Call us: 860-740-6938 Want to know How to Grow Heirloom Tomatoes? or just how to grow tomatoes? Today we talk with my neighbor Priscilla, who is an heirloom tomato expert, and has more energy than I do even after drinking lots of coffee. Priscilla grows tomato seedlings of 30 different heirloom tomato varieties each year and sells the young plants at her farm stand at the end of her driveway.
Priscilla mentioned several seed companies she is ordering from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds has a beautiful catalog and is very pro-active about heirloom seeds. Their site is here http://rareseeds.com/
Totally Tomatoes is a catalog that has more tomato varieties than anyone else, I think. Their site is here http://www.totallytomato.com/
Shumway Seeds website is here: http://www.rhshumway.com/
We will also be posting a new GardenFork video this week on how to start vegetable seeds in these neat homemade cardboard containers Priscilla showed us how to make.
Some of my favorite heirloom tomato varieties are Black Krim, Mortgage Lifter, Prudens Purple, and Juliette.
What are your favorite tomato varieties? Let us know below:
Bridget
23 years I've been growing Heirloom Tomatoes with my criteria being flavor, then productivity. I can my own tomato sauce, salsa, sun dried tomatoes, and chutney and then gift to friends and family. My backbone varieties that prove year after year in my Southern California zone 9a are Siberian, Giant Belgium, Chocolate Cherry, Isis Candy, Clint Eastwood Rowdy Red, and Virginia Sweets. All of these have been grown successfully in raised bed as well as home made Earthtainers. Here is a link with a fantastic video to build your own http://earthtainer.tomatofest.com/ These are self watering containers that conserve moisture and also prevent pests from having ready access.
Last year I made tomato cages as you demonstrated but wasn't satisfied with the stability. I also made PVC pipe boxes that support the growth incredibly and don't fall over, short of an Australian Shepherd direct hit.
Katja
Hi Eric and Priscilla,
Great show, but do you have tips for growing tomatoes outside and avoiding blight?
I live in Holland and with our wet and windy climate blight is the biggest problem. You raise your plants, pamper them and by the time your crop starts to ripen blight is upon them and you can bin the lot. It's SO frustrating!
I'm growing Ferline this year which is supposed to have blight resistance but I would love to grow more varieties.
LJC
Last summer was my first attempt at growing tomatoes. I grew two varieties, SunSugar and Sweet Million cherry tomatoes. The sunsugar tomatoes were so outstanding that not a single one ever made it to a plate! In fact, I would go so far as to say, they are the very best cherry tomato I have ever eaten. Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so as I was told at the gardening store that there is a cult following around this variety. The sweet millions were good too but there was just no comparison, especially if you have limited growing space. I will definitely be growing sunsugar again and will keep looking for a great red cherry tomato variety. I did have an issue with some tomatoes cracking and was told they either got too much water or not enough. So they do need some TLC. I'm going to try planting lacinato kale, pink chard and various mixed lettuces in an Earthbox this year. This seems to be a very successful alternative for urban gardeners. I'd like to know why it is so hard to find red dandelion seeds? I love the leaves in salads. Other things I'm trying for the first time are Temptation strawberries in a strawberry pot, and blueberries...HardyBlue and TopHat. Plus tons of herbs. A new one I'm intrigued by is called Mojito Mint...that is perfectly suited for mojitos...hmmm. Loved the plant pot tip using a recycled cardboard tube...absolutely brilliant! Happy Spring!
Katja
LJC, In Great Britain and Holland Gardeners Delight is considered one of the best cherry toms. It is a bit large for a real cherry tom but it is really good even outside.
Priscilla
In response to Katja, you can get blight resistant varieties and use a raised bed so the water drains off, lighten the soil with some perlite and put landscape fabric around the plant so when it rains the water doesn't splash up on the leaves.
Katja
Hi Priscilla, thanks for your reply. I garden on very heavy clay -literally the bottom of the former Zuijder sea- and lighten it by putting in organic matter and coarse grit. Strange enough in a gardeners country like Holland Perlite is not available for private use just commercial.
The only blight resistant variety I could find sofar is Ferline which I will trial this year, do you know of others? I can still sow if I'm quick.