TOMATOES

This year I am going to be planting the tomatoes that did the best for me at the Farmers Market and add a couple of new ones that were requested.

I have seeds saved from:
Roma, cherry and my yellow tomatoes.
My beefsteak and Rutger tomatoes did not do well (drought conditions) so I had enough to consume and sell but did not save any seeds.

I try to plant Heritage, Organic, heirloom, or open pollinated types of seeds.  What are Organic, heirloom, or open pollinated types of seeds?  These terms are almost the same.

HEIRLOOM SEEDS ARE: 

The definition does vary from person to person, company to company.  It has become a very popular or trendy marketing term. 

An heirloom plant variety is one that has been valued by a family, tenderly and carefully preserved, and handed along from generation to generation.

There are some "heirlooms" whose origins were as a commercial release.  That is, they were introduced by a seed company or seedsman.  These old "commercial heirlooms" have value and are worthy of protection.

At a minimum, an heirloom variety must be, open-pollinated seed, not an unstable hybrid, and certainly not genetically modified!

OPEN POLLINATED SEEDS ARE:
 A seed which produces offspring just like the parent plants. Open-pollinated seed allows growers to harvest and save seed for the following year. 

Although I try not to use Hybrid or GMO seeds I may just have to plant a few because I had requests for a grape tomato.  So far I have not found one but still looking.

My seed catalogs for 2013 should be arriving soon so I may get some selection that are no hybrids from there.  If you haven't already here is a good site for a collection of FREE SEED CATALOGS.  

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