Tips

Tips for the Tastiest Tomatoes

Plant from seed yourself, or find a source that grows organically.  When the last threat of frost is past, prepare the beds.  Dig a hole that is deep enough to bury the plant’s roots and much of the stem, leaving only a couple of inches of stem (and all the leaves) above the ground; the buried stem will put out more roots, making your plant stronger.  Add a little organic tomato fertilizer (e.g., Espoma) and a tablespoon or two of Epsom salts to each hole, water well, and then plant your seedling and fill with soil.  To deter cutworms, which seem to appear out of nowhere in the night and exist solely to bite off the tender seedlings, fold over a strip of newspaper to create a 1” collar and use it to make a little ring around the plant, an inch or so out from the stem, half buried in the soil.  Then water again.  Top dress with the best composted mulch you can find, to keep the moisture in and the weeds out.

If you train plants vertically, up a wooden stake or other support, you can grow them as close as 1’ apart.  Put in the stakes next to the seedlings as you plant; if you wait more than a few days to do so, you may damage the roots, which grow and spread quickly.  The vertical method means you must tie the plants up as they grow, lest they decide to crawl along the ground, as they will happily do.  You can also use tomato cages, which take up more space and are not as tidy, though they require a bit less attention.
 
And when your hard work has paid off and you have arm loads of tomatoes to bring into the kitchen, make sure you store them properly.  Never put tomatoes in the refrigerator, since the cold kills the taste and texture.  Just keep them turned upside down, standing on their stems, on a platter on the counter.