Rutgers NJ Ag Experiment Station
Rediscovering the Jersey Tomato
Rediscovering the Jersey Tomato
OT: Get your Rutgers 250 tomato seeds for 2017
- Thread starter srru86
- Start date
As much as I hate to say it, I was extremely dissapointed in my RU250 tomatoes last summer. The yield was fantastic, with each of my plants producing 50+ fruits, the plants were hardy, with only a touch of blight late in the season, but the taste was supermarket-ish.
If you like old fashioned garden tomato flavor, Box Car Willie can't be beat.
If you like old fashioned garden tomato flavor, Box Car Willie can't be beat.
Years ago a local tomato canning factory
would supply my grandfather with Rutgers
tomato plants to produce tomatoes for canning.
Never really knew what the name Rutgers meant
just remember the name. The tomatoes he produced
were really high quality and very good. When Florida
relatives would visit they would always take several
basket of the tomatoes home with them, they said
they could not get tomatoes like that in south.
Happy to learn what the name Rutgers Tomato
really means.
Are the Box Car Willie variety firm enough for sandwiches? Hate a mushy slice of tomato on a sandwich.
funny you say that...(well not as I kinda had the same experience). They looked fantastic but lacked in the delivery. Wasn't the hottest summer and things didn't pop till later in July. Saved some from last year so will give em another shot.
I have a planter out back with them still in there..the leaves have been dark green all winter. Wondering what will happen this spring. They did not produce much last year, but their placement was not ideal. I am going to look for a more sunny spot this spring. I did have some wild "volunteer" strawberries I tolerate in a planter... moved from the tomato garden... they produce a very tiny and very sweet berry. useless for anything but plucking one or two and popping them in your mouth. One of these days I'll get some proper strawberry pots and wee what I can get by actually paying attention to the berries.
here's a little sample of my weekly harvest from the small backyard plot we have every summer..not including the cucumbers that grow like they're on Viagra.
That looks like my weekly, save for 100 or so string beans.
My cucumbers grow like crazy too but I am having a hell of a time the past 2 years with white powdery mold. Early season is great but by mid to late August everything is dead. Any more seasoned gardeners have any advice?
My cucumbers grow like crazy too but I am having a hell of a time the past 2 years with white powdery mold. Early season is great but by mid to late August everything is dead. Any more seasoned gardeners have any advice?
I check with the wife. She's like an unofficial Master Gardener. Same happens to us...I really think it could just be the burn out and perhaps need to plant a 2nd wave or so to stagger. The inconsistent rain and temp makes the traditional growing season and harvest a yearly guessing game. As I am out in Hunterdon and I often check with my local farmers who give me feedback on what is or is not working that year. It tends to be all over the place lately.
Definitely. And the taste is more acidic than sweet, which I personally prefer.
1. Try changing locations for your cucumbers. The spores tend to stay in the soil, then splash up onto the lower leaves when it rains or you water.
2. Prune the lower leaves once the plant is established. This will reduce splashing up onto leaves and improve air circulation around the bottom of the plant.
3. Mulch, mulch, mulch. Shredded leaves, wood chips, or compost. This will reduce stress when it gets hot by keeping soil temperatures and moisture levels consistent, and reduces the need to water. Soil should ALWAYS be covered. Bare soil makes me cringe.
Last edited:
Hopefully recruiting will get better and a sweeter tomato will be produced,
I'll add- make sure your plants are properly spaced, and provide some trellising. You've got to give air a chance to get in there. I made the mistake last year of letting the cucumber plants climb the same trellis as the peas. The peas died in the summer heat, but the mass of canopy- peas plus cucumber (and a few squash, which produced leaves the size of Rhode Island) created a very moist environment. I went out one morning and found half the garden infected with powdery mildew. Endgame.
Anyone with bad mold/mildew problems should consider a solar burn to start their year. I'll be doing it late March. Clear plastic over the soil surface. Sun gets in, cooks the ground, plastic doesn't let the heat out...spores get scorched.
Thanks for the info.Your plants from last year may be designed to produce an abundance the second year thus giving you a bumper crop this year.
Thanks I'll give them a try this year and not rely on beefstake or better boy which are firm enough for sandwiches but could be bland in taste.
Having a vegetable garden is absolutely amazing. I have wondered about growing the Rutgers 250 but I will probably stick with my heirloom tomatoes. We still are using up the greens, green beans, tomatoes, tomatillos and peppers we grew, and preserved, last summer.
Can not wait to get started again in the spring.
Can not wait to get started again in the spring.
Just an fyi...Box Car Willie is definitely not as big as a beefsteak variety. No bigger than a baseball. If you're looking for a larger tomato with some good flavor, try Mortgage Lifter.
I tried winter Rye in half of my beds this year VS my typical leaf cover and then amending with my compost in the other half.
I am interested to see how it goes.
I'd be curious to hear about your results. Once I learned about no-till w/ covers I was so convinced I never bothered to do an experiment. In hindsight, it would have been interesting. I don't have the heart to take a shovel to my soil now though. I'm on year 2 of no-till.
How are you planning to terminate the rye? Last spring, i took a weed wacker to my winter cover crop (winter rye, winter peas, hairy vetch and crimson clover), then laid cardboard on top for 2 weeks before planting directly into the cover. Worked well. The year before I didn't use cardboard and the rye and clover didn't terminate.
Around July, I'll put 4-5" of compost on top of soil. Replant covers in Sept.
I am going to cut down and then pull black tarp over my beds. Hopefully will terminate well and then I will put my compost on top. My other beds I will continue with the biointensive method and dig down and till the soil and mix in my compost. We will see how it goes.
Sun Gold were my favorite last year. I grow 8 different kinds each year that I start from seed. We all know this, but, nothing beats a Brandywine tomato.
On April 1st I'll be planting these indoors under grow lights. Many are new to me:
Rutgers (the original ones)
SunGold
Indigo Rose
Sweet 100
Matina
Kosovo
Black Krim
Big Boy Hybrid
I started my peppers indoors about a week ago. I'm a huge gardener. Women love it when they come over and they see a few raised beds in the backyard luscious with vegetables.
On April 1st I'll be planting these indoors under grow lights. Many are new to me:
Rutgers (the original ones)
SunGold
Indigo Rose
Sweet 100
Matina
Kosovo
Black Krim
Big Boy Hybrid
I started my peppers indoors about a week ago. I'm a huge gardener. Women love it when they come over and they see a few raised beds in the backyard luscious with vegetables.
I am build three box gardens in the back yard this spring. Hoping that it will work better than my traditional one last year.
Except for the winter cover crop. Not sure what we have growing over the winter but I used the mower LOL. This method is exactly how my wife said we should do it and started this method a couple years ago as well. Throws straw on top of the cardboard and then we put (some) planting mix on that.
you crack me up with all this women focus...make sure you plant the big cucumbers up front in full view if you want to impress them and send a subliminal message while visiting. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
Very nice. You're doing the "lasagna" garden.
The purpose of the winter cover crop is to insure there are always living roots in the ground to build soil structure, and feed the soil food web. When we till or "turn" the soil, we destroy everything nature has created in the soil. Contrary to popular belief, most plants cooperate, rather than compete. Depending on the cover crop used, some covers will fix nitrogen from the air to the soil. You can buy cover crop blends online.
This method is called biomimicry. Look at a forest, or a prairie. The soil always has living roots in the ground, the soil is never tilled, the soil is always covered, and there is plant diversity. Life thrives indefinitely without any synthetic chemicals (which are mostly derived from petroleum).
Can you tell I'm fascinated by soil? This guy is great:
Similar threads
