Tomato 411

OK, it’s been a great year and I’m glad we got to spend it together. I hope you all have your Christmas shopping all taken care of…..but if you don’t I have an idea. Now for some shameless self-promotion, how about a nice book for someone special….how about a book all about “TOMATOES”!!! Well if [...]

Well here we are. Right at the start of the Tomato growing season. Naturally we’re not going to plant anything right now, but we can sure start planning a few items. Items like, what kind of tomatoes are we going to put in this year? I’ve had a bunch of questions about the tradition heirloom [...]

OK, you’re probably wondering where I’ve been…or maybe not, but the truth is I was on a vacation of sorts. Be that as it may, I kinda neglected Tomato 411 for a week or so…..so we’re going back on a schedule. Starting in November the first Saturday of the month will be our update day [...]

“Wolf Peach”? Yes folks….Wolf Peach….that was the German Appellation for the Tomato back in the day. Why do we care about a German name for tomatoes? Because it highlights one of the many oddities surrounding the planets favorite vegetable (fruit). The tomato is certainly the only vegetable/fruit with a history as rich and mysterious any [...]

This is a great tomato sauce without a lot of the work that goes into lesser sauces…..a little secret, if you have Roma Tomatoes growing in your garden, dice them up at the end (last 1/2 hour) and throw them into this sauce…..they’ll taste GREAT! In remembrance of Julia Child, if you can find a [...]

Naturally, I’m speaking of our local area….South West Michigan! Just south of here are tons of Amish and Mennonite farms and communities in the Shipshewana, IN area, there’s lots of country to be explored and lots of new friends to be made in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and other places with Amish communities. The Amish have [...]

There I said it….”tomato seedlings”! Tomato seedlings seems to be something not many folks are familiar with these days. I can’t blame anyone for an absence of knowledge where tomatoes and seedlings are concerned because of the multitude of tomato plants ready for transplant at our local greenhouses and retailers. Currently there doesn’t seem to [...]

I won’t be talking about Tomatoes and seedlings and such today. I hope you and yours will have some time together and enjoy the holiday. Please take a moment out of your busy schedule today and remember a loved one or family member that served before to make this day possible for you and me. [...]

OK….so we’re a tad early with all the problems that can arise from growing tomatoes and tomato diseases, but we’re not too early for soil preparation. Soil preparation is one of the most fundamental things we can do to insure good health for our tomatoes. Many of the diseases that afflict tomatoes are borne from [...]