Tomatoes

We Love Tomatoes!!

Tomatoes are one of mine and Joes favorite vegetables.  We both agree it was the main plant next to Joe’s peppers for our garden.  We raised the Better Boy, Beef Steak, and Roma varieties and also a few plants of cherry tomatoes for salads and cooking with pasta or stir fry.  One year I bought 4 dozen plants that someone had switched the tags and I ended up with 4 dozen cherry tomato plants.  I had so many little tomatoes it was crazy.  I found out though that they did work for juice and sauce.  I even learned you could freeze them whole and pop it in your mouth frozen for a wonderful snack.    My boys like to eat tomatoes like their Pap sliced and sprinkled with brown sugar.  I know…… but it tastes like a tangy candy.

My favorite plants..

  
1. Roma Tomatoes – These tomatoes are great for cooking down into a sauce.  They are egg-shaped and grow about 3 inches long.  I’ve always heard them called the Italian tomatoes.
2.       Beef Steak – These make for a great sandwich and the plants will produce a great deal of tomatoes. 
3.       Better Boy – I love the taste of this tomato.  It doesn’t have as much acid as some so I like to make my juice from them.  I also read that this plant holds the Guinness record for amount of fruit produced by a single plant.  I have always had a wonderful harvest.

Tomato Plants

I have purchased my plants for several years from the FFA or the local greenhouse. When I was at home my dad would raise our tomatoes in a hot bed.  I have also heard them called cold boxes. It was an old bath tub we filled with dirt and placed two windows on top of.  We would sprinkle the seeds in and watch them grow.  Through the day, we would prop open the windows with a stick and at night we would close them.  I have always wanted to make a hot bed of my own.   This way you can plant them before the last frost and then transplant them after danger of frost has passed.

I will tell you that tomato plants are very fragile and require a lot of sun.   You have to make sure you plant them after all danger of frost.  Any amount of frost will damage the plants so if there is a chance of a cold night you may want to cover your plants just to be sure. 

This is how I started my plants from seed.   I purchased seeds from tractor supply.

 (Burpee, Super Beefsteak) They are supposed to yield meaty fruit more than 1 lb. disease resistant and indeterminate.  Indeterminate means it will grow tall and keep producing all season. 

I will probably prune this plant.

(Burpee, Roma VF) Will yield a meaty fruit with few seeds. These make the best sauce.  These plants are determinate.  They will reach a certain height and then stop growing, most of the fruit will be borne over a four to six week period.  The VF means this plant is resistant to Verticillium Wilt and Fusarium Wilt diseases.

I planted the seeds in a variety of containers and placed them in front of our large windows upstairs.  I used Jiffy seed starting mix.  I first pour the soil into a bowl and then moisten with water until it's wet but not saturated. Then I place the soil in the container each seed is planted about ¼ deep.  I used a wooden spoon handle to make the hole and then very carefully dropped one to two seeds into the hole. I poured the seeds onto a piece of paper just so I could handle and see them better.  They do have this neat seeder that I may be investing in. 

  I also purchased these Garspen Plant Grow Lights from Amazon. They are very convenient since they clip right to the table and bend so I can place them where I want them to best cover the plant.

I planted the seeds on March 7 and by March 14 there they came through the soil.  Baby tomatoes

Soil Requirements

The soil requirements ....the PH should be 6.2 to 6.8.  They need a good well drained nutrient-rich soil. Remember you can have your soil tested at your local Extension Agency. 

Tomatoes need plenty of moisture...

You know that saying “you are what you eat”.  You want a juicy tomato make sure to keep the plant watered.  I know for a fact that if the plants do not get enough water your tomatoes skins will be tough and bitter which in turn makes for bitter sauce but over watering will cause the plants to rot.  You really have to just use good judgment.  I like to water in the evening and by the next evening the soil should be dry and ready for more.  If it’s still damp skip a day and water the next day.  You really don’t have to water every day after the plants mature if you are getting a good rain shower every now and then.

Stake your tomatoes..

    Stake the plants before they start to bloom.  I use strips of old material but twine will work. I have only used the wire baskets on a few plants because someone gave them to me.  I thought they were too expensive.  You can use  anything for stakes from rebar, mine roof bolts, but my favorite was the sapling’s Joe and I cut.   You can buy tomato stakes at your local garden center or hardware store. Below is a picture of steaked tomatoes using t-post and twine stretched between the post.  The tomatoes are then tied to the twine.  You have to stake your tomatoes at least the type I plant.  The ground is the tomato worst enemy. They will rot very fast laying on the ground.

To prune or not to prune?
That is the question.

I had a dear friend that lived on Plum Run who taught me to prune.  Jack showed me to prune off any branch that touch the ground and a few of the others to help the tomatoes get bigger.  You can over prune!  They do need some leaves for a little protection from the sun and you don’t want to cut off branches and kill your production.  Pruning will make your tomatoes bigger and juicer in my experience. 

The Harvest..

We harvest green tomatoes and ripe tomatoes.  Green tomatoes are harvested when the color has started to lighten a little.  My favorite and my boys are fried green tomatoes.  You can also pickle tomatoes and make a wonderful green tomato relish.  Fresh tomato juice is unlike anything you can buy in the store.  I can go on and on with recipes for you to try.  I have been canning tomatoes since I was little with my mom and loved handing down this knowledge to my boys.

Fried green tomatoes...yum yum!
Click here for the recipe

Health benefits of eating tomatoes..

This information is from Web Md.

Tomatoes contain all four major carotenoids: alpha- and beta-carotene, lutein, and lycopene. These carotenoids may have individual benefits, but also have synergy as a group (that is, they interact to provide health benefits).

1. In particular, tomatoes contain awesome amounts of lycopene, thought to have the highest antioxidant activity of all the carotenoids.
2. Tomatoes and broccoli have synergy that may help reduce the risk of cancer. One study showed that prostate tumors grew much more slowly in rats that were fed both tomato and broccoli powder than in rats given lycopene as a supplement or fed just the broccoli or tomato powder alone.
3. A diet rich in tomato-based products may help reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a study from The University of Montreal. The researchers found that lycopene (provided mainly by tomatoes) was linked to a 31% reduction in pancreatic cancer risk between men with the highest and lowest intakes of this carotenoid.
4. Tomatoes contain all three high-powered antioxidants: beta-carotene (which has vitamin A activity in the body), vitamin A and vitamin C. A U.S. Department of Agriculture report, What We Eat in America, noted that a third or us get too little vitamin C and almost half get too little vitamin A.
5. Tomatoes are rich in potassium, a mineral most of us don't get enough of. A cup of tomato juice contains 534 milligrams of potassium, and 1/2 cup of tomato sauce has 454 milligrams.
6. When tomatoes are eaten along with healthier fats, like avocado or olive oil, the body's absorption of the carotenoid phytochemicals in tomatoes can increase by two to 15 times, according to a study from Ohio State University.
7. Tomatoes are a big part of the famously healthy Mediterranean diet. Many Mediterranean dishes and recipes call for tomatoes or tomato paste or sauce. Some recent studies, including one from The University of Athens Medical School, have found that people who most closely follow the mediterranean diet have lower death rates from heart disease and cancer. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, who followed more than 39,000 women for seven years, found that consumption of oil- and tomato-based products -- particularly tomato and pizza sauce -- was associated with cardiovascular benefits.
8. When breastfeeding moms eat tomato products, it increases the concentration of lycopene in their breast milk. In this case, cooked is best. The researchers also found that eating tomato products like tomato sauce increased concentrations of lycopene in breast milk more than eating fresh tomatoes did.
9. Tomato peels contribute a high concentration of the carotenoids found in tomatoes. The number of carotenoids absorbed by human intestinal cells was much greater with tomato paste enriched with tomato peels compared to tomato paste without peels, according to a study from Marseille, France. The tomato skin also holds most of the flavanols (another family of phytochemicals that includes quercetin and kaempferol) as well. So, to maximize the health properties of tomatoes, don't peel them if you can help it!

Disclaimer: All material on this site are provided for informational purposes only and should not be taken as a substitute for professional medical or health advice.  You should never eat a plant that you have not clearly identified eating a plant that is not edible is dangerous.

my cup runneth over.....Psalm 23:4-6

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Never store tomatoes in the refrigerator it will change the texture.  I like to pick them just before they are completely ripe and let them finish ripening on the counter.

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According to Wikipedia

The word "tomato" comes from the Spanish tomate, which in turn comes from the Nahuatl word tomatl [ˈtomat͡ɬ].[6] It first appeared in print in 1595.[

Tomatoes are actually fruit..

Did you know that Tomatoes are actually a fruit but it has a lower sugar content?

The Tariff Act of 1883 that imposed a tax on vegetables but not fruit and this caused legal dispute as to tomatoes being vegetable or fruit.

On May 10, 1893, the US Supreme Court declared the tomato a vegetable based on the fact the it was generally served with dinner and not dessert.

NUTRITION FACTS  Serving size: ½ cup (90g) fresh tomato, chopped or sliced   Amount Per Serving Calories         15 Calories from Fat      0 % Daily Value* Total Fat   0g 0%      Saturated Fat  0g 0%      Trans Fat  0g  Cholesterol  0mg 0% Sodium  0mg 0% Total Carbohydrate  4g 1%      Dietary Fiber  1g 4%      Sugars  2g  Protein  1g         Vitamin A           15% Vitamin C      20% Calcium               0% Iron                 2% *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

USDA fact sheet for tomatoes