I've Lost Interest for the 2009 Tomatoes

Not much has happened with the tomatoes. The front yard tomatoes look worse than the back yard tomatoes but it all doesn't matter – we're pulling them all. We went through about three rain storms and there was an extended drying period. Then we were busy. The zombie plants just sat there.

Yesterday our gardener took out Mong and Old Ivory Egg. Also, he got rid of all the branches that were hanging over the “koi pond” fence. That has more than filled up our green trash can. We'll wait until they are emptied and if time permits, we'll pull out some more plants.

I actually did harvest about a half dozen tomatoes in the back yard...but because of the freeze followed by about a week of rain I've lost interest.

Here's the top 10 harvest totals for 2009:

Snow White(1): 1419

Red Currant: 1278

Snow White(2): 1110

Black Cherry: 946

Yellow Perfection: 545

Babywine: 517

White Currant: 448

Husky Cherry Red (back yard): 409

Red Grape: 370

Jaune Coeur de Pigeon: 365

Total counted harvest came to 11,155 tomatoes. It was a really good year!

Tomato Plants Show Significant Damage

It wasn't quite as cold last night/this morning, but it did get below freezing again. The low was 30.1 at Pierce College at 6:30 this morning.

The plant damage was obvious on all the front yard tomato plants. Even if I pull them I don't plan on doing so until the ground is more dry – and we have two more storms headed our way.

All the front yard plants have a black tinge near the top of the plants and have sagged significantly since a few days ago. If these plants aren't dead, they're close enough that any fruits to come won't be something to look forward in anticipation.

Right now we're at 11,155 for the year, but we're quite likely to find some matured tomatoes as we take out the plants.

Temperatures Below Freezing Last Night...

Today's harvest: Mong and a back yard Husky Cherry Red for 2 tomatoes.

After Monday's rain, a serious cold front came in behind it. My wife and I went to our computer user group's board meeting that night in Marina Del Rey. When we came back there was already frost on my car's back window.

At 11:00 PM last night it was already down to 33.3 degrees at Pierce College, a mile away. It got to freezing at 11:50, rose very slightly and dipped below freezing at 1:00 AM. The low was 27.0 degrees at 7:10 AM this morning. It got above freezing (32.1 degrees) at 8:00 this morning.

The temperature was below freezing for nearly seven hours and near freezing for quite a while. The weather report we heard last night indicated that tonight would be even colder. We'll see about that.

The tomatoes in today's harvest were picked on Sunday and left to mature on a window sill. They're now mature.

There's frost on the tomato plants this morning. There will certainly be damage to all of them but whether it's fatal hasn't been determined. When the damage is bad enough the plants will turn black, but that hasn't happened – yet.

This may be it for the 2009 harvest...

Tomatoes In The News

Here's the latest installment of Tomatoes In The News...

MarthaStewart.Com – Outdoor Lighting: Hanging Trees

ThePacker.Com – Study Pits Bacteria Against Salmonella In Tomatoes

Kitsap Sun (WA) – Chris Smith | Rating My 2009 Tomato Crops

Garden Center Magazine – How To Prevent Tomato Seedling Diseases

Harvested Over 1100 Snow White(2) Tomatoes!

Let's catch up on the tomato harvest...

On Wednesday no harvest was done.

Thursday we had 3 back yard Husky Cherry Red, 2 Babywine, 2 Black Cherry, Snow White(2), Snow White(1) and Garden Peach for a total of 10 tomatoes.

No harvest was done on Friday. The temperature was just above freezing at daybreak. There was a very light frost on the cars. It got down to 32.1 degrees at 5:50 AM at Pierce College. Too cold to bother with the harvest!

Saturday we harvested 15 Snow White(2), Mong, Garden Peach, a back yard Husky Cherry Red and White Currant for a total of 19 tomatoes.

Sunday we harvested 2 Snow White(2) tomatoes.

Today no harvest was done because it was raining.

We've now harvested over 1100 Snow White(2) tomatoes (1110)! There's actually several hundred new tomatoes on this plant but I doubt many of them will get ripe. If the temperature drops below freezing for any length of time we'll lose the rest of the crop on this plant. Nevertheless we'll be happy for what we get between now and then.

Our Manchester Terrier has been picking off the remaining White Zebra and Green Zebra tomatoes. When we can we'll pull these plants from the ground.

Tomatoes In The News

Here's the latest batch of tomatoes in the news...

Talking Retail – Tesco Launches Sweeter Tomato

Swazi Observer (Swaziland) – Tomato Project To benefit From SIPA, Neotech Partnership

Cape Cod Times (MA) – “It's The Tomato Man!”

GreenMed Journal (Mediterranean Area) – Norway's Tomato Consumption Booming

Drummoyne Village Voice (Australia) – Pick Of the Tomato Crop

Harvested Over 200 Garden Peach Tomatoes!

Today's harvest includes 3 Snow White(2), 2 Garden Peach and Babywine for a total of 6 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 200 Garden Peach(2) tomatoes (201)! We haven't harvested a Garden Peach in nearly 2 months, but several of them are maturing now.

Also, we've now harvested over 5800 tomatoes from the front yard (5801) this year.

Finishing Off November...

Monday's harvest: 2 Snow White(2) and White Zebra for a total of 3 tomatoes.

Tuesday's harvest: 2 Dr. Wyche's Yellow (one 6 ounces), Snow White(2) and Babywine for a total of 4 tomatoes.

Wednesday's harvest: 3 Snow White(2) and a back yard Husky Cherry Red for a total of 4 tomatoes.

Thursday's harvest: Snow White(1) and Babywine for a total of 2 tomatoes.

Friday's harvest: Snow White(2).

Saturday's harvest: Snow White(1), Snow White(2), a front yard Green Grape and Old Ivory Egg for a total of 4 tomatoes.

No harvest done on Sunday.

Today's harvest: 10 Snow White(2) and Babywine for a total of 11 tomatoes.

My wife cut back the Sweet 100 over the Thanksgiving break. She was afraid to completely pull it out because of other plants in the pot. In essence it has been pulled out of the ground.

The Green Grape was a real surprise. I had found the tomato along the gravel path outside of the “koi pond” fence. Apparently it had been buffeted there by the winds we've been having over the last several days. I hadn't harvested a front yard Green Grape in 2 months. I had assumed it had no more tomatoes on it.

Our November harvest total ended up to be 181 tomatoes – 163 in the front yard, 18 in the back yard.

We've now harvested 11,116 tomatoes in 2009.

Weekend Harvest

Saturday's harvest: 3 Snow White(2), 2 Babywine, White Currant and a back yard Husky Cherry Red for a total of 7 tomatoes.

Sunday: No harvest done.

Patio Princess was pulled and placed in the compost bin.

A couple of days ago I was going to pull White Currant. The plant is quite brittle. I thought that the half dozen or so growing tomatoes on one of the branches was broken, but later I checked it with my wife nearby and realized that the end of the broken branch had no tomatoes on it. And we discovered two or three growing tomatoes elsewhere and hey, there's a ripe tomato on one of the vines! So we'll keep it around.

Monday's harvest: 2 Snow White(2) and White Zebra for a total of 3 tomatoes.

Winding Down The Harvest...

Tuesday's harvest: Snow White(1), Snow White(2), Babywine and Patio Princess for a total of 4 tomatoes.

Patio Princess is now ready to be pulled. Also, it got down to 36.9 degrees in the morning.

Wednesday: No harvest done – too cold. It got down to 35.7 degrees and around harvest time had only warmed up to about 37 degrees.

Thursday's harvest: 4 Snow White(2), Snow White(1) and Babywine for a total of 6 tomatoes.

My wife watered both the back yard and front yard tomato plants.

Today's harvest: Babywine.