We’ve been trying to spend more time inside due to the extreme heat wave we’re still enduring, but, armed with our experience, research, and ability to work with and adapt to nature, we’re determined to make this our Year of the Tomato. We’re hand-watering all our plants this year, which means a lot of time out in the sun… it’d sure be nice to have drip irrigation! At least the heat and drought conditions are helping us determine which varieties are best suited for our climate. So far one of our favorites is the Costoluto Genovese from Baker Creek Seeds- the plants are incredibly productive, the tomatoes are tasty, firm, and don’t crack much, and they’re so pretty!
We were able to harvest about 15 pounds of tomatoes last week, mostly from our Iowa Street garden. It was enough to supply to friends and family and sell at the Cherokee Street Farmers’ Market, and still have a bunch left over. Thankfully, we had a connection at the Schlafly Tap Room and were able to sell all of our remaining tomatoes to their executive chef! We heard that the Special today is watermelon and heirloom tomato salad 
With the heat dragging on, we’re looking forward to the fall. Today we started some seeds for our late summer/fall gardens, including kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, dill, and basil.
Nice tomato! I’ve heard how hot it is in Iowa and humid. Great growing weather. Our tomatoes have to be tented every night to keep the cool moist air from bringing on the blight so we’re waaay behind the rest of the country. We drip-water from a gravity flow tank pumped by a “solar-roller” (solar panels on a home made wheeled cart. This blog has pictures… http://solarbeez.com/2012/05/13/grow-with-solar-3/