Our tomato plants this year are the best we have ever had; the flavor has been consistently fantastic, and we have surpassed 100 lbs of harvest, from 8 plants. The plants are still producing – we harvest every few days, and we expect to have fresh tomatoes into November.

This years secret: I think the difference this year has been a few simple things: we dug a deep hole (about 20 inches) for each plant; we put blood meal at the bottom of each hole. Also, we have found that the word “organic” has so little meaning that we have made a compromise: we start organic, and we never use pesticides or bug spray of any form, but we do use a synthetic food once the plants are thoroughly producing.

Re the synthetic food: I use a nursery, Wegmanns, that I trust a great deal. I was there to buy the same old “organic” Dr. Earth food. I asked the worker what she would use, and she said: synthetic, hands down. The bang for the buck is about ten to one, and, by the way, she informed me that Dr. Earth was in negotiations about their packaging, and had to remove the word “organic”.  Pesticide free is good; organic has seems to have no relevant definition, and vaguely means: you are being ripped off.