I've been pretty circumspect on the heirloom tomato front so far this season here at Struan Farm.
Not intentionally so, it's just that we've been busy on other things. But to get you up to speed, twenty or so tomato plants were planted out Labour Weekend and are now flowering. This year I've planted Oxheart, Black Oxheart, Tula Black, Black Cherry, Big Red Heirloom (seeds saved from last year), Cherokee Purple, Mr. V's Purple, and Marmande. Several plants (Oxheart and Tula Black) already have green fruit, something I haven't experienced before. We usually don't have ripe tomatoes until January/February. It's an early year this year on many fronts.
So it should be a good tomato season as a result. I'm re-tying plants on their stakes to support them as they grow and pinching off laterals daily. They grow fast and are somewhat sneaky. For those who haven't been initiated into the tomato secret society just yet, "laterals" are the little branches that crop up in the crooks of branches. Pinching or snipping them off helps the plant focus more on producing fruit and less on growing foliage.
Like most things, there are those tomato aficionados out there who are fundamentalist, even evangelical, on this score. I'm middle of the road, having read that one sacrifices quantity for fewer, larger fruit by getting too carried away excising laterals. Our tomatoes are always reasonably large anyway, at least big enough for what I use them more. Peak lateral pinching time also usually coincides with Christmas, at which point I'm busy on other things.
This year looks like it could be different on the timing, but I suspect I'll adopt the same approach.
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