Which Tomato Should I Grow?

You know how those tomatoes in the seed catalogs sound so tempting and wonderful? Guess what? They will not all grow well in your area. Here in the Southeast, I do not even entertain the thoughts of growing something that mentions Siberia or the Dakotas.  Here, you need something that will stand up to heat and humidity. How do you know which ones those are? 
**Don't try to grow from seed unless you are starting them in February.  At this point, go buy plants.

• Ask other experienced gardeners what kinds they grow.Pay attention to what local garden centers carry. The nurseries that they buy from generally try to grow varieties that are proven in your area.

• If you have a local arboretum or botanical garden, they may have a spring plant sale to help raise money. Find out when it is and GO! You will meet gardeners who are experts in their area. Ask questions. You will learn a lot and you will meet some really nice people who love to share what they know.  

• Read the label.  Look for words like "disease resistant" and "stands up to heat."  If it has some letters at the end like V or VFT, etc, those stand for every disease it's resistant to.  V is verticillium wilt.  F is fusarium.  T is tobacco mosaic virus. N stands for nematodes.  You would think that the more letters it has, the better, but an old standby is Big Boy (the first hybrid tomato).  It has no letters, and I think it's usually pretty dependable. 

Hedge your bets. Don't get just one variety, even if it was your best grower last year. Conditions may be different this year and I try to spread out the risk!

Stop living in a rut!  Trying at least a couple of different varieties will make you feel like you are stepping outside of your box. It will make you feel adventurous in a  safe sort of way! Besides, this is the only way to experiment and find out which varieties are best for you.

Choosing Varieties for Taste

Slicing tomatoes - What do you want your tomatoes to taste like? This is a very individual thing! How can you tell before you grow it? Read the label or the description in the catalog.Some people-me included, like a tomato with a lot of "zing." If that describes you, then you want a tomato with a lot of acid. If it says “real tomato taste” or uses the word “tartness,” then I choose that one! If on the other hand, yoyou do not like a lot of acid in a tomato then you want a “mild” tomato. If it uses the word “mild” or “low-acid,” then that's what you will get. Also, I have found that most yellow or pink tomatoes are milder in flavor, but that is not always the case. Read the label. 

Paste tomatoes are usually also low in acid. They are called “paste” tomatoes because they have a low water content and so are good for making sauces and for roasting. Roma is a very popular variety of paste tomato and is widely available. My personal favorite is Viva Italia.   (Since I like a lot of tartness, when I roast paste tomatoes I add a bit of lemon juice or wine vinegar to the pan.)

Cherry tomatoes are usually pretty dependable and seem to be more resistant to diseases than some slicers.  Although it's hard to make a tomato sandwich with cherry tomatoes, it CAN be done, and I have done it!  
My advice to most people is to grow at least one or two plants of cherry tomatoes in addition to whatever else you grow. 

My number one recommendation is a variety called Sungold.  In the last couple of years I have started seeing it available commercially.  The ones this year are labeled "Yellow Cherry" with the variety name "Sungold" underneath.  I will be planting 3 of these.  They will live till frost and are very prolific!  You will never be short of tomatoes with Sungold in your garden!

Finally, make sure you label your tomatoes in the bed, otherwise when you find a variety that you love the taste of or the one that is “the last survivor on the island,” you will have no idea which one it is!

  

How To Plant and Grow Tomatoes

Plant 'em deep!  

Pinch off any side leaves or stems and just leave the ones at the very top.  Dig the hole deep and plant it all the way up to the top leaves.  Or if the plant has gotten pretty tall, you may need to dig a trench and lay it down, fill in with dirt, and then prop up the top of the plant with a rock or dirt clod.  In just a few days it will start growing upwards toward the sun. 
The reason for planting tomatoes deep is they will form roots all along the stems and be much stronger plants!   These are the only veggies you should do this with. 

When to plant?
Please wait until the last spring frost to plant.  When is that?  Who knows!?  In much of the Southeast where I have lived, the average last frost date is April 15th.  That's an average though.  Over about twenty years when I lived in Alabama,  the last frost came after that date.  Sometimes it could be a week or two weeks before.  Talk to gardeners in your area who have experience,  do a search using the words "average last frost date" for your county or city,  and check that 7-day weather forecast.  Remember that even though we know that water freezes at 32 degrees F, we can get a frost at about 37 degrees.  I don't know why.  I wish I did.  
I am having to learn about planting times in my new home of Fort Worth, Texas.  I have taken my own advice and have learned that  it's still a gamble to plant early.  Here folks are trying to beat the summer heat and dry wind that often dooms tomato plants.  We'll see what happens, but I'm just letting you know that I'm learning and no one ever knows these things for sure!

Give Them Support
Tomato plants will do better with a cage to support them.  If you have cattle fencing wire, you can make one easily.  I always read to use concrete reinforcing wire because the holes are bigger the whole way, but you can get cattle fencing easier.  Just put the small holes at the bottom and you won't have any problem reaching in.  You can also buy ready-made cages at Lowe’s or Home Depot.  They have  a fold-up kind that looks pretty sturdy, although I haven’t used them.  Don't buy the upside down cone ones for tomatoes.  They will not hold up to big tomato vines. They do work great for peppers though.  

Tomatoes with blossom-end rot

For tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants (same family) you need to add lime and Epsom salts to the soil if you live east of the Mississippi.  This will prevent blossom-end rot.  Blossom-end rot is where the fruit turns mushy on the bottom end before it gets ripe.  It is caused by not enough calcium and magnesium or from the plant not able to USE the calcium because the soil is a little too acidic.  The lime will make the soil less acidic and add calcium (calcium carbonate).  Epsom salts isn't salt; it's magnesium.  If you already have these on hand, add a handful of lime to the planting hole and another handful to the top after you fill it in.  Add 1 handful of Epsom salts to the top and then water it all in.  If you don't have any when you plant them, be sure to add it pretty soon to the top of the soil and water it in well.  Now, a  soil test will tell you exactly what you need, but most folks won’t do that, so east of the Mississippi is a rule of thumb for these needs.  (If you live west of the Mississippi, I don’t know what you need.)

Don't let anyone smoke around your garden or touch your plants with hands that have been on cigarettes or dip without washing first.  They can transmit tobacco mosaic virus to your tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.  TMV will cause your leaves to get curled up and not thrive. 

As your plants grows a bit, cover the soil around it thick with grass-clippings (that have not been sprayed with herbicide) or hay or chopped-up leaves or shredded or torn paper (only black and white newspaper, not colored ads).  Pile it up thick.  This deep mulch will serve a few purposes.  It will keep weeds from growing, which equals no hoeing!  It will hold moisture in and it will rot and enrich your soil.  The earthworms will eat it from the soil side and will speed up this process.  Earthworms will “till” your soil when you give them enough to eat, and you will actually be able to dig in it with your hand! 

Tomato hornworm with egg sacs of parasitic wasp

Do NOT spray with pesticides.  It is bad for you and your family, and it is totally unnecessary.  The only pests to watch for are tomato hornworms, and it is best to just pick them off. (I like to put them where some lucky bird will find them.) If you see a hornworm with white sacs along its back, just move it away but don't smash it.  Those white sacs are egg sacs from parasitic wasps.  They kill hornworms and hatch into more tomato hornworm killers!

Now go plant some 'maters and dream of summer days that are soon to come!

Roasted Tomatoes

Heat the oven to about 450 degrees.
If you are using cherry tomatoes, just wash the tomatoes and put them whole in a black skillet. If you are using Romas (paste tomato-which means it contains less water) or a slicing tomato just cut them in slices or halve and then slice.   Drizzle some olive oil over it and add a fair amount of salt. For Romas I add a bit of lemon juice because they are less acidic tomatoes.  If you have fresh garlic cloves, peel them and put them in whole. Cook it till everything gets darker. You want some caramelization; that's where the best flavor is! The cherry tomatoes will burst on their own. You can stir as you see fit to get browning on more sides.

When it's done, you can use it over pasta or on bruschetta... I promise you will lay up in bed thinking about this stuff; it's that good! If you don't need it that day or if there is some left, just put it in a jar in the fridge. It will keep for at least a week-maybe more.

No pictures yet! I'll add that when I make some more, but I wanted to get this up!

Quick! Pan-Roasted Tomatoes on Toast

Toast -- It's Not Just For Breakfast!

So often folks think they don’t have time to cook, or they think they don’t have the skills or the ingredients.  This meal is as simple as you can get, and it requires very few ingredients.  You can add more to it, but only if you want to and if you have the stuff.  Even though you may think of toast as breakfast food, this is a savory meal that will work great for a fast-food supper!

This is a meal that you can put in your mouth in 5 minutes!  

You Will Need

black skillet

fresh tomatoes

whole wheat bread

salt, pepper, garlic powder

optional - hot pepper flakes

Put a black skillet on the stove at medium high heat.  While it heats, cut the tomatoes into slices about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick.  

(About the tomatoes — Use whatever you have coming out of your garden or whatever you can get your hands on.  Right now for this dish, I like to use Roma tomatoes (a paste type of tomato) because they don’t have as much water content.  But you can use cherry tomatoes and just slice them quickly in half or just regular eatin’ tomatoes.  If it’s a big slicing tomato, then you may want to cut it in half lengthwise first and then cut into slices.)

Put the toast in the toaster.

Add a little olive oil to the pan and then put in the tomatoes in one layer.  Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  If your skillet is hot enough, they tomatoes will brown on one side in just a couple of minutes.  Flip them over and season the other side.  In about a  minute or two, they will be ready to come out.  Put them straight onto the toast that is already waiting on your plate.  That’s it!  

Additions:

I like to add some sharp cheddar cheese to the top.  Slice it while the tomatoes are cooking so you can put it straight on top.  The heat will melt the cheese a little.  

You can also fry an egg and put on top if you would like.  If you choose to go this route, then turn the skillet all the way down and cook your eggs in the same pan.  

You can add a little of Missy's Special Herb Mixtrue to the tomatoes when they’re almost ready. 

Rotten on the Bottom!

This time of year I often hear people say that all their peppers or tomatoes or eggplants are turning black or mushy or rotten at the bottom.  (They are all in the nightshade group of plants, so they have similar growing needs.)  Sometimes my friends despair of ever being able to grow vegetables and think they have a brown thumb because of it.  This problem is called Blossom-End Rot. It is caused by not enough calcium and magnesium or from your plants not being able to absorb them.

You may have enough of both in your soil but if your soil is TOO acidic, then it can't take up the minerals right. Like us and calcium--we need vitamin D to absorb the calcium right. 

    

Y’all, it is easy to fix!

Lime and Epsom Salts

Buy a bag of lime.  It doesn’t cost much, and it will last your for a few years if you store it out of the weather.  You want it to be calcium carbonate lime--which it probably will be around here. Sprinkle about 2 little handfuls around each tomato and pepper plant. I'd go about an 8 inch radius around each plant so all the roots have access.  This is going to fix two problems; it will correct the pH, and it will supply the needed calcium.

Next, buy a bag of Epsom Salts. Epsom Salts is NOT salt. It is magnesium. Put a handful of that around each plant too. Water it all in good so they will both go down to the roots.  THEN to make it fix the problem quicker, put about a tablespoon in some water in a spray bottle and spray it on the leaves of each plant. They can absorb that magnesium through the leaves!  (It's good for roses too, by the way.)  Don’t do this part during the bright, sunshiny part of the day, or you’ll get little burned places on the leaves from the drops of water acting as little magnifying lenses.  

It won't fix it immediately, but it won't take long at all. I can’t remember if it takes a week, or if it takes two.  You WILL see a change.

Next year when you plant, put one little handful of lime and a half-handful of epsom salts IN the planting hole and about the same amount up top to prevent the problem.  Make this part of your yearly planting routine.  

Don’t let this easily corrected problem discourage you from gardening!  Remember, if you grow it yourself, you know what you’re eating!  

Check out another of my articles on growing peppers and tomatoes.  

How to Plant and Grow Tomatoes (and peppers)  It has everything I know about it in a nutshell.

~Missy

Sun-Dried Tomatoes

You've seen sun-dried tomatoes for sale in the store at a hefty price, or you've seen them being used on a cooking show.  It's so easy to make your own.  If you're starting to get overrun by cherry tomatoes or any kind of tomato, this is an easy way to preserve them for later, and you will get an entirely new ingredient to use in your cooking!

Dried tomatoes have all that wonderful tomato flavor all concentrated into a wonderful little bite that will add zing to your dish.

What do you do with them?  Whenever I tell someone how easy it is to dry their tomatoes, the next thing they want to know is...."What do you do with 'em?"  So I'm skipping to the end and filling in that part first.

I use them on pizza, on burritos, on pasta, in dips,  and in bread.  Often you will read where someone says to rehydrate them by soaking in water, but I don't like it that way.  I like there to be a tiny bit of "chew" there.  So if they are big pieces, I take scissors and just cut them into pieces.  If they are from halved cherry tomatoes, you won't even need to do that.  

Paste tomatoes are just made for drying.  Roma is the one most people have heard of.  A paste tomato is usually oblong in shape, and it has very little water content.  I like to cut these in half lengthwise, and then I sprinkle on a little citric acid (what you buy in the canning section to keep fruit from turning brown.)  I do this because paste tomatoes have very little acid, and I want a little “bite.”  This is not necessary, but I like to mention it in case you want to try it.  

Cherry tomatoes are excellent for drying.  You would still cut these in half lengthwise.  They usually have excellent flavor and shrink up to be just right in size.  Often, people start getting overrun with cherry tomatoes and are trying to find ways to use them. 

So, next just put them in your dehydrator face up at around 135 degrees for about 8 hours, depending on the size.  You’ll want to keep a check and take them out when they are dry but still flexible.

Some people put them in the oven at a very low heat and prop the door open with a wooden spoon.  I don’t want to be letting that heat in my house, so I don’t do that. 

Some people put then on a window screen in their car and crack the windows.  Instant solar dryer!  I haven’t tried this myself, but if you have, you might leave a comment with any advice you have. 

After they have dried, you have a couple of choices.  You can just put them in a jar and put them in the fridge, which is what I do.  Or you can put them in a jar and cover them with olive oil and refrigerate.  Try a little bit both ways and see what you like for yourself.  

Drying your tomatoes is an excellent way to make use of your surplus, and when winter  returns, you will be so thankful to have them in your fridge!  They will bring back a little bit of summer sun in a tiny bite of goodness!