Josephine Alexander: The lazy gardener's guide to tomatoes

It seems to me that most people who grow anything grow tomatoes. I suspect that it is because garden-grown tomatoes are vastly superior to the mealy reddish orbs usually found in the grocery store. Even an in-season Ripley tomato can't hold a candle to a vine-ripened and sun warmed tomato right out of your back yard or community garden.

I know people who putter in the garden, doting lovingly on their tomato plants. This does not describe me. If you are a tomato doter, this post is not for you. I am not trying to grow the perfect tomato; I am trying to grow any tomato. Rest assured, you can grow an abundance of great tomatoes with minimal effort.

First things first, there are a few things you can't skimp on. Tomatoes need adequate soil fertility. Plant them in a spot well amended with compost. There is no substitution for the sun. Tomatoes need at least six hours a day to produce fruit, and will do better with more. Lastly, consistent and thorough watering is important and helps prevent disease.

I have two secrets to tomato success - using mulch and choosing easy-to-grow varieties:

Mulch, mulch, mulch. Mulching tomatoes with straw allows me to be a little lazier about watering. Watering is something I have to do every couple days. Mulching only has to happen once per season. You do the math. I strongly recommend putting a soaker hose down under the mulch to make it easier to deliver water to the plants when you need to. Watering through straw takes an eternity. Or at least that is how it feels when I am standing there holding the hose.

Believe that size doesn't matter. Forgot Brandywines and other beefsteak types. With tomatoes, as with most other fruits and veggies, I firmly believe that small is better. Small fruits mature faster, meaning that there is less time for something to go wrong.

What could possibly go wrong? Well, lets see, cracking and splitting, end rot, mold, squirrels, tomato hornworm, and ants that start eating your precious tomatoes alive! I shudder to think.

A cherry or grape tomato plant also produces a lot of fruit, so that when things do go wrong for one tomato, there are many more on the way. Think of it as hedging your bets against the squirrels that have a nasty habit of taking one bite out of every single tomato. My favorite cherries are Black Cherry and Sun Gold.

Pick bush-type plants. I recommend staking your tomatoes. Do I stake my tomatoes? Well, no. I never seem to get around to it, but I realize that I should. In addition to supporting the plant and preventing limbs from breaking, staking improves pest and disease control and makes harvesting easier.

Accepting my imperfections, I try to plant more compact varieties that can better tolerate my neglect. My favorite variety for a medium-sized tomato is Zarnitsa. It is quick maturing variety whose name means "summer lightning" and that stays compact and continues to bear fruit all season. I also like Green Zebra for it's tangy citrus flavor and green camouflage from unauthorized harvesters who might wander into the tomato patch – two legged and four legged alike.

Most cherry tomato plants are sprawling, but this year I am trying one called Riesentraube, which translates as "bunch of grapes". It has been the first to produce with small red fruits with an adorable point on the blossom end. While Roma tomatoes are small and compact, they seem to be much more susceptible to blossom end rot.

My favorite way to eat tomatoes, if any make it back into the house instead of directly into my mouth in the garden, is in a simple salad with cucumber and onions, and a liberal pour of balsamic vinegar.

If you are seduced by the Cherokee Purples, the Mortgage Lifters, and the Old Germans, go ahead and give them a try. You have my blessing. But plant some easy to grow cherry and grape tomatoes, too.