Tomatoes by Edwin Cooper

Tomatoes
By Edwin Cooper

You probably know that tomatoes are the most popular edible garden plant grown in America. Though used as a vegetable, botanically it is a berry in the annual Nightshade family which also includes tobacoos, red peppers, potatoes, petunias and eggplants.
In this area tomatoes frequently are planted in early March or slightly later depending on weather conditions. The fruit ripens in mid or late June if using young potted plants. Locally they are available at M&M Farm Supply and plants are now beginning to arrive. Seed packages also are available if desired.
Some of the popular varieties planted locally include Celebrity, Big Boy, Better Boy, Early Girl, Homestead, Roma and several varieties of cherry tomatoes. If you study the commercial photos of mature tomatoes you'll be tempted to buy them all.
Our experience planting a small garden at Camp Creek has been best with a sandy loam soil mixed with lots of cottonseed mulch. The soil needs to be tilled before planting which stimulates root growth. Tomatoes do their best planted in full sunlight when that is possible.
Young plants should be planted at the same depth as they were in their containers. Some however prefer to plant them horizontally covering all except the leaves. Adequate moisture always is critically important.
If you learn that a freeze will occur while your plants are still young, covering them with leaves or opened paper sacks usually will protect them through the bad spell. Sacks need to be secured with soil around the base to hold them in place.
Late meetings are held each night by deer, raccoons, squirrels and mockingbirds (among others) deciding how best to attack your tomatoes when they begin to ripen. I had to build a fence using cattle panels, chicken wire and small mesh wire to keep those critters under control. All except for the squirrels, which can penetrate any fence constructed by mankind. As Bernest Meadors advised me years ago, "Plant enough for yourself and them, too. Otherwise you'll go around mad as a hornet."
A plate of cold slices of Celebrity tomatoes tells me Bernest was right. Plant enough for everybody! Plant the varieties of your choice. Celebrity happens to be my favorite and is a highly productive variety.

Pre-emergents!

Christine's Corner:
Well it's warming up outside or at least for the moment it is...I'm sure we're due for another cold snap but until then we will sure enjoy the 70 degree weather we are having! February came quick and is going by fast and NOW is the time to be putting out pre-emergents! So I wanted to mention two of the products that we carry that need to be put out now! The first is Fertilome For All Seasons it is a great product that is ideal to put out in February before seeds start germinating, it will help you get control of grassy and broadleaf weeds and give your lawn a boost with its 16-0-8 fertilizer. It covers 5,000 sq ft and controls henbit, oxalis, chickweed, crabgrass, and several other weeds listed on its label. For best results it needs to be watered in.

The other product that you could put out now is called AMAZE it will prevent seed germination of those pesky grassy and broadleaf weeds. It's great to use in your yard and flower beds but not anywhere you plan to overseed b/c it will prevent good seeds from germinating as well. And it's not safe for vegetable gardens either. Probably one of the best reason to use it is to get control of sticker burrs. I know you're probably not thinking about sticker burrs right now because there not getting stuck to your pants legs or the bottoms of your flip-flops but NOW is the time to stop them. Once they are up there isn't a whole lot you can do about them (not really anything) so put out AMAZE now, again around Mother's Day and one more time around Labor Day and get control of those aweful sticker burrs! Just remember Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Labor Day for application times. Amaze has to be watered in either by rainfall or irrigation to activate it. A 10# bag will cover 4,000 sq ft and if you have a larger area to cover we do have a few products that work the same way but are for much larger areas: Pendulum and XL2G.

Happy Gardening and come by and see us!

Start getting ready...Spring is coming!

Christine's Corner:
Spring is coming, Spring is coming (clicking my heels together like Dorothy on Wizard of OZ), as I write this it is currently about 22 degrees in Cameron...brrrrrrr cold! I know with it being as cold as it is, it's hard to think about Spring or working outside or planting a garden but Spring will be here soon. There are two things that you need to consider planting soon, first is seed pototoes. I've heard a lot of "old timers" with way more experience than me say to plant potatoes around Valentine's Day or President's Day, so now would be a good time to purchase them. You need to give them time to grow good "eyes" before you plant them. After you purchase them you cut them, dust them with sulfur and put them in a dark, dry spot until its time to plant and the "eyes" have developed well. The other thing to consider is onions, plant them now and by early June you should have some nice size bulbs to harvest and enjoy! Since I'm no expert I found some great websites to refer to:
This first one has some great general gardening advice and guidelines for all vegetables...
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/guides/E-502_home_vegetable_guide.pdf
This one has some great information on seed potatoes and onions...
http://www.plantanswers.com/calvin/VegetableGarden.htm
And this one answers all sorts of questions you may have about pototoes...
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/vegetables/potato.html

Happy Gardening and stay warm!