May 10th Update

My four San Marzano tomatoes growing in containers. The far left
container is 10 gallon and features a much younger, San Marzano
2 that was transplanted on May 10th. The center
three San Marzano tomatoes were transplanted April 19th and are
in blue 25 gallon containers, a good, large size for a large tomato
plant. The far right beige container is about 20 gallons (?) and
was also transplanted April 19th.
Good strong growth (since transplanting) despite a lack of significant
rains common for April. In the future, my garden will be located
in the panorama shot below.
These are NOT the ideal cages for San Marzano tomatoes,
(too short & flimsy), but since I have a chain link fence behind
them, I can use this to my advantage. See below (June 5th update)
where I have modified these cages to accomodate the thick, bush
growth.
Pink San Marzano
As noted above, I am desperately trying to get a rare
pink San Marzano tomato to grow despite a late start this season.
I planted 2 seeds each in 6 peat pellets and only 3 germinated.
It is May 10th and all I have is some small seedlings about 2-3
inches tall. Despite this late start, I am determined to get them
going this year so I can report on this rare San Marzano as well
as have plenty of seeds for next year. If I have to, I will finish
out the season in a greenhouse in order to get fruit from this plant.
Future Garden Area

(Opens larger image in new window.) More clearing
and work needs to be done before this garden area is completed,
including the installation of raised beds and irrigation. This is
behind our house and includes 6500 square feet. There is probably
another 65,000 square feet of garden space off to the right of this
image, which is to the north, - so there is plenty of room to grow,
or grow all our own food I should say. Behind where I am standing
to take this picture, is a well I just found out is functional -
which is great news.
Update June 5th:
First, let me apologize for not updating sooner. We
are remodeling our kitchen and it's taking about 3x longer than
expect. It always does.
After May 10th, we have been blessed with lots of
Spring showers (later than usual, but welcome nonetheless) mixed
with a lot of Sunshine and warm temperatures. Oklahoma weather is
really good on tomatoes during the first few months of the season.
As you can see below, growth has been just phenomenal since we last
updated. Little San Marzano tomatoes started popping out around
May 24th and have grown to what you see below in just 2 weeks.
Each of the four older San Marzano's have about 10
to 15 tomatoes on each plant. The far left plant is a San Marzano
2 tomato plant that was transplanted on May 10th. I hope
you are not confused: Far left, one San Marzano 2 tomato
transplanted May 10th. Containers 2 through 5, three blue and one
beige, are 4 San Marzano tomato plants transplanted April 19th.

June
5th Update Continued on NEXT PAGE>>>

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