HOME GROWN TOMATOES AND THE URBAN VEGETABLE GARDEN

Summary

Many home gardeners lack vegetable gardening experience. Most of their problems are caused by, no pre-planning, poor site selection, and insufficient bed preparation. In addition, they have trouble determining what caused their tomato plant damage, was it deer or hornworms, disease, nutrient deficiency or herbicide damage

Situation

Tomato growing problems make up approximately 10% of the calls the Henry County Extension office receives from homeowners during the spring and summer. Some clients have even stopped trying to grow tomatoes due to the following problems: blossom end rot, buckeye rot, leaf spots, over watering, under watering, nutrient deficiency, high nitrogen use, insect damage, deer damage and herbicide overspray. Community gardeners and local school gardens have the same issues as homeowners. Tomato growers need educational information on current management and control techniques.

Response

The objective is to help home gardeners improve their success rate with tomatoes and other vegetables. The Henry County Extension has compiled the latest research based information in a booklet form for use in this program. Information is updated each year so new information is shared. To support the program Henry County Extension also provides information and hands on experience through things such as: 1. Annual classes provide the latest research on tomatoes and other vegetables. 2. Testimonials are provided by successful local growers who share their secrets to success. 3. The Henry Extension has a small demonstration garden that provides for hands on experience. 4. At least one episode of the local Garden Delights TV show is dedicated to growing tomatoes. 5. The local farmers market hosts a tomato tasting event to help local growers select flavorful varieties. 6. On site visits are offered to assist with evaluation of problems.

Impact

The Annual tomato growing class has become one of the more popular programs offered by the Henry County Extension. Classes are updated so that even those who attend each year are learning new things as explained by Rhett Paul in his email “Ya'll did a great job w/the lecture & “mater” sandwiches yesterday! I was impressed that you didn't repeat the same lecture from years past and, the mini-research project on soils was very interesting. I always enjoy the L&L but this one was outstanding. Keep it up. Rhett”. To date there have been 212 class participants with the last three years having over 50 participants each. Evaluations of these classes by participants show a rating of 97% excellent or good. A survey of successful growers asking them to tell how they managed their tomatoes had a response from 7 growers and their input was provided to the class. We are seeing positive gardening results leading to success in growing all types of vegetables. Fewer problems are being reported, resulting in a positive attitude toward home gardening, for local homeowners. Growers are sending us pictures of their crops and one is now selling tomatoes in our local farmer's market. The demonstration garden is used to show real time results of the methods being taught. The garden is located behind the Extension office and is visited by many local residents. Approximately 500 residents pass by this garden yearly and it is used to show clients who visit the office how tomatoes are being grown. Approximately 100 clients visit it each summer. It is also used to provide fresh tomatoes to clients who have been unsuccessful in growing their own, to encourage future success. The garden is also used to demonstrate proper growing methods on one episode of a local TV show called Garden Delights, each season. The Henry County Extension Garden Delights show can be found on the Henry County Extension Website as well as on YouTube. This show has a viewership of 30,000. As the garden was being prepared photos of the bed were provided to the Henry County Times newspaper who proudly proclaimed in an article that past editions of their newspaper were being used by the Henry County Extension as mulch around tomato plants. Henry County Times has a viewership of 18,000. The Henry County Extension Farmers Market meets each Thursday from 10-2. It starts on the Last Thursday of May and goes thru the Last Thursday of August and fresh grown tomatoes are its specialty. On the last Thursday of July there is a tomato tasting event, where visitors to the market can sample fresh, locally grown tomatoes to decide which ones taste the best. For the 2016 season 45 samplers chose Arkansas Traveler as their number one choice followed by Cherokee Purple and Better Boy. This information is also shared with class members. There are approximately 2500 visitors to the farmer's market annually. Henry County Extension also conducts on-site visits and for the 2016 season 10 of these visits were to tomato gardens.

State Issue

Agricultural Profitability and Sustainability

Details

• Year: 2016
• Geographic Scope: County
• County: Henry
• Program Areas:
  • Agriculture & Natural Resources