Hello,

I signed up for this site a few years ago now, but haven't been on here since! I have been sharing and learning online at some of those other gardening websites, and growing my garden for about 20 years now. I miss interacting with other tomato folks, so here I am now. I have a good sized veggie garden and grow 40-50 tomato plants each year, plus other stuff. I have my favs that I grow every year and also like to try out some new ones every year too. Most new ones don't make the cut, but it's the thrill of the chase!


Upstate Oxheart Tomato

Hello and welcome (back) and hope to see some pics of your garden!

Welcome back to the forum! Hope to see you more this time!

Welcome back to the Junction from Down Under @JenLovesTomato

PlainJane wrote: ↑Wed Mar 19, 2025 5:36 pm Hello and welcome (back) and hope to see some pics of your garden!

Thank you! Right now, there's not much to see. Still pretty wintry in CT. I tend to take mostly close-ups, but I found this one from June 17, 2023 after a rain so the wood chips are wet. It looks pretty much the same. Tomato plants are small and everything looks neat and polite early in the season, 17 days after plant out. Tomato plants didn't have their big stakes yet at this point. I grow in raised beds on a slope in my backyard. We are surrounded by trees and this is the sunniest spot. This view is of my 4 main tomato beds and a flower bed at the bottom. I have another column of 5 smaller beds and another column of 2 beds, only a hint of those in this photo.

Here's another view on July 1, 2023.

Hello and welcome back to the Junction. Your gardens are beautiful and you are fortunate to have the space to grow so many varieties. I grow mostly new to me varieties first to offer them in the Mostly Mystery Mater Mailing swap and to see if I can find a new gem out there to put on my favorites list. I don't often find one but love the challenge.

I sure look forward to watching your gardens grow.

Welcome (back)! Love the terraced beds

leftylogan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 10:17 am Welcome (back)! Love the terraced beds

Thank you! It is not the easiest way to garden, but it is what I can do on my property. I am grateful for it.

MissS wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 10:11 am Hello and welcome back to the Junction. Your gardens are beautiful and you are fortunate to have the space to grow so many varieties. I grow mostly new to me varieties first to offer them in the Mostly Mystery Mater Mailing swap and to see if I can find a new gem out there to put on my favorites list. I don't often find one but love the challenge.

I sure look forward to watching your gardens grow.

Thank you! You know, I can go YEARS without finding a new one to add to the "every year roster". Then bam, 2022 resulted in some additions. So I keep trying new stuff. I'm honestly surprised the production I can get out of marginally full (ish) sun that I have. I try to grow mostly OP varieties.

Your garden is fantastic! I love the potager feel.

Hello from Northern Illinois

Welcome (back?) from America's Dairyland.

JenLovesTomato wrote: ↑Wed Mar 19, 2025 4:04 pmand ALSO LIKE TO TRY OUT SOME NEW ONES EVERY YEAR too. (bolds/caps/italics mine)

Heh! proclaiming that, here, is like slathering yerself with honey and frolicking on a fire ant hill.

The Gotch

Welcome back,@JenLovesTomato, from Central Texas. Your raised beds garden is absolutely beautiful - the neatness and order really appeals to my OCD-ness.

TX-TomatoBug wrote: ↑Fri Mar 21, 2025 3:44 pm Welcome back,@JenLovesTomato, from Central Texas. Your raised beds garden is absolutely beautiful - the neatness and order really appeals to my OCD-ness.

Thank you. It does get less orderly has the season goes on. It took many years to get to the way it is now. It does give me a little hit of joy when things are orderly.

@JenLovesTomato
Welcome back! That's a nice big tomato. How did it taste?

Shule wrote: ↑Fri Mar 21, 2025 11:24 pm @JenLovesTomato
Welcome back! That's a nice big tomato. How did it taste?

Thanks! That is an Upstate Oxheart tomato, weighing 2lbs 8oz. It has become a newer favorite, that I've been growing for the past 3 years. It is both sweet and tangy. I find them beautiful to look at, am amused by the size and love their flavor. They're very meaty. Love them in a BT (no lettuce) sandwich.

JenLovesTomato wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 5:08 amThey're very meaty. Love them in a BT (no lettuce) sandwich.

If you's have the interest and/or desire, visit 2025-21st Century Silver Jubilee Year Of The BLT! (viewtopic.php?t=5948) and share pics of yer creations.

In which direction are those lovely, UNCROWDED boxes oriented?

The Gotch

Cornelius_Gotchberg wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 7:04 am

JenLovesTomato wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 5:08 amThey're very meaty. Love them in a BT (no lettuce) sandwich.

If you's have the interest and/or desire, visit 2025-21st Century Silver Jubilee Year Of The BLT! (viewtopic.php?t=5948) and share pics of yer creations.

In which direction are those lovely, UNCROWDED boxes oriented?

The Gotch

I'll check out the BLT link.

The beds are not the way I'd like them to be oriented. Ha ha! They're about facing Northeast. Nope, not ideal and not the way I would choose, but you get what you get. My side yard is south facing and just about completely covered in shade by mature trees between us and the neighbors. Sigh.

They only look uncrowded because that is only 17 days after plant out. I'll have to see if I can find a later pic, but usually by August/September I'm too busy with tomatoes to take any plant pics. It's all harvest pics.

Here's a harvest pic for ya, August 17, 2024.

JenLovesTomato wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 9:49 amHere's a harvest pic for ya, August 17, 2024.

Just...WOW! Nothing quite like the middle of August for a Tomato Rancher, am I right?

What are those Yeller/Reddy Bi-Colors (Old German?) on the lower left and the Greenie/Reddy Bi-Colors (Ananas Noire?) on the lower left of 2nd tray from top?

And are those allFENZ 7'/2.13m garden stakes pulling box duty? I have ~60 of 'em myself.

The Gotch