Tomato season is almost here! What can we expect in the Lowcountry this summer?
Get out the mayonnaise, white bread and sea salt: The Lowcountry’s tomato season is on its way.
Tomato harvesting begins in June, according to the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. There are 11 certified tomato growers in Beaufort County. Most are on St. Helena Island.
LaDonna Sanders, whose husband owns Okatee River Farms on S.C. 170, said they have planted seven varieties of tomatoes this year, including four heirloom types.
“Some of the tomatoes are as big as a baseball,” Sanders said. “It’s just a ripening process now for those heirlooms, so probably mid-June is when we’ll start picking them. They don’t all come off at one time.”
And on St. Helena Island, Barefoot Farms has already started selling its well-known heirloom varieties, a representative said Thursday.
In Jasper County, Bubba Crosby, a retired farmer and Army veteran, has developed a following online by growing and selling tomatoes and other crops out of his home. He grows only one tomato variety, a disease-resistant breed local to the Lowcountry.
The season is looking promising for now, he said — if the weather holds up. If the tomatoes get pummeled with rain before they’re picked, they’ll split open and sour, Crosby’s daughter Cheryl said.
“I got plenty of tomatoes on the bushes, and it’s nice right now,” Bubba Crosby said. “Depends on the weather, whether you have a lot of rain. … Last year we had an exceptional year.”
He’s hoping for a good two to three weeks of harvesting — from mid-June to early July — before the season ends.
“I normally just plant for the family, and they can what they want,” Crosby said. “I give them to my friends. And I sell enough that’s left over to pay for the next year.”
Crosby’s produce stand is located at 3824 Okatie Highway between Hardeeville and Pritchardville.
