The list below (will) include all the varieties we will be carrying this spring. However, we don’t necessarily have all the varieties available at once. If you have your heart set on a certain variety, please call before your visit to make sure it’s in stock.
TERMS:
Days to maturity (days) – the approximate number of days from date of transplanting to date when crop begins to be ready to harvest.
Open Pollinated – A variety from which it is possible to collect and save seed that will produce plants with the same qualities and traits as the ‘mother’ plant. Care must, of course, be taken to prevent unintended cross-pollination from another variety. All heirloom varieties are open-pollinated. There are varieties that were originally developed as F1 hybrids, but through the patient efforts of gardeners, seed growers and breeders, have been selected and re-selected until a ‘stable’ hybrid has been achieved, transforming the hybrid into an open-pollinated variety. Some examples are Gypsy pepper, Gold Nugget tomato.
Heirloom – An old variety that owes its present availability to the seed-saving efforts of gardeners (rather than commercial seed growers), often for many generations. All heirloom varieties are open-pollinated.
Hybrid – usually the first-generation offspring of two different varieties, not stabilized and therefore cannot reproduce itself in kind from seed.
Determinate – Bush tomato varieties that spread laterally and should not be pruned, and may be grown with or without staking. Determinate varieties usually ripen their crop within a concentrated time period, so are a good choice for canning or drying. Many are good candidates for container-growing.
Indeterminate – Vining tomato varieties that are customarily staked, trellised or caged, and pruned for largest fruit. Caging/staking without pruning delays ripening, reduces fruit size, but increases production, prevents sunburn, and reduces fruit cracking and rotting. Indeterminate varieties produce and ripen fruit over an extended period until frost.
Cracking – splitting of tomato skin. Large-fruited varieties with low fruit-set and high sugar content are most likely to crack, but even some cherry tomatoes are subject to cracking. To reduce cracking, avoid heavy watering and wide day/night soil temperature fluctuations, and maintain adequate calcium delivery in your soil.
The section below includes all the varieties we will be carrying this spring. However, we don’t necessarily have all the varieties available at once. If you have your heart set on a certain variety, please call before your visit to make sure it’s in stock.