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.

Dave....Here is a pic of one of those potato leaves bigger than a hand on one of my Lucky Cross plants. (The tomato stake is 1.5 inches wide.) I'll have to measure it once the garden dries out a little from all the rain we just got.

Nice Mator! I ended up taking Lucky Cross off my grow list in favor of Little Lucky. Will be growing LC next year for sure. Definitely keep us posted with your progress.

Dave, BB I've heard is very early and productive. Sounds like you got a winner.

Yeah, BB is looking great, I'm so glad the heat hasn't shut it down. I checked my best Black Plum again last night, and I'll be darned, it also has 11 fruits now! Woohoo!
Mator...most impressive. You'll find that's worth the wait! Ever tasted any BW's before?

I grew a couple BW's last year. They tasted great. I grew them along with some seed a co-worker gave me from what he thought was a German Pink. I could never verify it and I was not able to save seeds from it. Mostly my fault. I was recovering from a Quadruple Heart Bypass and watering my mater plants was great therapy. Well....great therapy for me, not my plants. I ended up dropping every fruit set to BER. Those mater plants went to over 11 feet before bending back towards the ground due to lack of support. I had them staked with 8 footers.

Here is a picture of the "German Pink" as called by a co-worker and friend. The seed came from his fathers garden. He always grew one of the GP's next to his house where he would train the plant along a trellis up to the gutters of his 2 story house. He showed me some pictures of it and it was amazing to say the least. I wish I had one of the pictures of his father standing on an extension ladder picking a tomato.

This fruit was real meaty and had a very low acid level. It made a couple incredible mater sandwiches!!!

Mator,
What are your stakes/posts made out of???

I ripped them out of non-treated 2X10's. They are 1.5 inches square. I don't rip 2X4's for stakes because the quality of the wood is far less than lumber in the larger widths.
Last year I drove them into the ground and the season was real hard on them. I was hoping to get a couple seasons out of each end before rotting off. No such luck. So this year I bought some medium duty fence post and drove them into the ground. I attached the wooden stakes to them with decking screws and tie wire. (used for tying rebar)

So far so good. If they become unstable later in the season I will bind the top of the stakes to each other to stabilize them.

Mator, that is a SWEET looking tomato there. If you talk to your co-worker again, find out some more info on where his father came to acquire the seed, the variety name....and most of all....if there's more seed to be had!

Ciao all,

Sheesh, you all are reminding me that I should really take some pictures and upload them. Duane built me 2 additional tomato/eggplant/basil beds for my birthday. I had no idea where to put my earlies and the eggplants needed a home. Ok, so that was my selling idea, lol. The man loves pesto so it was actually a fairly easy sell.

John, I have plenty of Brandywine Sudduth seeds and I would be more than willing to do a large trade with you in the Fall. You'll like the plant, it's very beefy with large stems. Last year, it didn't get HUGE like Aunt Ruby's, but it gets plenty bushy so keep that in mind. You might want to put it on the end of one of your beds.

Cheers,
Julianna

Thanks Julianna. Sounds good.