Tomato Plants Growing Near Potting Shed

I missed the boat on sowing tomato seeds this past February. I did have the chance to round up all of my volunteer tomato seedlings coming up from compost use throughout the garden and transplanted them all in raised beds in my potager. Interestingly, most of these volunteer tomato seedlings are Roma tomatoes.

Green Thumb Nursery in San Marcos, California always has a nice selection of tomato and vegetable seedlings in six packs late spring into summer. I bought six packs of Celebrity, Early Girl, Cherry Red, and Cherokee Purple. Much more than I usually plant, but this year I really wanted to have an abundance of tomatoes.

Out of room in my potager, I planted the six pack seedlings in a row near my potting shed, using a curly rod for support that I initially saw in Provence, Tomato Staking Technique. I haven’t looked recently, but I got my stakes at Dixieline Lumber, and I have seen them at Home Depot. As my tomato plants grow I wrap them carefully around the stakes, and also use gardener’s green tape for more security. For irrigation, and with my sandy soil, I installed a versatile 1/4” soaker hose, you can find at Home Depot, which has worked well.

Back to Basics.

1) Fertilize your tomato plants when they begin to flower, and monthly or more thereafter. I use GroPower Plus fertilizer, available at local Grangetto’s.

2) Water your tomato plants to 1” deep, and as frequently needed, if you have sandy or clay soil. Do not let your plants dry out and wilt, and do not over water when summer hot spells hit.

3) Tomato plants thrive with heat and sun, at least 6 hours or more. If you are coastal, tomato plants don’t really like ocean breezes and benefit from a protected sunny spot around your home that shields your tomato plants, possibly incorporating a house wall or fence. My west hedge and macadamia trees give my row of tomato plants some shielding.

4) Keep your tomato plants cleaned up, off of the ground, and opened up for air circulation and sunlight.

5) Indeterminate tomato varieties have a vining tendency. They can produce fruit until the plant is killed by frost. They bloom, set fruit, and ripen fruit all at the same time. These varieties need staking, and attention to removing suckers off of their main stem.

6) Determine tomato varieties are also called bush type, and are compact in form. They stop growing when fruit sets on their top bud. Their crop ripens all at once within a two-week period, and then the plant dies off. Ideal for use in containers, and don’t require staking, or pinching, and trimming of suckers.

7) Heirloom tomatoes or open pollinated varieties are generally considered 50 years or older, produce a true seed every year, and are known for their outstanding tomato flavors.

8) Hybrid tomato varieties are created from seeds produced by different plants that were crossed with each other to obtain certain desired characteristics. These varieties will not produce a true seed, and sometimes these tomatoes are considered to be slightly inferior in flavor and texture.

Years ago I interviewed Del Mar landscape designer, Linda Chisari, who is well known for her vegetable and tomato growing finesse. Linda back then grew over 30 different tomato varieties each year and shared, “the ones that do best for me are varieties that tolerate cool, overcast summer weather.” Linda’s “short list” then, was Juliet and Enchantment for eating fresh or in sauces. Green Zebra for it’s slightly acidic flavor and appearance. Dona, a small yet delicious French variety. Carmello for fabulous taste and appearance. Celebrity is a large flavorful tomato, and great when our summers are warm. Sun Gold, an outstanding orange cherry tomato. Of course, San Marzano for making sauce.

Growing tomatoes is all about preferences. What tomatoes you like to grow, and for what culinary purposes. Where you live and grow your tomatoes, be it coastal or inland, in the ground or in containers. How you prefer to support your tomatoes in your garden. Tomatoes are one of summer’s best experiences, sun-ripened mouth watering homegrown tomatoes, you won’t want to miss out on! Thyme for tomatoes is just around the corner.

Please share your favorite tomato varieties, and how you like to grow them.

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend….Bonnie

When my husband and I remodeled a year ago, I carved out a perfect office and workshop area in a single car garage. With the addition of our new master bedroom wing, it created this small, private, very intimate garden room which I can look out and access from my office and workshop. I planted a Podocarpus hedge along the north fence on one side, a row of espaliered Silver Wave Camellias along the stucco wing on the south side, and the third side was my very old working garden shed to the west.

In the middle of this garden room, I created a pea gravel square edged with dwarf Euonymus and placed my vintage garden baby fountain smack in the middle. My garden baby fountain, see Everyone Loves a "Garden Baby"  finally had a permanent home, after years of transit traveling around my garden.

The reason I'm describing all of this in detail is because I had an unappealing open door and side of my garden shed which desperately needed some sprucing up. The answer was burlap, the reasonable landscape burlap which has incredible texture, durability, and vintage-like appeal. This is another idea for garden economizing--reasonable landscape burlap as a material. If you don't know about it, you must look for it at your garden and landscape centers. I find my burlap locally at Grangetto's. You can also be creative and re-purpose coffee burlap bags.

I created a small vignette with an old warped wood table, matching symmetrical pots, a pair of young cypress trees for height, and blue-gray shutters for interest and color repetition.  I pulled out my "dusty but trusty" sewing machine, and loosely measured my spaces as everything was uneven. Presto, a working burlap curtain door, and a sweet table skirt for my table. I secured hidden dowels to hang the burlap for my shed opening and table. I also dug out one of my old hooks, and placed it on the side of my shed for a quick way to hold up the burlap curtain door when I needed the large opening.

What a difference, and what beauty in this burlap. Think of this landscape burlap material when you have a project where it might conveniently lend itself. Please share if you use this burlap material already in your garden. Please comment on creative ways you have worked with this burlap.

On the recent tour of this year's Encinitas Garden Festival, one of the private gardens had a beautiful white-picket fence enclosing an immaculate raised bed vegetable garden. Adjacent to the vegetable garden was an open area with a pathway and fruit trees. In addition, there was a fabulous focal point of creative staggered containers, using wine boxes, galvanized tubs, and burlap bags. Something so simple, with a "wow" factor. It is structural, functional, beautiful, clever, and unique all in one. Hats off to this homeowner, and their herb garden.

This is reminiscent of an idea in Rosalind Creasy's new book, Edible Landscaping, where she describes how to stagger and arrange different size half-wine barrels for a perfect container grouping.

Most of these containers can be found in local farm and garden supply stores, such as Grangettos, Home Depot, or even flea markets for the weathered and rusty look. Look around your garage, sheds, utility areas for possible containers you might already have. Wine boxes can be found at wine shops, wineries, and friends who are in wine clubs.

It is still important to create holes for drainage in the case of the galvanzied tubs, and line the wooden wine boxes with heavy plastic, small rocks for drainage, and then your preferred soil. Eventually burlap bags will break down exposed to weather elements, but will hold up through a few seasons. Gardener's burlap is strong, yet very reasonable, coming in ready-sewn bags, or longer sheets of material.

With very little expense, and a lot of creativity, you might be able to create a unique container focal point in your garden, too.

VintageGardenGal Tidbit Thyme...

Attention Chicken Lovers! Spruce up your chicken coop for VintageGardenGal's Annual Chicken Coop Photo Contest. Send in your photos this month to bonnie@vintagegardengal.com