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What are Heirloom Tomatoes?
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- Category: Gardening
Nestled next to the round, bright red varieties we're used to seeing piled high in the supermarket, heirloom tomatoes are becoming more and more common. Perhaps you've seen them but never really knew what they were. Sometimes gnarled and dark purple, sometimes bright green striped with yellow and the size of a golf ball, sometimes a fleshy pink color and slightly flattened with extra curves and lobes: These are heirloom tomatoes. And as unique as their individual exteriors are, each also has a flavor all its own, with varying sweetness and acidity unlike any year-round hothouse hybrid.
But what makes a tomato an heirloom?
Surprisingly, the answer is more difficult to nail down than one would think, although the concept is fairly simple to understand. At a Tomato Fest dinner in Chicago last year, Rink DaVie of Shooting Star Farm was asked to define what an heirloom tomato is. He responded, "Well, I'll take a stab at it."
"First of all, heirlooms have to be open-pollinated, versus a hybrid, because they're seeds that people are saving. 'Heirloom' is a provocative term because it's something that has value to the people who save it and pass it down. Often the traditions of an heirloom seed were passed down from generation to generation because a home gardener or a community… decided that that tomato was something that they value, even when the seed company decided that perhaps it wasn't something that they were going to produce."
Heirloom tomatoes might not be as disease-resistant as hybrid cultivars that have been bred to survive blight and inclement weather, and they might soften a little earlier too. But they are flavorful, visually delightful hand-me-downs that serve to remind us of simpler times while helping us preserve them for the future.
Although heirlooms can be found nearly everywhere come tomato season (including big-box grocers such as Wal-Mart), your best bet for getting locally grown—and often organically raised—heirloom tomatoes is to head to your nearest farmers market.
The Deep Bed Method of Planting
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- Written by Jay North
There are about as many planting techniques as there are plants. Most organic growers have their favorite variations on ways of planting that they learned or picked up along the way. Which of the hundreds if not thousands of techniques should you use?
The deep bed method and the high wall method are two different names for the same way of planting, which is one of my favorites. The deep bed method was created in the 1930s and 1940s and was popular during World War II when people grew backyard gardens called Victory Gardens. Victory gardens were created by people who believed that urban gardens could contribute to the war effort by making up for food shortages and releasing food supplies for shipment to our troops -and they did.
HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?
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- Category: Gardening
- Written by Lisa Sherwood
Weather wisdom such as "March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb," or "April showers bring May flowers," may sometimes seem like old wives’ tales; but they are only the beginning when it comes to gardening. Keep your plants productive and blooming all spring and summer long with these tips.
Start with a Plan
It’s important to choose the proper site for the plants you wish to grow. Knowing the soil type, the amount of sunlight, and wind or water run-off patterns go a long way to make a successful garden.
Grow 6000 Pounds of Organic Vegetables in Your Own Back Yard
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- Category: Gardening
- Written by Jay North
Organic gardening popularity in America is at an all time high, and well it should be considering the high cost of fresh produce at the supermarket.
But wait, Eat Organic, it’s the best bet for you and your family and oh so fresh right from your own backyard, best of all it will cut your grocery bill in half. What most want to be green thumbs may not know is they can grow over 6000lbs of fresh veggies right in their own backyard and tomatoes have never tasted so good.
