I called Fonsbeck nursery in Mendon around February and asked them to start growing me five tomato plants (Big Beef). When I picked them up on April 23rd, they were about 2-3 feet high, and 3 plants had tomatoes already growing on them. The biggest tomato was about 2-3 inches in diameter. However, at the time it was still too cold to plant them. I would set them outside in the mornings and brought them back in at night until May 2nd when I planted half of them and the rest on May 4th. I also purchased 4 additional gallon sized plants at Anderson Seed to try out a few varieties: Better Boy, Beef Steak, Big Beef, and a Utah State hybrid with a number, something like DX 52-12. I planted one big beef and one Anderson Seed variety in each tomato cage (One of the cages only has one plant). There are five tomato cages. Here is the wheel burrow with the tomato plants ready to plant.
Here are the tomatoes already growing on the day I planted them:
Here is how I planted them:
I dug a large hole and added potting soil. I snipped off a few of the bottom leaves and buried some of the stem in the ground where I cut off the leaves. That will help more roots grow and produce more tomatoes.
Then I cut a slit in a piece of clear plastic and put it carefully over the tomato plant on the ground to keep moisture in the ground and prevent weeds from growing.
The plants this year were much larger than last years (to see them click on the blue words and then click the back arrow to get back) last year's tomato plants Click on the next blue words to see the year before's plants 2009 tomato plants
Next I put a string of lights (one light bulb in each cage) with a metal tent on each light (and set the lights on a timer) so that at night the lights turn on and warm the plants (in case it freezes) and the lights turn off in the morning.
Then I put the tomato cage around each plant. I use the same ones year to year. Click here for the post with more details and directions on how to make the cages.
Interestingly, I still have a ripe tomato from last season. I had picked them green just before the frost in the fall and kept them in the kitchen. I would just eat them as they became ripe. The last one finally ripened, and here it is with the next season of tomato plants.
Update as of June 4th:
I counted 29 tomatoes so far, in various stages from 1/2 inch to about 3-4 inches in diameter.
About 6 of the tomatoes have started turning a lighter green as they are in the process of beginning to ripen.
I use an electric tooth brush to pollinate them. I turn it on and let the vibration of the tooth brush touch each blossom. It provides the same effect as a bee does going from blossom to blossom.
June 10th update:
My tomatoes are beginning to ripen! (as of June 10th)
On June 18th we had our first official ripe tomato (with several more on the way). We ate it on Father's Day, June 19th.
Here is a picture of last season's last tomato with this season's first tomato.
On June 20th there were two more ripe tomatoes and 2 more will be ready in a few days. All the ones that are currently ripening were from the Big Beef plants I got at Fonsbeck nursery.
The fourth tomato was ripe on June 21st. I stopped turning the lights on at night around the end of May or early June. There were still nights that were close to freezing until then. The growing season is so short in Cache Valley if you wait until all frost danger is gone. Starting early and keeping them protected in plastic and with lights at night keeps them from freezing and makes for a much longer growing season.
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