A Mystery Tomato Experiment

Recently, I got some mystery tomatoes from a farmer friend. They’re a mystery because he messed up the labels. I was visiting his farm to buy some parsley plants, but he said I could have the tomatoes for free, and I couldn’t say no. What farmer or gardener can say no to free plants? Actually, I think I should’ve said no because they are all indeterminate tomatoes. Indeterminate means they never stop growing, and determinate means the plant stops growing at a certain point. In my experience, indeterminate tomatoes get messy really fast if you don't trellis them properly. Tomatoes are like a high-maintenance car (think Porsche or BMW); if they are not maintained regularly, they become a headache and a waste of money. But if they are taken care of, they produce a lot of fruit, turn heads like seeing a Porsche on the highway, and sell well at market.

So I kept them, but I didn't have a good place to put them in the farm. I don't have a greenhouse, and my outdoor space is limited. Tomatoes need a lot of space! I already had some easier-to-grow determinate cherry and beefsteak tomatoes planted, and with everything else I have to do, I didn't want to spend too much time on tomatoes without knowing what I'd get. Enter my Dad, who decided to figure out where to plant them. He planted them all in large pots in the middle of the backyard and built a make-shift fence around them. It doesn't look very professional, and I’m not sure if it’ll end up being an unmanageable tomato forest in a few months, but that doesn’t matter. It’s an experiment. And I’ll help move things around to make more space if needed. It’s always better to try and see what happens. If it fails, we don’t lose any money, and if it works, we get interesting tomatoes to sell at market. So stay tuned.