Tomato Fall Harvest

Today is the first day of fall, September 22nd.  The daily temperature is (°20C/°68F) and the tomato plants are still full of unripened green tomatoes slowly ripening on the vines. It has been a good year for tomato production and time has come to give you some observations and feedback on the 6 varieties in my garden.

Fresh from my garden

Better Boy Hybrid was a heavy hitter. It is my biggest plant, 6 feet tall and full of big tomatoes. The orange tomato in the basket is half ripened but it gives you an indication of size. I understand why this hybrid variety is one of the most popular in North America. This is my first year growing this variety. One note: when growing this variety from seed, approximately 30% of the seedlings succumbed to a disease. However, the surviving seedlings grew without any problems and produced lots of tomatoes. If you are interested in a high tomato production with big tomatoes for your sandwiches, this is my recommendation.

ULTRA BOY HYBRID has been on my grow list for many years. The tomatoes are not as big as Better Boy hybrid, but they are great tasting and an early producer.

BRANDYWINE HEIRLOOM a non-hybrid plant (you can save the seed for the next year) was my first attempt with an heirloom variety. This pink variety in the basket is medium average in size, more susceptible to odd sizes, uneven ripening with green stripes at the top. The interior had fewer seeds and had a softer sweeter taste and made me think of the wine connotation. The plant was a slow starter but caught up to the size of the hybrids, but did not produce as many tomatoes, as expected.

CHEROKEE PURPLE HEIRLOOM was also slow to grow at the seedling stage and once it hit the ground running. With time, the plant took off and produced huge tomatoes, some hitting the scales at 2 lbs. However, I noticed when the flower clusters formed, many flowers were dropped leaving only 1-2 flowers to develop into tomatoes. That could be genetics? Or may be the high summer temperatures that cause flower drop? As with the Brandywine, some shapes were irregular with uneven ripening. I also noted the tomato splitting where the flower formed. This is definitely genetics along with the dark purple colour that is produced. When sliced the tomato has a red colour! I has a great taste and I will grow them again next year. 

Great colouring and taste

CHOCOLATE SPRINKLES HYBRID GRAPE TOMATO is a relatively new and small variety sold in small packages of 10 seeds. As you can see below, it is a beautiful tomato with green and orange colours. With few seeds and great taste this tomato is great for snacks, salads and the BBQ. Stick them on a bamboo stick and put them on the BBQ. They will not explode like other cherry toms and WOW the sugar content explodes on your plate! This will be my go-to small tomato for next year.

SUNRISE BUMBLE BEE CHERRY TOMATO was my selection for my upside down hanging tomato plant adventure. As I covered in a previous post growing plants upside down is time consuming (watering) because of the small soil capacity of the pot.  This cherry tomato is very sweet tasting and full of juice. However, I found the skin to be tough. I'm not sure if this is genetics or stress related due to the small pot. I let the plant dry out and left the tomatoes on the vine to ripen out as you can see in the photograph.

MY OBSERVATIONS: 
Growing a variety of tomatoes can be interesting and full of adventure. Tomatoes don't need to be perfect - cut away the blemishes and enjoy. The organic fertilizer that I used in the spring planting has increased production. A top dressing of home made compost was applied in early July.
Organic composted tea from farm manure was also watered into the soil.

Good luck with your harvest, my friend.

How to grow Raspberries

Growing raspberries in your backyard can be very satisfying if you have the space for this fast growing fruit. I recall the first time I purchased raspberry plants on-line from a nursery - I didn't know what to expect. One day they arrived by snail-mail Canada Post and upon opening the package I discovered 15-20 sticks about 12" long with small roots at one end! At the time I had a large garden so I tilled a section about 3' x 24' with my Troy 8 HP garden tiller. Needless to say I was very optimistic!  I planted the  "sticks" about 2 feet apart in the soft soil and mulched them with some left over straw. Over the summer the sticks sprouted green leaves and started to grow....and grow....and grow. It soon became apparent that raspberry plants are fast growing and spread their roots underground. The next spring I tilled each side of the plants to keep the plants from spreading more and they took off producing hundreds and hundreds of beautiful raspberries. It was magical!

Since my first experience with raspberries, we have moved to the city and space is at a premium but the thought of growing raspberries was always on my mind. Then one evening around the BBQ with friends Val and Gerry, they mentioned "we have a ton of raspberries in our small backyard" and that got me thinking.......

Two years ago I picked up 4 small pots of raspberries at Home Depot with my intentions of planting them immediately.  Not so. As time went on the plants sat at the back of my garden shed in the shade where I watered them occasionally. Winter arrived and I forgot about the plants until the following spring when I found them fallen over and partly covered with snow. They looked like dead sticks in a pot! With nothing to lose, I righted them and kept them watered until I saw a small green sprout! They were still alive! 

As the ground began to thaw I dug a trench for the new "tenants" - removing grass and stones behind my shed, a space that I don't use or see. I mixed in some farm manure compost with the native soil a planted them about 2' apart. During the first year they grew but did not produce any fruit. 

The following spring the plants took off and looked very healthy but it wasn't until August a second generation of growth shot up 3 feet and produced a massive amount of berries. We are now in mid-September, the weather is still nice around mid 20 deg C, and we are picking raspberries.

I would recommend a dark-red berry called "Boyne"  that's Canadian, eh? Originated in 1960 at the Morden Research Centre in Manitoba as a cross between Chief x Indian Summer varieties, it is hardy in zones 3 to 6 and is a great producer of large fruits. It likes full sun if possible and should be fertilized after planting and in early summer.

I use compost "tea" - a mixture of farm compost and water that has been steeped.  This organic fertilizer will provide your plants with a healthy dose of nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, magnesium and other nutrients to keep your plants green and productive. Grow raspberries, my friend.

Dwarf Apple Tree with 75 apples

It's early September and my apple tree is full of apples. It appears that we will get an abundance of apples for our annual apple crisp bake-off!  
This dwarf tree has been pruned to about 6 feet tall and has 5 different apple branches grafted on a non-apple rootstock that will keep the tree short and manageable. Great for a small garden or city backyard folks who want to grow an apple tree but don't have space for the larger varieties.

My variety is a M7 or M9 type that will stay around 6'-10' (I'm not sure of the exact type because it only said dwarf on the tag). The M designation comes from the East Malling Research Centre in jolly old England where research has catalogued 1,000's of apple trees from centuries past. Hence the letter M precedes the designated number. That's enough about the details.
I counted 75 apples on the tree! Pretty amazing considering the size of the tree and the damage caused by mice ringing the tree during the winter. However, so far the tree has survived and I plan on harvesting them in early October.
Take a look at the You Tube video below and hopefully you will get inspired to plan an apple tree next spring. Plant an apple tree, my friend.