With happy anticipation we look forward to another year in the organic community garden. Heirloom variety tomato seedlings are popping up: Red Pear, Green Zebra, Blondkopfchen, Heirloom Beefsteak, Paul Robeson, Ropreco Paste, Amish Paste and Jeff Davis.
Some of these are new to me, but I already know that Red Pear is a pretty little red, pear-shaped cherry tomato that bears well. Green Zebra is a medium-sized, sweet-tasting, decoratively green-and-yellow striped tomato. Blondkopfchen yields its tasty little yellow cherry tomatoes magnificently, while Amish Paste can be large, full-fleshed bright red sauce-makers (though not for me last year!)
There are also Genovese Basil and Jalapeño Pepper seedlings, and five exciting Citron Melon sprouts grown from bright red seeds I was given at the Culinary Historians' marmalade event last February. An African ancestor of our watermelon, citron melons have lots of pectin and, though they make poor eating raw, they are a prolific and hardy crop for pickles and (especially) sweet preserves.
If there's anyone around Toronto with space to grow a melon vine, let me know. I can use at most two of these five plants!
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OOh I think I can find room for one of those melons!
ReplyDeleteMy seedlings are hit and miss this year - I still haven't managed to sprout a single jalapeno. I will have a few tomatoes for swapping tho. I didn't bother with Amish paste this year since mine were not very impressive last year either.
I too was given a packet of red citron melon seeds at Culinary Historians in Feb this year. I'm a food preserver (which is why I am interested in their pectin qualities) but need advice on how to grow. Anyone have advice for me? I probably have space and hopefully enough sun. what do I do?
ReplyDeleteAt this point you can probably just plant them in the ground in a sunny place.
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