I had a filming at St. Anne’s this afternoon, and I thought that my morning gardening would be it for the day since severe thunderstorms were predicted, but they bypassed us completely so I had a few hours after my filming and decided to get in the heirloom tomatoes. I hauled ten concrete stepping stones to the garden and constructed two paths through the four rows of tomatoes, I’ll do a third path later this week, but the two paths allowed me to plat all 16 tomato plants. I bought two large champion plants, and one large Early Girl II. The rest were 4-inch pots. Here is what got planted.
| Boxcar Willie – Late (Countryside) Excellent Flavor. HY | Oxheart – Late (Countryside) Meaty, Few seeds | Cherokee Carbon – Mid (Countryside) Big pink fruit with Outstanding flavor | First Prize – Mid (Countryside) Delicious 10 to 12 oz. fruit, even when conditions are not ideal. HY DR. |
| Mr. Stripey – Late (Countryside) Yellow with red-streaked flesh. | Hillbilly – Late (Countryside) Heirloom, big pink fruit, juicy, exquisite flavor. Beefsteak type. | Cherokee Carbon – Mid (Countryside) Big pink fruit with Outstanding flavor | Early Girl II – Very Early (Countryside) Tasty fruit, first to ripen |
| Mortgage Lifter – Mid (Countryside) Pink variety with meaty fruit and great taste. | Brandywine Yellow – Mid (Countryside) Intense tomato flavor. HY | Cherokee Purple – Late (Countryside) Sweet and rich flavor HY | Champion VFNT – Early (Countryside) Great for sandwiches. Best early type. DR |
| Lemon Boy – Mid (Countryside) Tasty, sweet, juicy, low acid. HY | Gold Medal – Mid (Countryside) Flesh is streaked with red and flavorful. | Black From Tula – Late (Countryside) Rich, salty, smoky flavor. | Champion VFNT – Early (Countryside) Great for sandwiches. Best early type. DR |
I completed the two paths and planted all of the tomatoes just as it started to sprinkle. We spent about 15 minutes cooking dinner and as we sat down on the back porch, the floodgates of heaven were opened and it rained harder than I remember seeing in years. The new drainage system was handling the water well and the intersection of Grove and Princeton was totally under water. At least I didn’t need to water tonight.
I leveled the path so that it is ready to install the remaining pavers and I should be able to do that maybe tomorrow.
This planting is 3 1/2 weeks earlier than last year’s tomato planting. I hope it means bigger and earlier yields.