To those of us who dream of our crops to come, this time of year allows dedicated time for pondering which of the zillion varieties of delicious Heirloom Tomatoes will be in our gardens come the warm spring days. With far too many choices available, it is a fun game each year! I try to plant ONLY between 25-35 varieties - a hard task when many of these become our standard favorites along the way!
I go for great variety in color and always those that folks have found to be of fantastic taste. Also, i prefer to plant open-pollinated varieties, and save seed from each type. Open pollinated or OP plants are varieties that grow true from seed. This means they are capable of producing seeds from this seasons plants, which will produce seedlings that will be just like the parent plant. Each season, one will find many containers of fermenting seed and pulp in my home, followed by carefully marked paper plates on which the pre-fermented seeds are drying. These plates, marked with the name of the fruit, are carefully placed all over two rooms - in areas where kitty-cats will not explore!
Last year, i grew out some 20 flats of plants for gifting and to try out selling mature, healthy young plants for local variety. I concentrated on Kentucky Heirlooms, generously shared by a gentleman that is beloved by many of us, Gary Millwood. He is a true garden pal, and has passionately saved and shared seed from many, many varieties that could easily disappear into 'Mater Extinction. Bless Gary, known by some as Papa Gary! He has made seed saving and sharing great fun for we gardeners and foodies (and does he ever have great recipes, too!). Thank you, Friend :) These Kentucky heirlooms were received with great enthusiasm, and regularly people tell me how wonderful these plants were in their gardens.
I grow paste tomatoes, beefsteak types, oxhearts, cherry (fondly called
TommyToes, where i live), grape tomatoes, stuffing tomatoes, and tomatoes wild with color : Black (mahogany in reality), green ripes, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds, and wild bi-colors.We love a riot of color on the serving plate!
This year, i hope to go into the tomato plant business in a bigger way, as last year's experiment went so very well! While it is very difficult to sell produce in our neck of the woods, plants were well-received......and it is fun to do! Stay tuned for this year's choices - soon to be announced and shared around :)
6 comments:
Wow, this tomato lore is fascinating! I still remember the fantastic smell of warm tomatoes as my Grandma picked them from her garden right before lunch. That tomato fragrance added to the flavor... and I have never smelled it on a store-bought version.
Wow, mahogany and striped? You might not be able to sell those in Campton, but you could make a killing selling them to foodies online!
Has anyone here grown the Roughwood Golden Plum tomato? SSE introduced this paste tomato in 1996, so it is a little young for heirloom status. William Woys Weaver developed the variety.
Said to be excellent for pizza and foccacia because it does not turn to mush when hot. Also reputed to make a lovely, low acid tomato sauce that is especially suited to the subtle flavors of fish, shellfish, and pasta dishes.
This variety was part of a 'colorful canner' collection with little info given about it. I looked around for more, and came up with the above, and also the following.
The plant is determinate, with dark green, Potato Leaf foliage, and most fruit ripens to a rich golden-orange in midseason. It is also drought resistant, and
has good resistance to whitefly.
What I haven't yet found is comment from gardeners who have grown the plant and used the fruit.
I read that a gardener in Los Angeles quadrupled his seedling business last year, and expected at least that much growth this year. You'd do well in California, our garden stores sell out of garden plants pretty quickly, and so few are heirlooms.
Questions about your tomato plant gifting and selling experiment...
Gifting is self explanatory, and something I love doing, but I am curious about the selling part.
What size plants do you offer for sale, and what prices do you ask?
Where do you offer them for sale?
I have often thought that selling a few dozen good transplants would help defray the cost of seed
and supplies.
That idea was based on the great
success of a late April-early May
Peddler's Venture with a couple of trunk loads of Viola and Pansy plants. The plants were offered as plugs, and in four and six paks, and they sold on sight.
One of my daughters and I went to local offices such as the Health Department just before lunch time, got permission to make our presence, plants, and prices known, and then spoke to everyone who came out to the parking lot.
It was a lot of fun, but I am not sure folks would be as receptive to this kind of approach these
days.
I have many, many seeds of beautiful heirloom tomatoes that I would love to grow and share
with local folk, but tomatoes are not Violas, and will need a bit
different venue I suspect.
I am also a sweet pepper nut, and would love to introduce a few of my favorites to the community. Do you think there might be a market for unfamiliar varieties known to produce well in at least one local garden?
Lillian,
I offer fairly good-sized tomato and Pepper plants in 4"pots. By the time planting occurs in our zone, they are usually about 8"-15" tall, and still not so pot-bound as to be unhealthy or discolored - not stressed! Here, the price is much lower than the california days or what they would be in the city nearest us. I can get 2.00 per pot for them, from limited amounts of people. That seems to high for most of the farm families, but again mine are vibrantly healthy and people have said they out-produce many of the cheaper nursery plants of small size in 6 packs. Those that bought, buy again because of it. I am glad when i can do small garden talks around our counties, and interested people go on my list to contact at plant sale time. Mostly, my plants sell by word of mouth to the employed masses who can afford a few nice plants. The average number was a dozen plants of diverse types to each home gardener.....and they loved the color and variety. I deliver when the right time comes, and park my car in their town.....and they show up over an hour or tow to get therm.Friends deliver to other friends and they all disappear!
I also offer basil, a few other vegies, sweet potatoes -- but mostly tomato, sweet and hot pepper plants. I may branch into some seed next year, if Mom Nature produces plenty here. Most all plants are OP, and i am making more isolation devices for more variety each year around.
i just am fixing up a little trailor for behind the Subaru. It will be kind of covered wagon like, and i will haul my flats plants in that! A friend may help me with signage on the sides :)
For Fun, and to cover garden costs - who knows, maybe more someday!!
I really like this idea, especially the wagon part.
My sister and I used to go with our dad sometimes to peddle apples from a 1941 Dodge Panel truck. One of the highlights of our young lives.
Yes, this WAS in Sacramento and surrounding communities in the late forties and early fifties. He purchased the apples in Placer County throughout the season, and
the absolute freshness was the big
thing that had folks watching for that old gold colored rig every autumn.
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