Just got my 2011 Baker Creek catalog--what a joy to behold! Has anyone gone to the Sunday festivals they offer? It's quite a distance but I am thinking of checking one out this summer. If you aren't familiar, they have a great selection and wonderful philosophy. Wish I were younger and richer, I would do the same thing! Please join the revolution. I can't believe people like Jamie Oliver are getting jeered at by certain critics for wanting people to get healthy. We all live downstream....

My general suspicion and one reason I start all my own seeds is that the store bought plants are over-fertilized. If you think about it, the store will have more success selling huge lush green healthy looking plants, and why wouldn't they, the average person assumes the plant that looks so healthy IS so healthy. But the reality is that the roots are never encouraged to grow because they are #1 in a pot and #2, given ample water and nutrients, so they only do what they need to. Since the water is so readily available (most water daily) and nutrients also, the roots grow but not at a comparable rate with the top growth. When you put the plant in the ground, all of a sudden, the roots are not getting the same amount of water because hopefully you are not watering daily, and they are not getting a super concentration of nutrients, like the nursery was giving them. Thus, the plant tells the top groth to halt, while the roots grow like mad to catch up. Now on thew other hand, if you raise your seedlings the right way, with a little tough love. you let them dry out almost completely between waterings, and you only give them a couple tiny sips of fertilizer so they stay green and don't get too big for their britches. Wehn you plant them in the ground, the roots are already at a good ratio to the top growth, and they are going to go right out and look for more water and nutrients since you have been holding back on them. Now the top starts really taking off only after a day or two, and the plant grows in balance and give you a strong healthy plant with proper watering and care. Again, letting it get dry between waterings so the roots keep growing and getting bigger and bigger and deeper and deeper. And unless your soil is complete sand, you really should only need to give them a light fertilizer boost sometime within the first week after planting them out. After that, let them do what plants do and go find their own nutrients. If you are mulching with compost and organic mulch like grass and leaves, your soil should be pretty good at providing them what they need. CH

The issue is are the plants hybrids or open-pollinated varieties? If the store bought plant is a heirloom or open-pollinated variety then there is no issue with saving seeds from them. It makes no difference "how they were started or how they were chosen". Saved seeds will work just fine. See the FAQ here about this. If it is a hybrid then there is little point in saving the seeds regardless of if it is store-bought plant or one you grew from seed unless you just want to experiment. Dave

well, i can tell you they are definitely not costoluto genovese here they are all called "cuore di bue" (which simply means ox heart), and you can buy them almost everywhere i suppose that "cuore di bue" is just a loose definition (something like "beefsteak" in us), actually covering more varieties under the same name first picture are pink, from a tomato enthusiast probably developing a special strain on his own second pic are orange-red, of the normal "cuore di bue variety you can buy everywhere,they are just unusually big and misshapen (the upper two) also consider that, due to globalization, i wouldn't be surprised if actually they were grown in Spain, or somewhere in Africa below you can find a link of what a normal cuore di bue looks like here there are a couple more: http://www.radisa.it/seedsaver.php?p=cuore_bue http://www.ortofrutticola.it/tesoridalbenga/4dalbenga/pomodorocuordibue.php but the link below is the more rapresentative of what i see everyday PS Ted, what do you mean for "fluted one"? they're all fluted :) if you tell me which one you're interested in, i can take a picture when i will cut it right now, i've eaten just two of the first picture, they were very meaty, with small holes full of seeds (not hollow); meat was pink, and seeds gel was orange (quite strange looking); also, there were some big seeds, and a lot of very small seeds (just in case it means anything to the experts) Here is a link that might be useful: cuore di bue