Picking ripe tomatoes (Beaverlodge Slicer) out of my unheated hoophouse!
I'm pretty sure I've never had a ripe tomato of any kind in July before... this variety isn't terribly large, about golf-ball size, and probably not the best tasting tomato that I've ever had, but I'm certainly not going to tell those plants that!! They are definitely light years ahead of supermarket tomatoes! Hoping to replace my aging 8x16-foot Rion greenhouse this fall with a 16x20 hoophouse that will have benches for seedlings and also room (in my established garden) for growing in-ground. I was able to put the tomato plants in the unheated HH this spring a full month earlier than I can plant outdoors, and I think I could have pushed it by 2 more weeks. A huge added benefit is that the plants in the HH do not become diseased nearly as soon as the outdoor plants, giving them more time to produce. If I could grow most (if not all) of my tomatoes under cover I would really be living large!
(Diamond jewelry? nah.... I really want a big hoophouse!! )
