I know a few people who have given up on growing tomatoes in the Teton region - some for lack of desire to deal with it. It indeed takes some effort.I usually buy my plants around the beginning May. I always have good intentions to start from seed, but...we know how good intentions go sometimes.
Here is the awesome tomato cart my husband built that renewed my desire to grow tomatoes. Generally, if the
weather will be below 40 degrees, I roll the cart into the garage. Sometimes in May and October, the cart doesn't leave the garage all day.
I
don't know anyone here who has had good luck with growing tomatoes in
the ground. You may be able to cover them every night and be successful
that way, but I haven't tried.
Some of this year's crop.
Some of the bounty from last year. I don't remember what the variety was called, but they remained orange/yellow. They were delicious but didn't do well due to some kid of disease. So I went back to the standards this year: Sweet 100s and Big Beef. I have also done well with Patio tomatoes and Early Girls.
I just think tomato plants are about the best-smelling thing on earth and you can't beat the way home-grown tomatoes taste. For months after I run out of my own, I can't bring myself to buy a store-bought tomato. They kind of taste like cardboard after you've grown your own.
Some things I've learned about Teton tomato growing
- it only takes one cold night to lose months of tender loving care of your tomatoes
- rumor has it that tomatoes are tastier if they do not get below 40-45 degrees
- prune off suckers (the little shoots that grow in the middle of the "Y" of branches) early. Then the plants can concentrate on the tomatoes and not a bunch of unnecessary leaves.
- buy good, organic fertilizer that also helps with blossom rot
- all the dogs in the neighborhood enjoy being snout-deep in said fertilizer. Nothing you can do about it.
- you can enjoy tomatoes until January or later by saving them in a clear container. They will ripen from the top down.
- you will have more friends when the tomatoes are almost ripe
- It is totally worth it, yum!
