Winter Tomatoes

Everyone knows tomatoes like long warm days to flourish. I usually plant a crop in the spring and then again, if possible, in mid-summer. The mid-summer tomatoes in Encinitas, which is close to the ocean, are usually better because we have Santa Ana's, which are hot, dry winds blowing in from the East instead of cool winds from the ocean in the West. This brings very hot weather to us in October and November, sometimes stretching into December. Early summer here oftentimes can be cool and overcast, so I really count on that late tomato crop's bounty.

This past fall and winter is extraordinary. Besides a couple weeks of cool weather (only Southern Californians would call our weather this time of year cool) we have had a very warm season and apparently the tomatoes agree. We use tomatoes mostly for salsa fresca so I mostly grow Romas, with a few heirloom tomato plants thrown in the mix for salads and avocado sandwiches. It's February and my outdoor tomatoes show no sign of slowing down.