• Home
  • About
  • CSA Providers
  • CSA Shares
  • CSA’s
  • Farmers Markets

Redland Rambles

You are what you eat. Do you eat where you are?

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Extension says thank you!
Great Green Family Festival »

Planting heirloom tomatoes

November 8, 2009 by marian33031

mike-digs-holes

Mike digging holes spaced two feet apart

So, what’s getting planted at Bee Heaven? Radishes, pole beans and lots and lots of heirloom tomatoes. Stopped by last Friday and saw that most of the prep work had been completed. Irrigation drip lines have been run, connected and leaks mended. Rebar stakes were driven into the ground, and rolls of wire mesh trellising stretched across as a support for the tomatoes. As the plants grow, they will get tied to or weaved into the mesh. When I arrived, Mike and Cassidy were digging holes spaced two feet apart for the tomato transplants.

planning

Jade, Devin and Muriel decide which tomato plants go where

Muriel and her crew Jade and Devin planned which varieties would get planted where. At least 30 varieties of heirloom tomatoes are grown on the farm. Chalk’s, Red Fig, Aunt Ruby’s, and Cherokee varieties are from Slow Food’s Ark of Taste list. Muriel explained that first she groups by types — cherry with cherry, or roma with roma. Then the colors are alternated — yellow, orange, green, red, pink, brown and black (actually very dark red) — instead of grouped together. This tomato rainbow, as Jade described, is carefully mapped out. When it’s time to pick, you know what you’re picking. Last season, several varieties of same-colored tomatoes had been planted next to each other, and it was difficult to tell them apart, especially when the fruit wasn’t completely ripe.

cassidy-plants

Cassidy plants a tomato start

Margie watered the starts (seedlings or baby plants) while they were still in their little plastic pots. Once it was decided which varieties went where, Mike brought over flats of starts, and Cassidy set each plant into its hole and tamped the soil down. Jade followed with watering cans and gave each transplant a good drink. When transplanting tomatoes, remove the bottom leaf or two, and set the plant deeply into the ground, up to the cluster of of leaves. The stem will produce more roots, which results in a stronger plant.

Over in another bed, shunjiku radishes had put up their first leaves, and pole beans were sprouting. Drip irrigation lines bring measured amounts of water directly to the plants. Otherwise, not much is growing yet. Margie explained that she started planting late because rain delayed the bedding process. The CSA season is starting in a couple of weeks and I’m wondering what I’ll find in my box. Rumor has it the first share might have green beans from Homestead Organics and lemongrass from Bee Heaven, among other things. Maybe. Whatever is available, Margie said.

jade-watering

Jade watering tomato transplants

When you get local food from a farmer’s CSA, you get what’s growing at that time, during that part of the season. Each fruit, vegetable and herb takes a certain amount of time to grow and mature. Greens and radishes take a few weeks to grow, so you’ll see a lot of those at the beginning. Carrots, potatoes, beets and onions take longer, so you’ll see those toward the end of the season. The heirloom tomatoes will start appearing in December and January. That’s the experience of eating in season.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in farm, farmer/grower, fruits, intern, photo, vegetables | Tagged heirloom tomatoes, WWOOF-er |

  • Recent Posts

    • Remembering Hani Khouri
    • 5th Annual Redland GrowFest!
    • Chefs’ Local Cookoff Challenge
    • Sea of seedlings
    • Jim Ewing presents at GrowFest!
    • Adventures of a Farm Apprentice
    • GrowFest! demos and presentations
    • OFF vs. BHF CSA
    • How does the Oriental Fruit Fly Quarantine affect us?
    • GrowFest! is a go!
    • Oriental Fruit Flies in Redland Trigger Quarantine
    • Lychees in the morning
    • Ugly veggie love (NSFW)
    • Plethora of peppers
    • Saucy Kohlrabi
  • Archives

  • Frequent Tags

    Art Friedrich Arturo Gonzalez avocado avocados Bee Heaven Farm bees black sapote brunch Brunch in Paradise Charles LaPradd chickens county budget county commissioners csa Dan Howard Dinner in Paradise Earth Dinner Earth Learning edible South Florida Extension Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens Farm Day Farmer Margie Pikarsky farmers market Fruit and Spice Park fundraiser Gabriele Marewski greenhouse GrowFest! Hani's Mediterranean Organics Hani Khouri heirloom tomatoes holiday Katie Edwards laurel wilt Little River Market Garden Local Links lychee mango Margie Pikarsky Marty Mesh Melissa Contreras Miami Herald Miguel Bode movie Muriel Olivares Nick Pikarsky Paradise Farms Paradise Farms Organic Pinecrest Gardens Farmers Market Possum Trot Nursery redbay ambrosia beetle Redland GrowFest! Redland Mediterranean Organic Redland Organics Robert Barnum Roots in the City share Slow Food Miami small farms conference Sous Chef 2 Go Steven Green Teena's Pride Farm Teena Borek Three Sisters Farm Tim Rowan UDB UF/IFAS UF/IFAS Cooperative Extension Upper East Side Farmers Market Urban Oasis Project Whole Foods Will Allen Worden Farm zoning
  • Blogroll

    • A Garden on the Bay
    • Annush on the Causeway
    • aPieceOfGarden
    • Art Loves Farms
    • Bee Heaven Farm's Blog
    • Broadfork Farm
    • Eating Local in the Tropics
    • Edgy Veggie
    • Food For Thought
    • Fresh From Florida
    • Gardens of TROY
    • Girl In Miami
    • Greener Miami
    • https://ediblesouthflorida.ediblecommunities.com/food-thought/memoriam-hani-khouri-businessman-chef-goatherd
    • Hungry Filmmakers
    • La Diva Cucina
    • Local Food South Florida
    • Mango & Lime
    • Miami Dish
    • Our Half Box
    • Red Roots – Local Goodness
    • Short Order
    • The Genuine Kitchen
    • The Lettuce Farm
    • Thyme for Food
    • Tinkering With Dinner
    • Words from Worden Farm
  • Contact

    • Marian Wertalka
  • Local Growers

    • Bee Heaven Farm
    • Florida Keys Sea Salt
    • Going Bananas
    • Green Groves Organic Farm
    • https://ediblesouthflorida.ediblecommunities.com/food-thought/memoriam-hani-khouri-businessman-chef-goatherd
    • Little River Cooperative
    • Paradise Farms Organic
    • PNS Farms
    • Redland Organic Herb Farm
    • Redland Organics
    • Teena's Pride
    • Three Sisters Farm
    • Verde Community Farm & Market
    • Worden Farm
  • Local Links

    • Blind Tastes
    • Bordercross
    • Dade County Farm Bureau
    • Earth Learning
    • edible South Florida
    • Florida Small Farms Conference
    • Fruit and Spice Park
    • Gaby's Farm
    • Help Yourself!
    • Les Dames d'Escoffier
    • Meldy Hernandez Yoga
    • Miami G.R.O.W. Project
    • Michael's Genuine Food and Drink
    • novae gourmet
    • Permaculture Miami
    • Redland Riot
    • Robert is Here
    • Schnebly Redland's Winery and Brewery
    • Slow Food Miami
    • Sous Chef 2 Go
    • T.R.E.C. UF/IFAS
    • The Greater Everglades Foodshed
    • The Market Company
    • UF/IFAS Extension
    • Urban Oasis Project
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 626 other subscribers
  • Copyright©2009-2015 Marian Wertalka

    • Register
    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • Redland Rambles
    • Join 133 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Redland Rambles
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: