My Favorite Tomatoes/ Best out of 80 Varieties I grew in 2020.
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- Опубліковано 28 тра 2024
- There was an audio issue for some viewers on the original video. This version should correct that. Bear with me, I'm learning haha. My best tomatoes out of 80 varieties that I grew in 2020. Heirloom varieties, other open pollinated varieties, and hybrids. This is the first season of my almost half acre vegetable/ trial garden in Maryland zone 7a.
Mark your farm is so neat and clean you must work from sunrise to sunset It really shows you love what you do
Hi Joseph!
Thank you! Honestly, I just don't show the messy parts. lol I do work everyday at it and to tell you the truth, I truly love doing it. Thanks so much for watching and commenting!
Happy Gardening!
-Mark
his plants seem to be growing very nicely also am I weird or is he cute/hot but anyway I know I need to start on my garden soon
Thanks for watching!
-Mark
Meanwhile in florida if my tomato plant gets over a foot tall and has 1 tomato I celebrate like no tomorrow. This is by far the most impressive veggie garden I have ever seen.
Thank you!!!
I'm very fortunate to have the opportunity to take on building a garden like this... It's my pride and joy and I'm happy to hear that you like it!
Thanks for watching!
-Mark
I noticed while in Florida that they grow them on farms in winter, not summer.
It's way too hot for them down there...anything above 95 degrees can cause all the blossoms to drop.
you are growing them, during the wrong time.
@tyler durden Florida here, the sun starts cooking everything by the time summer hits, and in my area it will rain almost daily for months as well. I start setting up tomatoes mid october.
You sir have some of the most beautiful tomatoes I have ever seen and your garden beds are immaculate. Kudos to you as i know the hard work and hours involved in all that is your gardens
Hi Dave!
Many many thanks! I love doing it!
-Mark
Sorry to be so off topic but does someone know a method to get back into an instagram account??
I was stupid lost the account password. I would love any help you can offer me
Pink brandy wine, to me, are the absolute best tasting tomato that I’ve ever eaten. A very delicious taste that finds it was through any dish. I LOVE them.
This guy should have more subscribers
Thanks Scott! Spread the word!
@@marksgardenlife5971 Agree 100 %
He will...it will explode for sure. No one I’ve seen has the diversity he has. Truly amazing!!
Umm yep done. I'm quite green with envy. 😒
Mark, your tomatoes plants are huge! What's in that soil? Geez! Great video, very informative and I'm in awe of the size of your plants!
This guy is not gardening on this planet. He is on some other garden planet without pests, disease, rot and failure to thrive. I want to move to his planet and crank out the awesomeness that he is producing.
Hi Michael!
lol No, I do see some of the same issues as everybody else. And as you know, it can vary greatly from year to year.
Best, -Mark
The robustness of all those maters!!! 😍🤩 I’d love to see the insides of them too!
A few things I’ve been learning about nutrients and organic ways of getting them. Just a suggestion share for anyone interested.
Lime is a good soil additive for calcium, but the manure more than likely has a tremendous amount of nitrogen and the lime releases calcium slowly over time. A quick calcium fix is:
1) 1Tbs ground Eggshells (like in a coffee grinder. Really pulverize to a powdery type substance)
1Tbs distilled vinegar
Combine, let bubble and foam til it dies down, about 30 min. The calcium counteracts the acid in the vinegar. The vinegar releases the calcium. Win win.
Add to a gallon of water and it’s immediate bio available calcium to stop the end rot.
2) antacid tablet dissolved in water also provides immediate calcium. Water plants with it. There’s natural antacid tablets without all the colors and yuck you find in the flavored and colored tums types.
Best to apply when flowers form but can apply once the deficiency becomes clear to prevent end rot before it hits any more!
To enhance fruit flavor and keep leaves from getting those burnt edges with potassium!:
Once fruit begins to form or you see burnt looking edges- combine 2Tbs molasses in a gallon of water. Water with it til ripe. About 1x per week. Gives the tomato incredible flavor and provides potassium. You can even spray on the leaves and they will uptake the potassium.
Blessings to y’all!! 🙏🏻💞🙌🏻
Mark your a gem 💎! Honest, no frills content that is such a pleasure and a joy to watch. Thanks for sharing this amazing space and all your labor of love with us! 🤗 Truly incredible to see such a young guy using his talents brilliantly. BTW...The overalls and flip flops are awesome! 😁
Hi Tina!
Thank you for the kind words! Also for sharing your helpful hints. Thanks for watching/commenting!
Best,
-Mark
Wow! Tomatoes look great! I live in the South and we have a short window for tomatoes. Plant seeds indoors January or February, plant in ground April or May. This year it was almost May. July and August plants stop producing and start dying from the heat. I mostly plant determinate tomatoes. I take cuttings off of those and root in water in June and pot plant those in the shade until September or October. They will last until the first frost kills the plants in December and I use all the Green tomatoes for fried tomatoes or relish and salsa. I called the fall season green tomato season. When temps start reaching 90s tomatoes slow down or stop producing and when temps hit 100s the plants start dying. I start hitting those temps in July.
Come and tend to my garden! Wheeww! What a handsome man!
Hey there!
lol I hardly can keep up with mine! Thanks for watching & I hope you enjoyed!
-Mark
Now THATS ⬆️ a tomato garden! Extremely impressed with the growth and vigor of your plants! This is something I aspire to. I have 16 tomato plants crammed in my little back yard as well with 60 pepper plants.
We recently bought 40 acres and I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to do my garden beds, I really like your how your tomato beds are built. Once again really something to see and realize that tomatoes can grow this large and healthy.
Hi!
They are extremely vigorous. Soil makes a incredible difference. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and best of luck with your new property. Thank you so much for watching/commenting!
Happy Gardening!
-Mark
Great land, great yard. You have nice two hills up there above the garden. Which are great for the speed of the wind. You could grow grapes there aswell. Im from croatia and we usually plant few lines of cucumbers near the garden of tomatoes, i dont know why, but all old people do it. My family also plants few bayleaf trees on the corners of the tomato garden aswell. We are also massive tomato addicts and fanatics, but we have completely different variations of them. Would be happy to get some of those seeds that are less acidic, it is good for our elders. Our southern european tomatoes are more acidic. Wish i lived little a bit norther, cuz my tomatoes are dried out in 3 months. Btw. it is great that there are americans that are still living like us, nourishing our farming heritage. News on TV are showing us totally different picture of america. Modern society trends greatly distanced alpha men from farming and self-sustained village life. Funny thing, i have no idea how ur video poped up to me haha, cuz i just literally planted 240 little plants 2 days ago for this summer. Wish you all the best, keep up the hard work, make others proud of you.
Thank you Jure!
That's very nice of you,
Americans come in all shapes and sizes... we are a very diverse country with very diverse beliefs. It can be a strength of ours and a challenge of ours at the same time. I consider myself very fortunate to have been born here.
As far as the older ways of doing things, the passing down of knowledge to later generations... I do wish there was more of that...
The internet has taken the place of much of that I suppose.
I want you to know that I greatly appreciate your letter, and I wish you the best of luck!
Thanks again
-Mark
I love that he just remembers which tomatoes are planted in each spot by memory. Impressive. Good rundown of a lot of varieties. Plants look awesome. Barely any Septoria leaf spot.
Hi John!
Thanks for watching!
-Mark
Your garden is absolute goals!!!
lol Thanks! Thanks for watching too!
-Mark
Your garden is stunning! All your tomatoes look perfect! I love your over all’s too ☺️
Hi Nathalie!
Thanks so much! 😊 The overalls are very functional when working around the farm. Thanks for watching, commenting!
-Mark
Your garden looks like heaven . So beautiful
Hi!
I get a lot of enjoyment in working in it and the greenhouses also. Thanks for the kind words and I'm so glad you enjoyed the video.
-Mark
Mylanta! What a garden!!!
Thank you!!!
It's a work in progress lol.
-Mark
Another excellent video Mark. I was incredibly impressed with your knowledge of each variety. Especially how you knew each variety by name! didn't notice the plant tags stapled to the raised beds until you got to the black tomatoes (specificly the Cherokee Purple). Which is another great idea by the way. I'm growing 17 of the varieties you're growing... and agree 100% with your comments. Sun Sugar, Pink Brandywine, Chefs Choice (orange) and Ananas Noir are personal favorites. The only variety I'm growing that you didn't mention is Black Beauty. It's the blackest tomato i grow, extreme anthocyanin expression. Excellent flavor.
Again, great info.
One of the best videos I have ever watched on UA-cam....thank you, truly a pleasure..
Hey Doc!
No, thank you! What a awesome thing to say! Thanks for watching and of course, taking the time to comment too! Spread the word if you would. I need all the help I can get!
-Mark
Awesome video Mark! Keep up with the great work! Your garden looks healthy and nice, specially the tomato plants. Thanks for the tour on the varieties you’re growing, definitely some I’ll consider for future growing. This year my favorite has been the Cherokee Purple, honestly one of my super favorites. Waiting for the Abe Lincoln tomatoes to ripen here now (zone 10a) before my tomato season is over until the fall. Anyway, I really enjoyed your video. Thanks!
Thanks Javier!!!
I Looooove Cherokee Purple...
If you like that one, definitely try Ananas Noir (Black Pineapple)... Probably my favorite flavor/ texture of all so far.
Thanks for watching!
-Mark
Beautiful, I could just sit there and enjoy the beauty of this place.
Hi!
The river is my favorite place on the property along with the wooded areas. Thanks for watching!
-Mark
Wow. Blown away with your tomatoes. Excellent vigor and health amongst all. Have a bit of tomato envy and surprised u don't gave more subscribers. Anyway, I've just subscribed as your crop is so awesome, it inspires.
So nice of you!
I really appreciate that...
Thank you for watching!
-Mark
Your garden is awesome!
Hi Eleanor!
Thank you! It's lots of work, but I get much pleasure from it! As always, thank you for watching my videos and for your comments too!
All my very best, -Mark
So jealous, such an amazing garden.
So nice of you to say! Thanks for watching too!
-Mark
I love your tomato cages, they are awesome.
Hi Shelly!
Glad you like them! They really work very well being so heavy, so no bending and the fact I can stack them and store them so easily really is nice. Shelly, I really appreciate you watching my video and hope you continue with future ones. I'm getting ready tomorrow to add a video of the farm greenhouses which are full of all kinds of plants now, so check it out if you would like.
Take care,
-Mark
i love how you designed your garden, looks beautiful
Hi Al!
Thank you! I had to design it with the grass strips to eliminate the soil erosion and also allow space for when I have garden visit days, so there were practical reasons behind the design. Thanks for watching/commenting!
Happy Gardening!
-Mark
Big THANKS for the tour green thumb to the max .thanks again Dantheman
Hi Dan!
Any time! Glad you enjoyed! I'm getting ready to do a tour of the greenhouses today, so you may like that one as well. Thank you for watching!
-Mark
This was great to watch while I am dreaming and planning my upcoming crop! Tomatoes are by far my favorite crop and I love love love variety!
Hi Tanya!
Thank you! If you get a chance, you may want to check out the "tomato taste testing" videos from last summer. They have some really good info. in them. Thanks for watching and I really do appreciate your comments too!
All my very best, -Mark
Wow beautiful tomato bushes 🤩
Hi Patti!
Thank you!
Yes, we really enjoyed them a lot last summer.
and thanks for watching!
-Mark
Great tomato tour & very inspirational for making this seasons picks. Thanks...really enjoyable video.
Hi quenuk!
Glad you enjoyed! Thanks so much for watching too!
Take care,
-Mark
Very impressive garden man, congrats! This is my 2nd year gardening in a smallish backyard so I’m single stemming in raised beds but that garden is inspiring! Keep the videos coming!
Awesome! Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!
Damn Dude, that is one well maintained and thriving garden! I'm subbing you and am looking forward to watching a lot more of your videos! :)
Hey Buyerofsorts!
I did enjoy that garden a lot last year. Thank you and keep giving me feedback good and bad if you would. As always, thanks for watching!
-Mark
@@marksgardenlife5971 You're welcome. :)
Gosh, I’ve found my new favorite to follow on UA-cam! LOL. But honestly, Mark, love that your videos are not overly edited, if at all, and appreciate you sharing your horticulture knowledge and experience. Personally, I don’t have a lot of space for big sturdy cages but have had great success trellising tomatoes using the vertical string method.
Hi Scott!
Wow, thank you! Typically, I don't edit anything unless it's really something that needs to be removed. I'm still in my 20's, learning along the way and I make mistakes and don't know it all by any means. But I love learning, hearing from people such as yourself and just really love what I do! How many people can say that in life! Scott, thanks for watching, commenting and hope to hear from you again!
Happy Gardening!
-Mark
I really appreciate and enjoy this, I to love big tomatoes . I've learned so much . I have to get those seeds . Thank you
I'm impressed, the numbers of varieties you grow plus I didn't see any diseased plants. I've just subscribed just to rewatch as I plan next years tomato garden. I want to suggest a variety for you to try just to hear your review of it, it's called "Goose Creek" which is one of my favorites. I agree with you though, hard to have just one favorite and like you I really like the yellows with red streaks "Georgia Streak" would be one, but your video gave me so many others of this type to try. Thank you, for the tour of your beautiful kept garden.
“Upstate NY”, I’m doing all containers, trying my veggies again after years, everything looks great so far!
Thanks for your video
Wow..what an amazing garden. Hurry up tomato season.
Thank you! And I agree, I can't wait either!
Good looking gardener
That's very kind of you to say! Thank you!
You keep a tidy place. I like that.
Nice job with the video... Added to my growing list Sun Peach! Looking forward to your tomato season 2021. I only grow tomatos. I am in Vancouver, Washington
Kelly, thanks again! I was out west a few years ago for several weeks and really enjoyed it. I loved Seattle with it's Japanese Gardens and the airplane museum was great! We are putting a large Japanese Garden here on the farm, so I learned a lot visiting the two in Seattle and all the others heading south I visited too. The Olympic National Park was incredible and I actually had great weather while there! Enjoy the Sun Peach and again thank you!
Take care, Mark Spread the word on my channel if you like it!
Beautiful Tom's!!! 👍👍
I love my heirloom's !
I think Gold Metal is my favorite! 😋😋😋😋😋😊
Virginia Sweets is my all-time favorite!! I live in the deep south of Mississippi and they are very difficult to grow here but I do it anyway even if I only get 1-2 tomatoes before the heat or disease kills them. That 1 or two tomatoes are totally worth the wait! You have a beautiful garden!
Thank you!!! Virginia Sweets are just wonderful. Yes, we're very fortunate here in Maryland... Our tomatoes seem to be pretty happy here.
Thank you so much for watching!
This is my dream garden 😀
Great job Mark.
I'm growing some tomatoes and cucumbers myself in my urban backyard here in northern New Jersey. My favorite is the yellow pear tomatoes 🍅
Hi!
That's great! There is nothing like harvesting it from your own back yard! Thanks for watching and the comment as well.
-Mark
Your garden layout looks awesome. I aspire to have that! +1 for Brad's atomic grape.
Hi BC!
Thanks! I spent a lot of time working to get it to that point. Thanks for watching & I hope you find it interesting enough to continue. If you like my channel, please spread the word if you would!
Take care,
-Mark
I always plant marigolds between my tomatoes like you.this is a beautiful garden thanks for sharing
Hi Daniel,
Thank you!
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for watching!
-Mark
When I plant Marigolds between my vegi plants, I get tons of snails. I have stopped growing the Marigolds because of that.
Do you have any suggestions?
Hi there! I just came across your channel I enjoyed getting a glimpse of your tomato set up. I am also a fellow Marylander and look forward to learning from someone in the same area!
Hi Cyannmarie!
Actually, I am going to have a few "tour the garden and meet and greet" days and if your interested, of course your welcome. There is also a few acres of greenhouses as well. Next year, I am going to hold a tomato festival at the farm too which you may be interested.
Thanks for watching! Take care, Mark
Hi there! All of that sounds wonderful! I will keep an eye out for the dates!
Hi Mark, Im Ale, your new fan!!!! congratulations on your beautiful garden, and greetings from Monterrey, Mexico!!!
Hi Ale!
New fan....why thank you! The garden....Thanks! It's a labor of love. I believe you are the first person I'm aware of that has commented to me from Mexico. Nice! Spread the word of my channel in Mexico if you would not mind. Thank you so much for watching and of course, commenting as well!
Ale, you have a great day/evening!
Best, -Mark
Great looking garden my man. First year growing Heirloom tomatoes all from seeds. Mine already are looking good here in San Antonio. Hope I get the crop your have. Enjoyed your video.
Thanks James!
Let me know if you discover any really good varieties!
amazing garden, superjob, i was inspired with a big yellow one which turns pinkish, thank you
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the garden. If you are a tomato connoisseur and have some spare time you may want to watch the taste testing videos of tomatoes from last summer. Some really good info. Thanks for watching and I really do appreciate your comments.
All my very best, -Mark
Great selection, would have made a great tasting video with all these varieties, great to see then sliced and tasted.
Yes it would! For this year's upcoming tomato review, I'm going to plan it out a little better, I'll have them already picked, and then I'll slice them on cam like you say. This first tomato video was just sort of improvised. I'm actually very surprised it's reached so many people by now. Thank you so much for watching!
@@marksgardenlife5971 It was nice to have a walk around the garden anyway so a combination of both perhaps, on what your experience with the plant, production, any traits etc. Unless it is more or less the same then just the taste test part for this year.
Woff!!Beautiful tomatoes.
Thank you!
Awesome those are some large tomato plants, I love the big varieties and same I am not a fan of blueberry. Very helpful video.
Yes, blueberry and midnight snack were not amongst my favorites as far as flavor goes lol, but we all know everyone has different tastes. The plants themselves were beautiful though!!!
I'm looking forward to trying some new tomato varieties this year.
I'm glad you liked my video,
Thanks so much for watching!
-Mark
Thanks for the video! I echo what everyone else is saying in that plants are insane looking! I hope mine are going to look half that good. Happy to hear the super sweet 100s are a good one. I’ll be transplanting about 50 of them this weekend for our market garden.
Hi Bryan! I'm glad you liked it! I trial new varieties every year, so late season, I'll do another video of what I've learned. If you like my videos, spread the word. What part of the country are you located?
Thanks, Mark
@@marksgardenlife5971 I'm looking forward to the next video on this later this season! I don't think I have seen a better tomato video on the internet to be honest. I am in North Texas. Just got rows of the Super Sweet 100, Celebrity, and Black Krim in the ground and now praying for no more late frosts. I went heavy on heirlooms last year and they did fine but I got a bit tired of some of the cracking and other issues they can have. I added Sun Sugar and Sun Peach to my list for next year after watching this video. Good luck this year!
that sun sugar is my favorite cherry as well I discovered it on a cherry tomato hunt 2 yrs. ago, I love the hybrid Porterhouse for size and taste.
I will definitely need to try Porterhouse!... I've heard a few times now that that's a good one.
Thanks for your comment!
Thanks for watching!
-Mark
Subbed at the 14 minute mark, Mark.
Thank you!
Sub at 14 minutes or get out of my building ~ Mugato
you sir obviously know your stuff.your tomato plants look great.super healthy you can see that by the color and production you have.kudo's to you.wish i could get plants looking like that.i do have what might be a record...2 pink brandywine plants produced 62 tomatoes on 1-plant and 69 tomatoes on the other plant.have not been able to come close to that production again though.plants were 8ft tall.
Mark
Merry Christmas Mark
Thanks for the shout out to me in Maine
You are so beautiful, thanks for sharing with me.
Hope Santa brings you a dusting of snow.
Thanks Mike! Look forward to hearing from you in 2022!
All my very best, -Mark
Love you cages.So looks like you not cutting anything off your tomatoes,looks like pretty trees, I liked, maybe I do that next year.
Hi Markiza!
Cages...I do too! In 2020 I didn't, but 2021 I did. Check out the video for 2021. Thanks for watching/commenting!
Happy Gardening!
-Mark
@@marksgardenlife5971 Hi ty for responding, do you made them or you buy them ?
I made them! I have a video on "How to Make Tomato Cages That Last"
Best,
-Mark
I hope you’ll be posting more garden/tomato videos this season as well!
There are a bunch more coming!
I'm super excited for year 2 in the new garden!
Please stay tuned!
Thanks and Best,
-Mark
Amazing garden!! Would LOVE to see a video on your planting medium, how you plant these, why you use the square cages...basically, how we can replicate these tomato results in our own gardens!!
Hi Victoria!
Thank you! I am getting ready to do a video on my planting medium, so keep an eye out for it. Also one is coming out this weekend on how I make the square tomato cages as well. Thanks for the suggestions! Thank you for watching my video too! Take care! -Mark
Interested on how they all got so huge!
Beautiful work with your garden and just subbed! 😁🌱
Thank you!!! That's awesome!
Wow what commitment to tomato genetics.
Hi Colin!
It's interesting trying all the different varieties and believe it or not, there are huge differences in taste. Thank you so much for watching/commenting!
Happy Gardening!
-Mark
Awesome I plant some of your tomatoe varieties. Thank u
Hi Laurel!
You'll have to let me know how you like them once you start getting fruit from them. Thanks for watching!
-Mark
Agree separate tomatoes by their uses.
Also thy don't always peak the same day of the year, I'm ordering the chefs choice Orange and the Big hybrid of the wine family.
Thank for showing many of a fire collection
John, it was my pleasure! Thank you!
-Mark
Thanks for the video, great info for a first time grower like me. I decided on Cherokee purple and Mr Stripey for my first year. Hope to try some you mentioned in this video for my next year!
Hi Zachary!
Good luck to you!
Those are two nice varieties to start with... If you like Mr. Stripey, definitely try Virginia Sweets at some point to compare...
Be sure to use plenty of cow manure if you can get it!
Most farmers will let you fill a trashcan if you ask nicely.
Best,
-Mark
@@marksgardenlife5971 I got a hookup on that good rabbit poop,man! Haha. Thank you for the suggestions, a first year grower like me definitely needs the advice.
Cherokee purple are some of my favorites. I hope you like them!
Mark's Garden Life ...is the manure pretty broken down when you get it or is it hot? How long do you let it sit?
Really big tomatoes... You maintain the garden clean and attractive ..like you so much mark the 😍😍😍
Hi Balaji!
Yes, I do have some big ones! I like a neat and organized garden. That's such a kind thing to say! Thank you! Thank you so much for watching and of course complementing too! Spread the word of my channel if you would.
Balaji, you have a wonderful day/evening!
Best, -Mark
I love sun sugar very sweet also I like the old burpee delicious . and I grew Virginia sweet and loved it. It does crack with rain.
Try adding Limestone... the calcium may help with skin health. That's something I neglected to add this past year and I did ok, but things would have been better for me if I had.
Always make sure to wear a mask when handling ground limestone... It contains silica.
Thank you for watching!
-Mark
AWESOME REVIEWS
Thank you!!!
And Thanks so much for watching!
I tried out the dwarf variety Patio this spring and they were very productive from March/April-June. We had a heatwave where it was 110-118 degrees every day for weeks, I was sure the plants were toast considering how crispy they got but they've pulled through. They've even started producing again, I have 3 of them in a 17 gallon grow bag. I'm also trying out some dwarf Geranium Kiss tomatoes. I also decided to plant two arid cherry tomato varieties as well as some other cherry tomatoes. I planted multiple seeds in each grow bag and decided to see which ones would survive the desert heat. I started out with around 25 seedlings in early May when it was in the upper 90s/low 100s and only 5 survived the blast furnace and were flowering today when it was 106 degrees. Gardening in the low desert is a challenge.
Hi Kathryn!
And I have been thinking it's hot here! Of course, we have horrible humidity along with the heat which you don't, but that's still so hot! 90f is considered hot here! I bet it is a challenge! Best of luck to you. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Kathryn, you have a great weekend!
Best, -Mark
@@marksgardenlife5971 June 30-September 15th is considered our rainy season. 110 F and 50% humidity is pretty miserable. We've had our third wettest summer on record. We've gotten almost 13 inches of rain between July 1st-August 31st. Most of us hide inside during the day in the summer, I tend to do most of my gardening after the sun goes down. Thankfully the weather is cooling down so it's supposed to be in the 90s with about 75% humidity thanks to the hurricanes in the gulf of Mexico and the gulf of Baja. It rained all day today, almost all of my plants definitely appreciate it. The one exception is my thyme plant which succumbed to a combination of too much water and dozens of cabbage loopers, tomato hornworms, and sphinx caterpillars.
Nice video & lovely garden. I’m in Texas & have put in a wheat straw bale garden for the first time. I have more produce than ever before. I need a ladder to pick my tomatoes. I prune the tomato lower limbs as they age & turn yellow. It makes them leggy & I use ties to secure them to the trellis. It doesn’t appear that you prune at all perhaps your climate is better??? Wanted your opinion on pruning. I can highly recommend a variety called “lemon boy”. They & the Cherokee purple have been my favorite this year. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Susan!
I would love to start a straw bale set up...
Customers here at the nursery who have done this all seem to say great things about them.
It's a bridge I just haven't crossed yet.
Lemon Boy is a great variety... Nice round fruits. Lemon Boy and Golden Jubilee are kind of neck and neck for me.
My Purple Cherokee isn't doing so well this year which makes me a little sad. Such a great tomato.
I do have a pruning video on tomatoes...
It's called:
"Tomatoes- How to Prune/ Water/ Best Practices"
It pretty much sums up how I feel about pruning.
Thank you Susan for commenting,
I apologize for the late reply.
Best,
-Mark
I just found your channel today. Wow those are some immaculate tomato plants. How do you keep the blight away? Looking at your other videos, I see there's one about tomato cages. Those are some of the best tomato cages I've seen yet. Thank you.
Hi Tom!
Playing catchup with getting back with comments. I'm sorry for the delay! I haven't had any problem with blight yet, but you never know. I have excellent air circulation where the garden is located and that probably helps. The tomato cages.....yes, I love them. They are very heavy and will last for years and the best thing is I can break them down and stack and store them for the winter. Tom, thanks so much for watching and I hope I keep it interesting enough for you to continue watching my channel.
Thanks again!
-Mark
Good variety’s
Hi Madhavi!
Lot's of varieties! Thanks for watching/commenting?
Happy Gardening!
-Mark
Hello from Long Island New Yorks Zone 7a 👋 this is the Best tomato review I've seen yet! Beautiful garden thank you for the tour (why have you never made sauce?)
Hi there!!! We're zone buddies! Lol. I really appreciate the kind words... As far as sauce goes, I guess I'm honestly not that much of a "pasta person"...
I'll need to try my hand at making sauce this summer...
I like canning my tomatoes though, and eating them just like that... I actually find that I can't keep myself from demolishing a whole quart jar in one sitting most of the time.
I urge you to try growing Jersey Devil if you haven't already.
Best!
-Mark
Great placement of flowers in each tomato bed to attract pollinators. Could you provide a list of the species of flower that you plant as companion pollinators for tomatoes? Thanks! Great video, very helpful.
Hey Becca!
That sounds like a cool video Idea!
I put it on my list.
I could cover a lot of the basics, and explain why.
Thank you for the suggestion!
-Mark
Mark this video prompted us to pick up a sun sugar plant at our local big box when we saw it, they are so tasty! Thanks for the recommendation.
Hi Two Peas!
I'm glad you like it. It really is a very sweet tomato isn't it! Thanks for watching/supporting and commenting too!
Best,
-Mark
Beautiful garden! What is that mulch you are using? I have been growing Sunsugar for over a decade they are my favorite. Mortgage Lifter is a new favorite for the larger tomatoes.
Definitely second you on sun sugars. I left them all over my garden last year hoping for volunteers this year. I’ll know pretty soon if it worked. :)
Hi Sara!
One of the sweetest tomatoes on the market. Typically, I can't walk past the Sun Sugars in the garden without grabbing a handful! Thanks so much for watching my video and I hope you enjoyed!
Take care,
Mark
FYI: Saving seeds from sun sugars have not produced the same results compared to the original hybrid. I have tried for years and have had nothing come close. I have grown sun sugars for years...they are the best!
Awesome content! It doesn't look like you single stem any of your indeterminants, can you do something on the cages you are using and how you manage disease.
Just found your site. So very impressed. The most beautiful tomatoe plants I've seen. Do you have a how to grow tomatoe video??
I will do a series this year on tomato plants this year.. Following planting, to maintenance, to harvest... Please keep an eye out for it coming up.
Best,
-Mark
@@marksgardenlife5971 I will be watching for the tomatoe visit. Thank you for replying.
Just when I thought I had seen it all your video showed up. I’m in love with your garden, it is beyond the most beautiful I have seen on UA-cam! If I lived closer, I would probably move in. By the way what type of wood are your garden beds?
Hi KC!
If you moved into my garden, I'd have to put you to work! lol Thanks for the nice compliment! There is a lot of hard work and long hours invested into that garden and it's nice to hear compliments! The wood around the beds is landscape timbers. Thanks so much for watching and I hope you find my content interesting enough to continue watching!
Take care,
-Mark
@Mark's Garden Life What do you do to keep the hornworms at bay? They can be super destructive here in the desert.
Virginia Sweets is in my top 3 for flavor. #1 or #2. White Tomesol also - OMG that one wowed me last year and was the best tomato I've had in my life.
I've added White Tomesol to my list... I was considering downsizing the tomato area this season, but I am already reconsidering... There are just so many new ones I'm dying to try.
Thank You for the recommendation!
-Mark
@@marksgardenlife5971 Have you considered pruning? Growing more or bigger fruit per plant vs. all those leaves?
That said - I see no disease!
While I also like sun sugar, my favorite cherry is super sweet 100. I harvested 1,620 from my single SS100 last year.
Tomato 🍅 Heaven !!!! I love your set up . What do you do with all of those tomatoes?
Hi Cece!
Thank you! I donate to local food pantries and can also. Thanks for watching/commenting!
-Mark
drooling here...😍😍😍😍😍
Hey !
They were good! Thanks for watching/commenting!
Best, -Mark
@@marksgardenlife5971 Thanks for sharing. I will definitely try to plant a few of them.👍❤😍
Have you planted Rutgers tomatoes? I’m from NJ. This is one of the most popular tomato plants up here. They are disease resistant, mature early, very tasty and will produce into early October.
Just look at the size of your tomatoes 🍅😍
I grew German Johnson this year. It is the only variety that got blight very early. I've been keeping it under control but very disappointing. All of the others were fine. There has been some spread to near by plants now.. Size of the tomatoes is good but I haven't had a chance to taste it yet, the critters beat me to it. I'll be taking care of that today!
Look at that production
Thanks for watching!
-Mark
Brilliant
Thanks! Thank you for watching/commenting!
You have a great week!
Cheers, -Mark
Tomato are my favorite food I would be in heaven there 💗
Hi Patti!
I thought I was going to be sick of tomatoes by the time the season was over last year but it never happened! I satiated my cravings with canned tomatoes that turned out awesome!
Thanks for watching!!
-Mark
Wow that garden is so beautiful and perfect as well as the surroundings. Everything looks absolutely amazing. You should be so proud!This is really an inspiration.
Questions....
Do you rotate or plan to?
If you don't prune how do you keep those monsters in their cages!? I noticed twine or rope, is that what that's for?
How do you handle the leaf spot that comes later in the season? Or any other pest or disease?
Till or no till or just in the beginning of the beds?
No fertilizer just manure?! I always worry I'm putting too much manure, how do you know?
Where does all of the harvest go?
How do you reach in to harvest the ones like jasper and pear tomatoes that are so huge?!
Sorry but I'm so into this!
Thank you!
Yes, I will try to rotate crops as best as I can...
The twine is 3 ply jute twine and yes, it keeps them a little more controlled...
The manure I used had sat for a while, and was full of red worms when I got it, which indicated to me that it was not too "hot" and I could get away with using a lot more than I would traditionally feel comfortable with... Everything grew fine in it except the legumes which did not appreciate the excessive Nitrogen.
Obviously not all manure is the same.
I haven't had too bad of an issue with leaf spot or any other pests really... I am going to plant 8 tomatoes per 8ft x 24 ft bed this year instead of 12... I think that will improve air flow and harvestability significantly... I think more airflow will help mitigate most fungal diseases.
Most of the harvest goes to others who work at the farm or the nursery, family, friends, neighbors, and local food pantries.
I hope this helps,
And again thank you so much for watching!
Best...
-Mark
@@marksgardenlife5971 thank you so much Mark, you are honestly amazing! I've already started replicating your tomato cages, I've got two complete so far with a ton more to go. I'm excited to have something that will actually hold up and be reusable. I showed my boyfriend your videos and he wanted me to mirror it and watch on tv which we never do. So we both love your work now and we are really looking forward to seeing this years garden come along!! Don't work too hard:)
I believe the current record holder is a “Domingo” which weighed around 4.8kg/10lb 12oz 😁🍅 that would be one hell of a hefty mater! 🤣👌🏼 am trying the variety this year - I don’t expect anything quite that size in my UK greenhouse 🤣 great video - such an array of toms and that’s only what I’ve seen in this video! Will be perusing your channel 😊👍🏼
Hi there!
Yes, I need to get Domingo into the Roster...
I cant imagine what a 10lb tomato must look like!
I really appreciate you watching...
I hope you can write back and let me know how Domingo worked out for you!.
I've got 20 something new varieties from a friend of mine that I am adding this year so please stay tuned!
And please spread the word if you can!
Best,
-Mark
Mark's Garden Life thanks Mark! I most certainly will stay tuned! Looking forward to seeing what you have growing this year! 😊 Domingo is one for you for next year then! 👌🏼
I tell ya what I'm a 4th generation tamatoe growing fool . And for 30 yrs I've always stuck with Big boy's for they're flavor and thin skin. Along with my second fav the Big German. But this season I lucked into a tomatoes called black prince . It's deff a slicing / fresh eating right in the garden with a salt shaker. I was gung ho on thee Cherokee purple but something happened 3 yrs back with it genetics cause they only double lead. Like a wish bone and produce 2 maybe 3 on each leader. When first raised 6 years ago I couldn't eat them all. Lol. I'm trying to find a "yellow pear" it seems to be replaced by the single cherry and sweet 100 cherry. I miss thee odd shape of the yellow pear cherry tomatoes. They had an almost stem shaped top comming off the top that looked like a ducks head after picked
Your plants look so healthy, and it looks like you don't even prune the bottom leaves off. Can you share your secrets to such healthy, full tomato plants?
Hi Sarah!
It's totally in the soil. If you get a chance, watch my video on my garden soil. And no, I don't do any pruning at all. Sara, thanks for watching and also for taking the time to send a comment to me. Hope the soil video helps!
-Mark
Maryland! My GOD, look at those plants! ...in my eyes, coming from the Desert SW, that ain't Natural! LOL
Maybe you are actually about 3 ft tall, and the Camera is fooling my eyes! LOL, I swear that big one you pulled gave you a bicep! ....I am leaving, right now! I cannot watch this! LOL Gorgeous!
Unbelievably beautiful garden. I don't know where you find the time! Just the investment in your cages boggles my mind. What is your soil breakdown and amendments that you use?
Hi there!
My soil breakdown is listed in one of the comments just below...
Every year I will be adding more stuff though. Gotta keep feeding the soil and building the ecology.
I think I will do an in depth look at soil in a video later this spring, so please stay tuned!
Yes, there have been a lot of late nights haha...
last night I didn't put the tools away until 10 lol.
Thank you for watching!
-Mark
Big and healthy plants, what medium are you growing in? how do you keep them so big and healthy? Nice Work Man!
Hi there!
I'm just getting around to answering some comments today, sorry about that... I just answered a comment a few rows down regarding what's in the soil so far.... It's pretty much manure, manure, manure.
Thanks for watching!!!
Best,
-Mark
I will have enough room to try your method next year. Very inspiring. What is your irrigation set up and how much water do they get daily/weekly? Water once or twice and for how long? Thanks 👍
Hi RC!
Glad you enjoyed! Thank you! Irrigation.....none yet. I actually have not watered at all this year with the exception when they were first planted. I am going to install drip irrigation for next year though. When you do water, keep water off the plant and water slow and deep and not to often. Thanks for watching/commenting!
Happy Gardening!
-Mark
@@marksgardenlife5971 ok, good to know. Yes I use a drip system in raised beds with 1/3 horse manure. 1.5 hours every morning on a timer because I live in high desert in Western Canada. Next year will be more like your system but with overhead sprinklers. It's so dry here I might not have to worry. Thanks for reminding me about how good those little sungolds are. Cheers
You're very welcome!
-Mark