It turned out 2014 was all about tomatoes! Tomatoes seem to be the crop that excites our clients and gardeners all around Seattle the most. While tomatoes are very easy to grow in many parts of the country, our summers tend to be relatively cool and short. Many Seattle transplants are used to eating fresh tomatoes off of the vine all summer long, it isn’t uncommon that we find ourselves harvesting tons of green tomatoes off dying vines at the end of September.

So it is with good reason that every year we head forth into the tomato growing season with a healthy amount of apprehension. We do our best to grow the healthiest, strongest transplants; baby them with regular applications of organic fertilizer, and plant tons of vines with the hopes of securing a healthy harvest due, if nothing else, to the sheer numbers of plants!

If there was ever a reason for us to be concerned about the success of our tomato plants this year, we quickly forgot about it as warm summer days started early and seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Many of our gardens still have healthy tomato plants producing large, ripe fruit today!

So if you find yourself with 10 giant tomato vines in your backyard, and are now knee-deep in ripe tomatoes, here are a few ideas for you: