I spent six hours repotting tomatoes on Saturday. And if that sounds right up there with a root canal, you wouldn’t be far off at all. I think I’ve about reached my natural limit of tomato plants I’m willing to nurture, and next year all the people I’ve started some for are absolutely SOL. The demands in time and effort are close to maxed out and it seems like forty adolescent tomatoes is all I can handle. See if you live in a normal climate, you’d start your tomatoes something like four weeks before last frost. They would have to be replanted once, from peat pods to four inch pots while they are still a manageable three inch size, and happily occupy maybe six square feet by the time they go outside.

Living in Calgary though, requires the starting of tomatoes in oh say, late March or so, while they won’t see the light of day until approximately oh say, June. In those three months, the baby tomatoes are guaranteed to outgrow their four inch pots and become hugely tall and root-bound. Apparently you don’t want that to happen since it’s bad for the roots, limits the uptake of nutrients, and is stressful for the plant, and who wants to eat stressed out tomatoes? Not me, man.

So when they reached what I thought was a good height of ten inches or so (although as with all my plans I was a week behind), I repotted the tomatoes into empty 2L milk and pop bottles. Why bottles? Well, I did mention forty tomato plants, right? And each large-ish plastic pot at the garden store (and the home hardware store, and the superstore) was approaching four dollars. You do the math. I could buy caseloads of tomatoes for those prices. Plus, and this is huge, I wanted to plant the tomatoes deeply, burying the bulk of each long stem because tomatoes are able to grow new roots out of the fine hairs they’re covered with, and a large root ball means a healthy plant. Well, every single 8” pot was wide and squat. Perfect for petunias perhaps, but completely opposite of the tall narrow pot I’d wanted for the tomatoes.

A container collecting frenzy ensued, with my boyfriends’ six-litre-a-week milk habit coming in quite handy.  (No I’m not kidding, I wondered if we should get a cow on several occasions.) Finally I had a table covered in clean 2L jugs with cut-off tops and punctured bottoms and it looked like the bottle depot exploded all over the table.

Then it was a routine of moistening potting soil in two huge bowls, removing the cat off the counter, adding some soil to the bottom of each container, gently shaking the plant upside down to dislodge it, dropping the plant down the well, adding more potting soil, removing the cat again, watering the plant, using a chopstick to poke a hole to the bottom of the container and watching half the soil disappear in a river of mud down to the bottom, adding more soil, water, label, and finally locking the cat in the bedroom. Repeat X 40.  I am not the most patient person, and the fact that I didn’t lose it once, speaks volumes to my newly cultivated zen-like attitude. Chop wood, carry water and all that.

The cool thing out of the deal is that in clear containers you can clearly watch the trickle of moisture down the sides and have a semblance of how dry your plants are getting. The downside is that my plants now take up a dozen feet of space and require some yoga skillz to water.  

***Speaking of watering, some of the plants (especially the paste variety – Ardwyna) were looking a bit…. ragged. They were tall and spindly, not bushy and in general looked like survivors of a tomato-pocalypse.  Some of their lowest leaves were yellowing too. I googled all the symptoms and the consensus was a mineral deficiency that can be cured with Epsom salt. So when I was done the Herculean task of repotting them, I watered them with a very dilute Epsom salt solution. Lo and behold, they all greened up, grew some more leaves and smartened up in general. I did not have this problem last year, so I am at a loss to imagine why they needed those nutrients, but there you go.

I’ve also started cukes and zucchinis this weekend, and they’ll be coming up too. God help me.

In a burst of optimism and positivity I’m doubling our tomato plantings from nine plants to eighteen this year. Last year only four produced at all, given our sad lack of summer and other weather prevarications, and we only ended up with a counterful of fruit, dashing hopes of tomato sauces and salsas.  But lessons were learned (namely Calgary weather sucks), and this year I started eighteen seedlings all to myself. Not to be outdone, my significant other decided that he has superior skillz in tomato raising. He thinks he can get twice the harvest for half the work. He feels that I spend way too much effort on these guys what with all the planting, lights management, kelp fertilizing and hovering that I did. He is convinced that all HE has to do is stick them into pots on the deck and leave ‘em alone. To this I say, bring it on. I’ll pit my maxi-kaps and feeding techniques against his pots any day. So he started several plants of his own. This year if the (weather cooperates) we’ll either be drowning in tomatoes or buying a greenhouse.

But I’m trying all sorts of varieties this year, from the faves of last year – Ildi, Valencia and Carbon to maters I’ve never heard of – Ardwyna, Slava and Silvery Fir. Below is what I’ve started this year, from small to large with a hybrid thrown in for comparison. I want to know if the superior yields of a hybrid tomato can be pitted against the best of heirloom taste. All descriptions are from the sites that sell them. Photos are from all over the place. (Actually it’s hard to believe but there are very few photos of some of these, often just one! So if I take photos as they grow I’ll be doing a valuable public service. Yeah.)  If you’ve grown any of these before, let me know how they were – cause I’m seduced by all of them.

CHERRIES:

Ildi

Tiny lemon-yellow and lemon-shaped, zesty tomato on 1-2 ft vines. Produces hundreds on a plant. Great for containers. Early. Grow outside.

German Lunchbox Cherry

Photo by Cpt. Obvious

Deep pink colour, oval shape. Semi-determinate plants produce well and start to ripen early. Exotic rich flavour, starts out acid, then sweet. Grows well in the greenhouse and keeps for weeks once picked. Rated 10 for flavour. Rare.

Sungold

Photo by tradeswindfruit.com

This interesting variety has an absolutely unique tropical taste when it is orange – not quite red and not quite gold. Rich and fruity tomatoes droop in long trusses on vigorous vines that keep on producing all summer. A must for garden snacks. Resistant to Fusarium wilt race 1 and Fusarium wilt race 2. This variety requires more heat and time to mature completely.
Vine (indeterminate), Matures in 65 days. (hybrid seeds)

EARLY:

Russian Red

Photo by koanga.org.nz

First to ripen in a very cool season, of the larger varieties. The fruit has broad shoulders and pointed bottoms. Semi determinated plants give decent full season production. Texture is meaty, nice acid/sweet rich flavour, great slicing tomato that keeps well on the vine and once picked. Rated 10 for flavour. Rare heirloom

Slava

Photo by tomatofest.com

From the Czech Republic. Name means “glory” and it is a glorious one. Blight resistant.

Silvery Fir

Photo by motherearthnews.com

Bright red small fruit, famous for its very unique dense carrot-like foliage. Determinate plants produce very well and early. 2-3 feet. Texture is moist, skins are tender, and tomatoes have a very strong, lingering flavour. Excellent sandwich tomato and a favourite for cheesemelts. Rated 10 for flavour. Russian heirloom.

Ardwyna Paste

Photo by stellarseeds.com

Long, fat and tapered. Good in large containers and greenhouse. Excellent flavour for sauce. Few seeds. Early and abundant production.

FULL SEASON: (the hardest to grow in Calgary, but man oh man – the payoff)

Valencia

Photo by hillsidecommunitygarden.com

This is a huge golden orange, almost round fruit, very solid and heavy. Has a meaty texture with a sweet flavour and a touch of acid. Excellent slicer. Rated 9 for flavour. Indeterminate.

Carbon

Photo by rareseeds.com

Taste test winner in 2007 and 2008! 8-12 ounce uniform tomatoes that ripen to dark red with blackish overtones. Deep red interior. Fruits are flattened round and smooth, without cracking or blemishing. Rich, sweet, complex flavour. Excellent for salads and sandwiches. Indeterminate.

Sudduth’s Brandywine – no photo

Grown by Sudduth family for nearly 100 years. Up to 2 pounds. Dusty rose. Unsurpassed acid but unique and complex flavour. Indeterminate.

Yellow Mortgage Lifter

Photo by tradeswindfruit.com

Bright yellow colour.Nice meaty texture and thin skins, with a rich, medium zesty flavour .An excellent producer on semi determinate vines.Always dependable, best grown outside.Rated 10 for flavour.

Big Beef – the dark horse for comparison

Photo by gardenharvestsupply.com

Big Beef tomatoes are really big, 10-15cm (4-6″), unblemished tomatoes grow in record time on vigorous vines. Firm, meaty and wonderfully sweet with an acid balance that gives a rich taste that always wins at taste trials. AAS winner. Grows to 1 pound. Round to globe-shaped. Flavor is full and hearty with lots of sweet juice balanced with that wonderful tomato acidity. These giants slice up perfectly for big sandwiches. Fruit stays large even at the end of a long harvest season. Resistant to Fusarium wilt race 1; Fusarium wilt race 2; nematodes; Verticillium wilt; Tomato Mosaic virus. Big Beef requires more heat and time to mature completely.

It’s hard to describe just how much tomatoes love their self-watering containers, but these photos speak for themselves:

They went from this:

To this:

To the great outdoors:

Where they grew:

And became monsters: (notice no more window, they’re easily six feet tall)

And finally, finally weeks after they were expected they produced actual REAL tomatoes:

This has been a very trying year for many gardeners and farmers. From late blight in many areas to a very late start to the season up north, from late thaws to a cold and windy and rainy summer, it seems like everything was stacked against poor crops this year. Probably this is, because I started a garden. But I’ve taken a look at many a friends’ garden patch to see how their ‘maters are doing, and after doing that I’m especially impressed by mine.

Most tomatoes around here hover around two feet tall, with a few tomatoes on each plant. This is owing to poor clayey soil, insufficient water, chilly nights and a short season, but my plants have persevered and are easily the tallest I’ve seen outside the greenhouse.  They started producing quite late, due to a cold summer, but if there’s any hope of a warm September, I may even see a few of them ripen. Here’s hoping!

I’ve been too lazy to haunt the farmers markets for the last two weekends, which is rather inexcusable since fall is coming oh so soon, but I have not been too lazy to eat. Since my lazyness perfectly dovetailed with another Serious Eats Weekend Cook And Tell: Too Hot edition, I gleefully participated.

Many people suggested all sorts of delicious sounding recipes that don’t require a stove, like salads and gazpacho, but when true laziness strikes one cannot be bothered with chopping, washing, plating and all that other mundane stuff called cooking. Instead I went with my ultimate fall-back technique – shopping. I’m a champion shopper, and did not disappoint myself, by traveling to the wonders of Blush and indulging myself.

Blush Lane is a wonderful addition to the Calgary food scene, taking care to source local and organic foods that are reasonably priced as well as delicious. I’ve shopped at their farmer’s market stand before and was overjoyed when their store opened. To date I’ve seen small baskets of Hotchkiss tomatoes that were pure heaven and a source of local pride, organic apples that tasted like honey, summer and freshness all in one bite, and rainbow carrots that were so delicious we ate half before we had a chance to cook them.

But serious efforts require serious sustenance, so this foray included:

The best, sweetest, most tomatoey tomatoes I’ve ever had:

A wedge of perfectly ripe Brie:

Incredible dried beef Salami:

And people, I totally popped over to A Ladybug Café next door, for a loaf of rye bread:

And the single greatest lemon tart in the whole world:

When I got home, all I had to do was slice up a tomato, and artfully arrange a beautiful still life that makes for one of my favorite things to eat – a composed plate. Washed down with some red wine it was a wonderful repast – dried, spicy salami with an intense beefy flavor, perfectly smooth brie, incredible tomatoes and a dark, earthy rye.  Nothing could be easier or more satisfying.

Brand new 'maters

All the tomatoes love the maxi-kaps so much, that they just sprawled into lush bushy plants with thick stems and huge leaves.

They’ve survived our brutally frigid summer start and evening lows of 8 (which we still have).

All the leaves on the different varieties are different. From the broad velvety leaves of the Brandywines:

Brandywine... I think

To the lacy fern-like fronds of Ildi:

Totally different leaves

There are no tomatoes yet, but my knowledgeable friends are telling me it’s only a matter of days now.

I assume those'll be cherry tomatoes

I’ll do a tomato dance in my spare time.

In other news – I harvested my first zucchini yesterday, and I’ll be having some photos tomorrow.

It was getting to be situation critical with the tomatoes.  If you’ll recall, when I originally planted them, the cages promptly fell out what with our hurricanes and all, and the tomatoes were left to sag on their own.

And sag they did. And that didn’t look right. And due to the fact that they’re planted in a styrofoam container there was no way to rig up something to it. And since they were on concrete there was no way to stick something beside them. And my engineering skillz ended right there, but the plants still needed support.

Surfing the internets I came across a brilliant sounding idea from Hanna at This Garden Is Illegal and it involved nothing more than a few nails and a piece of twine. I thought there’s no way even I can screw this up, but to be on the safe side I stayed away from power tools and got J to drill some screws in for me, right into the deck strip over the tomato containers.

Then it was simply a matter of tying up some twine at the base of each tomato plant, and winding it gently around the stem. I did it twice on the longer tomatoes that really needed it. And voila! All of them were gently suspended in a moderately upright position. Now it’s just a matter of monitoring whether this set up will damage the stems at all, since – did I mention our winds? So I’ll let y’all know on how that works for them, but so far so splendid.

Oh and the cat went absolutely nuts over the whole string thing – he was thrilled throwing himself at the window and breathing furiously, and he never ever gave up! Good boy.

Note the supervisor in the window

In an impressive display of proactiveness and organizational skills,  I finally, three weeks later than planned, put the tomatoes in their final home. The containers I purchased to do this are nothing less than Calgary’s answer to the infamous Earthbox, the much less famous Maxi-kap. Designed by a Dutch company the Maxi-kap is exclusively produced by Garden Retreat garden centre, although a couple of other stores in Calgary carry it. The idea is about the same as the Earthbox – a self watering, self feeding container that has several advantages over regular container gardening.

First any container grown vegetable will be weed free. And until you’ve spent your afternoon weeding, you have no idea just how appealing that is. Secondly, it’s self-watering. Since some plants, tomatoes in particular are heavy drinkers this will eliminate daily watering.  A light container will not overheat the roots of the plants requiring even more watering, the containers are very space efficient fitting three tomatoes and two cucumbers per box, and of course they are reasonably mobile allowing you a bit more leeway as far as placement.

They’re not all sun and roses though. I’ve seen some of the disadvantages first hand, my primary concern being tomato cages. More specifically the lack thereof. Since the containers are Styrofoam, you can’t exactly attach one to the side or on top without wrecking the box. One local gardener simply inserted the cages into the soil of the box, but mine promptly fell over when the slightest breeze blew, threatening to topple the plants in the process.

Secondly, the containers themselves should probably be on a platform of some sort, say one with wheels. The Earthbox has optional casters, as well as tomato cages that attach to the sides of the plastic box, plastic obviously being much more appropriate to the task. There are pretty cedar boxes on wheels that are sold separately for the maxi-kap, but at roughly a hundred dollars each, they ain’t cheap. If I get motivated I’ll build just a simple plywood platform and screw little wheels onto it. But that’s in the future – I’m nothing if not lazy.

The planting was easy enough:

Open the box and insert plastic liner inside.

Replace the lid and drop a cute water level ball into the watering hole.

Place bag of soil on top of the lid.

Reading that tomatoes do really well with a red mulch, I added a layer of that as well. We’ll see if it helps.

Cut holes out for the plants.

Root around the bottom of the bag of dirt and cut an X at the bottom of the bag over each planting hole.

Push the earth from the bag into each hole, make sure it’s packed reasonably well. You don’t want air pockets or they will prevent the water from reaching the roots.

Plant a tomato plant in each space. Get dirt all over you – it’s fun. Try not to destroy the tomato roots as you go.

Ta-da! Admire your handywork. Lament the lack of cages. Tell yourself you have a few days to rig something up. Pray the tomatoes do well.

My tomatoes didn’t get a chance to get hardened off properly. Between me being at work and not being able to babysit them, and the winds and the snow eliminating two weekends, they got perhaps three days of life in the shade outside before moving out. I know sun can burn delicate leaves that have never felt it unfiltered, and prepared some shade cloth to cover them (somehow?) if necessary, but for once the gods of weather were on my side. It’s been overcast yesterday and today in Calgary, with moderate temperatures, the odd drizzle but no harsh sun or overwhelming wind. If this keeps up for just a few more days, they should have an easier transition. Here’s hoping.

Since the spring got predictably delayed by our stellar climate, all my seedlings have sprouted into a veritable jungle. All the tomatoes are approaching a foot tall, with lush, green and fragrant leaves.

Fragrant forest

The pepper has glossy deep green leaves, with supremely cool purple lines running up the stem.

Shiny pepper

Purple stem

The basil no longer looks so oddly lopsided – and he now has a friend.

Bushy basil

Baby basil sidekick

But the it’s the cucumber that stole the show, as if to rebel against the death of his comrade, and opened up a delicate flower in a glorious flush of yellow. I was as proud as a parent whose child takes a first step. I think I spoke baby talk to it. The other two cukes are budding, and I’m sure will soon explode into bloom of their own. I absolutely cannot believe that these short little plants that grew from tiny little seeds are actually growing and thriving.

First bloom!

(She seems to have no interest in eating it – unlike Alfie)

I’m sure the tomatoes cukes and peppers as the veterans in this garden would love nothing more than to see the light of day, so this week will be the week of hardening them off.   The most excellent guide I found was online and here is the link for your pleasure. 

Happy Gardening!