Tomatoes
and
Herbs
This year we planted seeds for tomatoes and herbs rather than purchase young
plants. If our seeds don't survive, we can always get plants from our
local nurseries. We decided to raise our own from seed to see if we can do
it successfully and to control the plants that we grow. Here are some
details.
What did we plant?
Tomatoes
Our tomatoes are all heirloom tomatoes. The
varieties we planted are:
We purchased our heirloom tomato seeds from Gary Ibsen's TomatoFest:
http://www.tomatofest.com/
There are several other sources for heirloom tomato seeds and plants -- just
search the Internet and ask your local garden and nursery suppliers.
What are heirloom tomatoes?
An heirloom tomato is an open-pollinated non-hybrid tomato.
This means that heirloom tomatoes are not produced by cross-breeding
(cross-pollinating) different varieties of tomatoes but, instead, saving
the seeds of one type of tomato from one season to the next. Hybrid
tomatoes generally are sterile -- you can plant their seeds but nothing sprouts.
Hybrid tomatoes have been bred over the years to produce
tomatoes with certain "desirable" characteristics. In most cases, these
"desirable" characteristics are desirable to commercial growers. Hybrids
have been bred to produce tomatoes that are of uniform shape and color and that
ripen at the same time -- all of which makes commercial-scale growing and
handling much more efficient.
Heirloom tomatoes retain their individual breed
characteristics -- shape, color, and flavor. Heirloom tomatoes vary widely
in all these characteristics
This photo shows a basket of heirloom tomatoes -- note
their different sizes, shapes, and colors. All these tomatoes are ripe and
ready to eat, even the green ones (which are the Green Zebra variety).
We have raised heirloom tomatoes for several years and we
believe they taste much better than store-bought, commercially-grown hybrids.
Heirlooms retain the somewhat acid flavor of "real" tomatoes.
The definition of heirloom tomato is highly debated.
One school of thought places an age or date point on the
varieties. For instance, one school of thought says that the
seeds must be over 100 years old, others 50 years, and others
prefer the date of 1945 which marks the end of World War II and
roughly the beginning of widespread hybrid use by growers and
seed companies.
Another way of defining heirloom tomatoes is to use the
definition of the word "heirloom" in its truest sense. Under
this interpretation, a true heirloom is a plant that has been
nurtured, selected, and handed down from one family member to
another for many generations.
Additionally, there is another category that could be
classified as "commercial heirlooms," varieties that were
introduced many generations ago and were of such merit that they
have been saved, maintained and handed down - even if the seed
company has gone out of business or otherwise dropped the line.
Additionally, many old commercial releases have actually been
family heirlooms that a seed company obtained and introduced.
If you'd like to read more about heirloom tomatoes -- or
other heirloom plants such as roses, corn, and the like -- do a Google search
and see what turns up.
One other thought. Today, modern,
industrial agriculture
depends on uniformity of seed and plant varieties. Today's industrial
agriculture has given rise to genetically-modified plants that fit the needs of
the grower, not necessarily the needs or desires of the consumer. There is
real danger that all the world's seeds will soon be patented and owned by a few
big seed companies. Now, while I'm not a wackadoodle conspiracy theorist
who thinks that some mythical "new world order" is out there trying to force us
to eat genetically-modified food, I do not think it's a good idea for us to
become dependent on uniform food. The problem is simple: If all our
seed stock either nationwide or worldwide is of a few limited varieties, then,
we are susceptible to widespread, deep famine because one pest that attacks that
specific variety could wipe out an enormous amount of food supply before it
could be stopped -- if it could.
A book about heirloom tomatoes
Here's a book that we purchased in late 2008. It's
all about heirloom tomatoes. Most of the book is detailed descriptions of
the many different varieties of heirlooms with the author's opinion of each.
The first chapter of the book has instructions for starting tomatoes from seed.
The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table
There are lots of other books out there describing heirloom
tomatoes, their variety and culture.
Our herbs
We planted these herbs from seed.
-
Dill
-
Oregano
-
Greek Oregano
-
Flat-leaf Parsley
-
Sweet Basil
-
Broad-leaf Sage
-
Chives
-
Cilantro
-
Rosemary
In addition, we had one Rosemary plant left from last year.
Rosemary is a perennial that grows into small shrub. We let ours die in
the winter then in early spring we cut it back to where it's 8-10 inches tall
with a few large stems. Every Rosemary plant we have ever had has sprouted out
in the spring and produced well year after year.
We will keep you posted as to how our tomatoes and herbs progress.
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