Last week was geared towards trying to track down all parties/peoples involved to confirm the location and dimensions of the planting bed for the tomatoes. I am glad to report that the tomatoes now have a definitive field destination that I was able to start construction on, today. Located adjacent to a few rows of June bearing strawberries, the tomatoes now have a clearly defined plot, and even a mulched pathway to separate the two crops. This designation of space also follows the dimensions that I was using to estimate plant numbers for field planting; we can expect to fit 7-8 plants of the 12 varieties in 2 rows with-in the planting bed.

The concern with this, as I mentioned in my post last week, will be ensuring that the space we are given will be sufficient to fit two rows of both determinate and indeterminate tomato varieties. As it stands now, the bed in the photo below will have to be enough space to fit two rows of tomatoes as well as a path separating them down the middle. (From the grass to the wood mulch is a distance of 5’2″) These are not the ideal conditions for tomato plant spacing, but it will have to do, and if we can weasel our way into a bit more space, we will take it.

Now that the seedlings have fully established themselves in their flats, and the temperatures are getting warmer and warmer, I have relocated them to a green house that isn’t climate controlled. This will allow the plants to strengthen themselves to the cold nights and hot days before being truly put at the mercy of the outdoor environmental pressures.

What’s next? I’m going continue perfecting the bed preparation and trellis construction. My goal is to have the whole set up completed so that the tomatoes can go into the ground by the beginning f June. I also want to talk to the farm managers about looking into the addition of a few key soil amendments; nitrogen, boron, and perhaps sulfur, as these are all at low levels of concentration. (I completed a soil nutrient test for the field that the tomatoes are located in, a copy of that can be seen in the image gallery)