All Heirloom and Novelty Tomatoes      $2.00 each

Patio Tomatoes in 1 gallon pots               $4.00  each

Herbs  in 5″ pots                                         $2.50  each

All prices include 13% HST

Still time to pre-order – just go to our “Contact Us” page and e-mail or telephone us.

Gloria & Roger

The cherry tomato has finally come into its own as chefs of all food cultures  are finding new ways to cook with them. They are no longer only for snacking and salads. With that in mind I have included more than 15 varieties including Lemon Drop, Baxter’s Bush Red and Thai Pink Egg.

Last year we grew a variety of tomatoes in the topsy turvy tomato baskets. We planted both large and small varieties and found that generally the larger varieties did not reach their normal size. The best performing varieties included Manitoba, Scotia and Siberian – all salad sized determinate tomatoes. We also found that these baskets require more watering and that the baskets did not distribute the water very well (-it may have been that our very dry hot summer had something to do with this). We would appreciate your comments about your experiences with this type of tomato growing system.

In response to several inquiries from our customers last year we will be offering a small selection of heirloom vegetable seeds at our 2012 sale. We will also have some vegetable 4 packs – perhaps cabbage, cauliflower, brusssel sprouts, hot peppers, etc. and a variety of herbs.

Here’s looking for an early spring!!!

Gloria

I harvested bushels and bushels of beautiful tomatoes – called my friends to share the overabundance with them and took to my canning kettle with enthusiasm.  For days & days I stewed, pureed and pickled until I started to dream tomatoes. With a prolonged summer and late fall I had tomatoes right up until October. In fact I had picked about a bushel of the last few left in the garden and left them on my back deck – using them as I needed. We enjoyed the last tomato – an enormous yellow Dr Wyche’s Yellow beauty on the 19th of October. And then I let the frost have the rest of the garden – somehow it is a relief to see the first hard frost release you from any obligation to harvest more.

Here I am now (after beingwithout the internet for 4 months)- going through my seeds – making notes of those I want to remove from my list and looking for some interesting new ones to add. Hopefully I will have our new list updated within the next two weeks so keep checking. Spring is on its way!

Gloria

The extremely windy conditions have affected a few transplants. Some leaves have white borders which we have determined is windburn. This should not permanently damage the growth of the plant and any new sprouting leaves should be normal in colour.

A few tomato plants in our garden have been damaged due to a visit from the deer which seemed to enjoy chewing off the tops of several plants. However the plants are recovering and producing lots of side shoots which will take over from the original tops.

We now have about 80 heirloom varieties in our garden. We don’t grow out all varieties but hope to pay more attention this year to recording characteristics like yields, flavours and overall hardiness.

We hope you will choose to share your experiences with the heirloom tomato community here on our website.

Wishing you a great growing season.

Gloria & Roger

Again this year we will be offering a good variety of herbs and if requested we will be growing a few heirloom vegetables as well.

Transplanting:

Dig a hole deep enough so that only about 4 inches of the plant is above ground. Pinch off any leaves that will be below the surface. Set the plant in the prepared hole. Fill with soil and press down gently to firm the soil. If you have “leggy” plants you may be able to lay down the plant in a trench – turning the top up to make sure that only 4 inches is above the soil. The plants will form roots from each nodule of the buried stem.  Some growers sprinkle Epsom salts and/or crushed egg shells around the plants when transplanting to increase nutrients in the soil. Water  with a dilute solution of fish emulsion or compost tea when newly planted and every two to three weeks. The most common deficiency in growing heirloom tomatoes is that of a lack of calcium. We have found that the egg shells work well and a good sprinkling every two weeks of dehydrated hen manure enhanced with calcium is very good.

Mulching:

Red plastic has been known to encourage tomatoes to produce earlier and set more fruit as it warms the soil. However grass clippings or straw will also help to keep the soil warm and moist.

Pruning:

Only for indeterminate varieties. Prune only after the plant has been growing for a week or so. Remove all suckers-the sprouts that grow between the stem and the leaf. Repeat the pruning weekly until the desired height is reached. You can use stakes or cages, or a trellis -tying the main stem to the support with strips of fabric, old nylon stockings or twine.

Watering:

Tomatoes like at least 6 hours of sunlight per day and an even amount of water at least   one inch of rain per week. Water deeply once a week if necessary.  An inconsistent amount of water tends to result in blossom rot.

Harvesting:

Harvest fruit as it ripens. Towards the end of the season it is helpful to remove all blossoms and fruit  that will not have time to ripen as well as most of the leaves. This will help to send the plant’s energy toward  the ripening of the remaining fruits.

Tomato Terms – what you need to know.

When choosing heirloom tomato plants for your garden you should be aware of some special terms which apply to tomato plants.

Determinate or Indeterminate?

In our list of heirloom tomatoes here on the website you will notice at the end of the description the terms determinate or indeterminate . These will help you to decide which variety is best for your growing conditions and your harvesting needs.

• Indeterminate (or vining) Varieties -means the fruit ripens over a period of time and the vine keeps growing. These varieties may be pruned and staked (unless you prefer to let them sprawl on the ground)
• Determinate (or bush) Varieties – means the vine stops growing when the tomatoes mature and all fruit ripens in a short space of time. Staking or caging may not be necessary. Pruning is not necessary.

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Potato-leaf or Regular Leaf?

• Leaf Types: There are two basic leaf types – Regular Leaf (or RL) and Potato Leaf (PL). A regular leaf is the saw-tooth type that gardeners are most familiar with. Potato leaf types have rounder foliage with few, if any lobes or notches in the leaves. These characteristics for the most part cosmetic – although I have found that the potato leaf varieties are more prone to scalding of the leaves – which is caused when water collects on the leaves and the sun produces a magnifying effect – thus burning the leaves.

Days to Maturity – what is that?

This term refers to the average number of days that the tomato fruit will take to ripen after transplanting into the garden. Of course the number of days also depends on your growing zone # and on specific weather conditions in your area.