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April 2008
The
optimism of gardeners never ceases to amaze me.
Although weather
conditions can be dreadful one year, we always have a sense that the new spring
will be the best one ever. It reminds me of the fact that after having one
child, we forget how much work and how difficult it was and go ahead and do it
again and again and again...(well some of us do anyway.) So optimism...
it's better than the alternative!
Our season is shaping up nicely and our weather has been great so far, knock on wood. We are selling our plants as fast as we can grow them this year which is great for us, but for you...we strongly suggest ordering early since we want to make sure your plants are in stock when they are scheduled to ship. You should plan for your plants to arrive around the time of your average last frost date. Last frosts can vary from year to year but the average date has been calculated over several years and they are mostly accurate. Click here to see our earliest recommended shipping dates for your area.
"Which tomatoes are the best for my area?" We get this question so frequently, we will try our best to answer it in this month's article. There are literally thousands of tomato varieties and most of them will do well in just about every state in the U.S. which makes us wonder why there is a common misperception that you must have just the right tomato for your backyard. We discuss these "regional" varieties, growing heirloom types and more below.
Save these dates!
The 2008 Bloom n' Garden plant sale and show is in Franklin, Tennessee on April 11-13th. Come and see us at booths 158 & 159. More details at http://www.bloomngarden.com
Our own Spring Plant Sale in Birmingham at Pepper Place is scheduled for April 19th from 8 am-12 noon. Please come see us and pick out your plants before the Pepper Place Saturday Market begins on May 3rd. Click here for a map to Pepper Place or come to our farm and greenhouses which are open now from Wednesday-Saturday 9-5pm.
Which tomatoes are best for my area?
Probably the most common question we are asked is which tomato should I grow, which one will do well for my area. At universities all over the country such as Rutgers, Arkansas, Clemson, Auburn and many others, the agriculture departments actually designed tomato varieties by cross breeding, which would accommodate weather conditions in their particular regions of the country. Many of these such as the Rutgers tomato, Creole tomatoes, Atkinson, Arkansas traveler, and others were meant to try to overcome some of the problems farmers were dealing with in those locations such as poor soil, humidity, wet conditions or early summer heat. While these tomatoes, which are still sold primarily in those areas, are of course available now to anyone as seeds and they have spread all over the U.S. Because these tomatoes are bred for those conditions, they can be fairly reliable for farmers to grow in the area they were designed for, but are not the only varieties that grow well nor are they only for certain areas. Rutgers tomatoes grow very well all over the country and have great taste anywhere.
Backyard gardeners really don't have to worry so much about these issues of humidity and heat because we actually can prepare our gardens for most weather conditions by adding good compost, drip irrigating and mulching. Those three things will help you always get good results from almost any tomato. Certain gardeners in high elevations, with very short seasons, or extreme coastal conditions should be aware that they may need to shop for early type tomatoes which will set fruits at cooler temperatures and that don't need to have a very long amount of time to produce fruit. By and large though, most of us can grow whatever type we want and should grow several types so that we have fruits coming ripe over the long season.
Heirloom
varieties which were saved
from previous generations in many places all over the world have traveled
extensively. Some hail from Russia, Germany, Japan, France or Switzerland
and have come together with American varieties such as Cherokee Purple and the
Brandywines from Amish areas of the U.S. The reason these generally do
well anywhere is because they are strong breeds that have survived the test of
time and those that did not thrive were not saved by early gardeners. I
believe we should bring back as many varieties as possible from the past but
sometimes they need to stay in the past if they do not produce well. Therefore,
we are careful to only recommend varieties that have proven themselves over
time.
"New" Heirlooms such as Big Zebra and Copia are actually cross bred heirlooms and they have been stabilized over time and, theoretically, will have the best of both parent plants. They can take several generations before they are established varieties and settle in with particular traits. Gardeners love science projects and many will try to work to create new types of tomatoes on their own or just see what nature will do with some bird and bee help. Pollen travels by wind and insects and saving the seeds from year to year can make some interesting blends of genes.
Our recommendation?
Grow the ones you like! Try something new! Pick a colorful collection! There are so many tomatoes to choose from and so little time to grow them all! We always add new ones to our list every year so we can experiment and come up with new favorites all the time. Varying the dates to maturity, sizes, shapes, colors and flavors is what it is all about. Get your neighbors to try ones that you cannot fit in your garden and keep the favorites from last year. Then have a tasting party every summer to compare notes and see what did best for them and for you. You will be surprised how different a tomato can taste when grown in someone else's back yard under different watering and soil conditions. Plus it is a great excuse for a street party!
featured product: |
Also in our catalog:
Fertilizers and
Garden products
of all kinds! Everything you need to grow your garden healthy this season.
Order a beautiful Basket of Herbs or Tomatoes For Mother's Day or Father's Day or Birthday gifts. They make a great gift for Gardeners or Cooks or just order one for yourself, you deserve it! Our herb growing kits and gift baskets can be ordered with your selection of herbs from our collection. We also have Gift Certificates!
We just can't wait to taste this season's harvest, we hope to find something new and amazing every year and we usually do.
Visit our website today for more helpful growing tips and
the best plants on the web!
Cindy & George Martin
