Tackling Tomatoes -- a terrific class

Had a wonderful class about tackling tomatoes on Monday night! While the class was munching on heirloom tomatoes, I taught them about how tomato plants grow, best ways to feed & water them, and staking techniques. Then we went out into the community garden for some hands-on work.

First, we discussed the different staking techniques I had used with different tomato plants in the Wagner Farm demo plot. I got to show off my new Florida weaving technique (see above) while dissing my previous use of wimpy bamboo stakes. We all agreed that 1" wooden stakes are a good, sturdy choice for staking and making improvised cages.

Then we had a laugh over the tomatoes I hadn't staked -- they were a mess of stems, and separating them out plant by plant took awhile. The demo plot is a place where I experiment and teach gardening techniques. I purposefully hadn't staked some of the tomato plants because I wanted to teach, in the tackling tomatoes class, how to come in, mid-season, and put tomato plants on a better path. It's all very well to say, well, you should've done this when you planted the tomato a few months ago -- I wanted to teach what can be done now.

Finally, each class participant got to prune and diagnose one of the tomato plants in the demo plot. Some of the gardeners were shy about cutting limbs off my plants, but they soon loosened up. Apparently, it's a lot easier to hack away at someone else's plants! Luckily, I'm not sentimental about my tomatoes. I also know, from past experience, that judicious pruning now will save me heartache later.

The best part of the class? Hearing the next day how some of the participants went to work pruning their own tomatoes! I guess the shyness has rubbed off!

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Stay tuned for more about how to set your tomatoes on a good path for the last 3 months of the growing season!