# Tomatoes.



## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

Kroger has them this week for $0.99 /lb. They surprised me since they actually taste like a tomato. Also, corn for 33 cents an ear. It was great too.


----------



## dudeondacouch (Apr 6, 2010)

buying tomatoes at a grocery store? no thanks. they always suck.


----------



## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

Yep. that's usually trie. But at this time of year in the mounteens, it's the only game in town. And they actually tasted fine.


----------



## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

The last ones I bought was from the grocery store. They looked good but eating them was about like eating a apple. I have 27 various kinds of tomatoes planted. Just came in from tilling around them. I hate getting the tiller out for the first time. Dang thing don't like to crank after sitting for the Winter. Got it fired up and tilled the tomatoes. When the rest of the garden gets a little higher I will till down the other rows.

Darin


----------



## OBX Rookie (Dec 22, 2003)

Friend of mine turned me on to the Cherokee Purple tomato a few years back and I was hooked, best tomato I have ever had. Cant wait till I pick that first one, can you say BLT! Some things are worth waiting for, dont even look at the ones in the store anymore been fooled too many times.


----------



## BubbaHoTep (May 26, 2008)

wdbrand said:


> Yep. that's usually trie. But at this time of year in the mounteens, it's the only game in town. And they actually tasted fine.


If they taste like tomatoes and you got them for 99/lb, I'd say that's pretty good for right now in the hill country, wd! I know what you mean about being in the mountains, and yeah it's the only game in town! About the best we get around here this time of year is 1.49/lb, and they usually come out of Grainger County, TN. Sometimes, they taste like tomatoes and are tolerable, and some are much better than others, but I never see them for .99/lb until much later.

I'll have to look into the Cherokee purple, OBX. I usually grow goliaths, celebrities, a lot of beefsteaks, and some of the big German pink and yellows (with some better boys stuck around in the flowerbeds ha ha).

A good tomato sandwich with fresh bread and Duke's mayo is awfully hard to beat!!!!! It's too bad fresh tomatoes aren't available all year!


----------



## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

I have a few Cherokee plants. Never ate them. Looking forward to it.

Darin


----------



## OBX Rookie (Dec 22, 2003)

Finger_Mullet said:


> I have a few Cherokee plants. Never ate them. Looking forward to it.
> 
> Darin


Have you picked the first one yet, should be getting close.


----------



## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

Got my first ripe one the 4th. Great big grape tomatoe. Got several plants of Early Girls but they aren't ready yet. Be another week on them. In the meantime, the grapes will get me thru. Them suckers do produce. A little tough skinned due to the heat and dry, altho I kept them watered everyday.


----------



## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

I have some Romas, Better Boy, cherry but no Cherokee yet. There are plenty on there but not ripe yet. Some of the smaller tomatoes are getting ripe but none of the bigger ones are yet. WIll be a little while yet. 

Did have a big ribeye for dinner with zucccini and green beans out of the garden. Damn fine meal. Been eating tomato sandwiches all week. Had to eat a little meat.
Canned up some cucumbers, hot peppers and onions last night. Been canning green beans all week. 

Darin

Darin


----------



## dirtyhandslopez (Nov 17, 2006)

Tomatoes are coming along. Same as the runners and bush beans. Have had a few spears of asparagus every other day or two, fresh out of the ground. Still got some strawberry's getting ripe, can't remember what type they are, but they are growing up top and then falling down. At least the critters have stopped looking for them.
Dog got a raccoon the other day, so I fed her some guts and shoved the rest down the groundhog hole. Think it helped the garden situation this year. They decimated the garden last year. Don't think the neighbors will know what hit them.
Sweet potatoes are wrapped up around the tomato stakes and the squashiges are growing every which way. Got some of them routed through the corn. Not easy untangling them from the corn when it needs to happen. Trying a new thing this year, sticking the grass cuttings and the weeds straight back into the garden for mulch, saves a trip to the compost heap. Going to have to throw some fish carcasses in the compost heap(what there is of it) just for "super maggots" for bait for swimming things. Taking the black berry bushes and training them so's as to keep furry animal noses uncomrtable
Corns laying over right now, but with a bit of love it'll stand up straight.
Grubbing soon...


----------



## OBX Rookie (Dec 22, 2003)

Finger_Mullet said:


> I have some Romas, Better Boy, cherry but no Cherokee yet. There are plenty on there but not ripe yet. Some of the smaller tomatoes are getting ripe but none of the bigger ones are yet. WIll be a little while yet.
> 
> Did have a big ribeye for dinner with zucccini and green beans out of the garden. Damn fine meal. Been eating tomato sandwiches all week. Had to eat a little meat.
> Canned up some cucumbers, hot peppers and onions last night. Been canning green beans all week.
> ...


Sure you already know this but the CP will not look like a normal red tomato when they are ready to pick. I had given some plants to someone at work and they said they were not getting ripe like the other tomato's, I showed them what to look for and they were ready to be picked just don't look like the ones in the store. I am hoping mine will be turning soon got a little later start, didn't get the late frost like we normally do around here. Sounds like the garden is doing well, good eats.


----------



## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

With all the traveling I have been doing I didn't get my plants in the ground till Memorial Day and they haven't grown at all while I was outta town. At this rate I might get my first mater by Labor Day...


----------



## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

How big do the CP's grow. Might have to look at them next year if they are an early tomatoe.


----------



## OBX Rookie (Dec 22, 2003)

WD
Try this link http://www.cherokeepurple.com/

I would not call them an early picking plant but if you get an early start (home, green house) one never knows. The farmers market around hear has been picking them for several weeks now. (Green house raised)


----------



## Peixaria (Dec 31, 2008)

*Maters*

Generous supply of ripe Early Girls and Better Boys already being eaten! All you arm chair farmers don't forget your additional Nitrogen [Bloodmeal] And Also find the colorsource bag [White with blue and red at Ace]that has a 15-30-15 content. Yields wicked fruit. Dont forget to trim the leaves.


----------



## Finger_Mullet (Aug 19, 2005)

Are you talking about cutting off the suckers?

Darin


----------



## OBX Rookie (Dec 22, 2003)

That’s all I have ever done and some thinning of dead or yellowing leaves on lower branches.


----------



## Peixaria (Dec 31, 2008)

mullet, Cutting off the suckers is like cutting off secondary stems that you might pinch,or would produce buds on a weed plant[Not that I've ever done that!] Every piece of literature I have ever read states that removing suckers, [between main stem and perpedicular leaf stem is helpful in harnessing the plants energy for producing fruit. I find just the opposite. if you clip almost all the perpendicular leaves you have a much more wind resistant and durable plant. The lack of leaves also makes for a healthier, dryer,mold and disease free plant. Also allows the sun to ripen the fruit more quickly. I have trimmed my set of plants 4 times already and have been eating tomatoes since about the first week of June. Dont forget the Nitrogen.


----------

