It's Time for Tomatoes!

Warmer weather has finally arrived, and that means it’s time to get out your gardening gloves!  Of course no Southern garden would be complete without some tomato plants.  I can almost taste the B.L.F.G.T. (bacon lettuce fried green tomato) sandwiches now!  To make things more interesting, UT Extension will be hosting a friendly competition.  We’re calling it “Fayette County’s Best Tomato Contest.”  There will be adult and youth divisions.  In the adult category, awards will be given for largest tomato by circumference, largest tomato by weight, tastiest heirloom tomato, and tastiest non-heirloom.  The youth category will consist of largest tomato by circumference, largest tomato by weight, and tastiest tomato (any variety).  Your fruit must have been grown by you in Fayette County to qualify.  The contest will take place on July 20 at the Fayette County Farmers’ Market on Hwy. 64 between Somerville and Oakland near the Tractor Supply store.  If you want to try for the largest tomato, a variety called Big Zac is said to produce 4-6 lb. fruit.  For the tastiest tomatoes, heirlooms can’t be beat.  This year I am growing ‘Cherokee Purple’.  ‘Arkansas Traveler’ is another tasty heirloom that is reputed to withstand our heat and humidity. 

 

Cherokee Purple

Now that you are ready to win, let me give you a few tips on successfully growing tomatoes. 

·         Practice Crop Rotation- Don’t plant your tomatoes in the same spot year after year.  Some fungal diseases overwinter in your garden soil.  You can break the disease cycle by moving your tomatoes around. 

·         Plant in the Right Spot- tomatoes need at least 6 hours of full sun each day.

·         Grow Disease Resistant Plants- If you are a new gardener, or if you know you are not going to spray any crop protectants, then I would suggest you grow hybrid tomatoes that have been bred for disease resistance.  Look for initials on the plant tags such as V for Verticillium wilt or F for Fusarium wilt. 

·         Use a Fungicide- If you want to harvest tomatoes until frost and prevent that scalded look towards the end of July, then you need to spray a protectant fungicide.  I personally spray my plants with chlorothalonil.  If you are strictly an organic gardener though, you could use a product containing copper.  Keep in mind that these are preventative measures.  If you don’t spray and you get late blight, there is nothing that can be done but pull up the plants.  No matter which you use, you will need to spray the foliage every 7-10 days and after every rain event, as it washes off. 

Of course if you run into trouble with your garden or find an insect that you need help identifying, just give me a call at the Extension Office and I will be happy to help you.  The number is 901-465-5233. 

 

4-H Archery Group gets Gifts From Friends of NRA

Early in the new year Fayette County 4-H started an Archery Project Group. The group typically meets once a week and is a big success! There are 18 youth enrolled in archery in the 4th -12th grade.  Since this is the first year for archery, we started out with limited supplies.  We asked everyone to bring whatever targets and bows they might have at home to share as 4-H only had four bows and five dozen arrows of our own. Fortunately, Fayette County 4-H Archery just received a big donation last week in the form of supplies from the Tennessee Friends of the N.R.A.  We were gifted with five large targets, five arm guards, five quivers, five finger protectors, and a new bow!   We immediately put these supplies to use, and everyone at the last meeting got a chance to shoot the new recurve bow.  Thank you Friends of the N.R.A. for your support!

4-Hers Hannah Williams, Marah Williams, Fisher Williams, Cameron Hart, and Mitchell McCreless with one of the new targets and the new recurve bow.