Saturday, March 19, 2005
By Jane Mosier, UC Master Gardener
The rain is slacking off and the days are growing longer and warmer. When I step outside, the perfume of flowers lifts my spirits even as the muddy mess below my feet tells me I have work ahead. Soon I'll be able to plant my own fresh vegetables and bypass the flavorless stuff in the stores. I cleared, cleaned and sifted the vegetable beds last fall so they are all ready to go.
For me, planting tomatoes is the first ritual of spring. There are countless tomato varieties, but a handful seem to be Napa Valley favorites. These aren't the biggest, reddest or juiciest, but they rise to the top in taste and performance tests.
"Early Girl" is perennially popular. It has good keeping qualities, slices well and has a slightly sweet and tangy taste. Also, it produces abundantly. It is indeterminate, which means the fruit keeps on coming until season's end. Determinate varieties give you a sea of tomatoes all at once, forcing you into the kitchen to can whole tomatoes and tomato sauce.
Every year, the Napa County Master Gardeners conduct field trials, planting several different varieties of a single vegetable. The winners of our tomato trials include "Early Girl," "Better Boy," "Celebrity" and "Champion." "Supersteak" and "Whopper," both large slicing tomatoes, were also winners. In the small-size category, "Sweet 100" was deemed the tastiest a few years ago, but it has been upstaged by "Sweet One Million," "Sun Gold" and "Sun Sugar."
Among sauce (plum) tomatoes, the kind with more meat and fewer seeds, "Roma" is consistently reliable. Heirloom tomatoes, some more than 100 years old, are making a comeback, with "Brandywine" leading the pack. It is a globe-shaped, pink tomato with a large leaf.
When you transplant your seedlings to the garden, be sure to bury the nodes (the bumps on the stem) two or three deep for strong healthy plants. If you are not sure of the weather, a gallon plastic milk container with the bottom cut out makes an inexpensive miniature greenhouse when held in place with a bamboo stick.
Water your tomato plants well. As they grow large, deep watering once a week is probably enough. Be sure your plants get adequate fertilizer and calcium.