Fruition

In active pursuit

of life's finer fruits,

how they dangle

from rich, succulent vines

growing through seasons

stretching beyond reason

never failing

to ripen just in time

Tomato Time

Selecting the perfect tomato for your garden can seem like an intimidating task. There exists today well over one hundred different varieties of tomato plants, many of which we label 'heirlooms' because they are believed to be original or unaltered specimens, native to particular peoples or places. Non-heirloom types have been hybridized to resist disease and environmental extremes or are bred for durability in shipping and long life on super-market shelves. Typically, the best choices for flavor,

texture and color will be found in the heirloom section, however, for the beginning gardener (or if you've ever labeled yourself a black-thumb), a trusty hybrid will always deliver!

Early Girl, Better Boy and Celebrity tomatoes have swiftly become household names in home garden culture. Each chosen for a unique combination of resistances, yield capacity, storage ability and flavor, these hybrids will most certainly bring the sunshine to your plate in the most efficient and economical way.

For example, Early Girl, quite possibly the most popular of all cross-bred tomatoes, will begin yielding unblemished four to eight ounce fruit in as little as fifty days after transplanting. These strains, depending on your growing season, may also be planted in the garden before most heirlooms, allowing ripened fruit to arrive weeks earlier. Early Girl in particular has acquired tremendous popularity in the regions surrounding the San Francisco Bay area in California where it is commonly dry farmed to produce a quality of flavor thought to rival any heirloom variety available today. Often used when growing grapes for wine, this method of farming allows light irrigation in spring followed by drought conditions in the summer which forces establishment of a deep root system and heavily concentrates flavors as the plant utilizes water stored inside the ripening tomatoes.

Celebrity is a great selection for flavor as well as storage capability. Unlike Early Girl or Better Boy, Celebrity has a determinate growth habit, meaning it will have a more controlled bush form that will be more conducive to life in a pot or in a short growing season. Determinate plants will at some point stop spending energy on new growth and dedicate all of their life force to flowering resulting in a plant full of fruit ripening around the same time, right before it dies. The opposite of this is indeterminate growth, which signifies that the plant will have unchecked, vine-like growth throughout the growing season, producing clusters of tomatoes here and there as it goes. Every tomato start or package of seeds being sold at a nursery should specify this on it's labeling, often simply with a (D) or (I) as an indicator.

Do not, however, allow yourself to shy away from experimenting with heirloom cultivation. It is a common misconception that heirlooms in general are simply harder to grow. This is only true if what you wish to plant is not native to your climate type. In Santa Barbara, CA I have found that the Green Zebra variety grows with exceptional ease and produces amazing green striped fruits with unique flavor. Japanese and Italian strains also seem to adapt well to most southern CA gardens. On the other hand, Brandywine, an extremely sought after selection, has only ever yielded me a few tomatoes per plant in my zone. They seem to do much better without coastal influence, where the growing season is hot and long. Areas that experience a severe winter may have better luck with tomatoes native to Russia or the northern regions of the United States.

Now quickly head to the nursery for some tomato starts (if you don’t have seedlings waiting in the wings) and get those babies planted up. If you’re in a temperate climate with a long growing season there will be time to lag a little, but in colder areas you’ve got to hit the ground running if you want to maximize yield. Ask your local nurseryman or the neighbor with the best green thumb which varieties do well in their yard and you’ll be off to a good start!

Starting Spring Veggies

It's time once again to dust out the tool shed after it's winter neglect and begin planting the spring and summer garden! Hundreds of varieties of tomato plants have already filled the shelves in the local nurseries awaiting adoption by a proud garden plot owner. Added to the stock is the vast myriad of edible plant life, which includes eggplant, strawberries, beets, Brussels sprouts, potato, kohlrabi, various summer squash and numerous types of hot and sweet peppers along with many others. The selection can be baffling, but as you ponder over a grouping of heirlooms don't forget to stock up on ample organic soils and fertilizers to help get the job done properly.

Whether you're building a castle or planting a garden it's always best to begin from the ground and work your way up. As long as a given plant has a suitable bed of earth to tuck it's roots into, composed of a soil blend specific to the environmental needs of that plant, it may grow unchallenged. In other words, ease of root growth is in direct relation with ease of foliar growth.

I employ the benefits of a few different types of bagged, high quality soils from my local garden center. For planting directly into the ground I prefer Fox Farm's 'Happy Frog' soil conditioner paired with a rich, organic manure blend to curtail the drainage capabilities of the 'Happy Frog'. For potted veggies and herbs a mix of the Fox Farm 'Ocean Forest' and Dr. Earth brand potting soils make an incredible base. Simply add more of the ultra-rich 'Ocean Forest' for increased moisture retention or more fluffy Dr. Earth to increase aeration. Potted plants that enjoy superior drainage, will also appreciate a handful or two of 'Happy Frog' in the mix as well. And don't forget to top it all off with a generous scoop of homemade earthworm castings from your worm bin for increased microbial activity!

The nutrients available in a fresh bag of potting or planting mix will surely sustain a new transplant through it's initial settlement, however, within a couple weeks, supplemental feedings will help guide the little sprout toward maximum fruition. Whether you use liquid or dry fertilizers do yourself a favor and make sure they are organic products! Look for the OMRI symbol on the label. This is the stamp of the Organic Materials Research Institute which dictates whether or not a product for retail markets may be deemed organic.

For liquid treatments a blend of Alaska brand fish emulsion(5-1-1) and Dr. Earth all-purpose(3-3-3) seems to do the trick. The high nitrogen of fish emulsion is complemented by the pro-biotic nature of the Dr. Earth, which aids the plant in processing nutrients efficiently.

If the recipe calls for a dry feeding the best results typically come with a unique blend of isolated fertilizers such as blood or fish meal for nitrogen, bone meal for phosphorous and kelp meal for potassium. Other adjuncts may be added to affect soil Ph. Cottonseed and feather meal, for example, increase acidity while crushed oyster shell and lime help neutralize the soil. Dr. Earth, along with a few other companies, offer these products in their organic form along with suggested blends formulated for specific types of plants. The best of these items will be inoculated with a special blend of beneficial soil based bacteria, known as mycorrhizae, which will bond with the roots of plants and help transfer nutrients from the soil to the root. Remember that it generally takes up to five days for a dry fertilizer to begin taking affect as it needs to break down in the soil before hungry roots may absorb it. It should also be noted that organic fertilizers in general will slow, and often cease their activity when soil temperatures fall below 65 degrees(F). This is simply because the optimum temperature range for microbial activity in the soil hovers between 70 and 85 degrees(F). Don't fertilize in cold weather and this shouldn't be an issue.

It may be difficult to hunt down these exact organic products depending upon your location but rough equivalents should be available with a little research and/or advice from a competent nursery employee. 7 Day Nursery in Santa Barbara, CA, for example, takes pride in it's highly knowledgeable staff and dedication to providing a vast array of organic products for the home gardener. All products mentioned in this article can be found there 7 days a week.

Ingredients for Life

Ingredients for Life:

1 part good food

to 3 parts good times,

dissolve mixture

in large pot of love

stirring occasionally

for dynamism,

once properly integrated

add 1 heaping spoonful

of dreams,

simmer until realized

and add salt to taste,

serve hot

while still in it's prime.