Why Plant Tomatoes? For the Health Benefits and Increased Income

I enjoyed the exercise of Three Tomato plants last Year and my health and stamina has been Improved from the addition of a fantastic Liquid Multivitamin, GBG 10-in-ONE to my Regimen, I decide to expand the plot to 24 Plants and record the progress on Video.

I will be posting the progress with Text, photos and Video snippets.

It is expected to show how these 24 Plants, cared for properly (10-15 minutes a day) can not only provide a generous supply of Lycopene rich Tomatoes to your family's Table, but add another $1,000 to your Fun Budget.

I planted the first 12 on Easter Sunday March23, 2008 and the second 12 on March 30, 2008.

Another direction this year is getting back to some of my passion regarding Farming and gardening form 45 years ago.

I have always leaned toward the natural method of Farming and "living in General".
I highly recommend

Beginners Organic Gardening
Click on the Book



and also from the Mittleider Method

How to Grow Tomatoes
Click on the Book

In 2008 I decided to build a Business Model for our Membership Community Beginners marketing Class using a personal Passion, growing Tomatoes.

For years we raised our Children frorn the Bountiful Harvest and well manged Business of Our 20 Acre truck farm.

So as mentioned in this lens I set out to plant 24 Plants and shoot for 1,000 pound yield and earn a $1,000.


The results are now available on a quality DVD delivered to You door for less than the price of a Family Pizza.

Pay special attention to the Planting, pruning and Tying segments. It is possible to enjoy 30-50 pounds of delicious Tomatoes form a well tended Indeterminate Variety of Tomatoes.

Order your DVD Now and get ready for a FUN, HEALTH and Wealthy Growing Season

Growing Tomatoes for Health and Wealth

A-Frame Support
Maximize your harvest of peas, cucumbers, summer squash and melons by growing them up this space-saving trellis. The poly-coated steel poles clip together without tools to create a frame that's approximately 5' high x 5' long. You get 42 square feet of growing space in a 15 square foot footprint. Support the vines by adding your own twine or netting, or use our Nearly Invisible Netting. Sturdy trellis goes up in minutes! Maximize your growing space Works with our Nearly Invisible Netting attached with Reusable Plant Ties, sold separately Poly-coated steel 5' H x 5' L Easy assembly Frame folds for easy off-season storage

Gardener's Supply Company
Expandable Pea Fence, 8 Panel (506135061)
This expandable fence supports peas, cucumbers, tomatoes and other climbing plants while it keeps valuable fruit off the ground and away from pests and rot. The eight panels are joined with coil hinges, so you can form square cages, zig-zag fences, or whatever fits your needs. The big 8" squares make picking easy Built to be tall and sturdy Extend by linking panels together All panels linked together are 9' 4" L x 3' 11" H overall (3' H installed) 10-gauge galvanized steel wire Folds flat for storage. Gardener's Supply Exclusive

There are some great articles written on HOW To grow delicious vegetables in small spaces.

Check out some of the Links....

Tomatoes are easy to grow and if done correctly, one plant will yield 30# to 40# of usable Tomatoes.
When we were full time Truck farming we would plant 1/4 acre of POLED TOMATOES and enjoyed $8,000-$9,000 Cash Income at sale prices much Lower than Today.

Planting the Plants correctly early spring, about 2' apart in rows 36" apart, a small space can yield 100's of Pounds of Tomatoes for You and enough to sell to friends and Neighbors, or the Local small
Market.

If the rows were 30 feet long and the plot was 12' wide, you could have 60 Plants. Tended properly, stake and pruned when needed, you could expect 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of Fruit......
do the mathe at 25 cents pound.. and that is way too cheap for VINE Ripened Tomatoes

The secret is in Starting right, and diligently Tend Your Crop daily

What a great way to to un-wind from your Business world and profit at the same time..

I call my small plot another stream of HEALTHY Income

UPDATE September 11, 2007:

We have been Harvesting Beautiful Vine ripe Tomatoes daily for the past month. Total yield #1 quality fruit is just under 30 pound from the Three Plants. We experience several 105 degree days end of June and early July...that put stress on the plants.

Looking for at least 120 pounds #1 Fruit before season finishes...

Update September 23, 2007
We are up to 75 pounds of harvested #1 quality fruit. The past two days have unseasonably wet and cold, and we lost some blossom set......
But sunshine is on its way.

Update October 5, 2007
Things cooled off here in the Northstate. We slowed down ripening.
Only harvested 11 pounds since 09-23-7.
On the bright side, the vines are full of blooms and our Indian Summer is showing up.
Shirley started loading the Row with Shavings form the barns to keep the roots warm.
So we are up to 86# Number 1 Grade Tomatoes.
At the low price of 50 cent a pound The crop has been worth a gross of $43.00.
Not bad for investment, so far, of less than $10.00

UPDATE NOVEMBER 1, 2007
Wel the first of November in Northern California is cooling off. Nighttime temps in the high 40's and Daytime (short sun hours of course) is getting to the mid 70's.
We have harvested the third set of fruit and total to date is 118#. Again using the market price of a low 50 cent a pound the three plants have yielded a
$59 income.....equates to a 1/4 acre income of Several thousand dollars.

We have a very strong Set of bloom and small tomatoes set...it will be touchy to see if they make ripening.
In the past we harvested green-breaking color fruit at or about Frost and hung them in the Barn for Christmas tomatoes.
See ya later...get ready for journey to healthy Fun and profit next spring!

___________________________________

Update December 3, 2007
Well Jack Frost arrive December 1st.
I feel asleep early and forget to cover the
plants.

The young tender growth was hit, but it will
take a few days to see overall damage.

The GOOD side is we have about 20# of good
size Tomatoes breaking color. We may pick
and hang them in the Barn. The flavor will not
be as delicious as the Total Vine Ripe
of the summer, but they will be better
than "store bought"

Well have Christmas Tomatoes. Happy Holidays

By Michelle Fabio

We know tomatoes as juicy, tasty, and simply delicious, but it wasn't always this way.

The tomato is said to have been around since as early as 700 A.D. growing wild in the Andes of South America and cultivated by Incas and Aztecs; somehow tomatoes eventually ended up in Central America, and when the Spanish began colonizing America, they took red, seedy fruit to the Caribbean, the Philippines, Asia, and, of course, Europe.

By the 16th century, tomatoes were widely grown and eaten throughout the Mediterranean region where the climate was perfect for growing. Indeed, the earliest tomato recipe can be found in a cookbook from Naples, Italy-although the culinary secrets may be Spanish in origin.

The tomato wasn't welcomed as kindly in Britain or North America, though, where many people thought the strange plant was poisonous because it is a member of the nightshade family-which can be deadly when ingested. We now know that a tomato plant's leaves and stems can be poisonous, but the fruit, the tomato, is edible.

It wasn't until the mid to late 1700s that the tomato became popular in its native hemisphere. Third United States President Thomas Jefferson, having eaten tomatoes in Paris, is said to have begun growing them in Virginia in 1781-within another 50 years, American cookbooks were full of tomato recipe offerings.

So, actually, although the tomato has been around for over a thousand years, it has only recently become a common sight in gardens and on dinner tables.

Thank goodness for progress!

I thank Michelle Fabio for this great article
Visit a real
Tomato Fest
http://www.tomatocasual.com/