Log in

View Full Version : Harvey & Son Michael's 2012 Tomato Garden


harveyc
04-19-2012, 12:43 AM
My son Michael is 14 now and by the time I was his age I was selling sweet corn from our farm at a small roadside stand. I suggested to Michael earlier this year that he could raise tomatoes this year and sell them either roadside himself or to two fruit stands down the road from our farm. He liked the idea and has maintained pretty good enthusiasm over it. I'll use this thread to post our progress this year.

harveyc
04-19-2012, 01:08 AM
Our tomatoes were sowed around 1/31/2012. On 2/9, most of the seeds had germinated and I took the following photo which shows one variety per cell.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120209.jpg

(Note: photos take with my cell phone since it's handy and does "good enough")

harveyc
04-19-2012, 01:14 AM
On 2/15 Michael and I transplanted the seedlings into individual cells. By the way, we're growing 30 fruiting varieties with another 2 varieties (Maxifort and Colosus) grown exclusively as rootstock for grafting later on. We're growing Better Boy both for fruiting and to try as a rootstock candidate based on the suggestion of Richard.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120215.jpg

harveyc
04-19-2012, 01:20 AM
I read quite a bit about potential benefits of using tomatoes grafted onto varieties which produce superior root systems and decided to give it a try. I grafted my first set of tomatoes on 2/25 and another larger set on 3/2 after my first attempt proved successful. These small silicone clips make the job pretty easy. To help the plants during the recovery period after grafting I placed the pots into an opaque tub with a lid in order to maintain high humidity and to diffuse the light.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120305.jpg

harveyc
04-19-2012, 01:22 AM
By the way, I should pause here to say the plants were started and grown for the first six weeks or so in my heated shop on propagation mats set at 85F under a T5 fluorescent light fixture with 8 bulbs. The tomatoes responded well to this treatment.

harveyc
04-19-2012, 01:24 AM
This photo taken 3/14 shows the light fixture somewhat and also some of my grafted plants while the rest of the large plants have been moved to the greenhouse. To the left are some cape gooseberry plants (Physallis peruviana) I'm also growing.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120314.jpg

harveyc
04-19-2012, 01:27 AM
This photo taken on 3/16 shows plants grafted on 2/25 and also on 3/2. The plant up front grafted on 2/25 has pushed off the silicone clip on its own.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120316.jpg

harveyc
04-19-2012, 01:32 AM
During the coldest of nights my greenhouse (with small heater) gets down into the upper 30s but still warms up nicely during the day when the sun is out This photo taken on 4/4 shows the progress the tomato plants have made in the greenhouse. They would have already been planted by now but we received several rain storms that left field conditions too wet to prepare it for planting.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120404.jpg

harveyc
04-19-2012, 01:40 AM
Our normal last frost date is supposedly something like 3/21. I heard of frosts in April in the 1960s from my dad, though I don't recall it as I didn't pay much attention to such things as a youth. In 2010 we had frost I believe on 4/2 and in 2011 we had frost on 4/8. This year we had frost on 4/5, 4/6, and 4/7 (our 35th day of frost for the season). Based on a consensus of weather forecasts, I was confident we were headed for warmer weather so we began preparing the ground on 4/6 since the soil had dried out sufficiently.

Here's Michael driving our Oliver 1365 with a 5' wide rototiller:
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120406a.jpg


Here's the tomato plot (adjacent to my pomegranate orchard) after being rototilled and after adding between 10 and 15 cubic yards of composted wood chips and horse manure (spread out in rows by shovel):
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120406b.jpg

Here's after the compost was spread and the plot rototilled again:
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120406c.jpg

harveyc
04-19-2012, 01:44 AM
Mid-day on 4/7 after our last frost, we got busy planting tomatoes. Michael and Linda are busy planting tomatoes while I'm busy shuttling plants from the greenhouse. There are large groves of bamboo growing across the highway from our farm near the Sacramento River so these are our stakes. We get about 100 tomatoes and 16 cape gooseberry planted this day.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120407.jpg

harveyc
04-19-2012, 01:46 AM
On 4/10 we finishing planting our first batch of tomato plants. The first row on the left is about 390' long.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120410.jpg

harveyc
04-19-2012, 01:49 AM
On about 3/5 I had started a second batch of seedlings, all Sungold F1 (a popular cherry tomato bred in Japan). I had included some in my first batch but we decided we would expand their production. On 4/18 I planted another 60 Sungold and will wait a few days before planting the final 50 Sungold.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120418.jpg

momoese
04-19-2012, 07:04 AM
That's a lot of Sungold! He might need help picking all those little guys.

harveyc
04-19-2012, 10:42 AM
That's a lot of Sungold! He might need help picking all those little guys.

Yeah, I imagine I will end up helping some and I also have a quick-working part-time worker that may help. One of the fruit stands down the road is pretty large (part of a regional visitor center still being developed) and they grew some of their own tomatoes last year. I introduced Michael to the president of the organization and I mentioned that we were growing Sungold among our 30 varieties. He indicated they had grown 100 plants last year and that they still didn't have nearly enough. I'm expecting we'll be picking tomatoes two months before they have any ready so that's why we decided to expand our planting of those. I also expect we might abandon the picking of some of our 30 varieties.

barnetmill
04-19-2012, 12:23 PM
On 2/15 Michael and I transplanted the seedlings into individual cells. By the way, we're growing 30 fruiting varieties with another 2 varieties (Maxifort and Colosus) grown exclusively as rootstock for grafting later on. We're growing Better Boy both for fruiting and to try as a rootstock candidate based on the suggestion of Richard.
[/IMG]

I wonder if grafting could cure the problems I and just about everyone else in my region has with growing tomatoes. In NW Florida it is for some reason(s) very difficult to grow tomatoes and I have only been succesful once in a while. Perhaps finding a good root stock and grafting might be a way of being succesful.

harveyc
04-19-2012, 12:38 PM
If your problems are with nematodes or soil diseases, than a different rootstock might help. I'm not an expert in the humid climates but have heard from others in humid states about problems with a blight disease, etc. that I'm unfamiliar with. There is good information at the forums at TomatovilleŽ Gardening Forums (http://www.tomatoville.com) with folks all over the world posting there. Good luck!

The Maxifort is the most popular rootstock variety and also the most expensive!!! Seeds cost me something like $.50 each but if I bought something like 200 the price comes down a little.

barnetmill
04-19-2012, 01:33 PM
Thanks HarveyC for that link.

momoese
04-19-2012, 03:09 PM
If your problems are with nematodes or soil diseases, than a different rootstock might help. I'm not an expert in the humid climates but have heard from others in humid states about problems with a blight disease, etc. that I'm unfamiliar with. There is good information at the forums at TomatovilleŽ Gardening Forums (http://www.tomatoville.com) with folks all over the world posting there. Good luck!

The Maxifort is the most popular rootstock variety and also the most expensive!!! Seeds cost me something like $.50 each but if I bought something like 200 the price comes down a little.

Does the Maxifort grow true to seed?

harveyc
04-19-2012, 06:04 PM
Does the Maxifort grow true to seed?

I don't believe so, it's probably an unstable hybrid. But there's a chance the seedlings will be similar, better, or worse! We'll see.....

sunfish
04-19-2012, 06:10 PM
Maxifort (F1) - Johnny's Selected Seeds (http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-6895-maxifort-f1.aspx)

:0519: 8-) 8) B-) B)

Maxifort question - Growing Tomatoes Forum - GardenWeb (http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg01215227530.html) :-O :O :-o :o

harveyc
04-19-2012, 10:14 PM
Johnny's seeds is where I bought my Maxifort seeds (and the silicone clips and also some other tomato varieties). The video on that page from a grower back east is what I followed in doing my grafts (I used the top grafting method demonstrated half ways through the video). I posted that video here in the "Pretty Good" thread, I think.

Thanks for the link to the GardenWeb link, I had not seen that. I wish that guy had grown out the F2 seedlings further and actually compared them to some F1 seeds as his comparison seems very informal. I had not thought of using cuttings for grafting but think that's worth a try base don the price of the seeds. Probably not the most efficient method, especially since you've got to try to have plants all the correct size to match up with your scions, but it's worth a try.

It's far too early to make a comparison but when I was planting out some tomatoes the other day I noticed that one plant of a particular variety grafted onto Maxifort was much fuller and greener than the other five non-grafted plants of the same variety.

For what it's worth, my grafting success was 19 out of 20. The one that failed was doubtful from the beginning since the scion was very small and maybe it would have been successful if I waited a few days longer. The success of one guy there are GardenWeb was pretty poor but he seemed to be grafting outdoors on plants that were in the ground.

venturabananas
04-20-2012, 02:37 AM
Love the Sungold, too. Congrats on the grafting success! Those bamboo stakes seem a little short for some of those indeterminate varieties. Maybe it is a photo angle thing. I hope this project works out well for you and Michael!

GreenFin
04-20-2012, 11:27 AM
It's great of you to help your son like this. Many positives (and positive memories) will come from this project. Kudos!

harveyc
04-20-2012, 11:49 AM
Love the Sungold, too. Congrats on the grafting success! Those bamboo stakes seem a little short for some of those indeterminate varieties. Maybe it is a photo angle thing. I hope this project works out well for you and Michael!

Those stakes are by no means the long term support for the tomatoes. I wouldn't have used them at all if planting hadn't been delayed by rains and then frost. We're going to use the "Florida Weave" like shown at Florida Weave.mov - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRohHQ7mMBw) and Weaving tomatoes - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZHEL0_uBww)

Since my plants are already tied to the bamboo, the first row of twine can be higher so it's not all wasted work. The twine would not have supported these transplants well enough anyways since they were crowded in the greenhouse.

harveyc
04-24-2012, 11:50 PM
Too much going on this time of year. I need to get the stakes and twine up but don't have time right now so tied some plants higher up on the stakes over the past couple of days. We had an unusual heat wave for a few days that made them happy and they grew pretty good.

We finished planting the rest of the Sungold on Saturday (4/21) and installed the second line of drip tape:

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120422.jpg

harveyc
04-24-2012, 11:53 PM
I saw several cherry tomato plants with small fruits yesterday and today, 4/24, I noticed a pretty good-sized fruit on one of my Brandywine (Sudduth's strain) plants. I have six Brandwine. One each is grafted onto Maxifort, Colosus, and Better Boy rootstocks and three are ungrafted. The most vigorous of these six plants at this early stage is the one grafted onto Maxifort and it's the one with this fruit:

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120424.jpg

harveyc
05-04-2012, 03:13 AM
Update as of 5/3/2012:

We've started installing lodgepole stakes (8' long, cost of $2 at area vineyard and orchard supply firm) and tomato twine ($7 plus shipping for 6,600') to install our "Florida Weave" training system.
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120503a.jpg

Here's a Sungold F1, a very popular cherry tomato:
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120503b.jpg

Black cherry:
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120503c.jpg

Here's a Blush Cherry, a variety which will be red with orange stripes when ripe:
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120504.jpg

Here's Malakhitovaya Shkatulka a variety that remains green when ripe:
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120503d.jpg

Here's Amazon Chocolate:
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120503e.jpg

Next step is to work on some weed control before they get out of hand.

sunfish
05-04-2012, 08:11 AM
Looking pretty darn good

venturabananas
05-04-2012, 11:41 AM
Looking pretty darn good

No kidding. Mine aren't that far along and I started my seed before Harvey! Just goes to show the difference between an amateur and a pro!

Harvey, are you guys making any treatments for disease control? And, out of curiosity, how much water do you give each plant weekly?

harveyc
05-04-2012, 12:07 PM
No kidding. Mine aren't that far along and I started my seed before Harvey! Just goes to show the difference between an amateur and a pro!

Harvey, are you guys making any treatments for disease control? And, out of curiosity, how much water do you give each plant weekly?

Mark, I've been spraying my cape gooseberry (in the middle of the row on the left) quite a bit with pyrethrin for a bad potato beetle problem but that's it. I haven't fertilized or treated for any diseases but plant to use Bt for worms later on. I've never had an issue with tomato diseases here but some of the heirlooms might prove to be a problem so I would probably just exclude those next year.

Our temperatures fluctuate quite a bit so my watering schedule has also been highly variable. It had been about a week since I watered so yesterday I ran the water for a couple of hours and would guess that was probably about 300 gallons of water or about a gallon per plant. They probably didn't need that much but my pumping cost from my well is very low (maybe $1 or less for that water) and I was busy with other chores. If I don't water them enough the roots won't expand out into new areas very well.

harveyc
05-04-2012, 02:48 PM
Note to self: wear your reading glasses when reading tomato labels! Yesterday I posted a photo and said it was Blush Cherry but it was actually Black Cherry (they are planted right next to one another to allow me some excuse). Blush Cherry is elongated and I added that photo to my post above.

harveyc
05-20-2012, 11:35 PM
Okay, it's been over two weeks since the last update. We finished putting in the remainder of the stakes for the Sungold and put twine on those and a second line of twin where we had originally put stakes. Overall, plants look very good. I've got a few clusters of Sungold that are getting close to being ripe...woohoo! :) I just snapped photos of a lot of different varieties and didn't make note of what names they were. I think I've got a 'Big Beef' that's about 3" in diameter.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120520a.jpg

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120520b.jpg

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120520c.jpg

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120520d.jpg

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120520e.jpg


http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120520f.jpg

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120520g.jpg

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120520h.jpg

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120520i.jpg


http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120520j.jpg

harveyc
05-20-2012, 11:51 PM
Note: the high water in the ditch to the left is because I pump water from the river into that holding ditch and then pump from that ditch to pressurize it to irrigate m chestnuts and pomegranates with micro-sprinklers. The ditch is about 650 long and I pump 2,500 gpm into it for 1.5-2.0 hours.

harveyc
05-22-2012, 12:08 AM
Harvest Time!!! :D

Okay, not much, but I did pick two Sungold cherry tomatoes this evening. They were pretty ripe and were pretty good. I'll wait until next week to pick more.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120521Sungold.jpg

momoese
05-22-2012, 12:16 AM
Those Sungolds will split, don't wait too long to harvest.

harveyc
05-22-2012, 12:47 AM
Michael graduates from 8th grade on 6/1 and the timing is pretty good as we might be starting harvest in good numbers around then. Then it will get very busy a week or two after that as we've got 110 Sungold plants that were planted a couple of weeks after these first ones. Good thing he has a good back. ;)

venturabananas
05-22-2012, 07:52 PM
Those Sungolds will split, don't wait too long to harvest.

They will, but they are not nearly as prone to splitting as another of my favorites, Black Cherry. At least in my yard.

harveyc
05-22-2012, 08:06 PM
They will, but they are not nearly as prone to splitting as another of my favorites, Black Cherry. At least in my yard.



That's another we're growing. :)

Dalmatiansoap
05-23-2012, 10:48 AM
They will, but they are not nearly as prone to splitting as another of my favorites, Black Cherry.

Black Cherry?? Dang, how did I miss that one?!
Im a big fan of black tomatoes.

lkailburn
05-23-2012, 02:37 PM
picking tomatoes already! aw man.. i just planted mine out a week ago :-(
lol lucky!

-Luke

harveyc
06-01-2012, 12:58 AM
Having pretty warm weather now, mid-90s today. Picked quite a few of my smaller tomatoes this evening, including Sungold F1, Black Cherry, Magalia Rosa, and Blush. Tasted great with dinner! :)

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120531.jpg

venturabananas
06-01-2012, 01:02 AM
Having pretty warm weather now, mid-90s today. Picked quite a few of my smaller tomatoes this evening...

I'm so jealous. I have lots of small, green tomatoes, but not even a hint of ripening yet.

So, which one did you like best?

harveyc
06-01-2012, 03:05 AM
All of them were quite good and the single Black Cherry and Magalia Rosa (most red elongated tomato) were shared between myself with my wife and dad so I'd like more tasting. I ate a couple of the blush (the other elongated ones) and they were quite good. I like the Sungold but they do have a thicker skin so far. The Black Cherry tasted better than I expected since I wasn't sure if it was even ripe yet since this is the first year I've grown it. My dad commented that it was very good and he's very much a traditionalist so I wasn't sure if he would like many of these. I've got some pretty large (8 ounce?) tomatoes of other varieties without any coloring up in those, but maybe that will come along pretty soon with this warm weather.

Starwanderer
06-01-2012, 09:19 PM
Michael graduates from 8th grade on 6/1

Congratulations to him! :woohoonaner:

And congratulations to both of you for what looks like a great tomato growing setup. A lot of effort I'm sure, but well worth it.

I got my plants out pretty late this year, so I have yet to see or taste any ripe fruit of my own yet, but at least I can see your pictures until mine starts coming in. I'm only growing seven varieties, so very small scale compared to you. ;)

Learned something too. I'd never heard of grafting tomatoes before. How cool!

Best of luck to both of you.

harveyc
06-08-2012, 05:02 PM
Okay, things are picking up now. Picked about 10 pounds of tomatoes today including my first Brandywine of the year (from a plant that was grafted onto Maxifort rootstock, I believe):

Brandwine weighed in at 0.73 pounds

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120608a.jpg


Besides Brandywine, included here are New Girl, Black Cherry, Sungold F1, Blush Cherry (elongated yellow), Magalia Rosa (elongated light red), and Striped Roman.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120608b.jpg

venturabananas
06-08-2012, 06:09 PM
Nice harvest. Still jealous. I've harvested a grand total of two cherry tomatoes: Sungold and Snow White. Lot's of greenies. Just need to keep fighting back the fungus long enough to get a decent harvest of ripe fruit.

Good work. Getting enough to sell them yet?

GreenFin
06-08-2012, 06:25 PM
I've harvested a grand total of two cherry tomatoes
Ha, I'm in the same boat: I just picked my first two (a couple of small grape tomatoes) yesterday.

I can't actually stomach tomatoes. I really wish I could. I test a bite from a couple every year just to check to see if my taste buds have come to their senses yet, but they always make me gag. Crazy thing is that I absolutely love ketchup, salsa, and other tomato-based products (sans V8, which is just gross).

I'm growing tomatoes as a windblock for outdoor bananas and papayas: I've got tomato cages along the perimeter of about a 30'x30' square that creates a thick wall of vegetative protection for the plants in the square that don't like our constant 20-80 MPH winds beating on them all day every day. I've got sweet corn in there now that's just coming ripe (ate the first ear yesterday), and when it's done in a couple of weeks I'm going to start planting pups there. The plan is to then put up a greenhouse around it before winter.

/ramble :ha:

harveyc
06-08-2012, 06:27 PM
Yeah, we've got enough for five $10 orders plus some for sharing and ourselves.

harveyc
06-11-2012, 04:57 PM
Today's harvest. :woohoonaner:

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120611.jpg

harveyc
06-13-2012, 08:29 PM
Here are orders Michael is delivering to his Boy Scout meeting tonight.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120613.jpg

Starwanderer
06-16-2012, 12:00 PM
Today's harvest. :woohoonaner:

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120611.jpg

Nice! What's the black variety in the lower left corner of the box on the right?

harveyc
06-16-2012, 12:26 PM
The tomato in the lower left hand corner of the box on the right is Amazon Chocolate (on top are Black Cherry). I think I may have picked it a day or two early although it was already feeling pretty soft. With so many new varieties this year I've got a bit of a learning curve to deal with for myself and also am going to have to supervise Michael closely.

Starwanderer
06-16-2012, 01:35 PM
The tomato in the lower left hand corner of the box on the right is Amazon Chocolate (on top are Black Cherry). I think I may have picked it a day or two early although it was already feeling pretty soft. With so many new varieties this year I've got a bit of a learning curve to deal with for myself and also am going to have to supervise Michael closely.

Thanks. Very nice. I figured the ones at the top were Black Cherry. Those are pretty recognizable to me as I grow them too.

I'm growing a few different black and purple varieties this year. I may have to get seeds for Amazon Chocolate for next year. Nice looking tomato.

harveyc
06-17-2012, 08:11 PM
Had a pretty good time on Father's Day spending a little bit of the day picking tomatoes with Michael. :)

Saw a big carpenter bee visiting the Sungold F1 flowers:

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120617bee.jpg



Picked some Green Zebra today

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120617gz.jpg

harveyc
06-19-2012, 08:44 PM
Some of today's harvest. Also had 20 pounds of Sungold. The big yellow/orange one in the upper right is supposedly Orange Strawberry or maybe Dawson's Oxheart, weighed 1.28 pounds.

http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120619.jpg

Brian
06-19-2012, 11:03 PM
Nice. Are you growing any Indigo Rose? Mine seem to be carrying a lot of fruit.

harveyc
06-19-2012, 11:10 PM
Nice. Are you growing any Indigo Rose? Mine seem to be carrying a lot of fruit.

No, that's not one we're growing. I thought about it but found some comments that made it sound like maybe the flavor wasn't very impressive. I look forward to hearing on how it does for you and maybe we'll add it this year. There are some already that I'm culling from our list.

Brian
06-19-2012, 11:35 PM
Yes, I think I read the same comments somewhere about flavor. Still I got curious. Besides that I'm just doing SunGold which does very well for me, Green Grape, and Mt. Vesuvius. Honestly, there might be a problem because if the Indigo Rose was ever totally blue it would be hard to tell when it's ripe.

harveyc
07-09-2012, 12:36 AM
Have been a bit too busy lately to take photos and update the thread. Harvest has been going pretty strong for the past three weeks now with over 500 pounds of fruit harvested so far. That includes about 175 pounds of SunGold cherry tomatoes which means that's a lot of tomatoes. Despite hearing from some (Mitchel included) that SunGold splits easy, that's not been our experience. They have been pretty tough which makes harvest a bit easier for a cherry tomato. We might need to discontinue harvest of some of our 120 SunGold plants due to the volume of fruit the produce and time required for harvest. Michael starts school in about five weeks which will certainly make things more challenging. Many of our heirlooms are cranking out good volume now with many fruits exceeding a pound. Consumer seemed slow to buy some of the green heirloom varieties at first but that has improved. Maybe we'll hold a tasting at the local stand soon to help increase sales. Overall, it's been a good learning experience for Michael and he is earning some good money and the buyers are happy with the quality of product.

harveyc
07-21-2012, 11:15 PM
Okay, finally an update with some photos! To date, we've harvested over 800 pounds of tomatoes. All of them are doing well with the exception of one Sungold plant that might be dying (with 119 others, it won't be missed!). Production of Sungold is now exceeding what we can harvest and sell but they've already served their purpose well by providing lots of early tomatoes.

Here's a photo of Michael at the local farm stand down the road from our place when we stopped by to check on inventory on July 1st.
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120701.jpg

On July 11th I took this photo of a Maxifort plant I planted isolated from itself just to see how the plant performs. This is the primary variety I used for rootstock on the 20 or so plants I grafted. This plant hasn't been watered for 3-4 weeks and is growing strong and is presently about 10 feet in diameter. Although it's a hybrid, I'm fermenting some seeds now and plan to plant some soon just to see how they grow to see if they might be a cheap alternative to buying the hybrid seeds (cost for 50 seeds was about $27 with shipping).
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120711maxifort.jpg

Here's a photo taken today to show the abundance of ripe fruits we've got on the Sungold (pretty much all 120 plants look like this right now)
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120721a.jpg

Today Michael and I picked all of the very ripe fruits from one side of about 10 plants and got about seven pounds. After sorting, washing and slicing in half, I've got about six pounds in my six-tray dehydrator right now. Here is what they looked like 15 minutes ago after about three hours of drying:
http://www.chestnuts.us/images/tomatoes/20120721b.jpg