Tomatoes, my favorite fruit

[fire it up]

Hi all.
Just transplanted some of my tomatoes yesterday and figured I would share. They seem to be happy.
I'm going to sell some of them but most are going into the garden.
This year I'm trying a lot of different heirlooms to see how they taste and perform.
Ramapo-34
Cherokee Purple-24
Moreton-7
Delicious-15
Big Boy-6
Giant Pink Oxheart-4
Hillbilly-8
Giant Belgium-7
Roma-5
Bulls Heart-6
German Giant-6
Big Rainbow-9
Goliath-6
Black Brandywine-6
Black from Tula-9
Behemoth King-5
I'm also doing a huge assortment of hot peppers, along with the dreaded bhut jolokia. Makes habanero seem like sweet candy.
So here are my little buddies, sorry about the quality of the pic, kind of hard to avoid the lights...

 

[alx]

Looks great.Nice selection.Keep us updated.They will be happier in bigger pots.

 

[richoso1]

Nice to see that you've started your spring thing. My room is starting to look like yours too!

 

[flatbroke]

Looks pretty good. I am used to seeing a different kind of plant grown in that manner.

 

[fire it up]

Was looking at Cajunsmokes tomato plant post (with jealousy) and remembered I needed to do an update on my little buddies.

Plants have been transplanted into larger containers.
I also swapped out the old yellow spectrum lights with 4 twisted compact fluorescents to simulate a more realistic "sun" light spectrum.




Here is a pic of the garden, tilled a few weeks ago but have to do it 2 more times before planting. Would give dimensions but I didn't really measure, just tilled what I thought I would need.




Only 3 more weeks till it's safe to put outdoors. Our last possibly frost date will be on April 29th, so anytime around the second week of may.
Guess I'll have to put something on the smoker I don't have to keep an eye on that day.

 

[grothe]

Gonna make a nice garden Fire...alot o work, but well worth the effort come harvest time!

 

[alx]

Looking good fire..Mine are that size and yesterday i gave them 4 hours of sun on back porch.The breeze and limited time in sun made them smile at me this morning-rain today so in sunroom.

 

[cajunsmoke13]

Fire, looking great. Nice looking spread for a garden. Can't waito see them growing. Nice setup.

 

[shellbellc]

Hey Fire it up...I ordered Ramapo for the first time this year. I hear they just brought the strain back within the last few years. Is this what a lot consider the originally Jersey tomato? I heard the flavor is wonderful.

Where abouts in South Jersey are you? I'm from SE PA and we head down the shore about every other weekend beginning in May. I saw on your one thread that you sell them, I'm assuming a roadside stand????

 

[rivet]

Nice garden plot!

 

[mofo]

I have an old flower bed next to the house that I am wanting to plant some tomatoes in. Approx size is 3 foot by 12. How many plants could I stick in there? My wife like big meaty tomatoes for sandwiches, can you recommend any certain plant?

Many thanks!

 

[fire it up]

Hey shellbell.
Yes you heard right, the Ramapo was only brought back 2 years ago and the seeds have finally become available for people to purchase. The original strain, the Ramapo F-1 hybrid, has been lost for nearly 20 years. It was phased out mostly due to its poor ability to hold up during long shipping so they opted for tougher skinned, less flavorful strains.
The Ramapo is supposed to have that original Jersey tomato flavor that you just can't get anywhere these days, not even in Jersey grown tomatoes. Good as they are none are said to match the flavor of Ramapo.
The Ramapo was originally developed by Dr. Bernard Pollcak at Rutgers University in 1968. In 1999 they obtained some very old seeds from a retired geneticist and sent them to a place in Israel for germination, by 2001 they had their first Ramapo plant producing fruit.
I'm in Cumberland County, probably don't know where that is, most people don't, but very center of the state almost at the very bottom.
In the beginning week or second week of May I will be selling 25 Ramapo, 15 Cherokee Purple and 10 Delicious tomato plants as well as about 40-50 other heirloom strains that aren't going in the garden.
Once the garden is in full swing I"ll be selling them roadside along with a few other things. Mostly tomatoes and hot peppers though.
Which beach do you go to? AC, Wildwood, Ocean City? I'm in a perfect spot to be 45 minutes from all 3 beaches and Philadelphia.
Anyway, whichever week in May my parents are having a yard sale so I'll be selling my plants there, and probably some smoked goodness as well.
I'm thinking mini fatties, or something like BBQ Engineers corn dog fatties http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...=fattie&page=2 bet they would sell great!

 

[shellbellc]

Actually I do know where Cumberland County is...my parents have had a place in a Campground for 35 years now. It's off of Rt 9 between Avalon & Stone Harbor exits on the GSE. When we go down we usually opt for travelling more of the back roads, Commodore Barry to 538, 553, 40, we pass a lot of small farm markets selling their fruits.

Actually, the one road we travel has a small store on the corner, I think it's called the Station or something like that. In season, he's out there on Saturday's with two smokers, ribs, chicken and pulled pork.

I'm glad to hear about the ramapo! I heard someone was also trying to resurrect another "lost" strain of a once very popular jersey tomato..I can't remember waht it was called though.