Category Archives: gardens

Tomato Problems and Solutions: Sunscald

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I’ve been receiving emails from my customers along with a pictures of some of their tomatoes, asking questions about what is it, what to do about it, etc. I thought I’d share them with you, one at a time, since it’s a good bet that you may be dealing with some of the same issues. This hot weather we’ve been having here in the Pacific Northwest (East of the Cascades), has been making us and our plants a little on the moody side. So here goes…

Customer Question and Picture:

Any idea what this scarring is on the sungold cherty tomatoes. The first couple of weeks of picking was OK but we noticed this several days ago and the scars are spreading to many now. Thanks for your advice.

cherry tomatoes with sunburn

 

My Answer:

That looks like sunburn to me. It’s kind of papery, white and then it damages the fruit. If you don’t have enough leaf cover to protect the fruit, try getting some shade cloth or row cover and laying it lightly over the plant. 

Sunscald  or Sunburn, occurs particulalry during hot, dry weather when the tomatoes (and peppers) are exposed to direct sunlight. It can happen if your plant has sparse foliage, heirloom paste tomates often have sparse foliage or if you have defoliation from leaf spot or blights or you’ve pinched out too many leaves and auxiliary stems. (That is one of the reasons I don’t pinch out the suckers on my plants). Since this is physiological (physical cause) rather than a disease or a fungus,it won’t jump form tomato to tomato. Use a row cover, such as Remay, or shade cloth to cover.

Bruschetta | The Pioneer Woman Cooks | Ree Drummond

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tomato, basil bruschetta

Bruschetta | The Pioneer Woman Cooks | Ree Drummond.

How My Vegetable Garden is Growing

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Here are some pictures of my tomatoes, squash and peppers among other things.campari-2014

These are my compari tomatoes given to me by a customer. Yummy.

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A zucchini squash called Eight Ball Forty Niner, both are perfect for pots.

sweet-carernosspeckled-romans-green

Unripe, Sweet Carernos and Speckled Roman, both striped tomatoes

giant-marconis

This is a Giant Marconi that isn’t so giant…yet!

 sun-sugar juliet-first

This is Sun Sugar, a golden cherry tomato and Juliet, a grape shaped cherry. These are the first on the plants to ripen. The Sun Suagars are supposed to give Sungolds a run for their money. We will see. The Juliets are terrific, they have a “tomaotey” taste and thicked skin than most other cherries, which makes for a delightful pop when you bite into it. It also means they don’t split their skins when it rains.

hales-cantaloupe

My pride and joy, a Hale’s cantaloupe. It’s about the size of a football now and started veining. The first one I gott fruit from. I’m pretty sure it’s because it’s in the greenhouse where is hotter than blazes. That’s also why, there is something thing attacking it besides powdery mildew. Looks like rust. I must do some research on what the problem is.

The Letter of the Day is X: “X: is for Xtra Large Tomato Varieties

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My Love’s Pink Oxheart

Vigorous vine produces big bunches of huge pink tomatoes which are oxheart shaped, meaty, and have fantastic flavor. They have a good balance of sweet and acid. The plant is unlike otheroxheart tomatoes, it has sturday foliage, not wispy like some oxhearts. This tomato has several large, large fruits that weren’t yet ripe. I was hoping to take them to the fair last year but they didn’t turn until several days right after the fair. I would have won the largest with one of them, it topped out at over 3 pounds!

Indeterminate

Mid-season

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Rose

I won the largest tomato of the 2011 Spokane County Fair with this one.

A large leafy heirloom that produces deep, rose-pink, 3″, meaty globes with a taste that rivals those varieties heralded most for their luscious taste.

Seed is from a doctor in PA who got it from one of her Amish patients.

Indeterminate

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Delicious

A favorite

An excellent slicer, with most fruits over 1 pound – many 2 to 3 pounds – and still holds the world record of 7+ pounds for a single fruit! Not in our neck of the woods, probably somewhere south where they have lot sof heat and a way longer growing season.

Produces smooth and solid fruits that seldom crack, with small cavities, nearly solid meat, and excellent flavor.

Developed from Beefsteak after 13 years of careful selection.

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Rocky

A favorite despite the late maturation date. We had loads of them for canning in September.

Simply amazing! These were enormous tomatoes in my garden. Some were so big, you could have used 3 or 4 in one quart jar and a joy to slip the skins for canning.

Good producer of 2 x 3-inch (and bigger), 1 lb., red, paste tomatoes.

Sweet, tangy, meaty fruit. One of the best flavored sauce tomatoes.

Indeterminate

Late season

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The Letter of the Day T: “T” is for the Tomato, Tumbler and the Pepper, Tabasco

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Tumbler

Specially bred for hanging baskets. Bushy plants look fantastic mixed with lobelia and alyssum. Sweet, bright red fruits. We sell them in the small pots and as baskets. Perfect for someone who wants to hang it on their balcony or patio. Determinate, early

This is a picture of one I had hanging on my patio. It is planted with flowers. Who says veggies can’t be pretty?

tumbler-for web

Tabasco- HOT

Originally from Mexico—and taking its name from a Mexican state—this small, very hot pepper’s a favorite in the South and East, where the plants can grow tall and are covered with the petite light yellow-green to red fruits. Best known as the pepper that lends the kick to the namesake hot sauce from Avery Island, Louisiana.TOBASCO

The Letter of the Day is N: “N” is for Nebraska Wedding and the North Star Bell Pepper

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For those of you who might have gotten the post iwth a red tomato, all I can say is WordPress is fast. I noticed it was the wrong tomato and changed it out to the appropriate yellow pic but apparently not fast enough!

Nebraska Wedding

I know these are yellow…again. We grew these for the first time last year and I was impressed. No cracking, great flavor, decent size. I am beginning ot think I have a an obsession with yellow and gold tomatoes. didn’t set out to do that but when someone asks me my favorites, most of them seem to be that color. In the reds and pinks, my faves are Rose, Mortgage Lifter, Aussie, Willamette, Sweet Treats, Black from Tula and Sub Arctic Plenty to name a few. Ok, so maybe I do like more than the yellows!

An old Great Plains heirloom Produces huge, globe- shaped fruits of a deep orange color, weighing up to 10 oz. each. Vigorous plants yield a heavy, concentrated set of fruit. In the old days The seeds were givento the married couple to help them start their lives and start their farm together.

80 days

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North Star

Extremely early, and ideal for short-season areas. Plants are particularly well adapted to set blocky fruit even under unfavorable conditions. Deep green fruits become bright red at full maturity.

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For more information on these and other varities, check out my website at www.thetomatolady.com

 

The Letter of the Day is K: “K” is for the Tomatos, Kellogg’s Breakfast and Kosovo

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Kellogg’s Breakfast

this is one of my daughter’s favorite tomatoes. Lovely, pale-orange fruits are solid and meaty throughout, packed with mild, superb-tasting flesh. A long-season producer of large, beefsteak-type fruits, up to 16 oz., with solid centers that have just a few seeds at the edges. We had 2 pounders one year. This is great tomato for both cooking and eating fresh. Indeterminate, 80-85 days

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Kosovo

This is another one that I love. Big oxheart shaped red tomatoes. Good flavor. This wonderful variety came from a former U.N. worker in Kosovo, who passed it down to Carolyn Male. Huge, deep pink heart-shaped fruit that has a sweet rich flavor and is very meaty while still being juicy. Production is excellent and the tomatoes are simply beautiful, but it is the delectable and intense tomato flavor that really makes this one special. Tomatoes can grow up to 1 pound, with ranges from 10 to 18 ozs. Indeterminate, 75-80 days

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for more information about these tomatoes, go to www.thetomatolady.com

The Letter of the Day is J: “J” is for the Tomato , Jetsetter and the Pepper, Jimmy Nardello,

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Jetsetter
Short season gardeners especially will be happy for this variety that doesn’t sacrifice size or flavor for early maturity. Tomatoes are at least 8 ozs. and often larger with really good, rich flavor. Yields are plentiful on vigorous plants that have lots of disease resistance. VFFNTA  Indeterminate, 64 days

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Jimmy Nardello
I love these peppers, they look fiery hot but they arent.

From the small village of Ruoti in the Basilicata region of southern Italy, this heirloom was brought to the states, and introduced in 1887. jimmy nardello

These are a popular frying pepper.

Growing 20-24″, these plants produce loads of long, thin peppers, up to 10″ long. 

The peppers are delicious and sweet. Cooked in a little olive oil, and grilled or fried, or chopped and used raw in salsas and salads. 

These peppers are perfect for pickling or drying.

 

The Letter of the Day is F: “F” is for Tomatoes, Fiorintino (Costoluto) and Fireworks

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Fiorintino

tomato-fiorintino

My description on my website: A fantastic old Tuscan Heirloom variety with dark red skin and juicy delicious flesh. Shaped slightly flattened with fluted shoulders. Fruits are typically about 8 ounces, with a smoother shape than the heavily ribbed Costoluto Genovese. The flavor is high in sugar with excellent acid, making for outstanding taste that’s wonderful fresh or made into sauces. Fusarium resistant too!

My Notes: These were prolific and most were of a medium size. The taste was pretty good too. I liked to cut their tops off and stuff them with chicken salad. The fluted edges really stood out. Great for cooking and salsa.

Indeterminate, 80 days

Fireworks


My description on my website: This is one of the largest, earliest red slicing tomatoes available, and it has excellent flavor. Fireworks is an exceptional variety. Its bright red fruit are 6 to 8 ozs., round with a pointed tip, and borne quite heavily on vigorous plants.

My Notes: One of the earlies that is an indeterminate and a larger tomato which is unusual for an early tomato. Jetsetter and Siletz are all a good size. I will be growing it in my garden for myself this year. I had so many customers who raved about it’s size and taste that I need to see it for myself!

Indeterminate, 60 days

The Wonderful World of Tomatoes (And Some Peppers) My A to Z Theme

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Does anyone REALLY know how many varieties of tomatoes there are in the world? I am going to hazard a guess that no one does. I do know that there are hundreds and hundreds of tomatoes, with different colors, shapes, uses, flavors and growing habits. New hybrids are always on the forefront.  I even developed my own – “Mister E” which started as a mystery, but is now one of our favorites.

I raise  tomato and pepper plants using organic methods and sell them every April and May. This year I have 1300 pepper plants (41 varieties) and about 6500 tomato plants (154 varieties). Not only do I sell, but I like to educate people about growing their own food. during this A-Z Challenge I will showcase some of the tomatoes I grow and hopefully have the time to throw in a few peppers.

Now, you probably want to know what my credentials are, what makes me an “expert”. Read on…

I started my gardening journey as a child – my parents had a HUGE garden, and grew Early Girls, Beefsteaks and Roma tomatoes as well as other vegetables and plants. While I loved seeing things grow, I did not like weeding, although my mother claims I actually enjoyed it!

Eighteen years ago – the dark ages to some of you – I started gardening again in Spokane. I started with the standard varieties, but soon became bored and searched for others. Oh, the seed catalogs wooed me with their glossy pages and colorful pictures and tantalizing descriptions of tomatoes I had never even heard of. I started ordering tomatoes with names like Mortgage Lifter, Green Zebra, Orange Russian, Ananis Noir, and Sungold. I was in heaven and as every good gardener does, I planted the entire seed packet.  Usually 25-40 seeds with almost 100% germination! What was I going to do with all my tomato plants?

That first year the excess plants were put in the driveway along with a coffee can as a money box and a sign inviting folks to buy them. People loved them and were as happy as I was to try the different kinds of tomatoes. From there I started doing a local garden show – “The Garden Expo.” In a sense, I have grown with them. I started with one booth and a small greenhouse when it was a small show. Now it is a regional event held at the local community college campus, with 15,000+ customers anticipated this spring, and I have 3 greenhouses growing 6,500 tomato plants, 1,300 peppers, and some herbs. If you make to Spokane on Mother’s Day weekend, stop by on Saturday; my 4 booths are located just beyond the entrance.

Since I started my business, I have researched and grown all kinds of tomatoes – heirloom, patio, early, etc. This year we are planting over 154 varieties! I will be highlighting many of them in my blog in the days to come. I have also developed my own garden soil mix and determined the best fertilizers and additives to get great, tasty tomatoes. I became a Master Gardener for six years to learn more, and also to teach others. Now, my husband calls me the Garden Master, but I am not sure if that is because he thinks that I know a lot about gardening, or because I am always putting him to work in the garden!

Each year we grow something new and learn something as well. Do I know everything? No, but I am always learning and I like to share with others what I know. My next challenge is figuring out how to ship my plants – I have had a number of inquiries from across the United States for plants.

In truth, I never intended to become The Tomato Lady. However my customers came up with the name and I liked it so much that I registered it with the state. When I am not in the garden, I am a graphic artist and I am married to a talented illustrator (We have to do something in the off-season!) We designed the logo and marketing materials.

I hope you will enjoy reading this blog as much as I enjoy sharing it with you. Feel free to also check out my website, TheTomatoLady.com and Facebook page, https://www.Facebook.com/theTomatoLady. God willing, we will continue the journey into tomato gardening together.