At Terra Firma, we take a lot of pride in having some the earliest-ripening field-grown tomatoes in California, but it’s not an easy feat and it can be a risky endeavor. Planting a crop that has little tolerance for cold and prefers dry weather in early March here can feel a bit crazy. 2023 and 2024 both provided very good examples of the downsides, with both excessive rain and multiple frosts stunting the growth of our early tomatoes.
This year threw up fewer roadblocks. We had a window of nice weather in January to get the field prepared, and another one in March to get them planted. We had zero frost — the first time in many years — and just enough rain that we didn’t have to irrigate the field for over a month. Then, we had what must have been perfect weather for pollination, with no heatwaves in April or early May to cause the blossoms to drop. There was little of the desiccating wind that often hits in the spring here, and this year’s field is less wind-exposed than many of our other fields. There is so much fruit on the plants that they are actually a bit smaller than normal for this time of year, as they grow more slowly when carrying so much weight.
Most early-season varieties of tomatoes have genes from places with short, cool growing seasons. They start to ripen when temperatures get into the 80s, which generally happens around here in late May. But they don’t like too much heat, and the plants don’t have tons of foilage, This can definitely be a problem for us in early June — the record high temperature for today’s date, for example, is 113. A three or four day heatwave can cook some or even all of the tomatoes that might have otherwise been ready to harvest.
This year, we had just a couple of 100 degree days this past weekend, just enough to kick the tomatoes into a higher gear. Then it cooled back down into the 80s, providing perfect weather for harvesting. The first tomatoes to ripen are always Cherry Tomatoes — thanks to their small size. While we don’t grow many “cherries”, which are both labor- and space-intensive, we do have a field of them in our earliest planting. The Gold Nugget variety produces a profusion of fruit on small plants that ripen extremely early, over a short period of time. They are always the first tomatoes in our CSA boxes.
Gold Nuggets are not the best-tasting tomato we grow — not even close — but they are the best-tasting tomato we are harvesting enough of right now to send you. Despite their name, they are best eaten when light yellow. Once they actually turn gold, they get soft and mealy. They should be slightly crunchy when you eat them — the center will be juicy with good tomato flavor. As we get further into June, other varieties will start ripening and you will see them soon in your boxes.
Many years, the start of Tomato season means the end of Strawberry season but that does not appear to be the case this year. It didn’t get hot enough over the weekend to cause any problems with our berries: the plants are big, healthy and loaded with fruit and flowers. Looking at the extended forecast, it appears that we may be able to continue harvesting them past the middle of June. If that happens, 2025 may end up being one of our longest Strawberry seasons ever. In the meantime, you’ll be seeing both berries and “cherries” — or at least some type of tomatoes — in your boxes. Enjoy!
Thanks,
Pablito