It's Tomato Picking Time!
I hope you saw my Instagram post @MarthaStewart48. It's that time of year again - the tomatoes are ready!
We started picking our first juicy, sweet tomatoes this week. Tomatoes, Solanum lycopersicum, have long been one of America’s favorite garden vegetables. They are planted in late spring and then anywhere from 60 to 100 days later, those bold red, sun-ripened fruits are ready to harvest and enjoy. And, they’re filled with excellent antioxidants and vitamins.
Here are some photos.
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- We plant more than 120 tomato plants each year. We always start our tomatoes from seed in my greenhouse. We don’t use any pesticides or chemicals of any kind, so we know we’re nurturing the highest quality plants. I love to share them with family and friends and use them to make all the delicious tomato sauce we enjoy through the year. This season, we also had tomato plants that were gifted to me by a friend and some from one of our trusted growers.
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- The plants are checked often once they are planted. Brian removes any suckers he sees — those vigorous stems sprouting in-between a “V” of the stem and side branch. He removes the suckers beneath the first fruit cluster so they won’t slow the development of the fruit. It also keeps the plant open, allowing for good air circulation.
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- By late June, the stakes are put up for the growing vines. If you’ve ever grown a vining plant, you know how important it is to provide strong structures to which the vines can cling and climb. Using teepee-like structures in the vegetable garden is an easy way to support these plants, and to add eye-catching texture to the garden beds. We used bamboo to build the supports. Bamboo is attractive, easy to find, and can be reused year after year.
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- This plant is already tall enough to wrap around the bamboo.
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- Here is a view from one end. Brian also secures horizontal bamboo pieces across all the bamboo stakes, which will support them even more as they grow.
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- Each plant is now carefully propped up next to its designated stake and secured. These supports really help to keep all these beautiful fruits off the ground and free of rot.
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- Brian ties a simple figure eight knot to the bamboo. I teach all the gardeners and grounds crew members to use figure eights, so the stems are not crushed.
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- Tomato leaves have serrated, or wavy and pointed, edging along the entire perimeter. Tomato leaves are compound with multiple leaflets growing along a common stem, called a rachis. These leaves are also slightly fuzzy to the touch, which is caused by the trichomes, or multi-cellular hairs, on the plant. Never use chemically treated wood or other material for staking climbers, as the chemicals would likely run off and go into the soil.
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- It takes about 50 to 90 days for tomato varieties to start reaching maturity. Planting can also be staggered to produce early, mid and late season tomato harvests. In our region, tomato plants do best with direct sunlight all day long.
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- By early August, we had a good number of tomatoes growing on the vines.
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- There were tomatoes of all sizes.
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- Some were even red, and ready to taste.
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- Brian continues to check the vines every day and lifts up any that are heavy with fruits and touching the ground.
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- Here is a large tomato, still green, but looking great.
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- By the last week of August, There were many turning bright red.
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- Ripe tomatoes are shiny and glossy. And, given a gentle squeeze, should have a bit of “give” to it.
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- One can can harvest tomatoes as soon as they start turning red, or orange, or yellow, or purple, and then allow them to ripen some more in the kitchen; however, it is also okay to leave tomatoes on the plant. We harvest every couple of days.
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- The best time of day to pick tomatoes is in the morning, before the heat of the day sets in. This will help them to stay fresh longer.
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- We also grew quite a few orange tomatoes. Ryan tries different varieties to see which grow best – those varieties will go on a list for next year.
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- Ryan started picking this week, when we knew it would be dry. It’s important to harvest ripe or almost ripe tomatoes before a heavy rain or a deep watering. Heavy rain, especially when it follows a period of dry weather, is a major cause of cracked and split fruits, so time harvests appropriately.
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- Here’s Ryan picking one of our sun-ripened delicious tomatoes.
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- Once they are picked, they are placed on a tray stem-side down. The top of the tomato always ripens last. If a tomato is sitting on its already ripe bottom, as the bottom continues to ripen, it will start to rot. Turning tomatoes stem-side down extends their shelf life.
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- And here is a photo of our first harvest – trays filled with perfect tomatoes. I couldn’t wait to try them. I already took a few to share and enjoy with my daughter. I hope you all have bounties of sweet and juicy tomatoes as well. Enjoy every bite!
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