How to grow your own tomatoes

Modern Farmer is one of my favorite publications and it is produced and written locally right down in Hudson, NY.  I wanted to capture a 3 part series on growing tomatoes because lets face it, nearly all of us grow them.  This series will help you make your tomatoes a little more successful.  Be sure to follow Modern Farmer or possibly subscribing to their periodical.

Tomatoes, according the National Gardening Association, are the most popular vegetable among backyard gardeners. Their 2014 survey found that 1 in 3 American households have a vegetable garden and that nearly 9 in 10 of those gardens include tomatoes.


Part 1: Starting Seeds Indoors

Growing tomatoes from seed isn’t hard, but there are a few things to be aware of. As with all things agrarian, timing, genetics and environment have to be in alignment to reap the rewards of your efforts.


Part 2: Transplanting

To help them along, there are two things you need to do before you transplant your seedlings: Prepare the soil and something gardeners call hardening off.

Part 3: Staking, Training and Pruning

Tomato beds have an unfair reputation as the messiest, ugliest, most disease-ridden parts of a vegetable garden. To keep them from devolving to this sorry state, tomato plants need your care and support.