Wednesday, May 20, 2009

My Tomatoes

This year, my inaguaral year of gardening "all by myself" I have decided to plant four different kinds of tomatoes. I'm pretty pumped about them and I have a feeling I have no idea what I'm getting myself into.

So far I'd say my garden is organic, and I have decided to grow all heirloom tomatoes rather than hybrids. To be considered heirloom I believe the plant must go genetically UNaltered for at least fifty years,(upon research I have found that they are plants that existed prior to 1951) so they have a historical background.
This historical background rather than hybrid to me isn't a huge deal but the heirloom seeds will produce a plant that is the same as the one you got the seed from. This isn't always the case for hybrids, although a downer is that hybrids are specially bred to defend against disease and will sometimes produce more. I'm growing heirlooms because supposedly they taste better and I'm planning on saving seeds thus saving costs for next year.

Having said all that heres my four choices, all are indeterminates which means all the fruits on the plant will ripen at various times versus all at once.

1.)Matt's Wild Cherry Tomato
Originated in Mexico where these grow wild, these cherry tomatoes are supposed to mature in 60 days. Plants are supposed to grow and sprawl vigorously as well as be pretty disease resistant.

I have a bunch of these plants if anyone wants to give it a shot, let me know!

2.)Black Krim
Tomato that takes 69-80 days to mature and produces medium-large sized fruits good for salads and slicing. Said to originate from around the Black Sea area. Fruits are dark brown to maroon colored.

3.)Brandywine:
Ripe in 90-100 days this is SUPPOSED to be one of the best tasting heirloom tomatoes. I guess its supposed to get be 6-8 feet tall.

4.)Caspian Pink:
Ripens in 80 days and is supposed to be a really great tasting slicing tomato. Originates from the Caspian Sea area in Russia (hence the name)These are supposed to weigh about a pound each. These are supposed to be better tasting than the Brandywine. I'm growing both to give them the taste test. Who wants in?

Finally I should probably plant some romas put I'm a little afraid of canning so I haven't made up my mind yet, plus it seems I'll have tomatoes growing out my ears. I'm not sure the best way to stake tomatoes, if anyone has any good ideas I'd love to hear it, as well as any growing tips.

I'd love to put up a picture of my awesome tomato plants but my camera on my phone is on the blink, so stay tuned.

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