Dry Farming Tomatoes for Full Flavour

The idea of “dry farming” tomatoes is fascinating for anyone who is passionate about sustainable living and eco-friendly farming practises. But it is not something that anybody can do. For dry farming to be successful, you will need to live in a climate that is able to support the growth of your plants naturally.

Early Girl tomatoes grown using the dry farming method at a farm near Santa Cruz in California.

What Dry Farming Means

Technically, dry farming means just that: you grow your crops without using any form of irrigation. If your climate is right, it will be cool enough, and you’ll get enough rain, for the tomato plants to grow without your help. Of course you’re going to have to ensure that the soil is right; it needs to be rich and fertile, with all the nutrients it takes to produce good, healthy fruits. Lots of organic matter in the soil will have the effect of slowing down evaporation of whatever moisture there is in the soil. You will also need to remove weeds, and should consider companion planting, as well as rotation planting once the last of the season’s tomatoes have been harvested.

Because surface water is not supplemented by irrigation, the plant roots grow deeper in their search of water. This results in wonderfully tasty tomatoes.

While some people maintain that it is necessary to water your tomatoes normally until the plant begins to set the fruit, this is not the way the purists do it at all. (If your climate isn’t perfect, yet you want to give dry farming a try, it could be a workable compromise.)

Pioneers of Dry Farming Tomatoes

There is no argument that the pioneers of modern dry farming tomatoes come from California on the west coast of the USA. Generally summers are hot and dry and winters cool and wet. Close to the coast, for instance in the Santa Cruz area, which is recognized as a major “dry farming” region for tomatoes, overcast, foggy evenings and mornings help to keep the plants cool in summer.

Here farmers who have proven that the technique produces incredibly tasty tomatoes (albeit in smaller yields), have dispensed with irrigation in their tomato fields altogether.

For example, Mark and Nibby Bartle who established the organic Two Dog Farm near Santa Cruz more than a decade ago say of their dry farmed tomatoes: “We don’t water them in after transplant, don’t water during dry spells, we just don’t ever water them. We don’t even have water available in those fields. The plants and the fruits are smaller and the yield is less, but the flavour of the tomatoes is intensely concentrated.”

Like many of the organic farmers in this area, the Bartles sell their flavoursome tomatoes at farmer’s markets. Like most of the rest, they also plant the Early Girl variety. It seems that’s the way to go.

If you are looking to give growing tomatoes a go, our book How To Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes will be very helpful.