Comments on: 2010 Tomato Harvest – Round 1

By: Sara [ForestGardenGirl]

Sara [ForestGardenGirl] — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 21:03:15 +0000

Bentley,
If you still have green tomatoes around, I have stumbled upon a wonderful root cellaring method of preserving in my book “The Beginner’s Guide to Preserving Food at Home”.
Simply place a layer of crumpled newspaper in a cardboard box, then a single layer of the green tomatoes, followed by another layer of newspaper, more tomatoes, etc. in layers ending with a layer of newspaper on top, and place in your basement where they will stay cool. Check them regularly and if any begin to spoil, remove them. To ripen some for use (or for any that begin to ripen in the box), place them on a sunny windowsill and they will ripen up in a few days. They won’t taste as spectacular as vine-ripened tomatoes, but the method will prolong your harvest’s lifespan.

By: Kator

Kator — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:11:54 +0000

Cynthia – hmmm .. Southern California sounds pretty good to this Newfie gardner. 🙂
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Bentley – is there a general volumne ratio involved with the vermicompose and rain water. How well “steeped” should it be as a finished product and is there a downside if too concentrated?

By: Jean Kruse

Jean Kruse — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:00:44 +0000

Heather is right, guys, worm tea is super and not hard to make. Vc in the potting soil and worm tea is all I use to feed the plants I sell in my nursery and the plants still look great at the end of summer.

By: Mark from Kansas

Mark from Kansas — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:20:47 +0000

Hi John,
I messed around with the worm tea a few times. One time when I tried it we had not had any rain for a while. I went ahead and watered with the VC tea. 3 hours later we got an inch of rain. I pretty sure the rain did something to the tea and the 60 mph winds didn’t help either.
I really want to get into the tea aspect of gardening and will keep trying, my worm friend Heather swears by VC tea.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:14:50 +0000

😆
Dormant? You MUST be from California! (haha – teasing of course!)
We prefer the term “DEAD” up here in the great white north.

Joking aside, the reason I had to pick the beefsteak tomatoes green was because they were about to be taken over by a nasty disease (and some of them have ended up with it anyway) so I figured I would at least enjoy some fried green tomatoes.

As for watering, yeah I’ve certainly had to water my tomatoes this summer, and perhaps the drought combined with not spending nearly as much time out in the garden these past few weeks (and thus not being as attentive to watering) HAS indeed contributed to some of the issues.

By: Cynthia Gilbreth

Cynthia Gilbreth — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:16:06 +0000

Hi Bentley,

I just love reading your blog, it is so entertaining! But some questions:

Don’t you water your plants?
I know you are in Ontario, Canada, somewhere, so when is does your growing season go dormant? In other words, why on earth are you picking green tomatoes so early? Please forgive me, I’m in Southern California where we really have no dormant season at all.

Mark and Bentley,
I make worm tea all the time! It seems to help keep the white flies down. I use the tea on strawberries and some others, then use the wet compost on the orange, lemon and lime trees.

All,
Wish me luck in my fall planting!

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:54:36 +0000

MARK – You are hilarious! lol
All my plants were purchased when very small (next year my aim is to grow entirely from seed).
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JOHN – Worm tea is one of those things I keep meaning to get serious about, yet it never ends up happening. I did brew a small batch of very basic tea (simply sloshed a bag of vermicompost around in a plastic garbage can of rain water), but that was it. Next season for sure, I tell ya!
8)

By: John Duffy

John Duffy — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:35:43 +0000

Hey Bentley & Mark,
Do either of you use worm tea on your garden plants?

By: Mark from Kansas

Mark from Kansas — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:06:31 +0000

Very nice!
I can’t remember if you started with seed or store bought plants.
We bought some small plants that grew huge but, no fruit.
Letty has 2 nice looking tomatoes (and don’t anybody get the idea to start a joke here).