The Elusive Perfect Tomato Crop

I’m always impressed with Mom and Dad’s garden – the rows are straight and weed free and their plants look so good! They finally have time to devote to gardening …

The quest for “growing that perfect tomato” has been the subject of numerous written articles.

It’s the reason for creating hundreds of “thing-a-ma-jigs” to make it happen, the inspiration for plant breeders, and it turns local gardeners into fanatics!

We have a friend who started a contest years ago with another friend to see who could have the first ripe tomato! A ripe tomato is delivered in a brown paper bag from the winner to the loser and continues to this day with the next generation!

We started on our quest for the perfect tomato crop with this  “tip”–when planting lay the plant on it’s side so that the stem will make lots of roots.  It works and we still do it!

We’ve also learned to look for plants with the VFN resistant tag and to mulch with newspaper to prevent the dreaded “blight”!

Then Papa talked to a gardening friend who suggested a wire cylinder wrapped in shrink wrap for protection and extra early warmth. It works great & can be reused over if you store them carefully. Plastic grocery bags tied to the wire work, too.

Papa has even used the upside-down planter!

This year we saved banana peels all winter and buried them under the plants – a hint we read in a magazine!

We also used old rugs with the backing worn off as our mulch!

And a fungicide spray, suggested by another gardener friend, that is yet to be applied because of time and extra rain.

Have we found the secret to the Elusive Perfect Tomato Crop?Time will tell!

Check with us in the fall!

-Nana Shirley