2025 Garden

I’m starting to plan what I want to plant this year.
I’m wondering what your favorite kind of tomato is to grow?

I like Roma’s and I will plant an early girl or some other slicer. Going to cut back on the maters this year. I had eight containers of maters last year. The deer nipped them early but they recovered. The day I was going to pick the majority of them the deer got all of them the night before!

We do a container garden up at the lake. We have a bucket caddy on wheels that holds eight buckets. It’s close to the cabin so for four years the deer never bothered it. They got a little braver last year. I’m going to have to come up with a fence system around it this year. I really had success with potatoes in grow bags last year. Deer never bothered them and they were only ten feet away from the tomatoes. I started with six bags last year and already got six more for next year. Ten gallon ones work the best. You have enough room for 3 or 4 potato plants and they aren’t so big and heavy that you can still move them around.

I’m moving to mostly metal raised beds this year. My ground sucks and I’m tired of fighting underground vining weeds, like wild grape and horsetail. I used some spiff points from work to order eight galvanized Hanover beds 72L x 35W x 22H. Going cost me some coin to fill them but they should outlast me. I know there will still be weeds, but at least there will be better dirt to grow in. I have two dozen 6gal grow bags that I use for peppers. I find that I can grow two hot pepper plants just fine in each one. I still haven’t found an always reliable tomato variety and I try a few new ones each year. Amish Paste seems to always do better than the rest.

Heirlooms are my favorite tomatoes, for eating raw or adding to a burger or sandwich. Roma’s are good for sauces/salsa. I haven’t started even thinking about the garden, but I buy started plants Memorial Day weekend.