Tomato Tomato

The Amoroso Family Tomato Garden

Vegas is hot as hell. And our soil (clay) sucks. So what’s a garden loving, budget observing gal to do? Get creative! and Quick! The clock is literally ticking against us… Here we are on March 7th and I would venture to say I already planted a week late. You see there are 2 growing seasons (experts say three but June to August feels like Dantes Inferno around here.)

I observe March-June as my first growing season and August-End of October (our first frost usually comes some time in November) as the second. Of course there are always the exceptions like the heavily shaded areas, and we’ll visit mine on the side of the house in a few weeks when I attempt to grow CAMELLIAS!

My tomatoes went in the ground yesterday and with 50 to 90 days depending on the variety until the fruit appears we’ve got some time on our hands. We’ll spend that time conditioning the soil in the other beds the same way we did the Tomato bed.

3 weeks ago I highjacked Hank & Tony for a madcap day of hauling soiling (3 at $10.99), begging the good employees of our local coffee shop for spent coffee (FREE) and digging in the dirt. I’ve been turing the soil and mixing in other organic materials a few times a week since and the soil was finally ready to go yesterday. Future planters wont take as long because of our new addition to the yard – COMPOST.

These are the varieties of Tomatoes we’re growing this year:

Early Girl – (50 days to maturity) This one should produce tennis ball sized fruits 4-8oz. Its an F1 Hybrid and has intermit growth. It seems to be a hit around Las Vegas for this first growing season. ($3.99 PlantWorld)

Cherry Tomatoes – So that was all the tag said on the plant from PlantWorld. No info. I do know that Cherry Tomatoes mature early and do well in this first round of planting because they tolerate cold well. ($3.99 PlantWorld)

San Diego – FIRST TIME!! How fun. I love the unexpected… with a little research here’s what i’ve come up with about this lovely little mato – (69 to 80 days to maturity) Fruit size is medium and plants grow between 4-6 feet. ($3.99 PlantWorld)

Champion VFNT – So according to the local Las Vegas legend Linn Mills the VFNT is supposed to mean that it is disease resistant (check out his article in the RJ)(62 days to maturity) Soild meat for sandwiches and a medium size fruit. This variety is also F1 Hybrid. ($3.99 PlantWorld)

La Roma – For my Lover! (62 days to Maturity) VF also F1 hybrid. known for its heavy yields! Salsa here we come!! ($3.99 PlantWorld)

Here’s what we’ve spent so far:
$10.99 – Compost/Soil
$10.99 – Compost/Soil
$10.99 – Compost/Soil
FREE – Garbage bag of spent coffee
$3.99 – La Roma Tomato
$3.99 – Early Girl Tomato
$3.99 – Cherry Tomato
$3.99 – San Diego Tomato
$3.99 – Champion VFNT
$3.99 – and 1 six pack lettuce
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$56.91 + Tax

Next: we’ll talk about the method to my madness when we put them in the ground!

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