Heritage Tomatoes for the Organic Vegetable Garden

It's an exciting time for the tomato seedlings. Like contestants in some TV reality show, they've passed a number of hurdles. First, they germinated in their little seeding trays. Then, they survived the potential ravages of mold, and were not among the candidates that were literally weeded out because they grew too close together or too close to the edge of the tray.

Later, they survived being transplanted into larger pots and being transported from my mom's place, which has sunnier windows, to mine. Now they're almost finished the period of hardening off, which means being gradually introduced to the outdoors, and on Friday I'll be planting them in my little plot.

Despite my attempts at restraint, I've started more than 10 kinds of heritage tomatoes for a plot that can take maybe five plants (seven if I really overcrowd them). I'm excited about the Amish Paste Tomatoes, the ovoid Red Pear, the Green Zebra (very sweet, with a pretty yellow/green stripe).

Then there's the red-and-yellow Tigerella, yellow Blondkopfchen cherry tomatoes, the ominously named Harbinger and the already-tall Tennessee, not to mention black tomatoes, white tomatoes, the Isis Candy Tomato, the Maylor Roth Orange Brandywine and the Amana Orange... without even bringing up the mystery plants from last year's seeds that never got labelled! Luckily, my mom has room for at least another six to eight plants, and we're giving away seedlings to friends, relations and other members of the community garden.

(Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not longing for even more: the sunny insouciance of Banana Legs; the deep grooves and ridges of Zapotec, with its ancient Mexican lineage...)


What you see here represents less than half the crop.

Besides tomatoes, I'm also growing a nice selection of herbs, plus peas and beans, peppers and eggplants, leaf lettuce, beets, carrots, kale and chard. This is our first year in the plot, so I've gone for diversity. When we see what we have luck with, we'll plan a little more strategically for next year. And despite all the hurdles already overcome, it's a long way from the 24th of May to harvest time. More news later, no doubt!