Tomato time
Several weeks ago, I wrote about our experiment to see if caged tomatoes or free-roaming tomatoes would yield more fruit in our garden. We’ve been harvesting tomatoes for a few weeks now, and I thought I’d give an update.
The results are unscientific, and we’ve gotten fewer tomatoes this year than usual anyway, but I think I have to go with the caged tomatoes for better yield. The ones on the ground seem to be having a nice time roaming around, and they do get plenty of shade, but they seem to be the food of choice for deer and other foragers who must be visiting the garden at night. Almost every time I bend down to pick a juicy red one from the vines on the ground, I’ll find that some other hungry creature has already taken a bite out of it.
Our caged tomatoes, including the ones in the photo, are up off the ground, safer from rot when the ground stays wet (as it has often this summer, with so much rain). They’re also less likely to be enjoyed by the night creatures.
The caged/uncaged experiment was for regular tomatoes, but our cherry tomatoes (or Tommy Toes, my preferred term) are not caged and are doing quite well. Today, my four-year-old found a few round ripe ones and promptly ate them, savoring their fresh-from-the-vine goodness. It reminded me that letting kids eat straight from the garden is one of the best ways to get them engaged in gardening, as I wrote in a recent guest post. 
So how are your tomatoes doing? Any secrets to share? I hope you’re enjoying them as much as my boy is enjoying these!
Photo credits: Nancy Mann Jackson
Our tomatoes aren’t even close to ready yet either. Our summer has been quite cool and fairly dry, so things are running a bit behind. The cucumbers are ready, though. Pickling tomorrow!
Hi Nancy – I’m still waiting for my tomatoes to turn red. There are very few tomatoes available at farm stands and farmer’s markets I’ve visited this year. The cold, rainy spring held off transplanting seedling outside, then the weather remained cold and wet, them many growers and gardeners in the northeast were hit with late blight, so all in all the tomato harvest so far is not too promising. My plum tomatoes look good – green but good – and I’ll have a few Pruden’s Purple, but my cherry tomato plants never took off. Same with peppers and eggplant. BTW, I agree that caged/staked tomatoes do better than ground growers.