It's Here!

Well, I am about 3 weeks late, but I am starting my tomato plants today.  I grown mostly heirloom tomatoes, with seeds purchased through Seed Saver's Exchange and other organic sources, as well as seeds traded with other tomato lovers.

Isn't it a bit early to be talking about tomatoes?  Well, actually no.  In Texas, the growing season is short - we have until about the end of June to get good fruit set, then the plants wait until August to start setting fruit again - the July sun and temps are too intense for the pollen to survive.

So lots of people started their tomato seeds on Boxing Day, but with the renovations at home, I just couldn't get it done.

However, today is the day.  I am heading to Home Depot to pick up seed starting mix and by tonight, I'll be happily incubating some tomatoes.

I can't quite explain my love of tomatoes -it is a deep and true devotion.  You know how it goes, you see a lush tomato plant at a friend's house, or maybe your neighbor shares some of the largess of their crop...you taste that warm tomato flesh, and you want another...

It is absolutely an addiction with me.  I promised myself "no more store bought tomatoes" and only gave in one time this winter -

Store bought tomatoes are not the same creatures as home grown - I might even suggest they are a different species!  The varieties are selected to withstand transit and still have a perfect tomato shape.  They are also cultivated to withstand long periods of storage.  they are picked green, and then ripen, if that is what you can call it, along the way in cardboard boxes and grocery refrigerators. 

I don't like store bought tomatoes.  I think we should all grow our own tomatoes, or support local farmers and farmer's markets and buy up all their lovely tomatoes.

Heirloom tomatoes are different than hybrid tomatoes. 

Hybrids are cultivated to select for desirable properties - like really big tomatoes, or tomatoes perfect for sauces and canning.  there are some great hybrid varieties - Sun Gold and Early Wonder come to mind.  Hybrids are cross pollinated and then the seeds are grown out over several generations to make sure the crossing is stable (so if you are looking for Sun Gold you actually get that delicious little golden tomato - not red, not yellow)

Heirloom tomatoes are grown from seeds that have a history.  They often have stories like, "variety grown by my Russian grandfather" or "saved from tomatoes my Aunt Sue got from her husbands mother."  they have names like Earl of Edgecomb, Aunt Ginny's German Green, Mortgage Lifter, Brandywine, and Pink Ping Pong.  They don't come out perfectly shaped, some need to be eaten almost as quickly as you pick them because they don't store very well.  But oh my, are they delicious!  They even have a bit of a pedigree.  The seeds can be traced back to the person that had them first - that always amazes me.

Here is to the tomatoes of 2007 - I can't wait to taste them!

Just in case you want to know more about heirloom tomatoes, check out Tomatoville - and tell them I sent you !

Cynthia
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Cynthia McKenna, LPC, NCC
www.cynthiamckennacounseling.com

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