A brand new season coming up!

Posted on February 20, 2012 by springbreakfarm

So what have we been doing since May? We just nicely got our garden planted when I left for B.C. to be with my daughter who was expecting her first child. I returned a proud grandma at the end of July to find that our garden was completely overgrown with weeds. I had to make a decision whether to try to rescue it or to let the weeds have their way with it – considering the very hot weather we were having I didn’t think it worth the effort to try and beat the weeds back so I gritted my teeth and with my trusty machete type knife I proceeded to “wild harvest” my vegetables. What an adventure! The upside of the very hot summer was that the heirlooms loved the heat and with sufficient rain we had a bumper crop!

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

 

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End of the sale – start of the tomato growing season

Posted on June 19, 2011 by springbreakfarm

Today we sold the last of our heirloom tomatoes. All have new homes and by accounts received so far they are doing well in their gardens.

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

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Sale Countdown – 9-1/2 hours

Posted on May 21, 2011 by springbreakfarm

Wow! The time has really gone fast. Seems like not too long ago I was planting the seeds for all those tomatoes that I see now in the greenhouse . The cool weather has finely broken and tonight is the 3rd night we have not had to have heat in the greenhouse. Hurray! -Those 3 a.m. stoking of the fires was wearing thin on both Roger & I. Then yesterday the sun finally prevailed and we felt some real warmth – Well it was if the plants were bursting to get that heat. They shot up so much it was incredible to see the difference in just two days – some plants are close to 10″ tall. The orders have been coming in steadily since April and we have filled requests for about 900 plants. This is great but it also means that we have sold out of some of our most popular varieties. It seems no matter how many Box Car Willies I plant they are all gone in a flash. We are so looking forward to tomorrow to see customer/friends that we haven’t seen since last year – and all those stories that each one has to share about their heirloom experiences – and the sharing of tips and recipes.  Hope to see you at our sale.

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Heirloom Tomato Seedling Sale Dates!

Posted on November 23, 2010 by

Our 2011 Heirloom Tomato Seedling Sale will be held Saturday May 21 to Saturday June 4, 2011 (excluding Sundays) Start your wish list now. If you would like us to grow a particular variety please contact us before Jan 31, 2011 and we will try to include it in our grow -out list for the sale.

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.

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Heirloom Tomatoes – Some Growing Tips

Posted on November 16, 2010 by springbreakfarm

Some Growing Tips for your Heirloom Tomatoes

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.

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Heirloom Tomatoes – terms you should know

Posted on November 16, 2010 by

 

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.

    • ?

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.

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Agritourism Event in September 2010

Posted on August 28, 2010 by

We will be hosting an Agritourism Event at the farm in September. Members of the Kawartha Ecological Growers CSA program will be touring the farm. These are the people that receive our produce in their weekly food boxes in Toronto. Roger will be leading a workshop on growing garlic and I will be showing how to save heirloom tomato seeds and we will have a tomato tasting session. The day will end with a wonderful gourmet dinner prepared by celebrity chef Joshna Maharaj using produce straight from our gardens.

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