I didn't cover my tomatoes (too much on my plate) and lost some. Some may make it, I think. I will wait another 1-2 weeks, cut back and apply steer manure. My new seedlings are growing well, but I told myself to plant them Dec 15th and didn't start them until Jan 1st. Last year I put a yellow pear in a nice pot Feb 15th and it did amazing. Pound after pound for months. But I like the BIG tomatoes for BLTs. What worked for me last year with large heirlooms was finding spots that got full sun until 2pm, then shade and consistent water. I had some cracking and some end rot, but overall it was problem free. GET THEM IN THE GROUND EARLY! After March 15th, I wouldn't waste time on anything but a fast setting cherry. I have heard fruit won't set above 90 degrees, but my experience has been that it can't be above 100 for over a 3-4 days. love talking tomatoes! (even if I get slightly off topic, sorry!) dale

OP=open pollinated Tomatoes are self fertile so if some of the pollen falls onto the stigma and ovary in the flower then it will make seeds that will grow into a plant that is identical to the original plant. The original plant is both the mother and the father of the new baby plant and it has the same genes. This is an open pollinated tomato. Heirloom tomatoes are open pollinated. There are also newer kinds of tomatoes that are open pollinated. Tomatoes can also cross with other tomatoes. Maybe the pollen from a cherry tomato gets onto the stigma from a large tomato. The seeds from that plant would have a different mother and father and may look like either parent or neither parent. The genes are a mixture of both parent plants. This is a hybrid. Seed companies purposefully cross certain tomatoes in order to get the best traits of both parents. Tomatoes like Better Boy, Solar Set, etc... are hybrids. The genes of a hybrid are not identical to the parent plants and are unstable if crossed with themselves or other plants. If you save a seed from an open pollinated variety then you know what kind of plant you will get. The seed of a Brandywine tomato makes a Brandywine plant. You don't have to buy new Brandywine seeds every year. If you save a seed from a hybrid tomato, you have no idea what kind of tomato you will get. It could taste good or bad. If could be red or yellow. Therefore you would have to buy new seeds of the hybrid every season. That was probably more than you wanted to know :)

As far as cherry varieties--Sun Gold and Sweet Chelsea--you can't go wrong. Like they said above, mixed cherries sell quite well, as do heirlooms packaged as a group of colors. Far as watermelons go, go for the babies, especially since you're close to metro areas. I'm in farm country and even here, the double or single serving ones go well. Sugar Baby, Peace (Fedco), Minnesota Midget, Sweet and Early are awesome, even though 2 are hybrids. Yet another hybrid, Ambrosia, once tasted will net you sales.

Big Zebra, which is a green-when-ripe variety tends to taste quite like a kiwi fruit. I don't like them in salads or on sandwiches because they are so sweet, but to just eat out of hand they are yummy.