This year my tomatoes were planted on Cinco de Mayo. So they have been in the ground nineteen days.
Last year, I announced the Great Tomato race when I got the plants in the ground on April 23rd.
This year I am cheating. Instead of trying to compete from the mountain with my friend Mike who lives in Lewsiville, NC, my tomato plants are in the ground on the North Carolina coast.
As far as I can tell, this just might be a better way to get those ripe fourth of July tomatoes than battling with Roanoke's deer herd which left us with a bitter harvest last year.
We have already been enjoying local coastal hot house tomatoes that are very good. Since our coastal lot is mostly sand, I just dug some holes, filled them with topsoil and some slow release fertilizer and just watched them grow.
On May 23rd I noticed the first blooms. That compares to May 20 for the ones I planted in Roanoke the year before.
When I plowed my Roanoke tomato patch last year there was some sadness. We've grown some great tomato crops in that little area, but short of building a strong fence, I don't know how to keep the deer away.
When we used to have our Labrador Retriever, Chester, the deer were no problem. Now days I wouldn't be surprised to come home and find that they have eaten the front step.
The local coastal farmers have their competition also like these cattle egrets, but I know there were some days when I was farming that I would have loved to have been close enough to the beach to jump in the water. Now that would have been a great way to end the day.
