Guest Blog by Racquel Royer
This summer I learned how to grow tomatoes. It was my first time growing anything edible. I grew them in the Fenton Street Community Garden in Silver Spring, MD.
At the beginning of June, I planted 6 varieties: 'Tasmanian Chocolate', 'Midnight Snack', 'Super Sweet', 'Sun Gold', 'Centiflor', and 'Garden Gem'.
I planted the seedlings deeper than soil level (buried 4-6 inches up their stem) and learned how to water them at the root and use planting clips and rods so that they don’t fall over. Every week, we weeded the garden and once we also used fish fertilizer to provide extra nutrients. I also learned the importance of taking off the dead yellow leaves, so that disease doesn’t spread up the plants.
There was something so gratifying about getting down in the dirt, putting in work, and watching them grow over time.
Baby tomatoes popped up quicker than I thought, but it took a few sunny weeks for them to ripen. When I tasted the first ripe tomato ('Garden Gem') I was so proud. I will never look at a single tomato the same!
The 'Midnight Snack', 'Sun Gold', and 'Super Sweet' varieties are doing very well. The 'Garden Gem' was fruitful, but a few started to rot with the heavy rainstorms we had throughout July. I am still waiting for the 'Tasmanian Chocolate' and 'Centiflor' to ripen.
The 'Sun Gold' were my favorite. They were bright orange and super sweet.
The 'Super Sweet' were a little darker and not as sweet as the 'Sun Gold'!
The 'Midnight Snack' are darker purple-red cherry tomatoes and they were delicious as well.
I liked that the 'Garden Gem' were a bit larger and a beautiful red color. They tasted very “tomatoey.”
I have yet to try the 'Tasmanian Chocolate' and the 'Centiflor', but hopefully I’ll be able to in the next few weeks.
Overall, it was a success!
How is your vegetable garden growing this week?
About the author: Racquel Royer is a senior studying broadcast journalism in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. This summer, she is an editorial intern at Washington Gardener.
About the author: Racquel Royer is a senior studying broadcast journalism in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. This summer, she is an editorial intern at Washington Gardener.
About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 7th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above
Excellent looking tomatoes. We are located in Portland, Oregon and had a good three very tasty heirloom tomatoes from our garden. Right now the cherry tomatoes are ripening and we should be able to make a nice salad from them in a couple of weeks.
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