May 13, 1998

Now is the time to start planting the warm weather vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, green beans, and vine crops, such as cucumber and melons. My favorite vegetable is homegrown tomatoes.

If you read Ann Landers regularly, you probably know that the tomato is actually a fruit. It is a member of the nightshade family and in fact, all the parts of a tomato plant are toxic except the fruit. The early ancestors of the modern tomato were cultivated by the Aztec Indians in Mexico. Cortez conquered the Aztecs in the 1500's and hauled their tomatoes to Spain. Colonists brought them back to this continent in the 1700's.

Today the tomato is the most popular garden "vegetable."  They're easy to grow and perform best when they get at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight. Avoid using a high nitrogen fertilizer or fresh manure on your tomato crop because it will encourage luxuriant foliage growth at the expense of fruit production.

After the plants get growing strong, add a 3 inch layer of mulch to the soil surrounding the plant to keep soil moisture levels even and control weeds. Alternating periods of drought and wet weather can cause blossom end rot, which causes the bottoms of the fruits to turn soft and spoiled.  It's very disappointing to see a tomato ready to pick, only to find the bottom rotting away.  A good layer of mulch will go a long way to help keep soil moisture levels on an even keel.

Although some gardeners like to stake or trellis their tomato vines, I prefer to let them sprawl on a bed of straw. Trellising helps conserve valuable garden space and makes harvesting easier.  Smokers should not handle tomato plants and vines.  Tobacco smoke can carry a virus which infects the plants.

Tomatoes ripen from the inside out, so don't leave red ones on the vine too long.   Never store tomatoes in the refrigerator because they will lose that fresh tomato flavor and taste like those imposters you get from the store.  Store them on the kitchen counter and keep them out of the sunlight.

For a long time gardeners have been told that pink, yellow, and orange varieties have lower acidity than red tomatoes.  This has been proven to be false by tests run by the USDA, according to the National Garden Bureau.

There are hundreds of tomato varieties to choose from . One of my favorite tomatoes is Celebrity, a firm red fruit with good flavor and excellent disease resistance.   Another one, Big Beef, is also good for slicing.  The tomato Husky Gold is a golden orange color both inside and out and has a mild sweet flavor.  It adds nice color to a salad or sandwich.  It is a dwarf variety, so the plants will not take over the garden.  All three of these varieties are All-America Selections, which means they are proven garden performers.

The Pineapple tomato is a bicolor variety.  The fruits are yellow with swirls of red through the meat.  A slice looks especially good when it's resting on top of a half pound burger hot off the grill.  That's my idea of heaven!