Last week, we talked about what is growing in my veggie/fruit garden and how we generally prefer to store the crop for winter, or our favourite way to consume the produce. We managed to cover some of the early and mid-season crops and touched on some of the vegetables that require a lot of space to grow.
Let’s move on to the star of the vegetable garden – the tomato. The one veggie (or fruit) that is truly something we all can’t wait to harvest as soon as possible. For this reason alone, I will seed some tomatoes early so I can start eating and enjoying them as early as June. I grow lots of climbing cherry tomatoes that are both hybrid and heirloom. The same goes for the larger tomatoes, as I have found that if I grow a blend of these types, I am always guaranteed a good crop. If we happen to have a cooler, cloudier summer, it is the heirloom tomatoes that can provide the bounty. If it is hot, then I get to enjoy both heirlooms and hybrids and the feast is bountiful.
As far as cherry tomatoes go, I love Sweet Million hybrids as they are productive and do not crack. Some of my other heirloom favourites are Rapunzel, Chocolate Cherry and Black Cherry. As far as the larger tomatoes that are heirloom, include Manitoba, Cherokee Purple and the best-ever-tasting tomato, Brandywine. Other good hybrids include ‘Bush Beefsteak’, ‘Early Girl’ and ‘Celebrity’.
The ways to enjoy tomatoes are endless. I always pick everything when our daytime temperatures do not get consistently into the double digits, as they really do not grow and can get damaged and thus will store more poorly. Everything green mature will ripen and I often have many fresh tomatoes into late November and sometimes into December. I store them in flats in a cool area and ensure I remove any that begin to spoil right away. As far as processing, I make a lot of salsa. It goes into any hot dish that needs tomatoes and brings in the peppers, onions and garlic at the same time. I generally process these so I can store them in jars, but sometimes I will fill Ziploc bags, sealed well and frozen flat to conserve space.
Root crops are always the last to harvest and I tend to leave them in the garden well after the killing frost. However, if the tops of carrots or any other crops are crowning, I add some soil to ensure they do not freeze. Carrots, parsnips, potatoes and beets just get sweeter after a frost or two, so as long as they have not frozen, they are lovely. In warmer climates, I will harvest these in spring if fall ends up getting too busy.
Any of the brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) are harvested throughout the season and picked when they are ripe. I always grow these crops under remay cloth or floating row covers as inevitably, the worm will appear on the plate of an honoured guest. I gave up trying to find them all years ago and prefer not to use any of the common rotenone-like dusts on what I consume.
Short season crops like spinach, lettuce and spring onions are now in their third successive planting. We have been enjoying fabulous salads with all sorts of ingredients from the garden. My children, and now grandchildren, love to go and fill a basket from the garden to make a salad, as there are edible greens, flowers and more that will make not only a beautiful salad but one that is filled with a vast array of nutrients.
I hope that you have been enjoying harvesting what you have grown.
Hanbidge is the Lead Horticulturist with Orchid Horticulture. Find us at www.orchidhort.com; by email at growyourfuture@gmail.com, on Facebook @orchidhort and on Instagram at #orchidhort.
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