Mortgage Lifter tomato and it's story.......

I planted a mortgage lifter this year because it produces giant tomatoes; however, because of the high temperatures in Phoenix, large type tomatoes are subject to crack and have a hard time growing to their "potential." BUT I am trying (again ) to grow these fabulous types. I love the story of how this tomato got it's name and hope you will enjoy it as well.

The Mortgage Lifter tomato was developed in the early 1930's in Logan, West Virginia by a radiator repairman, M.C. "Radiator Charlie" Byles. Without any experience in breeding, he made a successful cross of four of the largest tomatoes he could find - German Johnson, Beefsteak, an Italian variety, and an English variety. Radiator Charlie sold the first seedlings of his new tomato in the 1940's for one dollar each to customers who drove up to 200 miles for his famous plants that bore tasty tomatoes averaging two and a half pounds. With these sales, Charlie managed to pay off his $6,000 mortgage in only six years, and so the tomato was named Mortgage Lifter.

White Sugar Snap Pea??

I was weeding my garden this morning and came upon something I have never seen - a white sugar snap pea. It is the only one in a row of green and growing just as well as the others. I am anxious to see what it produces..........

Giant Orange Blossoms

I (Jane) wanted to post this incredible photo of the biggest orange blossoms I have ever seen. I have had my citrus in large cement pots for about 4 years and this year all my citrus is blooming unlike ever before. They have an incredible fragrance which reminds me of driving by the old orange groves in Phoenix about 20 years ago. I am anticipating many sweet sweet oranges!!

Linda's Garden as of 3.19.09

Here are a few photos of my garden. It has been a work in progress since I put it in 4 years ago. I started with the enclosed 20'x20 area with 2 raised beds 4'x 12' each with overhead sprinklers for seedlings and 1/2" soaker hoses. All of my beds are amended with PWP (chicken poop) and my most favorite Happy Frog soil conditioner, I get mine at Baker Brothers in Phoenix but you can find it at http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com./ In my raised bed I have Sequoia Strawberries which I planted last spring, they are filled with growing berries. They made it thru the summer last year(My garden has the wall to the west which provides afternoon shade.In the front of the berries I still have some buttercruch lettuce, carrots and collard greens. I give it about a week more and then I will plant more strawberries!

My Beautiful Sweet Peas!!! This was the first time I tried growing them. They did beautifully. I started them from seed in October and mid February I got flowers. They smell divine. To the right of the peas is my peppers, 2 red , 2 yellows, 2 orange and I jalapeno. I have to be honest, I have never had luck with peppers but I am not giving up. I have had success with jalapenos though. I watered and fertilized them with my favorite, organic fertilizer ( I will post the name later ,sorry I forgot it)

This is my extension garden formally grass, that I added last spring. I was garden crazy and just did not have enough space. I just planted my tomatoes last Sunday: 2 Golden Pears ( I have such great luck here in Phoenix with these little tomatoes. 4 Romas (You can never have too many Romas they are amazing for tomato sauce.) 1 Brandywine, 1 White Zebra(I have never tried this one before, I will keep you all posted). 2 Eary Girls and 1 sweet 100's.

Everything is Blooming.........

Here are a few photos of the beautiful blossoms in my yard:

Jane's Garden as of 3.16.09

Well the weather has been beautiful and most of my seeds are up and look pretty happy! I lost one tomato plant (purple Cherokee) and have replaced it. I also went a little crazy at the nursery and ended up with more tomato plants than I anticipated. So I planted a few more in the garden as well as in individual pots. This will be the first time I have planted this many in pots.

I also planted bush beans, cilantro and zucchini. Here is a list of this years tomatoes:

• Black Krim (which I believe is an aka for Black Russian)
• Mr. Stripy
• Old German
• Purple Cherokee
• Mortgage Lifter
• Marglobe
• Superfantastic
• Plum
• Orange Oxheart

Jane's Planting Day 3.4.09

Here are some of the heirloom tomatoes that I planted. I can't wait to see what they do! All from Summerwinds Nursery - just off the truck from the grower!

I planted the following by seed: Radishes, Beets, Sweet Onions, Sugar Snap Peas and Turnips. I used paint stirrers from Home Depot along with some twine to make my planting rows. For now I am using an overhead spray to water. My major problem is keeping the Desert Doves and Quail out of the garden!

It doesn't look like much right now but soon this will be a lush garden full of organic produce. I will photograph it weekly and note what's happening in this blog. For now the weather has been great for planting; warm days and cool nights.