Heirloom raising….
oursteelers 8B PNW
9 months ago
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Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
9 months agoKen Wilkinson
9 months agoRelated Discussions
Do you sell your seedlings?
Comments (17)I love growing from seed, too. It's a repeat miracle with every season and every crop and one of the most joyful of winter activities. I started tomatoes every week from November onward the year I first put up a small hoop house. Duh. I unwittingly created a monster. When the plants grew to transplant size the daytime weather was warm enough to harden them off but temperatures were still dropping below freezing at night. I was moving a few hundred plants in and out every morning and evening. The hoop house was full, the sun porch was full, and so was the kitchen table and all of the chairs. By the time of the final potting up, I was leaving some plants out all the time, in translucent Sterlite storage tubs with snap-on tops that I put on religiously every night. I thought I had found a wonderful cold frame alternative, but though it worked in the short run, it wasn't the best and greenest idea I've ever had. Bright sunlight turns cheapo plastic into that brittle, decaying plastic good only for land fill after a couple of seasons. Fortunately, there is a year-round growing climate just down the mountain from me, and I had no trouble selling the many many extras for $2.00 each, via Craigslist and (later) with a For Sale sign on the street and a table in the yard. I also enjoyed talking about tomatoes and their different habits and sharing growing 'tricks' with tomato novices or those who had never been able to get their plants to produce. I still have people ask when I am going to offer some more of those great tomato varieties again. I would like to think I made a profit, but if you add labor to the costs of potting soil, pots, sterlite containers,and Christmas lights to keep the hoop warm during the coldest months I am sure I ended up in the hole. If I ever do it again, it will be with more foresight in the planning and a business license in hand! Jan...See Moreheirlooms
Comments (2)A carrot comes to mind: Topweight, which is a wonderful, sweet, huge carrot, originally from England. But I don't know where you can get the seed. I have only a tiny amount and need to try to renew it. Check out the Seed Savers Exchange for some ideas. There are A LOT of good lettuces out there. I'm not well versed on the others. By the way, it is exceedingly easy to save seed from lettuce. So this is a good one to start out on. Just be sure not to grow two varieties closer together than 15'. Seed is only good for about two years. So you have to grow it out every year. George Tahlequah, OK...See MoreBig Beef and Celebrity Supreme
Comments (10)"I hear more and more about Mountain Fresh. Does everyone feel its taste is on par with Mountain Glory? Is it a more prolific plant and bigger fruit?" It's my understanding that Mountain Glory is Mountain Spring plus TSWV-resistance. But that's just the easy way of saying that the two tomatoes share at least one parent. I also understand from a friend just today that Mountain Fresh and others in the series, and here I'm assuming Mountain Spring included, share a parent that has the gene for extra large fruit. Another thing I learned today from a friend who worked at North Carolina State University with Dr. Gardener, is that the parent line of the Mountain Series hybrids that donates the huge fruit gene also is highly susceptible to some of the foliar diseases that the hybrids are resistant or intermdiately resistant to. That means there are other parent lines besides the huge fruit parent that are donating the disease resistance genes. I know that every summer I see Mountain Fresh and Mountain Spring tomatoes from F1 vines that are absolutely huge in comparison to other large to jumbo varieties like Celebrity. I also see tomatoes from F2, F3, down the line grow-outs, particularly from Amish growers down around Crofton, that are humongous, round, red, hard market tomatoes. Yes, hard. I understand that comes from the rin gene that inhibits ripening and enhances holding and shipping qualities. For example, I've bought Mountain Series tomatoes that appeared full ripe and left them on my kitchen counter for 3 - 4 weeks before they began getting anywhere near soft enough to eat in a salad. I've even left Mountain Series tomatoes set on a counter so long that a few seeds sprouted inside the tomatoes while the fruit was still firm enough to sell and had unblemished skin. That's holding power. As far as flavor, I eat a few Mountain Spring and Mountain Fresh tomatoes ever summer, vine ripened, and bought from roadside vendors who grew them or bought them at farms in Western Kentucky for resale. By comparison, Mountain Glory has better flavor by far while still not nearly as tasty as heritage varieties. But keep in mind, Mountain Glory is one of those new varieties that has the flavor enhancing gene bred in similar to Scarlet Red, Fabulous and a few others I cannot remember the names of just now. Hope that helps answer you question....See MoreTo heirloom or not to heirloom
Comments (12)I try a different variety or two every year but my mainstays are Sudduth pink BW and Cherokee Purple. I tried Cherokee Chocolate this year and saved the seeds, it was pretty good. I have yet to find a hybrid that fills my salad bowl with juice, they all seem a bit more mealy textured than the heirlooms. As for them cracking, yep, not nice, but for me it only occurs when it rains as the tomatoes are near ripening on the vine. Timing is of the essence to get them picked just before or just after a rain hits. It's also helps to pick them before watering the plants even if they just have a hint of turning ripe. If they're picked at least half ripe they ripen indoors a-ok. Happy Harvest...See MoreVaporvac Z6-OhioRiverValley
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