(gentle music) I have heard that centuries ago people thought tomatoes were poisonous.

One article I read said wealthy people in Europe used pewter plates for meals.

Tomatoes contain lots of acid which would cause lead to leach from the plates.

So people died of lead poisoning but tomatoes got the blame.

Well, I'm glad someone figured it out because a tomato sandwich is my lunch meal pretty much every weekday from July to November.

Let's go learn how to grow those luscious and delicious tomatoes.

- [Announcer] Funding for Prairie Yard and Garden is provided by Heartland Motor Company, providing service to Minnesota and the Dakotas for over 30 years in the heart of truck country.

Heartland Motor Company, we have your best interest at heart.

Farmer's Mutual Telephone Company and Federated Telephone Cooperative, proud to be powering Acira, pioneers in bringing state-of-the-art technology to our rural communities.

Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen in honor of Shalom Hill Farm, a nonprofit rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Wyndham, Minnesota.

And by Friends of Prairie Yard and Garden, a community of supporters like you who engage in the long-term growth of the series.

To become a friend of Prairie Yard and Garden, visit pioneer.org/pyg.

(bright upbeat music) (bright upbeat music) - Several years ago, the Garden Club wanted someone to come and do a lesson on how to grow good tomatoes.

One of our members said her neighbor, John Anderson has a beautiful garden and grows the best tomatoes every year.

He came to the meeting and gave a great presentation.

I'm Mary Holm, host of "Prairie Yard and Garden" and when someone asked for a show on how to grow good tomatoes I knew just the right person to ask.

Welcome John.

- Well, thank you so much, Mary, for that nice introduction and yes, I remember the day and we had a good time.

- John, how long have you been gardening?

- Oh, I believe I started gardening way back in the 1930s.

Not always happily because I would've much sooner been swimming but the rule at our house because my mom and dad knew the importance of that garden, but the rule was you work in the garden till noon which meant when the other kids were going to swimming lessons, the Anderson kids were there in the garden and some days not very happily.

But it was important and it kept us fed during the winter and by fall my mother would have the cellar, it was just a dirt cellar, dirt walls, dirt floor.

And the shelves would be full of canned goods of practically every variety.

But when you look at a wash tub full of beans, when you look at a long row of potatoes and you see the weeds growing and you know where you are, the garden does to a 12 year-old or 11 year-old does not seem so attractive.

But finally, the year I started teaching in 1956 I started my first garden that following spring and I think until, except for a year or so when I was back in school, I've had a garden every year.

I've gardened this particular spot here for 54 years I believe, and it's twice the size it once was.

And now I sometimes think, hey it's getting a little bit too big for this old man.

- Now, when it comes to tomatoes I know that there's different kinds.

What are kind of the two main types of tomatoes?

- They oftentimes divide tomatoes into groups on the basis of their growth habits.

And there's the indeterminate tomatoes and there's the determinate and then there's the semis that kind of determinate, that kind of fall in somewhere in between these.

And the differences in the growth is that the indeterminates continue to grow until frost.

The determinates, now their genetic makeup is such that they stop growing at a certain size and then they tend to produce all of their fruit more or less at the same time.

And so there's advantages and disadvantages.

If you want to eat bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches in October, then maybe you have to go along with the indeterminate growth, whereas the determinate if you wanna make salsa or something, then you might want a heavy crop ripening much at the same time and get, so to speak, get it over with.

- [Mary] When should you plant the tomatoes?

- [John] Tomatoes like peppers are kind of a warm weather crop.

If the temperatures get up during the day up to 70, they'll generally grow and we have to get 'em in the ground here.

And that's something else for people to consider when they buy tomatoes is the maturity, the rate at which they will get to fruiting and that there'll always be a number of days.

They'll say this is a 75 day tomato, which means more or less that that tomato should start fruiting and ripening about 75 days after you've got it in the ground.

Not from the length of germination, but from actually the time it's in the ground.

- John, do you start your own plants or do you buy them from a greenhouse?

- I have, but I found out that Lou and some of the other greenhouses do a better job than I do.

They've got the ideal conditions.

And when I say go out, when you pick out a tomato pick out you know, you don't want the tall ones.

We don't want those with the, you know blooms or little tomatoes on, stay away from them.

But look for the nice leafy deep green with good sized stems and then you've got a good plant.

- John, would you be willing to show me how you plant your tomatoes?

- Sure, I'll do that.

Let's walk down here the garden a little bit and I'll show you how I do it.

(gentle music) - Oil is an essential ingredient in so many dishes and recipes.

Cooking oil adds texture to our food and makes it flavorful and rich but too much can be unhealthy and sometimes we need to watch our calories and find alternatives.

Fortunately, there are some alternative plant-based oils that deliver the same great taste but without the harmful saturated fat.

Sunflower oil is one of those.

Low in saturated fat, sunflower oil helps lower cholesterol and reduces other health risks and is an excellent source of vitamin E. That's why I'm here at Smude Farms near Pierce, Minnesota, where they produce their own locally grown sunflower oil, flavored and infused cooking oils and their very own Smude's microwaveable and gourmet popcorn.

Tom and Jenny Smude have been running this diverse family farm since 1998 where they also raise cattle for farm to table beef and infuse their sunflower oil with goats milk for skincare products.

- We're buying a lot of protein so we decided to make our own protein on the farm and we came up with sunflowers.

The oil was actually gonna be the byproduct.

After three months we went into food grade and the oil we started bottling went into farmer's markets with it and the whole thing took off from there.

- [Mary] Standard cooking oils, high in saturated fats have been in kitchen cupboards for generations but the sunflower provides an exceptional quality and flavorful oil that should be a staple in your own kitchen.

- Sunflower oil is actually very heart healthy because of the high monounsaturated fats and the low saturated fats.

So we like to tout it as being the healthy alternative to your other cooking oils.

- Beautiful sunflowers, great to look at, great for our pollinators and good for you.

Consider trying sunflower oil with your favorite recipes or the next time you have movie night, your heart, skin and your taste buds will thank you.

- Well Mary, this is how I plant tomatoes.

First of all, I like to find a spot.

This maybe wouldn't be ideal, but with the rains and the like I thought it would be safer than out in the garden.

So first of all, I look for a lot sun.

Tomatoes like a great deal of sun and the like.

And I also tend to plant them fairly deep so that the, a tomato like quite a few plants will go ahead and set roots from various levels on that stem that's buried.

And the end result is it'll have a better root system, better able to support that plant than if I set them.

And what's more, it keeps them from growing too tall and too spindly.

They'll be closer to the ground and less susceptible to wind damage.

So here we go.

We can take this plant here and notice the cup.

This here is when I get my plants in particular if I'm gonna hold them for a while, I go ahead and I transplant them into another container a little bit bigger so that the root system can continue to grow.

And I also go ahead and I color code the tomato.

So I happen to know that this red spot, this means this is a Juliet.

So I'll put this one here in the ground.

I'm gonna pinch off those leaves a little bit there simply so that they won't be touching the ground.

And what's more, hopefully this will come out of the cup here and you can see how well the plant has been sending out its roots rather than that tiny little compartment is now, this plant will so to speak take off a running hopefully and grow quickly.

What I also do, if I'm planting or grow I get the whole row ready.

I go ahead and I space them about 28 to 30 inches in the row and I keep the rows about three feet apart.

And that to me gives them enough room for circulation and supposedly it helps to control the blights, the early blight of tomatoes which is I think the biggest pests which we deal with here, particularly if you've been gardening for years and years the same plot.

There now we'll put you down in here and then I'll go ahead and there's something else I do, Mary.

It's all designed to kind of give 'em a running start.

This is some finely divided, it's potting soil basically.

And I just put this in, surround that plant with this potting soil, which again I guess invites them to send out their roots into the surrounding area and helps to develop a good root system, something I have done over the years.

So I just take a few hands full of that potting soil and put around and then I go ahead and then I'll firm that up a little bit.

And then something else that I do is then I plant in cans.

My kids commonly say, dad, how are the cans growing this year?

But I have found out that it keeps the cutworms away.

It gives them some protection against the wind.

To me to promote growth.

I just place that around the plant, kind of, you know be careful of how I put the leaves in there but at this time they're kind of flexible.

And then I just go ahead and I'll scrape a little this here to keep that can in place.

And then something else that I do, 'cause one of the big enemies of course of our tomato is the blights.

And the spores live in the ground and they splash up when the rains, they'll splash up and get these lower leaves.

And so to kind of help to reduce that, I go ahead and I take these wood chips that's going to give that plant a chance of avoiding early infection with the early blighted tomatoes because that I think is one of our most problem, you know, problems with tomatoes particularly if you've gardened in the same spot for many, many, many years, you've got problems with them.

And then I would go ahead and I would water this again.

I water directly into the cans, which keeps the water from spreading out and running all over the place.

I go ahead and this is just plain 10, 10, 10, a common garden for general fertilizer.

And I go ahead and I just sprinkle something like this here, just a pinch.

The other thing I'll do is when the plant begins to blossom I will oftentimes use a water soluble fertilizer and then I will simply, you know, water with that oh, every few weeks during the growing season when they're producing.

- Okay, John, would you mind if we come back later this summer and see how your tomatoes are doing then?

- I sure would like that.

And I hope I'll have something good to show you.

(Mary and John laughing) (gentle music) - John, it's two months later when you showed us how to plant correctly.

Now we're back to get some more growing tips for how to grow good tomatoes.

- Well thank you and welcome back again.

It's been kind of a trying summer as you you might know with dry spells intermixed with infrequent rains.

It's been a bit of a struggle, but nevertheless I think that the tomato crop is pretty good.

I followed my usual with about 36 inches or so between rows and then about 30 inches between the plants.

But this year I think I could have increased that about six inches in each case because of the tremendous foliage, the tremendous growth this year.

Maybe I was too kind to them between the fertilizer, the side dressing that I used and also the watering during the dry season.

They got a little bit leggy and they've got a little bit tangled.

It's a little bit hard to get in between to pick and a little bit hard, but as it really won't hurt the tomato plant, I don't think if I have to push a little bit aside to get in between as I do as I start picking.

- [Mary] When do you add your stakes on the tomatoes?

- [John] It goes by size.

When they get about big enough that it's going to be a problem if I don't get 'em on there, that's when they get on.

- [Mary] Which do you prefer to use?

- [John] So I like the cages a little bit better, the wooden ones.

- Okay, then how often do you water now in the summertime?

Like you said, it was dry this year.

- When it was during the hottest part of the year I watered every week and usually I, what I do is I'll come out when I think maybe they should be watered.

You gotta watch the plant, first of all to see if it's telling you that I should be watered.

But I scrape away some of the leaves and just feel the soil.

And if it's, you know feels kind of scratch a little bit and it's moist, I figure well that's pretty good.

And if it's kind of dry, then I say it's time to water.

It depends upon a lot upon the wind velocity and of course then the temperature.

Think the best time to water perhaps is in the morning.

That way the plant, if you get water onto the leaves they'll have a time to dry off and it kind of inhibits the growth of the various leaf spot diseases, the early blight and the like which are a problem I think in our area particularly if you've gardened in the same garden space for year after year, as I have for over 50 years.

- Well John, can we see what some of your harvest looks like?

- We sure can.

We can go up here.

I've got some and we will take a look at those.

(gentle music) - I have a question.

What's an ornamental grass and can I grow it for year round interest?

- Well, we've got a new grass introduced from the University of Minnesota and I'm with it today.

This is yellow prairie grass, Sorghastrum nutans.

And the new introduction from the university is golden sunset.

You can see the golden flowers that are on this.

This is a native grass, it's a wonderful native perennial to plant in your landscape.

Very tough for dry situations.

Will tolerate some water but loves full sun and dry conditions.

It's a little shorter this year because it's been dry for a couple of years, so normally it'll be as tall as I am or even a little bit taller.

But it's a little short this year.

Golden sunset flowers earlier than many other forms of yellow prairie grass.

It's almost one month earlier than the other yellow prairie grass that have been in the nursery trade.

So that's one of the reasons we select it.

The other reason is lots of flowers, yellow flowers.

It has more of an olive foliage color to it and then it will turn this golden yellow in the fall.

So it has many seasons of interest and then it will stay upright like this.

It's upright through the wintertime so you'll have winter interest.

So flowers in about August, in September beautiful flowers, then winter interest, a great tough native for Minnesota.

(gentle music) - [Announcer] Ask The Arboretum Experts has been brought to you by the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska dedicated to welcoming, informing and inspiring all through outstanding displays, protected natural areas, horticultural research and education.

(gentle music) - John, what variety is this huge tomato here?

- This tomato is one of the big Beef varieties, or one of the Beefsteak varieties.

And this one I believe is a Beefmaster.

And it says, this is kind of a small, if that is true in the advertisement it says up to two pounds.

This one weighed only a pound and a quarter and I thought it was big, but, and I like 'em, I like this size.

One slice covers a whole slice of bread.

These yellow ones are yellow pears, they're a miniature tomato.

And the name, they're aptly named yellow pear and flavor, they're great.

And they are prolific in growth, they'll spread, keep the distance between them about a foot longer or greater than my spacing this year because they'll take them up.

But they're, as I say, you'll pick hundreds of these if you happen to have three, four plants.

The one drawback, they like a lot of these little miniatures they do crack easily.

When they are mature you've gotta get 'em picked because if you come back a day later, chances are they're going to be split.

- Okay then what is this one?

It almost looks like a roma.

- That's what it reminds you of.

In fact, I even look to see, they are a hybrid, they're called Juliet.

And this here, I really like this kind.

They get about, oh, this inch and a half, two inches.

And unlike the oh, the Sweet 100s or the yellow pear, they have good shelf life, they can remain on the plant for days and days and days after they're ripe or they can fall off and lay on the ground.

And if they're mulched in particular, they don't spoil, they don't split.

And you can tell why, the skin is considerably thicker and tougher.

But I really like 'em for that reason.

And they'll have a long, they're indeterminate and so they keep bearing till frost now if the conditions are right.

So I really find that these is and they were a all America winner here at one time.

So they're well thought of I think by many.

And these other little ones here, these are Sweet 100s.

They're a grape tomato and they like a marble, they're very good eating but tender, very tender and split easily.

But you gotta pick 'em that day and eat 'em or certainly in a day or so.

- And I see a tomato right in front of you that oftentimes people will ask me about this.

What's going on with this one?

- Someone just asked me, brought me a tomato the other day, very same situation.

And this is what we call blossom-end rot.

That the tomatoes will begin and frankly they often, they're heartbreakers in a way, it's a heartbreaker because you see this lovely tomato that is starting to form and you pick it up and you think, oh the first tomato of the season and you turn it over and there's that ugly black spot underneath it.

That's blossom end-rot and it starts there where the blossom has been attached to the fruit and that's the area where you usually get it.

And they say in not necessarily inadequate watering but spotty when sometimes they need it, they also sometimes need water.

Other times they say it's a calcium deficiency or the inability of the plant to the calcium in the soil.

Another issue a lot of times in the summer is what you call sun scald.

It's the sunburn.

But tomatoes that are exposed to the sun tend to sunburn and that particular area apparently it damages the cells and it starts to turn kind of a yellowish color and eventually turns here and then splits open.

And that tomato, of course is of no value anymore.

And that is why I guess I've never been one who prunes tomatoes very much.

Once in a while but very rarely simply because I think in our hot sun you've got a problem with sun scald.

This one goes back in the compost pile instead of trying to eat it 'cause usually quantity hasn't been a problem as far as tomatoes are concerned.

- [Mary] What do you do with your whole harvest?

- My wife's out in West Wind Village.

When she was here we used to can together and we'd can a lot of things.

And I've also got, we've got several daughters and families that would come home and they'd can.

And the last couple years I've canned, I've canned whole tomatoes and tomato juice and the like but most of it I simply give away and there's three four people that I know of that still can.

And so I just call 'em up when I've got 35 pounds or so.

I like enough tomatoes so I don't have to putts, let's say with two jars at a time.

I wanna do two canners at a time when I start canning tomatoes and the like.

And then I don't have to wash those dishes up after it for two quarts.

The same dishes you know, I can get 14 quarts if I have two cookers full.

So I don't usually have trouble with getting tomatoes away, and the like.

Zucchini, sometimes they're a little different.

(Mary laughing) - John, I think the people are gonna be calling you to see if they can be your neighbor after seeing this show.

(Mary and John laughing) - Well.

- When you're all done with the season then, what do you do with the plants and the vines?

Do you work them back into the garden?

- No, usually with indeterminate growth you've got green tomatoes when you're through and I might pick up sometimes two five gallon pales full of tomatoes that didn't ripen and the like.

Then I pull up the plants and I haul 'em out to the landfill.

I'm a little hesitant about no vines and leaves because of the disease possibilities that there is perhaps a place where they'll be harboring the fungi and the blights and the like that cause you problem with tomatoes.

So I just pull 'em out and get rid of them.

- [Mary] Those green tomatoes, what do you do with them to get 'em to finish ripening?

How do you treat 'em?

- [John] I just usually by the time they stop ripening and they perhaps will, there won't be so many and frankly at that particular time I'm tomatoed out.

If some of 'em don't get ripe that's just part of the whole situation.

Part of the scenario about raising tomatoes is you're gonna have some with these indeterminate tomatoes.

If they went to December without frosting you'd maybe still have some that are green.

(gentle music) - Well thank you so much for teaching us how you grow such great tomatoes.

And I have to say yours are twice the size of mine.

So now I'm gonna have to try some of the things you do and see if I can get better luck.

- First thing you wanna get is the Beefsteak variety, that'll help and spread 'em out enough I think.

My super fantastic, they're crowded a little bit and they have numerous tomatoes but I think they're running smaller than what they usually do.

So if you've got the room, spread 'em out a little bit, give 'em plenty of room.

And also disease so the air can circulate back and forth between the plants.

That dries off the leaves and they're less susceptible to disease.

- [Mary] Thanks so much for all of the great tips.

Thank you.

- You're sure welcome, Mary.

I enjoy watching the program and watching public television come on on Thursday evenings and the like and see where you go and see the people that are also that like to garden, whether it's flowers or whether it's vegetables.

So thank you for coming.

(gentle music) - [Announcer] Funding for Prairie Yard and Garden is provided by Heartland Motor Company, providing service to Minnesota and the Dakotas for over 30 years in the heart of truck country.

Heartland Motor Company, we have your best interest at heart.

Farmer's Mutual Telephone Company and Federated Telephone Cooperative, proud to be powering Acira, pioneers in bringing state-of-the-art technology to our rural communities.

Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen in honor of Shalom Hill Farm, a nonprofit rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Wyndham, Minnesota.

And by Friends of Prairie Yard and Garden, a community of supporters like you who engage in the long-term growth of the series.

To become a friend of Prairie Yard and Garden, visit pioneer.org/pyg.

(bright upbeat music)