Mid-summer is one of my favorite times of the year; it is when the tomato harvest is coming on hard and strong. Above you see a photo that shows how my tomatoes are growing this season – ripening up nicely!
Fresh tomatoes are like manna from heaven and I could eat them right off the plant. Recently, I went to P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home for the #G2B12 event and gave a little on-camera lesson on how to plant a tomato. The secret? RIPPING RALPH’S ARMS OFF. No kidding. Watch the video to see just how we did that.
HOW TO PLANT A TOMATO
1. Prepare the soil and dig a shallow trench about 6 to 10 inches deep. Mix an organic fertilizer and soil additives of your preference into the soil.
2. Remove the bottom branches and leaves from the tomato plant (rip Ralph’s arms off) and lay the plant on it’s side in the trench with it’s very top leaves sticking up out of the hole. By laying it on it’s side you are encouraging additional root growth to help further stabilize the plant’s root system.
3. Cover all the plant except the very tippy-top leaves in soil. Water well and keep watered regularly.
That’s it – that is all you have to do to plant a good looking tomato plant like Ralph. Be sure to place your tomato in full sun, stake well, and fertilize every three weeks or so with an organic fertilizer.
Let me know how YOUR tomatoes are growing this season!
Shawna is the author of the critically acclaimed book, Gardening Nude, which is a guide for living a green lifestyle. She is the CEO of MAD 4 World Enterprises and Partner of 78 Pesos, which is a video production company that specializes in sustainable online content. Shawna is an on-camera spokesperson, newspaper columnist, internationally recognized keynote speaker, environmental and health correspondent. She is an experienced spokesperson with green lifestyle living, organic gardening, culinary, and eco content creation who campaigns for social good. You can learn more about her at http://www.shawnacoronado.com or follow her on twitter @ShawnaCoronado
gardening, organic produce, tomatoes, vegetables
I am the Good Girl Gone Green. Seeing garbage cans overflowing with recyclables breaks my heart.
Can you show a picture of this. I’m a bit confused. How can you stake a plant that’s laying on it’s side? Thanks for sharing!
Hi Shawna,
My tomatoes are doing great! Thanks for asking. Although I did notice that one has been wilting during the day and coming back in the evening which is probably the dreaded anthracnose. I just moved into this house and planted my tomatoes in the old vegetable plot so I have no idea if crop rotation was used. Next year I plan to put in raised beds. I have a friend with a huge pile of horse manure that goes back 20 years – the middle should be just about perfect garden soil. Hopefully I won’t transfer any problems over.
We’re having our inaugural Eat Make Grow Blog Hop. We are looking for folks to link up who want to share what they have been eating with their families, growing in their gardens or making with all their creative impulses. If you’re interested, I hope you’ll hop on over and link up a couple of your posts. It’s a way for you to grow your readership and find other like minded mamas.
Hope to see you there,
Foy
http://foyupdate.blogspot.com/2012/08/inaugural-eat-make-grow-blog-hop.html
I cant wait to try to grow tomatoes again this year! Last year was a big fail but this year I will be using a self watering container up on the roof deck to get more sun!