Sure, the city vegetable patch has been elevated mightily in the local media. So has the amount of questionable information presented.
Take, for example, one Emma E. Forrest who prattles prettily in the commuter tabloid Metro. Probably we shouldn’t be surprised in a Canadian newspaper if advice derives from the U.K. and U.S.A. There are though a plethora of local experts, amateur and professional, who known their onions – and beets, beans and many another veggies, including tomatoes. Especially tomatoes.
The most popular of all homegrown produce, tomatoes receive an equal measure of questionable claims. Ms. Forrest tells us: “Growing your own is economical: Burpee estimates that a $3 bag of tomato seeds will produce an average of up to $1,000-worth of store-bought tomatoes.”
Economical yes but $1,000 from $3 worth of seed? Let’s check the figures. First facts to keep in mind: A single tomato plant requires two square feet of space. Actually it’s a vine and, grown up six feet or so on a stake can produce as much as 10 pounds of fruit. This bounty arrives August through September, when supermarkets will be asking perhaps a dollar a pound for similar tomatoes.
You don’t have to be Einstein to figure it takes 100 plants to produce that $1,000 worth of tomatoes. They will require a minimum area of 200 square feet or some 20- by 10-feet.
How big is your backyard? Are you ready for the work involved in tending 100 tomato plants? And just how much does your family enjoy tomatoes?
It is feared Ms. Forrest has failed to distinguish the woods from the trees – or an exuberant press release.
Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.
