After a cold, wet spring that slammed abruptly into a hot, hot summer without the usual tempering one would expect from a kinder and more benevolent Mother Nature, tomato season is finally here.
The bite-sized tomatoes appeared first, Spoonful and Sun Sugar and Sweet 1000. The Spoonfuls are mighty cute and appear in abundance, but the skin is a bit thick and when tasted along side some of the other tiny toms, they just can’t compete in the flavor department. Still, they might make a return to the garden next year simply because they are so darn cute.
(No) thanks to the late, wet spring, blight is rearing its ugly head in the patch so I’ve been removing diseased leaves and stems with the hope of slowing down the curse until I manage to harvest at least a few pommes d’amour. We grow mostly heirloom varieties which leaves us vulnerable to whatever tomato plague that comes down the pike.
If you’re in the same boat (or ‘mater patch) we are, make sure the diseased plant parts are removed from the garden and not chucked into your compost pile, as the nastiness can make its way back to your soil the next time you add a layer of compost.
And so let the tomato binging begin! We’ll gauge whether or not we can grow sick of eating tomatoes by the time the garden sputters out. So far the answer has always been a resounding NO!
Oh, and my absolute favorite thing to make with a tomato straight from the garden? This!
How’s your tomato patch growing this year? And what is your favorite variety?
NestOfSquirrels 
Happy little sunshine nuggets. Maters: The reason for a home garden if ever there was one. Cheers! ~ Shannon
Tomatoes seem to gave edged out almost every other plant in our garden space over the years 😀
As deer have edged out our tomatoes over the years. Always something. LOL
It sure is hard to keep deer out of anywhere they decide they’d like to be 🙂
You are ahead of us. In Maine, no ripe tomatoes yet. But when they come—August, for us—-it is the best time of year. Hope you can stay ahead of the blight.
Wishing you a bountiful harvest this year!
MMMm, no tomatoes in South Florida this time of year. However,it is time to plant seeds for our tomato season – weird, yes? Your tomatoes look divine and Sweet 100 is my all time favorite. Gotta find some seeds!
Best of luck with your tomato crop! You’ll be enjoying those when we’re thinking about pumpkin pie and hot apple cider this fall 🙂
Our tomato crop is maybe 1/4 of normal. I had to dump some plants that just wouldn’t grow, and the ones that survived have a few tomatoes on them but nothing like other years. I think I’m going to have to buy that big tomato to make a sandwich.
Oh no! So sad when the tomatoes aren’t producing! Sending good tomato vibes your way! 🙂
I appear to have serious tomato envy! 😃 Something to do with winter … Ah blight horrid stuff!
Wonderful. Seeing all your luscious tomatoes makes me wish I had grown a few more varieties.
Here in Metrowest Boston, we have had a hot, humid, parched summer. The few periods of rain have been deluges. So I’ve been hand-watering every day or so. I planted 3 Jetstars, 3 Supersonics. Both seem to be producing about the same size and flavor. The first few pickings were ugly. The fruits had stretch marks and the skins were tough (delicious though!) Have been pinching-off growing tips lately to keep energy going to fruits. Also, spreading coffee grounds on area around plants to discourage squirrels and chipmunks (and to add nitrogen to soil). I pick them as soon as I see a rose blush, to beat out the varmints, and let them ripen on the counter. Haven’t seen any hornworms in past few years, but earwigs and slugs are a problem in late summer. I try to fight them with diatomaceous earth. I seem to be winning this year. Harvesting 4-6 fruits every day. Neighbors getting surplus are very happy. Also have large crop of basil, so we have a lot of Caprese these days. I also have plenty for fresh salsa and sauce. Like the song lyric says, “There’s only two things that money can’t buy, and that’s True Love and Home Grown Tomatoes.”
Happy to hear your enjoying the fruits of your labor! It doesn’t get much better than Caprese with homegrown tomatoes and basil. I hum that Guy Clark tune every time I head out to the ‘mater patch 😀
Cheers, Ben
Love tomatoes!