It's almost that time of the year again and the weather is making us anxious to get going. We are talking, of course, about planting tomatoes. Fortunately Markham's big spring sale featuring lots of heirloom tomatoes and other edibles is on April 16. Our propagators are growing lots of varieties - some the same as last year and some new ones. Below are descriptions of a few of the many tomatoes we will have available. (The descriptions are provided by two of the excellent companies that supply the seed used to grow our tomatoes: Tomato Fest and Territorial Seed Company).
Brad's Black Heart
From Tomato Fest Website: "Originated from Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms in California who found it in a patch of Black Krim and stabilized the seed. Our TomatoFest organic tomato seeds produce indeterminate, droopy regular-leaf plants that yield copious amounts of 12 oz., pink-black, heart-shaped tomatoes (mostly flattened hearts...some pointy, some blunt) with exceptionally rich sweet complex flavors, typical of the best of the black tomatoes. A good producer in cooler growing regions as well as warmer regions. A Gary Ibsen Favorite. If you like the big, robust flavors of the black tomatoes you will want this one in your garden. Disease resistant."
Gold Medal
From Tomato Fest Website: "A Ben Quisenberry tomato. Wonderful, 1-1/2 lb., yellow and red bi-color beefsteak tomato with pink marbeling in blossom end, thin skin and luscious sweet, well-balanced flavors. Harvested ripe fruit lasted for a couple of weeks before showing signs loosing it's beauty. Another Gary Ibsen favorite."
Green Zebra
From Tomato Fest Website: "Developed in 1985 by tomato breeder Tom Wagner, this is an unusual and exquisite tomato chosen by Alice Waters for her restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California. The 2-inch round fruit ripens to a yellow-gold with dark-green zebra-like stripes. The flesh is lime-emerald in color that has an invigorating lemon-lime flavor. A great tomato for brightening up salads and other tomato dishes."
Orange Russian 117
From Tomato Fest Website: A cross between Russian 117 and Georgia Streak producing 1 to 2 lb., heart-shaped fruit, yellow-orange with a pink blush, very meaty with a red center. Flavor is well balanced, big and fantastic.
Stupice
From Tomato Fest Website: "This potato-leaf heirloom from Czechoslovakia is a cold-tolerant tomato that bears an abundance of very sweet, flavorful 2 to 3-inch, deep red fruit. A 1988 comparative tasting in the San Francisco area gave it first place for its wonderful sweet/acid, tomatoey flavor and production."
Sungold
From Territoral Seed Website: "Sun Gold's fruity or tropical flavor is a big hit with everyone who tastes it. The bright apricot-orange round globes are 1 1/4 inches across and are borne on long, 10-15 fruit, grape-like trusses. The vigorous indeterminate vines produce equally well in the field and the early spring greenhouse."
Mouth watering already???... We expect to have seedlings of all these tomatoes available at the April 16th Plant Sale.
http://www.tomatofest.com/
http://www.territorialseed.com/