I don’t even believe this myself, but that is my hand, in my garden room, on December 27, holding a freshly picked tomato. It’s not a BIG tomato, but it is sun ripened and delicious. And yes, those are happy Geraniums and there is snow outside that window.
As part of our Christmas Eve snack tray, I wanted to have Bruschetta. I was able to make it from my own garden!
I think I mentioned earlier that I have never had luck with tomatoes in the ground here in New Mexico. So last year, I bought a couple plants at the nursery and put them in big pots . I read a wonderful book on container vegetable gardening (yes, I will dig it up and tell you the name and author because I don’t know where the book is and can’t remember whether I already posted it!).
I learned two important things I did not know before. The soil in the pot should always be at maximum moisture content, and the plants need to be fed every 1-2 weeks. A constant supply of food and the water to deliver it. Add some sun and you get great tomatoes.
I followed the directions and was shocked when I was already harvesting tomatoes in June – and that was the Big Boy, not even the Early Girl plant.
I had filled the pots with sterile potting mix, so I only met one tomato worm all Summer (they are a really pretty color but homely!!) He and the branch he was chewing on got transported way out by the road, and I don’t know what became of him when he finished eating that branch.
Our Summer was filled with tomatoes from my two plants. By Fall, the plants were looking rather beat, but they were still full of tomatoes, so I moved them inside the Garden room before the first frost. They take a lot of room and are not too pretty, so I thought they would give us a few more tomatoes and give up the ghost. Then, I could put them out and have some room. But they kept going . . . and going.
And I tried a store-bought tomato, and ran home and fed my plants some more! You just can’t go back.
So, it’s New Years and I am still having fresh tomato slices with my “Egg Burger” every morning. They are a bit smaller but still as tasty as they were in July!
Not trying to make you jealous – just letting you know what is possible if you have a big pot and a sunny indoor spot.
number of view: 19
Yummy! The sunny spot in my house is a south facing window in a corner of my bedroom. Currently it has a comfortable chair and footstool and is my winter reading spot. The sun coming thru (when we have any) makes it warm and bright. Maybe I’ll have to rethink it next year and put some pots there. My cats like both the window ledge (which is wide enough for them to lay on and the chair, so would have to have a really creative arrangment..or I can see disaster happening…but maybe…
Oh I wish I knew you were doing this sooner! I found over 5 cherry tomato seedlings (re-seeded from last years crop) in a weed pile late in October before the freeze. I planted them in 2 large pots and brought them in my studio. They had the beginnings of tomatoes and I was surprised when they ripened! The plant grew like crazy, & had quite a few more flowers….but none of them developed any tomatoes! I still have the plants and have kept them growing …one of them is making headway to the ceiling even with my pinching the suckers! I’m giving up the hope that I’ll get anymore fruit,but I just can’t let them die!
Next year!
Try keeping the soil moist and giving them liquid food about once every 10 days. All they need is nourishment to make more tomatoes.
jessica
That lovely tomato looks like my favorite Campari tomatoes! I’m so impressed. And yes, I was amazed seeing those beautiful flowers and wondering how you sustained them through snow and freezes…actually more jealous than anything. Then I read on and was quite relieved to see they were in your garden room. We hauled our lemon pots inside and keep them by a sunny door and the new blooms make the room smell so sweet. The lemons continue to thrive.
I am so envious! I had better luck this summer with container grown tomatoes than I did in ground. We have a HUGE eucalyptus tree, and I swear that tree hexes the growth potential of the soil. While I don’t have a garden room, I think I could try extending the season next year, using your efforts as a model. Please post that book title too. I miss my tomatos.
I live in sunny Arizona and we don’t have tomatoes like that. Oh for the taste of a “real” tomato. I live in a fifth wheel trailer and we travel in the summer so have no place for even a pot. We do have nice warm weather, though and no snow.