Little plump beauties

I did not get these right away.

Even thought I waited until the tail end of the harvest, all I got were a few mostly green tomatoes. Many seedlings did not develop into full-grown plants as the wind got them, and the plants that did grow flowered late and produced small fruit. 

While my first harvest was a small batch as I knew tomatoes were ambitious and I just did a trial run. I at least wanted a handful of red, juicy tomatoes, but nope, all green.

Instead of giving up I decided to expand, diversify, and do some reading and experimenting.

I added heirloom, cherry, and plum tomatoes to the alicante and romas that I grew. I  tripled the area that I was using.

This year was it got warmer sooner so I think it helped the tomatoes flower faster and ripen more. 

I  paid attention to the conditions that my tomatoes grew in. I knew that they needed a good amount of sun and moisture. Living in a hot and dry climate, I got the sun covered, but moisture I had to pay careful attention to. I watered regularly and checked the moisture in the soil and topically watered more when needed. 

I planted the seedlings deeper and allowed their root systems to really develop so the plants could be stronger against the winds. I added stakes when more started to fruit. For next year I will probably set up cages so I don’t have to keep readjusting and adding stakes. 

I plucked and pruned the leaves as the plants grew taller. This allowed them to stay disease free and flower faster. I also read that this helps prevent disease, specially in more moist conditions. 

Tomatoes are one of my favorites to eat because they are so versatile and I’ve been throwing them in salads all summer. The big ones are going into sauces. I’m looking forward to learning more as there are so many varieties of tomatoes!