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market-farming - Re: Tomato Support?

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  • From: "Lucy Goodman-Owsley" <goodows AT excite.com>
  • To: market-farming
  • Subject: Re: Tomato Support?
  • Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 13:6:39


For tomatoe support we started using the tomato weave last season and
really liked it. We grow mostly heirloom indetermanents. About 600 plants
per season.
The way we do the weave is to put in a stake than 2 plants than another
stake and on and on until we get to the end of the row (50'). The tomatoes
are mulched and let to grow until they are about 12" high than we string
the first weave. We start at one end and tie sisal twine to the stake (we
get the rolls for a bailer). At the next stake we run a loop around it and
tighted as much as possible and proceed to the next stake and put a loop
around it and tighten until we get to the end of the row. Repeat up the
other side of the row. I find this to be less labor than tieing the plants
to stakes and can do all 600 plants in about two hours. We wait fro the
plants to start to fall over before weaving again. On the first couple of
weaves it is nice to have a helper tuck all the lower branches inside the
string and make sure the plants are inside the weave and no outside of it.

When we ship tomatoes to market we use bread racks lined with either old
row cover or toweling to keep them from injury. We are very careful picking
and do it much like Marcie described. Another thing I do is make sure there
is no stem left on the fruit before putting on the bread rack, stems will
ruin a perfectly good tomato. This step adds time but has saved countless
tomatoes. We like to pick right into the shipping containers so we touch
the fruit as little as possible. If we have more tomatoes than bread racks
than we pick into bushel baskets never going more than 2 high, usually we
put a towel or row cover in the bottom for protection.

Lucy Goodman-Owsley
Boulder Belt CSA
New Paris Ohio




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