Garden Evaluation: Tomatoes and Basil

Middle Terrace: Tomatoes and Basil

Tomatoes: middle terrace
Planted: June 8
Pests, problems, diseases: All the tomatoes this year suffered from lack of cages or staking. Many rotted on the ground that could have been saved.
Finished: they lasted right up until hard frost (end of Oct)
Variety: 'Golden Nugget' (2 plants)
Yield: fairly plentiful once it got going
Comments: Small, cherry tomato sized yellow fruit; regular tomato flavor. I'm not going to plant these next year. Cherry tomatoes are a pain to can, and we missed the tangy sweet flavor of Sungold varieties.

Variety: 'Early Girl' (4 plants)
Yield: Not as much as the others, despite having at least as many plants.
Comments: Big tomatoes with good flavor. Did not produce or ripen any earlier than the others. Probably won't repeat this one, either. May look for a bigger determinate variety for canning.

Variety: 'Roma Paste' (4 plants)
Yield: High producing plants, with the smaller bell shaped tomatoes.
Comments: Late to ripen--most of the ones we picked that last week were green Roma's. Another one that I probably will not replant next year. I would like to try a different paste tomato variety to see how it compares. Probably will only put in 1-2 plants, though. Mushy after blanching.

Variety: 'Cougar Red' (2 plants)
Yield: High producing.
Comments: Early to ripen, small heart-shaped tomatoes--many with "noses", less acidic flavor (sweeter). These were my favorites this year. Great for eating fresh, also stayed firm after blanching for good canning. Will have a higher ratio of these next year. Depending on how long our canned tomato goods hold out, I could see us putting in 4 of these, 1 Sun Gold, and perhaps 1-2 experimental varieties.

Basil: grown from seed, planted all along the front of middle terrace

Planted: March 25 (in seed trays), June 8 (in garden)

Variety: Genovese

Yield: Much, much more than I used.

Pests, problems, diseases: Amazingly enough, they survived the waterlogged episode at the beginning of their lives, and went on to grow big and lush. Were crowded and smashed by uncaged tomato plants gone amok later in summer, but no pests or diseases that I could tell.

Finished: Hard to really say, since they were so crowded out, but they were all in flower end of October when we pulled them out.

Comments: I'm still not very great at using fresh herbs--or drying them for future use, as it turns out. We could have been just fine with one basil plant. Maybe I should try it in a pot on the deck next year, along with a couple of other kitchen herbs. Easily accessible to the kitchen, and just one of each variety.