There’s something incongruous about a chilly 50 degree, gray, wet day and the warm color of ripening tomatoes on the vines. The stark contrast reinforces the realities of our seasonal transition. We’re about to say farewell to our last tomatoes in the Lewis Ginter Community Kitchen Garden. After all, it is nearly mid-October. At one point this summer we had over 600 vines in the garden, including several varieties of heirlooms and hybrids. Now we’re down to only 10 vines (hybrid beefsteak variety, planted relatively late). We remove the majority of our vines a wee bit early in the fall for two reasons: 1) we need some of the space for cole crops, and 2) we want to ensure good germination of our winter cover crops before the soil starts to freeze.

2012 Year-to-Date Tomato Yield Delivered to FeedMore: 5,288 lbs.