Third year with tomatoes in this area. The first year we just used stakes, the second year we tried a “Florida weave” with jute. This year we are using panel. With any luck they will grow in the panel and be easier to manage.

We’re growing Heinz, Amish Paste, Roma, and super sweet 100s.

  • arcane potato (she/they)@vegantheoryclub.orgOPMEnglish
    5·
    6 months ago

    31 plants! Less than previous years (closer to 50) but we always lose control and it all goes to shit. Trying fewer and hoping to keep on top of them. These are all indeterminate because the determinate varieties prove too hard to keep on top of pruning and they get powdery mildew too early (we live in a swamp).

    I hope you will share your tomato adventures too! These varieties sound very interesting. Do you start from seed or buy plants?

    Store bought fresh tomatoes taste awful, and are very expensive. There are many greenhouse growers in the region I live in, however they are still disappointing.

    We actually don’t like to eat raw tomatoes 🙈 We make sauce, paste, and “sundry” them. I’ll also freeze a few whole ones. I usually end up buying 20-40 kg from a farm down the road to make sauce with too, but hopefully this year we do better and I spend less on outside tomatoes.

    • FrostyTrichs@sh.itjust.works
      3·
      6 months ago

      powdery mildew too early (we live in a swamp)

      Humidity sucks more often than not whether you’re gardening or just trying to enjoy the outdoors imo. I know some people have it way too dry but sometimes those problems sound nicer to overcome lol.

      I hope you will share your tomato adventures too! These varieties sound very interesting. Do you start from seed or buy plants?

      I don’t share a lot on the open web. There may or may not be some lettuce pictures in obscure matrix chats…

      I start from seed wherever possible simply because I prefer to have repeatable harvests without being so heavily reliant on seasonal availability or whatever current calamity the world is in that causes supply issues. It’s pretty easy to keep tons of seeds on hand. All the varieties I mentioned before started from seed.

      Having said that, this year I have a bad habit of adopting neglected plants from stores and putting them into hydro gardens… It’s becoming a bit of a problem. A delicious, beautiful, problem…but space isn’t infinite.

      We actually don’t like to eat raw tomatoes 🙈 We make sauce, paste, and “sundry” them. I’ll also freeze a few whole ones.

      I used to love eating raw tomatoes by themselves until store bought tomatoes became a thing for a shelf instead of a sandwich. Last year was the first time I had ever tried a Cherokee purple tomato and it was honestly the best tomato I’ve ever eaten. I was very grateful for the friend that shared their extras! If flavor is the issue for you with raw, maybe a different variety would bring out more excitement? Regardless, garden tomatoes aren’t even in the same league as the current store offerings no matter how you enjoy them!