If you've been following along with my Summer Garden Era, you know this year's garden has been a bit of an adventure.
There have been successes. There have been mistakes. There may have even been a brief period where I was convinced I had completely ruined my tomatoes.
Thankfully, things are finally starting to turn around!
This week brought my first real tomato harvest of the season, and I couldn't be more excited.
The biggest news is that all three of my cherry tomato plants are now producing. Tiny green tomatoes started appearing several weeks ago, but now they're beginning to ripen and I'm finally picking tomatoes straight from my backyard again.
There is something incredibly satisfying about stepping outside, checking the plants, and finding fresh tomatoes waiting to be picked. It may only be a handful at a time right now, but after months of watering, fertilizing, pruning, and occasionally worrying, it feels like a major victory.
My tomato season got off to a rough start earlier this year. In my enthusiasm to help the plants thrive, I managed to over-fertilize them. Three plants had to be replaced. I'm now sitting at 3 cherry tomato plants and one Big Boy.
The cherry tomatoes clearly got the memo. So many baby tomatoes coming in!
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| Tomato Harvest Update: Cherry Tomatoes Are Finally Producing! |
The one holdout continues to be my Big Boy tomato plant.
The plant itself looks healthy and happy. It has grown well and continues to produce plenty of foliage. What it hasn't produced yet is a single tomato.
At this point I'm checking it daily like an impatient parent waiting for a teenager to finally clean their room.
I know larger tomato varieties often take longer than cherry tomatoes to begin producing, especially during periods of extreme Texas heat. So for now I'm trying to remain patient and trust the process.
We'll see who wins: me or the Big Boy tomato plant. I usually just do cherry tomatoes but work bestie put in a vote for the Big Boy when I was replacing the three deceased plants and I listened.
Beyond the tomatoes, the rest of the garden is settling into summer. The chives continue to thrive and may officially be the overachievers of the garden. My herbs have generally handled the Texas heat better than I expected, which has been a pleasant surprise.
One of the things I love most about gardening is that every season teaches you something new. This year has certainly reinforced the importance of patience. Plants operate on their own timeline, not mine.
While I would have loved baskets overflowing with tomatoes by now, I'm learning to celebrate the small wins. Every new blossom, every tiny green tomato, and every harvest basket is a reminder that progress is happening, even when it feels slow.
For now, I'm enjoying my growing cherry tomato harvest and keeping a hopeful eye on that stubborn Big Boy plant.
Stay tuned. Hopefully the next garden update includes a much larger harvest and maybe, just maybe, the first Big Boy tomato of the season.
Explore more North Texas ideas: Visit my DFW & Texas Guides page for more firsthand articles about gardening in the Texas climate, local outings, dog-friendly places, and life in Arlington.

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