Have you seen Sam Marzano?

 






 
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 It's been a little crazy with the tomatoes this year. For the past three years we have been growing tomatoes, experimenting each year with various growing techniques and planting various types of tomatoes. Yes.......there are major differences on the results of each variety.....and I am glad that we tested and learned these past few years, before planting an acre of tomatoes! Surprisingly, there are over 7,500 varieties of tomato plants. We tested just 8 varieties :-)
 The weather has been up and down. There was several weeks of 100F plus days............then it cooled down to the  70's for several days. Highly irregular summer temperatures affected the tomatoes. Sunscald....happens any time there is a real spike in the heat. If the fruit is far from ripe, chances are that the entire fruit will rot. Split skin or cracking was happening too.....that's from any time the plants experience accelerated growth, which can be brought on by a sudden increase in moisture after being too dry, We actually had several days of rain here. What we did not experience this year was the Tomato hornworm.....one ugly big caterpillar that looks like it's from a science project gone wrong. Green and pointy horns. Scary! A few of these things will lay waste to a plant within a few days.
 Overall .....the amount of fruit that comes off a tomato plant is really amazing. On the general averaging of each plant....we pull 2.5 buckets of fruit. The bucket is a standard 5-gal bucket like one would find that paint comes in. Each bucket weighs 30 pounds when filled. That's about 75 pounds of fruit per plant!
 Sam Marzano is here at the farm BTW. "He" is a variety of the Romano tomato that we grew....along side of other varieties. The crop is still on the vines, after picking for the last four weeks. It's our first crop of a Romano. It was chosen for it's value in making tomato paste, salsa, and spaghetti sauce.  Much less water content which makes it idea for quick reduction on top of the stove. Thicker sauces as promised.....and surprisingly a good taste.
 So.......................:
160 pounds of Spaghetti Sauce
22 quarts of Salsa
14 gallons of Tomato Puree
200 pounds to the neighbors
150 pounds still on the vine

All this from 16 plants!
Yes.....I will be publishing the recipes for the above, this week end.

I'll plant these from here on out for our retail sales that will start next year. Two other varieties have been chosen for planting next year.....I will do a post on those next week. Oh.....I know you are asking......what was the total poundage of the Sam Marzano Romano tomato.

Estimated at 1140 pounds for less than 64 linear feet of ground!