First tomatoes in 2020-Black Cherry Tomatoes (shown) and Egg Yolk tomatoes (sorry I ate them!)
Well I got my first few cherry tomatoes harvested. I planted all 36 tomato plants really early on May 3rd-snuck them in with such a warm spring. I peeked inside my Egg Yolk cherry tomato plant underneath the row cover (yes it’s still on but hopefully coming off soon) and my Black Cherry tomato plant. I got 2 Egg Yolk tomatoes and 5 Black Cherry tomatoes. Mind you, not a lot but it’s a start! The flavor was divine and now I remember why I wait to eat tomatoes after the season is over. Haven’t had a tomato since last October–well worth the wait!
Lots of blossoms on all the other tomato plants but we will get some blossom drop on some of them with this heat. No matter, they will produce more blossoms that will set fruit again. I’ll see how many have set fruit after I remove the row covers. Speaking of row covers…
Looking more promising regarding the monsoons. Starting this Thursday the temps will drop back in the 80s and thunderstorms are predicted from Thursday on from 20-40%. Hang in there, I am almost ready to remove the row covers-but waiting for the monsoon pattern to really set up to get rid of the leafhopper. Maybe next week. You’ll be the first to know!
giantveggiegardener 
Bravo! We started getting Sun Golds about a week ago from a potted plant on our portal, and after your post, and checked and found some ripe Black Cherries. I also cheated, got some big red tomatoes from Margeurite, the fruit lady, from California, and got my first classic fresh (i.e., acidic) tomato taste of the season.
We’ve been getting the farmers’ market CSA in lieu of going to the market in person, and keep getting the hydroponic tomatoes from Growing Opportunities, which have no taste, but they did add color during the winter.
Working on my next post, on making herb vinegars.
Look forward to seeing you in person again, when the coast is clear.
Mike
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Mike I can hardly stand this heat anymore-usually we have some relief with the monsoons by now and I hope things change for the better very soon. I’ve been peaking through the row cover into the other tomatoes to see if I have any others ready to pick but not yet. Mostly I am growing 70-80 days tomatoes days to harvest this year so they are producing blossoms and who knows how many will actually set fruit. I think next year I will grow a few more 58-65 days to harvest tomatoes. Good luck with your crops and keep me in the loop.
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Nice! I can’t wait for my tomatoes! My plants are HUGE! I’ve never had any this large, ever ever ever, at this time of year. All except for one are as tall or taller than me and bushy as can be, and I’m 5’7”! I started them by seed on April 1st in my homemade plant incubator and had to transplant them into larger containers twice before planting them in the garden, when I planted them in the garden they had already reached 2’+ tall, so I stripped their lower leaves and planted them really deep and mixed in 1 tablespoon Epsom salt and 1 tablespoon bone meal into the dirt surrounding each of the root balls. Super excited about taking the covers off the tomato plants, but waiting still.
So, I wanted to ask you a question. Last year I put the covers over the outside of the tomato cages and got a lot of damage to the covers from our high springtime winds and the stress that caused in places where the covers rubbed against the cages. This year I repaired the covers and put them on the inside of the cages, using clothes pins to hold them up as the tomatoes grow, and I use rocks to hold them tight to the ground at the bottom. I saw your pic of your tomato cages covered with the frost cloth. How do you prevent damage to the cloth from winds? Thanks 😊
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Sounds like you did all the right things when planting!
As far as your question, ‘How do you prevent damage to the cloth from winds?’-I don’t. Some years its windier and the row cover (RC) gets more holes but it usually lasts 2 years for me. I put RC on the outside of my cages as I’d rather have it beaten up on the outside vs the plants taking a beating from the wind moving the RC all over them but maybe yours will work good and make the RC last longer.
I get my RC from Johnnyseeds.com. I use AG-19 which is medium weight (.55oz) from them and they are dirt cheap. AG-30 is winter weight (.9) and they even have heavier weight than that but I never get that. The heavy weight RC does not allow enough air flow in this heat so even though it will last longer, it could cook your plants.
We only have to wait a little longer for this monsoon pattern to really set up. I can see it’s trying right now but will wait this week to see if we start to get cooler temps and some precipitation. That’s when I take the RC off-I can’t wait!
If you go to the right side of my blog here to ‘EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION’ and sign up, you will be notified of any new posts from me and can see when I take the RC off. Good Luck! Sounds like you are off to a great start!
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Thanks for the info on Johnnyseeds! And for answering my question. Hah, I was thinking you had magic tomato covers 😝
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I wish! Thanks for commenting.
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Ah, congratulations!
Mine got started so late that they are just not maturing. It is embarrassing.
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