July 2012 Tomato Analysis

We harvested 6088 tomatoes for July. By all measures it was a very successful month -- an overabundance of large, tasty tomatoes. How does this compare to other years?

2007 -- 6154
2008 -- 1629
2009 -- 4576
2010 -- 4108
2011 -- 3876
2012 -- 6088

So we nearly matched 2007 but with nearly three times the amount of plants. While I romanticize the 2007 year -- and it was an absolutely incredible year -- we did have a higher percentage of cherry tomatoes that year. In 2012 we didn't grow many cherry tomatoes in the ground. In pots, yes, but not in the ground. SunGold, 2 Snow White plants, 2 Black Cherry plants and 2 Husky Cherry Red plants. About 10 percent. Yes, the ones in pots are almost all cherries, but they're also constricted by the very same pots. We grew 2727 Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes last year in the ground, this year we've grown 100 so far in a container.

Speaking of which, there's a better than 50 percent chance that SunGold beats our high harvest number of 2727. There's a chance that SunGold could reach 3000. The harvest will slow down to a trickle for a couple of weeks. The plant will recover a bit during those two weeks and get a second wind. If the plant is still strong enough for a good second wind, that should be good enough to pass 2727 and beyond.

That back yard harvest has been rock solid. All that digging in April has paid off.

The tomato plants in the raised bed have been a mild disappointment, except Indigo Rose. Could there be more bricks underneath the raised bed?

The south half of the "koi pond" has been disappointing. We've already pulled Paul Robeson. Black Krim(1), Vorlon and White Zebra have been sleepy. If I can I need to work the "koi pond" next year.

Still it's been a great month. The tomatoes have been tasty and plentiful -- what more can you ask?

I never got around to posting a June recap but in my mind I was predicting 5000 tomatoes for the month.

I predict a harvest of around 2400 tomatoes for the month of August.