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<\/p>\nBy Jenny Spring<\/i><\/p>\n
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I put at a lot of time and effort into growing my tomatoes. In fact, I have a volunteer this year who is pretty much only tending to the tomatoes. It\u2019s almost a full-time job.<\/p>\n
I start my tomato plants from seed in February. I grow the plants under lights in my house or basement. I continue to pot them up as they grow larger and eventually they go into a heated greenhouse in March.<\/p>\n
I then tend to my potted plants for about a month in the greenhouse and eventually plant them in the ground (in the greenhouse) 18 inches apart with loads of compost. I trellis the plants up a string and prune them hard which sends energy into producing fruit instead of leaves.<\/p>\n
Tomatoes hate the cold so we heat the greenhouse and try to keep the temperature no lower than 18 degrees at night. I think it is very difficult to grow tomatoes outside in Muskoka: it gets too cold at night time. To get a large yield I suggest building a small greenhouse. I also suggest growing them in the ground and not in pots. Their roots are very large and need space.<\/p>\n
Planting tip:<\/strong> We grow our basil at the bottom of each tomato plant as they are companion plants.<\/p>\n This year I grew 12 different kinds of heirloom tomatoes – all different shapes, colours and sizes. Here are a couple of pictures of our Muskoka harvest. We are in the thick of tomato season right now and you can get the tomatoes at the Huntsville Market.<\/p>\n\n\t\t