Tomatoes!

2011 Harvest Analysis

2011-12-31T17:52:00.000-08:00

Here's the yearly harvests...

2007 - 10990 tomatoes, 33 tomato plants
2008 - 4503 tomatoes, 52 tomato plants
2009 - 11155 tomatoes, 61 tomato plants
2010 - 8092 tomatoes, 77 tomato plants
2011 - 9178 tomatoes, 77 tomato plants

The total harvest came in 3rd place out of 5 years, right in the middle of the pack.

As mentioned on other posts, we were quite happy with the taste of this year's harvest. Porkchop, Vorlon, Hungarian Heart and Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red were some of this year's highlights. Porkchop, when harvested at the right time, was the best tomato I've eaten in maybe three years. Hungarian Heart was my wife's favorite this year.

But you can see why 2007 was an awesome year. 2nd place in harvest totals with less than half the plants of the past two years. That's what happens when you dig out a trench in the front yard, wheelbarrow the dug dirt in the back yard and replace with nearly pure compost.

Time and money permitting, we'll add a lot of compost over the next month or so.

Here's the top 10 harvest totals per tomato this year:

Matt's Wild Cherry -- 2727 (highest total all time!)
Snow White -- 944
SunGold(1) -- 623
Husky Cherry Red(2) -- 591
SunSugar -- 378
Husky Cherry Red(1) -- 323
Garden Peach -- 318
Haley's Purple Comet -- 216
Sweet Carneros Pink -- 202
Golden Mama -- 192

We're looking forward to 2012!

December 2011 Harvest Analysis

2011-12-31T16:58:00.000-08:00

Here's the December harvests by year...

2007 - 0
2008 - 6
2009 - 39
2010 - 90
2011 - 140

So this year's December harvest was the highest ever. In fact, it was the highest even if you combine all previous years.

What are the implications? Not much...just that SunGold(1) took off very late in the year. We harvested 129 SunGold(1) tomatoes this month. And they were good!

If anything, this is an indication that it's good to plant sweet peas and sugar snap peas in the fall. The SunGold(1) took off when it "found" the soil previously used by the peas last winter.

That's It For 2011!

2011-12-31T16:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's harvest: 2 SunGold(1) tomatoes.

Today's harvest: 17 SunGold(1) tomatoes.

The grafted SunSugar that my wife had severely cut back (from at least 5 feet in length down to an inch or 2) is recovering nicely.

And that's it for 2011!

Harvested Over 600 SunGold(1) Tomatoes!

2011-12-28T07:58:00.000-08:00

Saturday's harvest: 15 SunGold(1) tomatoes.

Monday's harvest: 9 SunGold(1) tomaotes.

Our "koi pond" fence has fallen down in places but SunGold(1) still produces. But the cold nights will be the downfall of this plant. My wife tasted these tomatoes and still was impressed with the taste. They're not only good, they're excellent!

We've now harvested over 600 SunGold(1) (604) tomatoes! SunGold(1) is now the third highest harvest total for an individual plant for 2011.

And Then There Was One...

2011-12-18T22:46:00.000-08:00

Late last Sunday my wife pulled out Stupice, Jaune Flamme and Berkeley Tie Dye. She cut back SunSugar severely, so much so that I consider it pulled out for 2012. Since this is a grafted tomato my wife wanted to see if it would come back if it was cut back like a rose. It seems like a reasonable experiment.

That leaves SunGold(1) as the remaining tomato plant for 2011.

On Saturday I harvested 16 SunGold(1) tomatoes and today I harvested 4 more.

We've now harvested over 575 SunGold(1) tomatoes (580)! SunGold(1) has moderate wind and cold damage but still should produce a few more good tomatoes. We had them for dinner tonight and last Sunday night. They're still quite good!

Harvested Over 550 SunGold(1) Tomatoes!

2011-12-11T09:31:00.001-08:00

On Saturday December 3, we harvested 11 SunGold(1) and Stupice for a total of 12 tomtaoes.

Last Sunday we harvested 6 SunGold(1) and Jaune Flamme for a total of 7 tomatoes.

Yesterday we harvested 20 SunGold(1) and 3 Stupice for a total of 23 tomatoes.

Today we harvested 9 more SunGold(1) tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 550 SunGold(1) tomatoes (560)! This plant is weakening (the winds and the cold nights are affecting the plant) but it's still producing some very good tomatoes.

Jaune Flamme is ready to pull and Stupice isn't going to last much longer, either.

Harvested Over 500 SunGold(1) Tomatoes!

2011-12-01T09:16:00.001-08:00

Today's harvest includes 20 SunGold(1), 3 SunSugar, 2 Stupice and Jaune Flamme for a total of 26 tomatoes.

On Sunday my wife pulled out Green Doctors Kiwi(2) and on Tuesday she pulled out the mighty Matt's Wild Cherry. We ended up harvesting an astonishing 2727 tomatoes off of that plant.

We've now harvested over 500 SunGold(1) tomatoes (514)! I'm impressed with the late output. It's not just producing large tomatoes, they're tasty as well!

My wife has 9 maturing pomegranates on her pomegranate tree. She harvested one of them today.

November 2011 Harvest Analysis

2011-12-01T09:04:00.001-08:00

The harvest total for November came in at 125 tomatoes. This compares favorably with the October harvest total of 133 tomatoes. No dropoff to speak of.

Why was that? It's pretty clear -- SunGold(1). In October we harvested 26 SunGold(1) tomatoes. In November we harvested 90 SunGold(1) tomatoes. Some were quite large for SunGold tomatoes.

Here are the numbers for November for the prior years:

2007 - 0
2008 - 19
2009 - 181
2010 - 214
2011 - 125

Again, this year's total is right in the middle of the pack.

What does this mean? Nothing. 2007 could be considered our best year. It's too late in the season to glean much meaning from the numbers.

Harvested Over 5000 Front Yard Tomatoes!

2011-11-26T07:39:00.000-08:00

Wednesday's harvest: 4 SunGold(1) tomatoes.

Thursday's harvest includes 8 SunGold(1), Green Doctors Kiwi and SunSugar for a total of 10 tomatoes.

Today's harvest includes 9 SunGold(1) and SunSugar for a total of 10 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 5000 front yard tomatoes (5004)!

Also, we've now harvested 375 SunSugar tomatoes.

The cold weather is taking a toll on the remaining productive plant, SunGold(1). But the plant is still productive and will be in the short term.

Harvested Over 9000 Tomatoes For The Year!

2011-11-20T09:44:00.001-08:00

Today's harvest includes 5 SunGold(1), Green Doctors Kiwi(2) and SunSugar for a total of 7 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 9000 tomatoes for the year (9004)! While this won't be the largest harvest we've had, we've been happy with the taste of this year's tomatoes.

Several people I know have reported a year that was just okay. I believe we've done better than just "okay". However, in my five years of harvesting, this year will come right in the middle of the pack -- 3rd highest total.

I've also harvested 25 Green Doctor's Kiwi(2) tomatoes.

Harvested Over 150 Jaune Flamme Tomatoes!

2011-11-19T18:51:00.001-08:00

November 10 harvest: 5 SunGold(1) tomatoes.

November 11 harvest: 2 SunGold(1), Matt's Wild Cherry and Stupice for a total of 4 tomatoes.

The Husky Cherry Red(2) plant was pulled and the Matt's Wild Cherry was cut back a bit.

November 12 harvest includes 2 Matt's Wild Cherry and SunGold(1) for a total of 3 tomatoes.

Wednesday's harvest includes 10 SunGold(1), 4 Jaune Flamme and 2 Stupice for a total of 16 tomatoes.

The Matt's Wild Cherry plant was cut back some more.

Today's harvest includes 13 SunGold(1), Matt's Wild Cherry and Jaune Flamme for a total of 15 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 150 Jaune Flamme tomatoes (153)! Also, we've now harvested over 450 SunGold(1) (459) tomatoes.

All the tomatoes from today's harvest and prior harvests were used in this morning's egg dish. The tomatoes were quite good!

We're only three harvested tomatoes away from 9000 for the year!

Harvested 425 SunGold(1) tomatoes!

2011-11-09T07:05:00.000-08:00

Thursday's harvest includes 2 SunGold(1) and Stupice for a total of 3 tomatoes.

Friday's harvest includes 3 SunGold(1) and 2 Jaune Flamme for a total of 5 tomatoes.

Saturday's harvest includes 2 SunGold(1), Matt's Wild Cherry and Stupice for a total of 4 tomatoes.

There was no harvest on Sunday.

Monday's harvest includes 4 SunGold(1), 2 Matt's Wild Cherry and Jaune Flamme for a total of 7 tomatoes.

Tuesday's harvest includes 2 SunGold(1), Jaune Flamme and Matt's Wild Cherry for a total of 4 tomatoes.

Today's harvest includes 5 SunGold(1) and Jaune Flamme for a total of 6 tomatoes.

We've now harvested 425 SunGold(1) tomatoes! And strangely, the SunGold(1) tomatoes are frequently twice the size of the first flush of tomatoes. That's unusual.

Also, we've now harvested 8950 tomatoes this year. Will we make it to 9000?

October 2011 Tomato Analysis

2011-11-01T07:06:00.000-07:00

The total harvest for October 2011 was 133 tomatoes. That is the third highest (and third lowest -- in other words, the middle of the pack) of the five years I've been tracking. The lowest was 26 in 2007; the highest was an astonishing 866 in 2009.

2007 year was a fabulous year. The low total was due to spending over 3 weeks on a honeymoon. It is my belief that if we weren't on a honeymoon, the October 2007 tomato total would be more that the October 2011 total. Granted, we were away for about 5 days this year, but my best estimate of the "loss" is 7 tomatoes. That isn't significant.

2009 was our largest overall harvest to date. The really high October numbers was due to replanting seedlings after vandalism. These plants got late starts, survived the hot summer, and produced in September and October. We kept getting hit, but we kept replanting.

So in practice I believe this month would have been the second worst of five seasons. I attribute it to not putting in enough new soil in our front yard. We'll try to correct that for next year.

Harvested Over 4000 Back Yard Tomatoes!

2011-10-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

Tuesday's harvest includes 2 Matt's Wild Cherry, Husky Cherry Red(2), SunGold(1), SunSugar and Stupice for a total of 6 tomatoes.

Then had relatives house sit for five days while we were at a conference. We got back home yesterday evening. I told our housesitters that they could harvest whatever was ripe. I was told they did harvest but I didn't ask how many or what was harvested.

Today's harvest includes 3 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunGold(1), 2 Stupice, Jaune Flamme and Husky Cherry Red(2) for a total of 9 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 4000 tomatoes in the back yard (4002)!

There's a definite fall chill in the air this morning. If it starts getting too cold I'll have to pull the rest of the tomatoes. We're not there yet, but we're getting there.

Harvested Over 400 SunGold(1) Tomatoes!

2011-10-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday's harvest includes 2 Jaune Flamme and 2 Matt's Wild Cherry for a total of 4 tomatoes.

Monday's harvest includes Jaune Flamme and SunGold(1) for a total of 2 tomatoes.

Tuesday's harvest: Jaune Flamme.

Wednesday's harvest: 2 Jaune Flamme.

No harvest Thursday.

Friday's harvest includes 4 SunGold(1), 3 Jaune Flamme, Patio and Matt's Wild Cherry for a total of 9 tomatoes.

I fertilized the container plants in the back yard.

Also, I noticed a hornworm eating the last Aunt Ruby's German Green(3) tomato.

Saturday's harvest: 3 SunGold(1).

I pulled out the Patio and Aunt Ruby's German Green(3) tomato plants.

Sunday's harvest includes Matt's Wild Cherry and SunGold(1) for a total of 2 tomatoes.

Today's harvest includes 2 SunGold(1) and Jaune Flamme for a total of 3 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 400 SunGold(1) tomatoes (401)! The SunGold(1) plant looks pretty good for now.

We've almost reached 4000 harvested tomatoes in the back yard for this year.

Pulled Out 7 More Back Yard Tomato Plants

2011-10-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

Tuesday's harvest includes Michael Pollan, Matt's Wild Cherry and Jaune Flamme for a total of 3 tomatoes.

No harvest Wednesday. I turned 50!

Thursday's harvest includes 6 Jaune Flamme and 2 Matt's Wild Cherry for a total of 8 tomatoes.

In the evening my wife pulled out Kellogg's Breakfast, Sweet Carneros Pink and Dr. Wyche's Yellow tomato plants.

Friday's harvest includes 4 Jaune Flamme, 2 Matt's Wild Cherry and Husky Cherry Red(2) for a total of 7 tomatoes.

In the evening I pulled out Large Pink Anna(1), Honkin' Big Black Cherry, Husky Gold and Michael Pollan.

Today's harvest includes 2 Jaune Flamme, Husky Cherry Red(2) and Matt's Wild Cherry for a total of 4 tomatoes.

The only drama left is 1) Will we harvest over 4000 tomatoes from the back yard? (We're at 3986, quite likely to happen) and 2) Will we harvest over 9000 tomatoes for the year? (We're at 8872 -- less likely). We'll see how it goes.

Harvested 2700 Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes!

2011-10-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

No harvest done on Wednesday -- it was raining!

Thursday's harvest includes 6 Matt's Wild Cherry, 3 SunGold(1), Jaune Flamme, Patio, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Sweet Carneros Pink and Husky Gold for a total of 14 tomatoes.

Friday's harvest includes 3 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunGold(1), Michael Pollan and Dr. Wyche's Yellow for a total of 7 tomatoes.

Saturday's harvest includes 4 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunGold(1), Patio, Michael Pollan and Aunt Ruby's German Green(3) for a total of 9 tomatoes.

Sunday's harvest includes 2 SunGold(1), 2 Matt's Wild Cherry, Jaune Flamme, Husky Cherry Red(2) and Michael Pollan for a total of tomatoes.

We visited with Winnetka Farms, got some advice on compost and bought some seeds.

Today's harvest includes 2 Jaune Flamme, 2 Matt's Wild Cherry, SunGold(1) and Stupice for a total of 6 tomatoes.

We've now harvested 2700 Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes! A remarkable total.

More plants are ready to be pulled (five or six), it's just a matter of time and room in our green recycle bin before we pull them.

We've found several hormworms on SunGold(1). The plant is so thick it's also acting as a "grasshopper hotel".

Pulled Out Eight More Tomato Plants

2011-10-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

No harvest yesterday.

Today's harvest includes 3 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 Patio, 2 Honkin' Big Black Cherry, SunGold(1), Green Zebra(1) (picked yesterday evening), Large Pink Anna(1), Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Sweet Carneros Pink, Green Doctors Kiwi(2), Husky Gold and Aunt Ruby's German Green(3) for a total of 15 tomatoes.

Yesterday evening I pulled out Green Zebra(1) and Golden Mama in the front yard. Only three tomato plants are left in the front yard. In the back yard I pulled SunGold(2), Pineapple, Red Zebra, Green Grape, Chocolate Stripes(1) and Aunt Ruby's German Green(1).

We just passed the 8800 harvest total for the year (8807) but due to the weakness of Matt's Wild Cherry, reaching 9000 for the year may me a stretch.

September 2011 Tomato Analysis

2011-10-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

The total harvest for September 2011 amounts to 768 tomatoes. That's the second highest harvest I've had for September -- out of five September harvests, but nowhere near the highest September harvest. The highest September harvest was in 2009, a whopping 1933 tomatoes.

In August we harvested 3863 tomatoes and in September we harvested roughly 20 percent of that amount. Not a great total given the month before.

My wife has been telling me all year that we should have amended the soil in the "koi pond" and it is clear to me she's right. The only plants left in the "koi pond" are in the north end of the area -- where we grew sweet peas and sugar snap peas against the north end fence. That is clearly not a coincidence.

We'll end up with about 9000 harvested tomatoes for the year.

Pulled Out Three More Tomato Plants

2011-10-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

Thursday's harvest includes 6 Matt's Wild Cherry, Persimmon, SunGold(1) and Orange And Green Zebra for a total of 9 tomatoes.

Later on in the afternoon I pulled out Vorlon, Persimmon and Orange And Green Zebra.

Friday's harvest includes 7 Matt's Wild Cherry, Honkin' Big Black Cherry, Kellogg's Breakfast and Green Zebra(1) for a total of 10 tomatoes.

Saturday's harvest inlcudes 3 Matt's Wild Cherry, Large Pink Anna(1) and Patio for a total of 5 tomatoes.

Today's harvest includes 2 Matt's Wild Cherry, SunGold(1), Large Pink Anna(1), Patio, Jaune Flamme and Aunt Ruby's German Green(3) for a total of 7 tomatoes.

The SunGold(1) tomato plant is both full and healthy. But it holds many grasshoppers. It's a grasshopper hotel. I've found a couple of hornworms on the plant. Hornworms have been rare this year.

There are more plants ready to be pulled when the weather is more temperate.

Harvested Over 2650 Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes!

2011-09-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

Tuesday's harvest includes 5 Matt's Wild Cherry, Green Grape and Honkin' Big Black Cherry for a total of 7 tomatoes.

Today's harvest includes 9 Matt's Wild Cherry, SunGold(1), Stupice, Honkin' Big Black Cherry and Dr. Wyche's Yellow for a total of 13 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 2650 Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes (2662)! The Matt's Wild Cherry plant is now looking tired.

A couple of more tomato plants are ready to be pulled.

Harvested 200 Sweet Carneros Pink Tomatoes!

2011-09-26T07:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday's harvest includes 3 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunSugar, SunGold(1), Golden Mama, Jaune Flamme, Orange And Green Zebra and Green Doctors Kiwi(2) for a total of 10 tomatoes.

Sunday's harvest includes 4 SunGold(1), 4 Matt's Wild Cherry, Green Grape, Sweet Carneros Pink, Green Doctors Kiwi(2) and Husky Gold for a total of 12 tomatoes.

Today's harvest includes 5 Matt's Wild Cherry, 4 SunGold(1) and Sweet Carneros Pink for a total of 10 tomatoes.

We've now harvested 200 Sweet Carneros Pink tomatoes!

As you can tell, our harvest has dropped dramatically. Dribs and drabs now.

We picked up some great tomatoes from our local farmer's market grown by Tutti Fruitti Farms in Lompoc, California. Highly recommended!

Pulled Four More Tomato Plants

2011-09-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

Monday's harvest includes 7 Matt's Wild Cherry, Golden Mama, Jaune Flamme and Husky Gold for a total of 10 tomatoes.

Tuesday's harvest includes 8 Matt's Wild Cherry, 3 Jaune Flamme, 2 SunGold(1), SunSugar, Sweet Carneros Pink and Kellogg's Breakfast for a total of 17 tomatoes.

Wednesday's harvest includes 4 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 Jaune Flamme and Stupice for a total of 7 tomatoes.

I added fertilizer to the back yard container plants.

Thursday's harvest includes 6 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunGold(1), Green Grape, Orange And Green Zebra, Garden Peach and Pineapple for a total of 12 tomatoes.

I pulled out four more tomato plants: Big Zebra, Neves Azorean Red, Garden Peach and Green Doctors Kiwi(1) (not Green Doctors Kiwi).

We've now harvested 8700 tomatoes for the year!

Today's harvest includes 4 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 Orange And Green Zebra, Aunt Ruby's German Green(3), SunSugar and SunGold(1) for a total of 9 tomatoes.

Harvested Over 2600 Matt's Wild Cherry Tomatoes!

2011-09-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Today's harvest includes 8 Matt's Wild Cherry, Golden Mama, SunSugar and Garden Peach for a total of 11 tomatoes.

We've now harvested over 2600 Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes (2607)! Amazingly, this plant is starting to get another wind. For about a week I has harvesting tomatoes from this plant that were smaller than a pea but now they're nearly full size again.

The SunGold(1) tomato plant has been on a growth spurt lately. Let's hope it produces more tomatoes!

My wife watered both the front and back yards yesterday.

Pulled Nine Tomato Plants

2011-09-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

Wednesday's harvest includes 7 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 Golden Mama, 2 SunSugar, Husky Cherry Red(2), SunGold(1), Green Grape, Green Doctors Kiwi(1) (not Green Doctor's Kiwi), Aunt Ruby's German Green(1), Orange And Green Zebra, Garden Peach, Oaxacan Jewel(2) and Sweet Carneros Pink for a total of 20 tomatoes.

Thursday's harvest includes 4 SunGold(1), 2 Jaune Flamme, 2 SunSugar, 2 Garden Peach, Vorlon, Porkchop, Golden Mama, Matt's Wild Cherry, Large Pink Anna(1), Green Grape and Sweet Carneros Pink for a total of 17 tomatoes.

Thursday we celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary! We went out to lunch to celebrate but it was hard not to think about our Manchester Terrier. Still, I'm really happy in our marriage and am proud we married four years ago.

Friday's harvest includes 8 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 SunGold(1), Green Zebra(1), Husky Cherry Red(2), Large Pink Anna(1), Michael Pollan, SunSugar, Garden Peach and Yellow Brandywine for a total of 17 tomatoes.

My wife watered the back yard container plants.

I raked off the hay in the south portion of the "koi pond", put in a bag of planter mix and scraped away a small trench around the edge of the plantable area. Afterward, my wife came in and planted pea seeds (sweet peas, but perhaps snap peas).

Today's harvest includes 9 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 Golden Mama, Porkchop, SunGold(1), SunSugar and Coyote (not Coyote) for a total of 15 tomatoes.

I pulled out several tomato plants. In the front yard I pulled Porkchop and Haley's Purple Comet. In the back yard I pulled Big White Pink Stripe, Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, Crimson Cushion(2), Oaxacan Jewel(2), Paul Robeson(2), Yellow Brandywine and Coyote (not Coyote). The back yard cutout is nearly clear of tomato plants.

The back yard harvest has slowed down simply because there's so few plants left. And the ones that are left are mostly in containers. And containers constrict the harvest for the contained plants.