Bulk- Barry's Crazy Cherry Tomato

Famous for being one of the first vegetables most gardeners try growing, tomatoes are truly the perfect beginners crop. They produce a reliable yield even when given less than ideal conditions and as one gains experience with time, their tomato crops are bound to get even more bountiful! It is also a known fact that home-grown tomatoes, specifically heirloom varieties, taste far better than anything you can find in a market (which mostly taste like water.) This is why vegetable gardeners always have a tomato plant growing in their yards. Cherry tomatoes, like barry’s crazy cherry, are extremely prolific and each plant produces several hundred fruits per season.

 Barry’s crazy cherry is a multiflora variety, which means it produces giant branching flower stalks. Each stalk bears hundreds of flowers, which are a marvel to see in themselves,  which then turn into cherry tomatoes. These fruity, sweet orbs serve as a perfect snack while gardening and a treat for any guests as well.

Everyone knows how overpriced cherry tomatoes are and if you grow them you will know first hand just how unreasonable the price is. Cherry tomatoes are extremely productive and receive a good price in the market. Aside from their value in their fresh state, they can be processed into flavorful jams, pasta sauces, ketchups or sun dried to make value added products with a high demand and market rate.

Tomato flowers are a good source of nectar and pollen for bees. Their dense foliage can provide refuge for beneficial insects like ladybugs. Tomato plants secrete pheromones in the air when attacked by insects, which can alert other plants to their presence. This allows neighboring plants to amp up their defenses and better resist the pests, while also stimulating the release of smells that attract natural predators like ladybugs and wasps. This makes tomatoes a useful component of any plant guild. Birds and small animals like feasting on the occasional tomato, they are useful agents for spreading the seeds of tomatoes via their dropping. In the following season you may spot tomato plants appearing where you never planted them!

Tomatoes do demand a fair share of nutrients from their soils so it is advised to amend the soil with organic compost before planting. In our experience it is a great host of mycorrhizal fungi, so inoculation before transplanting with mycorrhizae (Sold as VAM in the market). Seaweed fertilizer and other organic supplements throughout the year can increase productivity significantly, as well as improve the taste of the tomatoes. Over time, these amendments will also help the general health and fertility of the soil. Tomatoes benefit from crop rotation to prevent the accumulation of soil pests that can affect tomatoes. To prevent root nematodes, its best to companion plant tomatoes with marigolds.

At the end of the season, tomato plants should be composted in aerobic compost piles (high temperatures) to kill and diseases, while allowing the stored nutrients to return the soil.