Today's photo is a yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), a medium-sized woodpecker found in Maine. These birds feed by drilling holes in the tree and drinking the sap. They can be found in Maine during the summer, but migrate south to the southern US, Mexico and Central America in the winter.

Yellow-bellied suckers sometimes visit suet feeders, but are most often seen in wooded areas. This male was seen on a chokecherry tree near my bird feeders.

According to All About Birds at Cornell Lab, the drilled holes made by the Yellow-bellied sapsucker are called sapwells. Sapwells also provide sap for the Ruby Throated Hummingbird. 

​If you see this bird in your backyard, or you observe rows of tiny holes in a tree, be on the lookout of hummingbirds who may stop for a sip of tasty sap.

This year I grew Heinz Processor tomatoes for the first time and was very surprised with the results. These tomatoes were amazing producers and proved to be a great processing tomato. Here’s a breakdown of my thoughts about Heinz processor tomatoes.

Production: These prolific producers started producing fairly early and kept going until the threat of frost in the fall. One tomato plant produced an amazing 71 tomatoes with many small tomatoes still forming on the vine. Most of the plants produced 40 or 50 tomatoes.

Fruit Size and Shape: These tomatoes proved to be uniform globe-shaped with most of the tomatoes falling within the medium (3-inch) range. They were similar in appearance to Early Girl tomatoes.

Flavor: These tomatoes were not as flavorful as a beefsteak tomato and might not be your favorite for slicing on burgers or tossing in salads, but they were fantastic for canning salsa, diced tomatoes and other sauces.

Overall Pros: Heinz processor tomatoes were hands down the most prolific producer I have ever grown. These meaty tomatoes processed well and retained a good flavor when canned.

Overall Cons: Although their flavor was better than supermarket tomato varieties, they did not have a robust tomatoey flavor expected from homegrown tomatoes. I liked them in salads but prefer a juicier slice of tomato for burgers and sandwiches. If you only grow tomatoes for eating fresh, this tomato probably shouldn’t be your first choice but they are a great choice for canning.

Heinz processor tomato plants were massive. I grew mine in 48-inch wire tomato cages, but that still wasn’t enough to support them. I added fiberglass stakes to stabilize the wire cages, but that still didn’t do the trick as the entire plants toppled by mid-August, bending both the cage and the fiberglass stakes.  If you choose to grow Heinz processor tomatoes, make sure you have heavy supports in place when you transplant the seedlings.

I will definitely grow Heinz processor tomatoes again next year, but there are a couple of things I will do differently.

1. I will start the seeds earlier and get the seedlings in the ground earlier — providing Mother Nature cooperates. It was a late, cold spring this year which set the tomatoes back.. I'd like to see these tomatoes ripen on the vine next year.
2. I will also erect new, sturdier supports for them to prevent toppling in August. I may even put up a fence behind them to provide added support.

If you are looking for tomatoes for canning or making into sauces, the Heinz processor tomato is a great choice.