix is often a blend of peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite. I like to thoroughly combine the seed starting mix with warm water […]

SEED QUALITYOnly the highest-quality seed, purchased from a reputable source, should be sown. It will probably have been prepared by acid extraction, to reduce the chances of spreading any seed-borne diseases. Most seedsmen supply their seeds in sealed laminated-foil packets, to prevent moisture absorption and loss of vitality. Seed stored in these sealed packets retains its ger­minating power for several […]