Tomato Day

Yesterday we transplanted what will be 8000 pounds of harvested tomatoes. In less than four hours, we moved 600 tomato seedlings from pot to field, about one-third of a mile of tomato plant rows.

We seeded the tomatoes into wooden flats in mid-April, keeping them on electric heating mats in the furnace room so the temperature would be a constant 80-85 degrees. When they grew to an inch and a half tall, we potted them into individual 5" fiber pots. Individually potting 1000 tomato seedlings takes a significant amount of time, especially when mixing our own potting soil. But with four apprentices and 99.5 LiteFM, it's Big Fun. The pots give a lot of extra space for the tomato plant's roots to establish themselves, taking advantage of the higher greenhouse temperature and getting a jumpstart before being transplanted to the field.

The New Girls, Sun Golds, Sun Cherries, Brandywines, and most of the Big Beefs went to the pit greenhouse, a lovely glasshouse built into a hill that uses only the sun to heat itself. We couldn't fit all the pots in the glasshouse, so the rest of the Big Beefs, the San Marzanos, and the Oregon Springs stayed in the main greenouse until they were ready for the fields. What is 'ready'? Ideally the stem is thicker than a pencil, there are no flowers yet, the plant is full and not leggy, and the roots are well-established to the bottom of the pot so that the soil holds together if you turn the pot upside-down after a good watering.

Rachel was on greenhouse duty this week, so she watered in all the seedlings and gave them a good dose of fish-water (actual liquid fish for a Nitrogen-boost, to combat transplant shock) before wheeling them down to the fields in the gardenway carts. We each took a turn helping Don dig the transplanting holes, made two-and-a-half feet apart with a post-hole digger (and who said farming wasn't an aerobic activity?), then laid out the pots next to each hole before planting them in. It's impossible to plant them too deep unless you bury them completely - the deeper the better since each hair on the stem is a potential root. Don't press the soil down around the plant, just fill the hole and smooth the soil a bit.

Voila: 8000 pounds of tomatoes.