Tomatoes are started!

We had a pretty decent blizzard roll through the region this week, so we were kept in doors more than normal.  Except for the routine trips to the chicken coop and to the garage to check on our crop of future egg layers.  Being cooped up (pun intended) gave us a great opportunity to get our tomato seeds started.  We had room under the grow lights because I foolhardedly (is that a word?) planted all of our cabbage and broccoli plants 2 days before the storm came, but that's another story.  Mental note: check the weather forecast before you plant early season crops.

We started 88 tomato plants!  This is easily a record number for us as we had previously only grown tomatoes for our own consumption, but with the goal of selling beautiful heirloom tomatoes at the market firmly in mind, we went all out.  Our varieties for this year:

Amish Paste: A Roma style Amish (hence the name) heirloom.  These are bigger than your typical Roma style tomato and have a richer, more pronounced tomato flavor.  Very meaty, these are great tomatoes for sauce, paste, salsa, or salads.

Rutgers: We have never grown this popular heirloom variety until this year, but our search for the best round, red, typical tomato for our area led us to give these a try. 

Super Sioux: This is another typical round, red tomato, but this variety is touted as being heat tolerant, which may provide it with an advantage in our hot and dry climate.  Like the Rutgers, we've never grown this tomato so I can't comment on eating and processing qualities until I actually eat one.

Brandywine (Sudduth's Strain): Brandywine is another Amish heirloom variety that is noted for its flavor, having won a great many taste tests.  With just the right balance of sweetness and acidity, this tomato is one of our favorites for practically any use.  However, they are not reliable producers so we are hoping for a favorable season.

Pineapple: This is probably my favorite tomato variety ever.  The pink on orange on yellow color mosaic and phenomenal flavor make this an appealing tomato.  My favorite for BLTs because of the large size and beautifully patterned slices, and also makes a fantastic orange tomato juice.  An orange beer or bloody mary is out of this world with a pineapple tomato. 

Black Krim: This dark red to purple variety is a reliable mid season producer with great flavor and texture.  Makes a great dark red marinara and is wonderful on a BLT.  Also adds interesting color to salads.

Cherokee Purple: Another consistent taste test winner, we are looking forward to growing this tomato for the first time.  I will be happy to report back on what we think of them, but I have a feeling that this tomato will live up to its reputation.

Sungold: This hybrid orange cherry variety is famed for its intense sweetness.  While not an heirloom like we prefer, we think you will enjoy this tasty little treat.  We plan to have a bowl of these sitting out at our table for you to sample whenever we are at the market.  If you like them, we will have small packages available for purchase.