Saturday's harvest includes 21 Matt's Wild Cherry, 14 SunGold, 11 Orange Paruche, 10 Sunchocola, 10 Evan's Purple Pear, 8 Indigo Rose, 7 Husky Cherry Red(2), 3 Speckled Roman(2), 3 Black Cherry, 3 Garden Peach(1), 3 Garden Peach(2), 3 Husky Cherry Red(1), 2 Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, 2 Bread and Salt (6 ounces), 2 Blue Beauty (8 ounces, 8 ounces), 2 Pineapple (7 ounces), German Orange Strawberry, Volunteer(4), Black Krim, Paul Robeson, Purple Bumble Bee, Beauty King, Cherokee Purple, Green Grape, Sugar Snack and Michael Pollan for a total of 114 tomatoes.
The Blue Beauty tomatoes are half nice. Half of the tomato is a beautiful red and the other half is behind, even green in spots. The Sunchocola tomatoes are getting "wobbly" as well, with inconsistent coloring (maturing) on the tomato.
My wife told me that the gardener made a special trip on Thursday to help with the garden and he got bags of tomatoes as well.
We're having some strange muggy and cloudy weather. We've even had a few sprinkles. At least we didn't reach the 102/101/99 of a few days ago.
Only one milestone today, we've now harvested exactly 100 Evan's Purple Pear tomatoes this year.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Friday, August 1, 2014
A Much Better Harvest
Today's harvest includes 19 Matt's Wild Cherry, 13 Sunchocola, 11 Indigo Rose, 11 SunGold, 10 Evan's Purple Pear, 9 Black Cherry, 9 Husky Cherry Red(2), 8 Orange Paruche, 5 Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, 5 Bread and Salt (7.5 ounces, 7.5 ounces, 7 ounces), 5 Husky Cherry Red(1), 4 Speckled Roman(2), 3 Pineapple (8.5 ounces), 2 Porkchop(1) (8 ounces, 7 ounces), 2 Blue Beauty, 2 Jaune Flamme, 2 Persimmon(2) (not Persimmon), 2 Garden Peach(1), 2 Garden Peach(2), 2 Green Grape, 2 Sugar Snack, Bloody Butcher, Great White (9 ounces), Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(1), Volunteer(4), Garden Peach(3) and Michael Pollan for a total of 134 tomatoes.
Today's harvest was *much* better than yesterday's harvest. Not only did we have 7 tomatoes that were 6 ounces or more, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(1) was larger than anything harvested yesterday.
A lot of the smaller tomatoes over the past few days were given to our cleaning people.
After the morning's harvest I pulled out Garden Peach(3). My wife will be happy -- this plant was affecting her view of the back yard garden.
No tomato milestones today.
Today's harvest was *much* better than yesterday's harvest. Not only did we have 7 tomatoes that were 6 ounces or more, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(1) was larger than anything harvested yesterday.
A lot of the smaller tomatoes over the past few days were given to our cleaning people.
After the morning's harvest I pulled out Garden Peach(3). My wife will be happy -- this plant was affecting her view of the back yard garden.
No tomato milestones today.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
July 2014 Tomato Analysis
First, let's compare our July tomato totals against other years...
2014 -- 3884 tomatoes
2013 -- 1970 tomatoes
2012 -- 6068 tomatoes
2011 -- 3876 tomatoes
2010 -- 4108 tomatoes
2009 -- 4576 tomatoes
2008 -- 1629 tomatoes
2007 -- 6154 tomatoes
Four years were higher, three were lower. However, 2011 was only lower by 8 tomatoes.
My estimate of harvesting 5250 tomatoes in July was sufficiently off the mark to consider it a bad guess.
The standouts were obvious -- Sunchocola and Orange Paruche were nothing short of spectacular. And not just production, but taste as well. We are extremely pleased with these two varieties. We will grow them again and again. Other standouts include Adriana's Grande and the old standby German Orange Strawberry. Blue Beauty was a pleasant surprise that matured later in the month.
Several people have told us that this year's tomatoes have tasted better than in prior years. I believe that is directly tied to the compost added in November of last year as well as clearing out our passive compost bin in the back yard.
The downsides include the "corner office" and a majority of the back yard growing area. I added a good amount of purchased compost and a liberal amount of our "compost paella" to the "corner office". All the tomatoes from this growing area are on the small side. Some of this is related to the hedge on the south side, blocking a fair amount of the sun. But it appears that the soil is still exhausted from years of planting.
That's the similar story for the back yard tomatoes. We added lots of compost but most of the tomatoes are on the small side. The exceptions are the four plants closest to our back door. This is a new tomato growing area, but also the sprinklers were still hitting this area. It is possible that we're not watering the back yard tomatoes enough. We've floated the idea of a drip system before but never followed through...
It's been reported that 2014 has been the hottest first six months of the year in recorded history. Some of our tomato plants are already burned out. For me, it's not the highs that are so bad, it's the fact that the atmosphere isn't cooling off sufficiently at night. Our tomato plants have no time to rest.
My estimate for the August harvest is 1650 tomatoes. My adjusted estimate for the year is around 7500 tomatoes.
2014 -- 3884 tomatoes
2013 -- 1970 tomatoes
2012 -- 6068 tomatoes
2011 -- 3876 tomatoes
2010 -- 4108 tomatoes
2009 -- 4576 tomatoes
2008 -- 1629 tomatoes
2007 -- 6154 tomatoes
Four years were higher, three were lower. However, 2011 was only lower by 8 tomatoes.
My estimate of harvesting 5250 tomatoes in July was sufficiently off the mark to consider it a bad guess.
The standouts were obvious -- Sunchocola and Orange Paruche were nothing short of spectacular. And not just production, but taste as well. We are extremely pleased with these two varieties. We will grow them again and again. Other standouts include Adriana's Grande and the old standby German Orange Strawberry. Blue Beauty was a pleasant surprise that matured later in the month.
Several people have told us that this year's tomatoes have tasted better than in prior years. I believe that is directly tied to the compost added in November of last year as well as clearing out our passive compost bin in the back yard.
The downsides include the "corner office" and a majority of the back yard growing area. I added a good amount of purchased compost and a liberal amount of our "compost paella" to the "corner office". All the tomatoes from this growing area are on the small side. Some of this is related to the hedge on the south side, blocking a fair amount of the sun. But it appears that the soil is still exhausted from years of planting.
That's the similar story for the back yard tomatoes. We added lots of compost but most of the tomatoes are on the small side. The exceptions are the four plants closest to our back door. This is a new tomato growing area, but also the sprinklers were still hitting this area. It is possible that we're not watering the back yard tomatoes enough. We've floated the idea of a drip system before but never followed through...
It's been reported that 2014 has been the hottest first six months of the year in recorded history. Some of our tomato plants are already burned out. For me, it's not the highs that are so bad, it's the fact that the atmosphere isn't cooling off sufficiently at night. Our tomato plants have no time to rest.
My estimate for the August harvest is 1650 tomatoes. My adjusted estimate for the year is around 7500 tomatoes.
Harvested Neves Azorean Red!
Today's harvest includes 22 Matt's Wild Cherry, 12 SunGold, 10 Orange Paruche, 8 Indigo Rose, 6 Evan's Purple Pear, 6 Husky Cherry Red(1), 4 Sunchocola, 4 Green Grape, 4 Husky Cherry Red(2), 4 Sugar Snack, 2 Snow White, 2 Garden Peach(2), Neves Azorean Red (new), Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, Earl of Edgecombe, Blue Gold, Pineapple, Black Krim, Nyagous, Stupice, Cherokee Purple and Michael Pollan for a total of 94 tomatoes.
The new Neves Azorean Red is undersized.
In fact, today's harvest was simply disappointing. The numbers are there but the size isn't. The heaviest tomato was maybe 3 ounces. It's like a harvest in September.
We've now harvested over 4500 tomatoes this year (4539)!
The new Neves Azorean Red is undersized.
In fact, today's harvest was simply disappointing. The numbers are there but the size isn't. The heaviest tomato was maybe 3 ounces. It's like a harvest in September.
We've now harvested over 4500 tomatoes this year (4539)!
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Harvested Over 2000 Back Yard Tomatoes This Year!
Today's harvest includes 20 Matt's Wild Cherry, 14 Sunchocola, 14 SunGold, 9 Orange Paruche, 9 Indigo Rose, 9 Evan's Purple Pear, 5 Garden Peach(2), 5 Sugar Snack, 4 Speckled Roman(2), 4 Black Cherry, 4 Husky Cherry Red(1), 3 Pineapple (7 ounces, 7.5 ounces), 3 Garden Peach(1), 3 Husky Cherry Red(2), 2 Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, 2 Blue Beauty (6.5 ounces), 2 Nyagous, 2 Cherokee Purple, 2 Green Grape, 2 Persimmon(2) (not Persimmon), 2 Michael Pollan, Speckled Roman(1), Indigo Apple, German Orange Strawberry (9 ounces), Bread and Salt, Blue Gold, Volunteer(4), Jaune Flamme, Black Krim, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(2), Purple Bumble Bee and Odoriko for a total of 132 tomatoes.
My wife made stuffed tomatoes yesterday -- took her all afternoon -- and they were worth it. She found them a bit bland but I didn't. They were stuffed with meat, cheese and other items.
Wow, Evan's Purple Pear must be in "high season". I harvested 12 yesterday. The Pineapple tomatoes aren't as large as prior years but we're consistently getting a lot of 5-7 ounce tomatoes from this plant.
A Neves Azorean Red tomato is maturing.
We've now harvested over 2000 tomatoes in the back yard this year (2023)! And the back yard total is rapidly catching up with the front yard total -- they only differ by about 400 tomatoes. Also, we've harvested over 400 Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes (407) and exactly 100 Husky Cherry Red(2) tomatoes.
My wife made stuffed tomatoes yesterday -- took her all afternoon -- and they were worth it. She found them a bit bland but I didn't. They were stuffed with meat, cheese and other items.
Wow, Evan's Purple Pear must be in "high season". I harvested 12 yesterday. The Pineapple tomatoes aren't as large as prior years but we're consistently getting a lot of 5-7 ounce tomatoes from this plant.
A Neves Azorean Red tomato is maturing.
We've now harvested over 2000 tomatoes in the back yard this year (2023)! And the back yard total is rapidly catching up with the front yard total -- they only differ by about 400 tomatoes. Also, we've harvested over 400 Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes (407) and exactly 100 Husky Cherry Red(2) tomatoes.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Harvested Purple Bumble Bee!
Today's harvest includes 18 Matt's Wild Cherry, 13 Orange Paruche, 12 Sunchocola, 12 Evan's Purple Pear, 11 SunGold, 8 Husky Cherry Red(1), 7 Indigo Rose, 7 Husky Cherry Red(2), 6 Sugar Snack, 4 Garden Peach(2), 4 Japanese Black Trifele, 3 Speckled Roman(2), 3 Volunteer(4), 2 Purple Bumble Bee (new), 2 Earl of Edgecombe, 2 Bread and Salt (7.5 ounces), 2 Pineapple, 2 Garden Peach(1), Bloody Butcher, Indigo Apple, Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, Porkchop(1), Adriana's Grande, German Orange Strawberry, Hungarian Heart, Blue Gold, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(1), Blue Beauty, Paul Robeson, Persimmon(2) (not Persimmon), Black Cherry, Stupice, Odoriko and Michael Pollan for a total of 134 tomatoes.
The Purple Bumble Bee tomatoes are pretty cute. They look just like the image in this link, though the red isn't quite as pronounced. It's possible I picked a day early. We'll see...
I spent more time with the back yard harvest today. I didn't get chased out by the sprinklers. I harvested 12 Evan's Purple Pear today, none yesterday. It's a safe bet that some of today's harvest should have been picked yesterday.
We've now harvested over 100 Husky Cherry Red(1) tomatoes (103)!
The Purple Bumble Bee tomatoes are pretty cute. They look just like the image in this link, though the red isn't quite as pronounced. It's possible I picked a day early. We'll see...
I spent more time with the back yard harvest today. I didn't get chased out by the sprinklers. I harvested 12 Evan's Purple Pear today, none yesterday. It's a safe bet that some of today's harvest should have been picked yesterday.
We've now harvested over 100 Husky Cherry Red(1) tomatoes (103)!
Monday, July 28, 2014
Harvested Porkchop(1) and Dr. Wyche's Yellow!
Today's harvest includes 22 Matt's Wild Cherry, 14 Sunchocola, 10 SunGold, 10 Orange Paruche, 7 Sugar Snack, 6 Black Cherry, 6 Husky Cherry Red(2), 5 Indigo Rose, 5 Husky Cherry Red(1), 2 Porkchop(1) (new, 6 ounces), 2 German Orange Strawberry (7 ounces, 6 ounces), 2 Adriana's Grande, 2 Speckled Roman(2), 2 Garden Peach(1), 2 Green Grape, Dr. Wyche's Yellow (new), Earl of Edgecombe, Volunteer(4), Snow White, Paul Robeson, Persimmon(2) (not Persimmon), Beauty King and Cherokee Purple for a total of 105 tomatoes.
Both Porkchop(1) and Dr. Wyche's Yellow were surprises. Dr. Wyche's Yellow is undersized, which seems to be consistent with a lot of the back yard tomatoes in the ground. But this is a seedling, not from seed.
We've now harvested from every plant in the front yard, though the Vorlon tomatoes could just as easily been tossed away without counting them. It appears there was something wrong with the Vorlon seedlings this year. Someone at our tomato party planted Vorlon and it was a complete dud for them, though other tomato plants in the same area went bonkers.
The tomato plants are starting to look old and ugly due to the hot weather.
It looks like Purple Bumble Bee tomatoes are maturing.
I pulled out Pineapple Pig last night.
We've now harvested over 3500 tomatoes in July (3524) and over 800 Sunchocola tomatoes (812) this year!
Both Porkchop(1) and Dr. Wyche's Yellow were surprises. Dr. Wyche's Yellow is undersized, which seems to be consistent with a lot of the back yard tomatoes in the ground. But this is a seedling, not from seed.
We've now harvested from every plant in the front yard, though the Vorlon tomatoes could just as easily been tossed away without counting them. It appears there was something wrong with the Vorlon seedlings this year. Someone at our tomato party planted Vorlon and it was a complete dud for them, though other tomato plants in the same area went bonkers.
The tomato plants are starting to look old and ugly due to the hot weather.
It looks like Purple Bumble Bee tomatoes are maturing.
I pulled out Pineapple Pig last night.
We've now harvested over 3500 tomatoes in July (3524) and over 800 Sunchocola tomatoes (812) this year!
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Harvested Over 4000 Tomatoes This Year
Saturday: No harvest
Sunday's harvest includes 22 Matt's Wild Cherry, 22 Sunchocola, 14 SunGold, 13 Orange Paruche, 12 Husky Cherry Red(2), 9 Husky Cherry Red(1), 8 Green Grape, 7 Garden Peach(1), 6 Evan's Purple Pear, 6 Garden Peach(2), 5 Michael Pollan, 4 Indigo Rose, 4 Sugar Snack, 3 Pineapple (6 ounces), 3 Stupice, 2 Adriana's Grande, 2 Hungarian Heart (6 ounces, 8 ounces), 2 Blue Beauty (6 ounces, 9.5 ounces), 2 Speckled Roman(2), 2 Jaune Flamme, Bloody Butcher, Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, German Orange Strawberry (8 ounces), Volunteer(4), Yellow Perfection, Black Krim, Paul Robeson and Garden Peach(3) for a total of 156 tomatoes.
We were too busy all of Saturday to get a harvest. Friday night, my wife watered the tomatoes in the "koi pond". Late Saturday evening she got to the back yard tomatoes.
We've now harvested over 4000 tomatoes this year (4079) as well as over 1500 back yard tomatoes in July (1559)!
Sunday's harvest includes 22 Matt's Wild Cherry, 22 Sunchocola, 14 SunGold, 13 Orange Paruche, 12 Husky Cherry Red(2), 9 Husky Cherry Red(1), 8 Green Grape, 7 Garden Peach(1), 6 Evan's Purple Pear, 6 Garden Peach(2), 5 Michael Pollan, 4 Indigo Rose, 4 Sugar Snack, 3 Pineapple (6 ounces), 3 Stupice, 2 Adriana's Grande, 2 Hungarian Heart (6 ounces, 8 ounces), 2 Blue Beauty (6 ounces, 9.5 ounces), 2 Speckled Roman(2), 2 Jaune Flamme, Bloody Butcher, Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, German Orange Strawberry (8 ounces), Volunteer(4), Yellow Perfection, Black Krim, Paul Robeson and Garden Peach(3) for a total of 156 tomatoes.
We were too busy all of Saturday to get a harvest. Friday night, my wife watered the tomatoes in the "koi pond". Late Saturday evening she got to the back yard tomatoes.
We've now harvested over 4000 tomatoes this year (4079) as well as over 1500 back yard tomatoes in July (1559)!
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