Well, it’s here. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the first tomato of 2010?
The first tomato of 2010.
It’s a baby Cherokee Purple, which surprised me as the single plant I had last year was a fairly slow performer, and relatively stingy with its fruits. Not that I’m complaining at all, mind you. In my opinion, Cherokee Purple is the best tomato ever.
Last year I grew a single Cherokee Purple plant; I experimented with several heirloom plants this way. Though it was not a big producer, we both adored the taste and texture of this tomato above all others and determined to grow more this year. I have six plants I grew from seeds, but to be honest they are tiny compared with the transplants for sale at a local farmer’s market. Unable to resist, I purchased one of these transplants for 99 cents in late April, and planted it before the safe date of May 1, thinking I could afford to lose a dollar in a worst-case scenario.
Why May 1, you may ask?
My grandfather insists upon this as religious dogma, and I’ve had it drilled into my head my whole life. Never plant a tomato before May 1, because nighttime temperatures below 50° F (10° C) will negatively affect the taste later on, and may stunt the plant’s growth.
However, here in South Carolina, although I am well north of my grandfather’s farm, the weather patterns and temperatures have more in common with south Georgia or Alabama. This reality is totally counterintuitive, so it took me a while to grasp. I kept seeing people planting their tomatoes and peppers in mid-April last year and shaking my head. Now I realize that the season here is a bit longer, and even the local agricultural university endorses the mid-April planting date.
Nonetheless, I can’t seem to break the grip of this rule upon my subconscious. I felt incredibly guilty planting three plants out before May 1, like I was doing a naughty, shameful, secretive thing. And sure enough, temperatures dipped down into the range of 43 – 49 on April 28th and 29th, making me glad I could still bring in the other 16 seedlings and keep them on the kitchen table overnight.
But the little Cherokee Purple seems to have suffered not a bit, and has already put out two tiny fruits. The one pictured is the largest, at about half an inch in diameter.
F. was sad to see it, which confused me. He confessed that he’d hoped to be the first one to feed us from the garden this year, with his strawberry crop, which is well on its way. I reminded him of what kind of tomato he was contemplating.
“Honey, this is Cherokee Purple. Your strawberries will be long gone by the time we eat this one.” These, after all, are the ones that take a month or more to swell their fruit to super-size, and then may take two weeks after that to color up nicely.
“Oh,” he said, “So it’s the one that –” and he broke off in mid-sentence to stare into the middle distance until his eyes lost their focus, obviously remembering last summer’s delights. “Mmmm,” he finished.
Exactly how I feel about this spectacular tomato.
And besides, I pointed out much later, what did he consider all the lettuce, onions, radishes, mustard, and herbs we’ve been eating since late March? Mere bupkiss?
Apparently, nothing gets his attention like a tomato or a strawberry. Really, though, I can understand.
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I must remember the name of this beauty. I started my few tomato plants from seed last year, but I was too late getting them going. This year, though I may only have 2-3 plants on my deck, I’d like to try something different, and I like your recommendation.
Nancy Bond´s last blog ..Skywatch Friday: Pining Away
Two to three plants can make a lot of tomatoes if they’re in the right location, Nancy. I do hope you get to try some that you love, and maybe one experimental variety, for the fun of it. Cherokee Purple is so worth it in this climate, and seems to be popular in many places in North America, but of course it’s hard to predict particular results. Let us know how it goes if you decide to try it!
You’re lucky, to have even May 1st as THE day. In Alberta you could still expect a blizzard, in fact I think they’re having one now. Here in Victoria, BC, I’m still waiting for June 1st. But we could probably chance it a bit earlier. Gotta say I do love the name of this tomato, Cherokee Purple.
Helen at Summer House´s last blog ..Hot Colors, Cool Colors and Vine Covered Castle?
Helen, that just makes me shiver in horror. Snow in May? Yikes! Cherokee Purple has a wonderful legend behind its naming — even better than the average heirloom tomato.
this is lovely. i agree with helen. it could still snow here. it’s so cold and rainy today, a bit of snow tonight.
happy weekend, friend.
xo
Um, Christina, I’m so sorry that you might have had snow over Mother’s Day weekend. Yech! Hoping it warms up soon, dear friend.
I really don’t think that upper 40s hurt tomato plants. Mine experience those temps every year will no ill effects. We’ve been getting some strawberries for the last couple of weeks. Definitely something to look forward to!
Jackie´s last blog ..Bees that build flower petal nests!
Jackie, I still can’t imagine purposely exposing my plants to those temperatures, you know? Conditioning is a heavy force!
Congratulations on your first home-grown tomato for 2010, Meredith! How wonderful it must feel to eat your own home-grown produce. I’ll look forward to seeing your tomato full grown. The only veggies I have growing at the moment are my hot chilli/pepper plant and sweet potato. I’ve never grown sweet potato before but, apparently, it will be due for harvesting soon….supposedly I’m to do this when the leaves change colour and die back?
Serena´s last blog ..the saga continues…….
Serena, all I know is that the roots should be pulled before the first killing frost. I don’t recall my grandfather’s sweet potato vines being blackened and dead when we pulled them, though it’s been a long time and memory is fickle. Perhaps check the maturity dates for your varieties and pull an average-looking one as a test?
Oh my goodness, that puts your tomatoes ahead of ours. We do have some that are starting to bloom, but certainly no fruit set yet. We’re also growing Cherokee Purple this year, it performed wonderfully for us last year, but we’re also experimenting with some heirlooms we’ve never grown before. Let’s hope we all have a bumper tomato harvest this year…I can’t wait!
Curbstone Valley Farm´s last blog ..Roo, and the Ark
Well, Clare, that puts a single plant of ours ahead of yours.
The rest are decidedly smaller specimens, and the only other to even have blossoms is a cherry tomato plant. I am crossing my fingers for that bumper crop, especially knowing how disappointing tomato-growing conditions were across the country last year. I want the best production for every home gardener!
Sounds like you have some delicious treats in store. I picked two cherry tomatoes today, to bring our grand total to four so far. The plant is loaded, but I suspect it will wait until we go on vacation to ripen all the tomatoes at once and we won’t get to enjoy them. (My tomatoes are sometimes sneaky that way.)
Kathy´s last blog ..Backyard Odyssey
Four will soon turn into forty, if your plants behave anything like ours, Kathy. Cherry tomatoes are such bountiful, generous souls. I do hope they manage to hold out until after the vacation.
Wow! Here I am swooning about the fact that I can see flower buds on my peonies and tradescantia, and you already have a tomato! Your explanation of your grandfather’s rule helped me to realize why growing tomatoes is such a leap of faith here in Maine. We don’t have any time of year when we can be sure that temps will stay above 50. Overnight lows in the forties are not all that unusual even in July and August.
Jean´s last blog ..Weed, Water, Mulch: A Low-Maintenance Perennial Garden Strategy
Peonies are worth swooning over in any climate, at any time of the year, Jean.
And shhhhh! Don’t say that too loud about the nighttime temperatures in August. You’ll have F. lobbying for us to transfer up to Maine next.
I just returned home from purchasing a Cherokee Purple Tomato Plant at my favorite nusery. How funny to log on to blotanical and there you are blogging about this very plant. It is a new variety to me. Mine will stay on the kitchen counter until the weather straighten’s out…27 F last night, unusually cold. My father sounds like he’s cut from the same cloth as your grandfather, only his Magic date was May 15, and though I may fudge with planting annuals, I just can’t seem to do so with the tomatoes!
BTW, thank you for your sweet comment on my writers blog. It gave me fresh courage.
Wonderful news, Carolyn! I support all efforts to grow dear Cherokee Purple, where appropriate — and if a local nursery carries it, it’s sure to be suited to local conditions.
Glad to hear I gave you a bit of writing courage. It’s so weird and thrilling for me to hear — when my own writing courage used to be in notoriously short supply.
I smiled at your May 1st rule. Here it’s June 1st. No matter how tempting, no matter how warm and beautiful it gets, I do not succumb to the lure of planting tenders out until June 1st. And now that they have forecast possible snow flurries tomorrow (after a run of pretty nice weather) I’m glad I have that marker entrenched in my head – from my Mom. Congrats on the first tomato of 2010! So much goodness to anticipate
Talon´s last blog ..Apple blossom cloud…
Snow flurries in May! Well, at least you have the fortitude and cheerfulness and mom-instilled training to handle such trying weather, Talon.
Thanks for the congratulations! I was pretty excited.
Congrats! I have a few little green tomatoes, too. I look every day to see if they have changed…kind of like watching water boil. This is my first experience growing tomatoes. Keep us posted!
Amy/GoAway, I’m Gardening!´s last blog ..What Is Your Gardening Style?
Amy, isn’t it wonderful? I’m so thrilled for you to be growing tomatoes for the first time. I have great memories of my first foray into that tasty territory. But yes, just this weekend my grandfather told me to remind my strawberry-obsessed husband about the watched pot, so you are right. I’m convinced the only reason these two baby ‘maters are there at all is because I hadn’t even thought to check for fruit — didn’t even notice them until F. pointed them out.
My tomato plants are robust, but no blooms yet. I can’t believe that you’re so far ahead. But if your climate is like Alabama, I really shouldn’t be surprised.
Good for you! You furtive tomato planter, you!
Lisa´s last blog ..…and the Nominees are…
I’m not that far ahead, Lisa, no worries. I’ve still got transplants to set out, because I do take my gardening slowly, like a turtle really. Turtles are a bit furtive, too, or at least a bit shy. Maybe that should be my new symbol.
So envious of your first tomato. Mine have yet to be purchased and planted. We had near freezing temps a few nights ago so I’m still reluctant to plant any yet. Cheers, Linda
I’d definitely wait if you’re still approaching freezing at night, Linda. Wait until a good local nursery (not a big box store) has the starts for sale, and you’ll be on the right track.
Now I want to try one! Do you have any pics of the mature fruit?
Merrilee´s last blog ..Saturday Prompts
I do, Merrilee. Here’s a post from last summer: http://victorygardenredux.wordpress.com/2009/08/15/cant-judge-a-book-by-its-cover/
I could not take the time to locate any other articles in the archives here, unfortunately, as I am headed out of town right this minute (or thereabouts), and was just doing last-minute maintenance on the blog before I go.
Actually, I just realized it myself, but if you go down to the bottom of this page where there’s a tag cloud, there is a tag for Cherokee Purple, and clicking it will reveal six past posts relating to this delicious heirloom tomato.
Wonderful news! And I get to enjoy vicarious tomatoes from here on in
I do see F’s point. Lettuce is lovely, but it just isn’t tomatoes or strawberries is it?!
Heidi (GippyGardener)´s last blog ..Ladybirds to the rescue!
Vicarious tomatoes will be on the menu for all the rest of our season, Heidi — and then you’ll return the favor.
I do hope the seed saving went well!
Lettuce apparently doesn’t rate very highly with F. or you. But I think it’s awesome to be able to get a salad out of my own garden, especially now that there’s a food poisoning scare with the romaine lettuce in this country!
Hooray! Few things are more exciting I think than the first tomatoes of the season! I’m about to pull mine out now, with three small tomatoes left that I have now despaired of every ripening. Enjoy your Spring!
Karly´s last blog ..Battle of the Blades – Fiskars vs. Felcos
Karly, thank you for the cheers. I’m hoping the Northern Hemisphere blogs can do a bit for the Southern Hemisphere blogs what y’all did all winter for me here, when I was cold and longing for some color and life.
That is so exciting! I was just looking at starts and wondering if I would plant something. It seemed early.
elizabeth´s last blog ..ode to joy, volume 18
Well, Elizabeth, I have no idea if it’s early or not in Oregon. Maybe take a visit to the best local nursery or farmer’s market (not a big box store, as they schedule shipments without much sense of local conditions) and ask someone in the know. And happy tomato planting!
Well, I’m with you on planting some tomatoes early. I got 6 plants in on 4/14, and we’re a full zone ‘behind’ you at zone6b. I’ve been doing it for years and it seems to work fine. I always feel guilty if I don’t get potatoes planted by Good Friday, which is the Rule Of Thumb in these parts!
villager´s last blog ..One Tomato, Two Tomato…
Here I’d heard to get the potatoes in the ground by St. Paddy’s day… and they are looking so lovely by now. But hearing that you plant your tomatoes so early makes me wonder if I ought not to be more flexible with the date! I think probably since Granddaddy was a farmer, he had to watch the date more closely because we’re talking about not just a handful of plants, but whole fields of tomatoes. Good to realize that.
aloha, i planted some seedlings that the slugs just devoured so i’ll have to also have to get tomato starts…love your strawberry post prior…looks yummy and the abstracts were beautiful, i can actually see blowups of this made and you can ask your friends to interpret these nature inspired abstracts.
noel´s last blog ..To My Mom a Special Thank You
Oh, dear, Noel! Slugs took out a couple of speckled lettuces while I was away visiting my mother this weekend. It is hard to see the damage they do sometimes; isn’t it? All my condolences for the loss!
And thanks for the suggestion for the abstracts. I think these would make fun wall art in our home.
Fantastic. I have a tomato also, about as big as a pea.
I’m so excited for us.
Peace
xx
gemma´s last blog ..
Aw, that’s the cute stage.
We have a lot to look forward to, Gemma!
There’s nothing finer than a home grown tomato! Yum.
Lynn´s last blog ..Sunset on the lake, notes and looking sweet
Amen, Lynn!
Ahhh, jealous! I just replaced around 10 transplants yesterdays that the cutworms had mowed through (but they missed the other 80… MUAHAHAHA). Yeah, 90 plants. I am nuts.
I don’t have any fruiting ones yet, though. And a ‘Cherokee Purple’ too! They’re slower than Christmas 10 years from now. Good for you!
Eliza´s last blog ..How to Grow and Use Amaranth Greens (w/Recipes & Sources)
90 plants!!! Wow, I feel so much better about my own tomato obsession now, Eliza. I’ve really got myself under control — comparatively.
Of course, if I remember correctly you’re growing for several families, and not just yourself and your significant other. Keep up the good work!