We lucked into some fantastic organic tomatoes this year, and I have a bunch (a bushel?) of growing tips to share with you. I’ve also asked my more experienced gardener friends, Katie and Thomas, to chime in with their advice, but we want to warn you that none of us are master gardeners. We have a lot of practical advice, and we can recommend heirloom and hybrid tomato varieties that have done well in our gardens. Since this blog is basically my living journal, I plan to revisit this topic again next spring as Wyatt and I plot our next garden. I’ll save some planting tips for that future post and focus on the timely bits for August.

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Which Matters More to Us – Heirloom or Organic Tomatoes?

I debated aiming this post toward heirloom tomatoes, but I’m not 100% committed to planting only heirlooms. Hybrids are great, too, in my book (looking at you, Sungolds!). We do focus on organic gardening methods and try to plant only organic starts and seeds. We have a bunch of reasons for this, not the least of which is that I like to pluck tomatoes off the vine and eat them! I’m not here to lecture or debate organics, just to clarify that I’ll focus on organic tomatoes in this post. If you’d like to chat about it, please leave a comment.

While we prioritize organic over heirloom, most of our seeds and starts are heirlooms. We love their unique and intense flavors, the character they bring to our table, and the quirky names. Plus, there’s another bonus. Professor Nail (aka Thomas) notes that heirlooms will often re-seed and then volunteer themselves the following year. That means, the plants will sometimes regrow on their own, unlike hybrid varieties. How fabulous!

How Does Our Garden Grow?

Last spring, Wyatt and the boys installed a garden bed in our backyard, so this is our first crack at a real, in-the-ground garden. Wyatt just marked the size, dug out the sod, and laid untreated 4×6’s along the border. We chose untreated lumber to avoid chemicals leaching into the soil. We filled the bed with with organic compost, fertilizer, and manure, and mixed it into our soil. We recommend testing your soil to ensure it’s safe for growing food and isn’t contaminated with heavy metals. Google “soil testing” in your state to find a local lab, where you’ll mail a sample, which for us is at CSU.

Since Colorado does not have a long growing season before frost threatens, we plant tomato starts rather than growing from seed. Smaller, faster-growing organic tomatoes are generally a better bet for us. Thomas and Katie also mention that in some years, May hailstorms take out their plants, and they have to start over with fast-growing, smaller varieties, like Sungolds. Between the two weather issues, I’m amazed that we’ve pulled off some big slicing tomatoes this year. Beginner’s luck! Don’t worry, we’re sharing them.

(Two months later…)

We used the funnel shaped cages this year, but they’ve almost all toppled with the bigger plants. My arrows in the photos below show the angles of the plants, since it’s hard to see them in the jungle. Next year, I will try Thomas’ recommendation of these adjustable cages, similar to the rectangular cage on the right. (Of course, we picked the puniest plant for the best cage!)

August Garden Chores for Organic Tomatoes

Until Wyatt built a garden bed, we had only planted tomatoes in pots, which turns out to be an entirely different animal. Like hedgehog vs. elephant. Since we dodged the hail this year, our garden has gone bananas! That’s a great problem to have, but now we have some maintenance to tackle in the garden.

These are some of our August chores:

PRUNING – Always a good idea, although it got away from me this year. You can pinch off the stems growing out of the “armpits” to help the plant concentrate its energy in fruit production. I meant to do this earlier than August, and I’m hoping for better late than never.

This is also a good time to trim off dead or yellowing leaves. I like to clear out junky stems from around the bottom of the plants to allow for better air circulation and avoid decomposing material. As plants become overgrown, the old, rotting portions attract pests and diseases.

TAKE NOTES – This is also the perfect time to record your observations. What worked and what didn’t this year? What would you like to try next year? Which tomatoes do you like the most, or least?

Our Favorite Organic Tomato Recommendations

Now that we’re flush with tomatoes, we have some favorites to share with you.

From Katie and Thomas: “This year we planted Cosmos, in addition to our Sungolds, and they’ve been a nice medium size tomato with a rich taste. Early girls are a tasty variety that get their name from the fact that they tend to be early ripeners relative to other tomatoes, so we recommend those as well.”

Wyatt and I planted both small and large varieties this year, really testing the weather gods, you know? The small tomatoes we like most are Sungold, Chocolate Cherry, and Atomic Grape.

I learned the hard way to be extra patient with the Atomic Grape tomatoes, and it is worth it! They turn dark purple early on, but that’s a fake out. You really have to you wait until the bottoms are burnt orange, and they’ll have a delicious burst of sweetness.

Of the big slicing tomatoes that we grew this year, my favorite is Mrs. Maxwell. It turns dark pink and tastes delicious! That plant is suddenly bursting with fruit. (I should really pause writing and go harvest more.)

Runner up to Mrs. Maxwell is our Better Boy, a hybrid plant that looks scrawny but continues to produce. We grabbed this plant at Lowes, in case none of our fancy little organic starts made it through the summer. To our surprise, this Better Boy is one of the smallest plants in our plot, but the tomatoes have been plentiful and delicious.

This Mushroom Basket tomato wins for most interesting shape, but the flavor is a bit mild.

Least Favorite Tomatoes This Year

Considering I choose heirloom tomatoes based on their names, it’s no shocker that I didn’t bat a thousand this year on taste. Here are our least favorites:

Black Krim – sounded yummy in the catalog, but hasn’t thrived. It might have a disease, but none of the surrounding plants seem affected, so I’m calling this one a fail. (If you recognize what’s wrong with it, please tell me!)

Dancing With Smurfs – come on, right? How could I resist? Too bad this cherry variety takes ages to ripen and is not tasty enough when it does for the payoff.

Napa Rosé – named for the wine, not the flower, and fun to grow because it matures early. However, this cherry variety is not quite sweet enough for me. It has a bit of a bite, and I can see where the name comes from.

Fresh Organic Tomato Recipes

Just a few! Here’s what we’ve been eating. Photos are clockwise from top left.

1 – Toasted slices of crusty bread, spread with fresh pesto and topped with tomatoes.

2 – Salsa – Katie’s recipe is tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and fresh lime juice. I tried it last night. Yum!

3 – Caprese salad or tomatoes with burrata, basil, olive oil, balsamic, salt & pepper. Another friend sent a gorgeous photo of this meal. She also explained why I need burrata in my life – and she is right! Have you tried it?

4 – Mediterranean chickpea salad – fast, easy, and delicious! (I spy unripe Atomic Grape tomatoes… oops!)

Any Questions for a Spring Planting Post?

Next spring, when the world has settled and life is good again (a girl can dream), I plan to reread this post and make new garden plans. I’ll know which tomatoes to reorder and which to avoid. I’ll buy better tomato cages and fertilizer. Perhaps I’ll even see signs of life from volunteer heirlooms that liked our plot.

What else would you like to read about growing organic tomatoes? I plan to share ideas to build a raised garden bed and prepare the soil, plus details on Thomas’ custom-built irrigation system. Perhaps I’ll be motivated to create one in our garden, too. That would be an interesting DIY project and an upgrade over our current watering system:

Now I’m off to make some caprese salad! Have a great week!

Read More From List in Progress

1 – Our DIY Kitchen Remodel + Real Cost!
2 – How to Make a Doormat With a Custom Stencil
3 – My Favorite Affordable Turkish Towels
4 – The Easiest Way to Paint Cabinets

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