tomatoes west of the Cascades, nothing is more important
than choosing the right variety. Not only does it have to be early
and able to set and ripen fruit when nights are cool, but to grow
through months without watering the plant must be highly
indeterminate. This makes a built-in conflict: most of the sprawly,
huge, old heirloom varieties are rather late to mature. But cherry
tomatoes are always far earlier than big slicers.

If I had to choose only one variety it would be the old heirloom
[Large] Red Cherry. A single plant is capable of covering a 9- to
10-foot-diameter circle if fertigated from mid-July through August.
The enormous yield of a single fertigated vine is overwhelming.

Red Cherry is a little acid and tart. Non-acid, indeterminate cherry
types like Sweetie, Sweet 100, and Sweet Millions are also workable
but not as aggressive as Red Cherry. I wouldn't depend on most bush
cherry tomato varieties. But our earliest cherry variety of all,
OSU's Gold Nugget, must grow a lot more root than top, for, with or
without supplemental water, Gold Nugget sets heavily and ripens
enormously until mid-August, when it peters out from overbearing
(not from moisture stress). Gold Nugget quits just about when the
later cherry or slicing tomatoes start ripening heavily.

Other well-adapted early determinates such as Oregon Spring and
Santiam may disappoint you. Unless fertigated, they'll set and ripen
some fruit but may become stunted in midsummer. However, a single
indeterminate Fantastic Hybrid will cover a 6-to 7-foot-diameter
circle, and grow and ripen tomatoes until frost with only a minimum
of water. I think Stupice (ABL, TSC) and Early Cascade are also
quite workable (and earlier than Fantastic in Washington).

Chapter 6

My Own Garden Plan

This chapter illustrates and explains my own dry garden. Any garden
plan is a product of compromises and preferences; mine is not
intended to become yours. But, all modesty aside, this plan results
from 20 continuous years of serious vegetable gardening and some
small degree of regional wisdom.

My wife and I are what I dub "vegetablitarians." Not vegetarians, or
lacto-ovo vegetarians because we're not ideologues and eat meat on
rare, usually festive occasions in other peoples' houses. But over
80 percent of our calories are from vegetable, fruit, or cereal
sources and the remaining percentage is from fats or dairy foods.
The purpose of my garden is to provide a