A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Finally finished my new tomato beds!! Pic

I'm finally done with my two new 4x12 raised beds and have all of my plants in the ground or in containers. Final count is 33 varieties between the two beds, my main garden and the containers. Still have to spread straw and my soaker hoses and put the cages up.

Way to go John, love your picture.

Thanks Rosepetal!


Very carefully!
Seriously, I use those plastic nursery tags which I label and attach to the plants for now until I get the cages or stakes installed. Then I'll move them to the cages. I also have a map I drew up with all the varieties listed.

Wow!!! How nice, Yummy, would love to have that many variations.
Looks good

Love these pictures, you're gonna have a wonderful crop !
What an extensive list of different varieties !
Planning on lots of tomato sandwiches?
That was my first thought-I love tomato sandwiches !

John it looks good and like a lot of hard work.

I'm growing a couple that are on your list.
Here's a pot of gold(green) from one of my Lucky Leprechaun plants.

I planted my tomato plants Today ..is it to late

John,
I love those beds. How long did it take you to build them?

Nice tomato's Mator Sandwich.

Nicky

John nice beds and plants. Look forward to updates through the summer. JD

Thanks everyone.

BLT's of course!! YUM!

Very productive, huh?! What's that cherry in the background?

Thanks. Not long at all once I finally got started. It's actually my neighbor's old composite decking that failed and he ripped off and replaced. He gave me most of it. Will last longer than pressure treated wood and it was FREE! I got enough for maybe two more 4x12 beds and a few smaller ones.

That's a Sungold (F1) It is the first year I am growing them. The 4 plants I have just refuse to be stopped! I have been pinching off the tops at 6 feet and they shoot off 2 more at or near the base to compensate for each one topped. They have set a lot of fruit and all are looking healthy.
I have read a lot about their flavor and am trying to wait patiently.

Yeah, my first year growing them also and I've heard the same thing about them. I've normally planted sweet 100's which were great also.

Hi John
Long time, no "chat".
Looks fantastic!! Can't wait to see all the different varieties once they've ripened.
I went to take some pics yesterday of my garden and the batteries were dead in my camera...they're all charged up now, so I'll get some pics later on today. Though, they won't even compare to what you have going!

Christina

Awesome beds there John...
(and more to come
~you're a man after my own heart~
more raised beds )

How do you cage them up???

I put long posts at each corner, and in the middles, and that helps alot with the 6+ft'ers...
I can string up some clothesline rope in a figure 8 and rectangle shape up the posts, *put notches in them at certain intervals for the rope* and the
plants can grow up thru them..

Hope we get more pictures as your plants grow...

Yes it has. You've been relatively scarce lately I've noticed. Post those pics when you can. Love to look at pictures!

Thanks weezie. Your system sounds interesting. In the past I've staked my plants. This year I will be staking a few if I run out of cages, but most will be caged with 24" dia concrete mesh cages that I built. You can barely see a few of them in the background of that picture.

I still have a lot of work to do clearing the area those beds are in. I just took down that enormous tree in that picture last evening and I'm gonna have someone come in and chip that brush pile up some I can use the chips to mulch around the beds. I will continue to take pictures as the progress continues. I know I love to look at pictures here!

I did see those, barely visiable...
but my eagle eye spotted them, tha'ts why I asked..

I am going to do some concrete cages too..
I just got two from someone and in serious love with them beside those cheap tomato cages that
crumble under a few pounds of tomatoes and stems..
$$ is always the issue with me..
but am tryin' to figure out how much I can get..

Question, that stuff comes in panels corret???

Good job, John! Good score on the materials, too.
Here's a couple pics of one of my 'maters. I love the huge leaves on the potato leaf varieties.




Now if I can just be patient...yeah, right!

Yes. It comes in 8' sheets and in 50, 100 and 150' rolls Weezie. It is always 5' tall though.


Thanks Dave. Those plants look great. That's not AT though. AT is reg leaf. Which is it?

That's a Brandywine. I just took another pic of a leaf that's bigger than my hand, but now my camera batteries are dead. I'll post it this evening. I wish I was growing Sudduth's and OTV this year to compare with this. I've had good luck with BW for several years, and it's my favorite so far. No sign of fruit on it so far, though.

Yeah, I wish I was growing BW Sudduth too! Did not get one single seed to germinate! I'll be buying some new seed for it next year for sure. OTV is doing nicely though...

I'm growing a couple of BW Sudduth this year. How do they compare?

From what I've read about Sudduth's, it's a better quality of fruit with less deformities and better flavored than BW! Like regular BW, the yield is lower than some 'maters. Brandywine OTV is supposed to produce better, and Red BW has high yields. I want to grow them all next year, and Yellow BW as well. My attitude is that if I get 2 or 3 great great tasting fruits from a plant, it was worth growing for the flavor My BW's usually yield fairly well.

Ditto what Dave said Mator. Most people I've read that have compared BW's have said Sudduth's strain is the best tasting. Make sure you take some pics of them. Have you had any fruit set yet?

Quick update. I was looking at my Bloody Butcher today. A few days ago it had about 3 fruits forming, biggest about marble sized, and today there are 11 fruit! Woohoo, what a powerhouse this things going to be! It looks like it's going to have bunches of clusters of fruit like the "vine ripe" tomatoes they sell for high dollar in stores! And it doesn't mind the heat at all, now that it's gotten going!

I have a couple fruits set. This one is just over 3 inches across. It's good to hear about the flavor. The anticipation is building.