Argh! It's so frustrating, isn't it. Finally, finally!, I have 2 tomatoes turning red (didn't look to see who they were, though).

I think I'll pick them tomorrow just for the novelty of it. :-)

It seemed to happen overnight. Well, over 3 days, to be exact. I was getting so discouraged that I didn't even go to the garden for several days. Phooey, if they want to take their sweet time then I'm not going to pay attention to them.

That's a bummer about your husband tossing out the red tomato. When will he be out of the hospital? :-)

I have roughly a bajillion green tomatoes, too. They're big, very big, but seem to be content with staying green.

Move over, I'm gonna cry with you.

Well...take all you want. This is the first year that we grew anywhere near this many plants and I'm trying to figure out what those of you who put in 100 + do with them. This is today's harvest from our 33 plants

This is yesterday's harvest...6 gallons of sauce

I've put up 28 quarts of tomatoes and this will make 42 quarts of sauce.. I think we've given away a hundred pounds as well.

You'll get some soon.
Rick

How the heck do you keep the birds out of them? Our mockingbirds are so smart they find holes in the bird netting and walk right in. It's so dry that the animals are eating anything green.

Two years ago my table looked like that but the last years have been brutal on tomato harvests.

Macheske, how do you manage to prevent the critters from eating your tomatoes. I have been patiently waiting for tomatoes and when they have finally reached a decent size the squirrels eat them. They have been chomping at least 2 to 3 tomatoes per day. I got so frustrated I almost cut all the plants down. Now Im trying a new system of defense (see pics). I wish I could net the whole area but it's right by my front door and my DH and the neighbors would complain. This is the second day with my new defense system, Im yet to taste a ripe tomato, hopefully I'll outsmart the squirrels.

I really don't have much problem with the critters. The birds seem to like the cherries but I put in 4 plants (all reaching about 8'). We can't possibly eat that many. They're probably producing 200+ per day. The squirrels and rabbits leave the garden alone because of the foxes and hawks that like to patrol the area. I did find a box turtle munching away in the garden but we just left him. He doesn't eat much. The kids have named him bo-bo (my almost 2 year old daughter named him).

Venusruiz,
Your plants look a little spindly to me. I could be wrong but they look like they need more light or something. Here's a picture of one of mine that I took a few weeks ago. If a squirrel got in the cage, he probably couldn't find his way out. :)

Yes, they do need more sun, but living in suburbia makes it impossible to find a full sun spot. Too many mature trees all around us. I have them in the front yard and even there we don't have a spot where they could get full sun. Next year Im trying another spot on the front where they may get a bit more sun. Im new at this, 1st year, so it's all a learning experience,at least that's what i keep repeating myself. Now in spite of the lack of sun, Im getting a decent amount of tomatoes setting, but then the squirrels get them all. So far with my new system I have lost only 1 in the past 2 days. Im keeping my fingers crossed.