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| Dry-farmed 'Early Girls' are at a San Francisco farmers' market. Photo: Pam Peirce |
A devoted LGT fan (okay, my wife) forwarded to me a note about dry-farming tomatoes. I'd never heard of it. But as Monday said to Tuesday about the rest of the week: WTF? After reading the attached story from the San Francisco Chronicle, I remain highly skeptical. (Note the underlined portion.) After all, that body of water next to Chicago isn't the Pacific Ocean.
Q: I've been reading about dry-farmed tomatoes, how water is withheld from the growing plants so that the roots have to go down deep to find their own water. It makes sense that the flavor ends up being more concentrated this way, but I'm wondering if the same effect could be achieved just by watering much less when the plants start fruiting? Do the roots really need to go all the way down to the groundwater? I guess that would make them less likely to dry out completely (versus being dependent on someone watering them), but does it affect the flavor all that much?
A: Because dry-farmed tomatoes are said to have superior flavor, I can understand why you'd want to try the technique at home. You may be able to improve flavor somewhat by watering less after fruit set, but may not be able to replicate what some farmers can do.
Dry-farming tomatoes is recommended only for areas with at least 20 inches of rain, which allows the soil to be fully charged with water by spring, and where significant marine influence somewhat cools summer weather, slowing evaporation. Soils need to be highly water-retentive, so soils with moderate to high clay content are best. Sandy soils dry out too quickly. Plants are set 4 to 6 feet apart and weeds are kept out. With such wide spacing, tomato plants don't compete with one another, and their roots range wide and deep to find enough moisture. Under ideal conditions, one could harvest a crop with perhaps only a watering at planting time. Production is lessened and fruit smaller, but it becomes sweeter as summer progresses.
2 comments:
Hmmm. We fit the high clay soil requirement, but not the marine environment. I can vouch for the delicious flavor of Early Girls, though. I was out in San Francisco recently and my host bought some Early Girls at the local Whole Foods. I bragged about my Cherokee Purples, and couldn't imagine how anything could rival their taste, but those Early Girls ... oh my. Truly delicious!
Maybe it would work on the Michigan side of the Lake, up near the Leelanau Penensula . . .
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