PaulF 2024 review

[PaulF]

As promised…or threatened…since we had our hard freeze last night and I have a few minutes here is the 20th annual or maybe 21st annual tomato (and maybe other) report. I do keep a season long log that this information is drawn from and extensive records of the tomato harvest. This something done for my personal satisfaction thinking maybe others will get some useful informational insights. If not, that’s the way it goes.

My main garden was planted the first week of May and for the first two weeks it was rainy and a little cool. Then two weeks of dry and hot followed by two weeks of more rain. The rain and heat helped all the garden crops thrive, especially in our seven raised beds. The tomato plants, all 24 of them grew healthily. In the middle of June we saw a deluge of rain causing all the streams and rivers to overflow…the Missouri was out of its banks for about three weeks. Too much rain. Again this year the raised beds absolutely knocked our socks off with production and flavor of all the vegetables grown there.

Then the rain shut off for good for the rest of the summer. Extreme drought just as tomatoes were setting on. There were plenty of tomatoes but as a whole the size of the fruit was on the small side all year long. For harvest results twenty-one varieties were included. The others were cherry or salad size which do not get counted. So, this is it for the year:

21 plants yielded 577 tomatoes that averaged 27 per plant
Total weight: 222 pounds 12 ounces…the 21 year average is just over 300 pounds
Average tomato size= 6 ounces (previous average for twenty-one years= 9.5 ounces)

individual variety results:

production by weight by variety:
1 Pappy Kerns: 21.0 pounds from 34 tomatoes
2 Big Ben #1: 20 lbs. 7 ounces from 50 tomatoes
3 Kukla Portuguese: 18 lbs 14 oz. from 29 tomatoes

Production by number of tomatoes all from one single plant per variety
1 Boxcar Willie= 61 tomatoes
2 Big Ben #1= 50
3 Cowlick Brandywine=41

Average size by variety
1 Kukla Portuguese= 10.4 ounces
2 Soldacki= 10.0 ounces
3 Pappy Kerns= 9.9 ounces

Largest single tomato
1 Mom’s Heart= 25.7 ounces
2 Pappy Kerns= 21.2
3 Neve’s Azorean=16.0

As for flavor none of the varieties this year ranked lower than 4/5. Everything was smaller but maybe the dry weather allowed for the flavor to be better than average overall. Mrs Paul and I rated the top varieties in no particular order: Cowlick Brandywine, Anna Russian, Big Ben #1, Amazaletti’s Giant Red Heart,Neve’s Azorean, Bobbie, Jeanine’s Heart, Mom’s Heart Kukla Portguese.

Paul F
Brownville, Nebraska

[MrsJustice]

Thank you for your Report, Amen!

It has been an unusual growing season for me, too. I've been dealing with the same kind of drought conditions and studying the Law to save my Farm Home. Every time I lose in Court, the Lord picks me up again to study while dealing with Dyslexia. But at least my Farm put food on the table. This is the First Time in the History of my Farming I did not produce enough to display in any Farmer's market.