Even though the cold wind has been blowing through the holler we planted our tomato seedlings. The Deer Hunter was home to help me with the seed starting this year and I’m so glad he was!
Many of you may remember last year I got the tomatoes mixed up and he didn’t have near the amount of his favorite Cherokee Purples as usual. We teased a lot about how he was going to have to oversee matters this year 🙂 It was all in great fun.
One of the things we decided to do this go round is to cut back on the amount of tomatoes we grow. For one thing we decided last year we were no longer going to use the grow bags along the greenhouse for tomatoes. While the bags do well growing things, the spot we had them in just didn’t work that great. The bags were too close to the raised bed and the whole area turned into a tangled jungle no matter how much pruning we did. Also the green house sort of shaded the bags as the day progressed.
The other reason The Deer Hunter said we should focus on what we really like that does really well for us instead of trying so many different ones. Although I whole heartedly agree simplifying is always good, we did plant a few new varieties. It’s so hard not to be wooed by all the beautiful tomatoes.
Here’s the list of what we started.
- Cherokee Purple: our favorite tomato by far. It produces really well for us and the flavor is just outstanding.
- Brandywine Black: we’ve never grown this one. We did try brandywines in the past and while we loved the flavor, they never produced very many tomatoes. Hopefully this one will.
- German Johnson: we grew this one ages ago, but like the brandywines it didn’t produce well even though it was delicious. Ken Roper really liked these tomatoes so they always make me think of him.
- Hillbilly: Chitter got me this one for Christmas. It’s a mixture of red and yellow. Such a pretty tomato! Hopefully we will like the taste and the plants will be prolific.
- Randy Hooper: I’m calling this one Randy Hooper, because he was Debbie’s (from Bryson Farm Supply) husband and she shared it with us. The seed goes back to the early 1900s. It is a large red tomato.
- Black Cherry (tommy-toe): we’ve been growing this one for ages. It is so prolific and has a taste similar to Cherokee Purple.
- David and Carolyn Anderson: an orange tommy-toe shared by our friends a few years back. It is so good! And it produces well.
- Sungold: a very prolific tommy-toe with a great taste. I couldn’t find my seeds last year so I’m excited to have found them and look forward to enjoying them his year.
- Juliet: this is an oblong tommy-toe. Very prolific and perfect for drying.
- Bumble Bee Mix: we grew this tommy-toe for the first time last year. It was a mix of yellow, pink, and red. Very sweet.
We have grown Arkansas Traveler and Mountain Princess for years, but The Deer Hunter convinced me to leave them out this year. They used to be really great producers for us, but the last two years they have fell off and haven’t done as good.
One other one we will enjoy is Matt’s Cherry. It reseeds itself and comes up in several places in our gardens each year. It’s a very small sweet tomato.
It usually takes a week or more for the tomato seeds to sprout and start growing. We will care for them in the greenhouse until true warm weather arrives in May.
Tipper
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Sure do wish I had a fresh, out of the garden, red, ripe sliced tomatoe on white loaf bread slathered with Dukes mayonnaise and garnished with a little salt and pepper! All this talk about tomatoes has got me to craving a real tomatoe sandwich! My husband and I have got gardening fever, thanks to you and your great videos. I hope our garden will do real good this year, it’s the first garden that we’ve had in several years. I can hardly wait to enjoy some of Nature’s Bounty. Hugs to all!
They all are great tomatoes and will make some delicious sandwiches, salads and anything you come up with including canning them.
Oh, nice of you to share your varieties! I’m planning the varieties for my first garden, living in Nova Scotia. I’ll plant Cherokee Purple from your influence, and Black Cherry is on my list too. :). The farm I used to get summer vegetables from grew German Johnson, I liked it a lot. They also grew Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye which some people say they like more than Cherokee Purple, I’ll grow it and a few others. I hope the new varieties work out for you!
Happy Windy and Cold First Day of Spring!!! 20 degrees wind chill this morning!!
I can taste those tomatoes just reading your list!!! You need to try Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes – so sweet!!!
Have a great Tuesday!!!
We’re going to pare back on how many varieties we plant this year, as well as how many of each one after going a bit overboard last year. It was our first year with a real garden, so we called it our trial run. I have promised to use self-control when we go to the Mennonite nursery in a couple of weeks and limit myself to one 4-cup per variety. But I have also tried seed starting for the first time this year and have 4 kinds of tomatoes started- Matt’s Wild Cherry, Black Crim(which we loved last year), Paul Robeson, and Dr. Wyche’s which are an heirloom from Oklahoma. The story is that Dr. Wyche was a Cherokee physician but also had a circus? Apparently elephant poop helped his tomatoes grow beautifully and taste amazing. I hope it’s true.
Got a bit confused there for a minute or three. I expected to see pics of tomato plant seedlings and only saw Solo cups; so I guess what you did was plant seeds, not seedlings.
Here in central Texas, I’m seeing tomato plants for sale. Folks here plant seedlings as early as February (and seeds in December) because the soil will get too hot to support even shade grown tomatoes by mid June.
I do love good homegrown tomatoes. The Cherokee Purple and Black Cherry are my favorites. I hope your tomatoes and corn do well this year.
It was 18 degrees on my deck this AM. Way too cold to be thinking of gardening unless you have the greenhouse. I will plant a few tomato seeds and place them on the window sill in the basement. It rarely gets below 50 degrees there.
Can’t wait for homegrown tomato season! Tomatoes are one of our most favorite crops to grow in the garden and enjoy. I have started seeds of a little small tomato that accidentally appeared in a plant pack of another variety that we bought a couple years ago. I just call it our mystery tomato. It’s a little larger than a cherry tomato but has a real nice flavor. I need to get some Cherokee purple seed and get those started ASAP. The other variety we plant for canning is Celebrity, they have always done well for us through the years and are quite tasty for eating also.
Last year I picked up a seedling called Boxcar Willie. It is one of those yellow and red combination tomatoes but had the most wonderful flavor. I hope I can find one again this year, should have saved seed from it.
Our gardening might be on the slim side this year since my husband is having a knee replacement done May 1st. I’m praying he heals quickly and can assist later on in the summer with all the chores that gardening requires.
Good morning everyone. 29 degrees this morning in NE Arkansas, frost on the ground. I did plant some parsley. But parsley is so strong they are alright. We have so much work on this old house that we won’t plant much. I know I will miss the hours spent outside, but things need to be done. I’ll plant just a few tomatoes and chili peppers, my favorites. Luckily I have a lot of squash in the freezer. So I will be watching and enjoying your planting and gardening. Wishing good health to everyone.
Tomatoes! Such a wonderful and versatile food – be it called vegetable or fruit. May you have abundance enough to meet the needs of your family – and may Matt get all he can eat in the Cherokee Purple this year!! I (& others of my family) have been known to make a bowl of diced fresh or preserved tomatoes and sprinkle sugar on them. Have any of you ever tried that? A peanut butter and tomato sandwich is tasty too – or adding a slice of tomato with a grilled cheese sandwich. I pretty much like a tomato anyway I can get it! Happy season of garden planting – so good to have Matt to share this with you Tipper. Blessings. Trust Granny continues to be enjoying wellness.
Wanita-I’ve never tried that 🙂
I’m not planting a lot of tomatoes this summer because a friend at church told me I could have all the tomatoes I wanted even enough for canning..can’t turn down that offer!
Randy have you seen the price on potting soil? It’s ridiculous!!
Everyone have a good cool sunny day!
Brenda, my father in law had a large 2 acre or more garden each year. He still did things the old time way. He planted and grew his own tomato plants from seed he started in two old ice chest filled with woods dirt-not bought potting soil. The lids were removed from the ice chest and covered with glass panes from an old window and set outside in a sunny spot. He would lay off a row in his garden and plant these bare root tomato plants. He plowed and hoed around them until they were too big to plow. He did not stake or cage them. The plants would fall over and lay on the grass. He would have tomatoes all summer and pick them by the 5gal bucketfuls. My mother in law with his help would freeze and can several hundred quarts of tomatoes each year. They did the same with green beans and corn. They had 5 son in laws to feed on Sunday!
My friend teaches at the local high school where he and his students have a huge greenhouse that hosts a fundraiser sale each spring. I ended up with a free tray of plants that had missing labels two years ago that included a variety called tie-dyed. They were the heaviest-producing tomato I have ever raised but not very tasty. I have noticed the tomato plants I start from seeds seem to be better producers than the ones I occasionally buy. The guy who runs the opportunity center in town always has plenty of the Cherokee Purple plants, his favorite. He said he uses them to make salsa he serves at parties and family gatherings where some folks refuse to eat it due to the strange color, leaving more for him to enjoy.
I started my tomato seeds under grow lights about a week ago. I only grow Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, and Akers W. VA.
To see a large variety of tomato seed order or download a catalog from Tomato Growers. I think it has about 380 or more varieties of tomato seed. I mentioned the cost of plants, I am lucky, I have a produce store near me that grows their own plants and sells them 2 for $3. They also buy their garden seed in large bulk bags and have it weighed out in various amounts and sell it in small brown paper bags a lot cheaper than buying the seed from online companies. Not seed, but people come from miles around to buy their fresh pork sausage available on Wednesday mornings. I remember one year my parents bought some tomato plants and unbeknown to them they had been mislabeled. They planted these plants in an old cow lot. We picked and carried tommy toe tomatoes by the 5 gal bucketfuls and gave them to the hog. Mother did try making soup out of some of them. Now that the sun is up, I see we had a big frost last night, I am glad I covered up my grandmother’s peony bush. It is at least 65 years old. When it starts coming back up from bulbs each spring it will grow fast enough to give kudzu a run for it’s money.
Oh Tipper I hope they made it through that freeze last night, it was 24 when I got up at 8 and my car is a big popcycle.
I haven’t had too much luck planting tomatoes here. The garden is facing the northeast and I’ve tried lowering the number of plants and even tried to grow some up front (faces south) and the varmints ate what did ripen there. We’ll try again this year and plant some white half-runners, peppers, onions, cucumbers and squash. Forget about growing corn here because there’s not enough sun and it’s just a waste of time. We buy our plants from a nursery and/or small stores who sell plants. Prayers continue for Granny and Katie.
I was so excited to find Cherokee Purple tomato seeds in our local Ag store this year. I have never seen them before. I am anxious to get some planted in my red cups and hope they make it. I will definitely keep you informed on how they grow here. We woke up to a skiff of snow covering everything and a windchill temp of 12…my poor forsythia and Easter Lilies! At least our apple trees haven’t bloomed yet.
Another surprise item I found at our local Walmart was White Lilly flour. I tried it and loved it. Hope everyone stays warm while we wait for spring temps to come back again.
One can never have too many tomatoes, and I definitely didn’t plant enough last year; I’m already out of juice! My sister loves Mortgage Lifters, and I planted those and German Johnsons last year. Truthfully, I like the German Johnsons a little bettter, both in taste and size – I don’t like huge tomatoes – but whichever I plant this year, I’m definitely planting at least one more row!
I have a friend who grows peaches to sell; her trees were in full bloom last week and this morning it’s about 30 degrees here. Old Man Winter isn’t going down without a fight! Fingers crossed for the peach crop.
German Johnsons used to be available at Farmer Markets, but I have not seen any in the last few years. They are my favorite.
Look forward to seeing if any mistakes were made this year. lol. I can’t wait to see your big garden all plowed and ready to be worked. I’m sure the smell will take you back to when your Daddy was planting it.
I had some greens once from a lady and they tasted just like my grandpa’s. I think the ground makes them taste different. Anyway, I’m so looking forward to gardening, but I will enjoy yours until I can.
Take care and God bless!!
I’ll be starting our tomatoes from seed soon. We love the Cherokee purple and they do well for us. I also grow Goat Bag, it’s great for turning into spaghetti sauce, and other delicious sauces.
I’ve been saving the seeds from the tomatoes we grow, so the cross pollination that has taken place has produced some interesting combinations that I call a Heinz 57, but the Heinz 57 has been a great tomato for flavor and canning!
I’ll also grow the Bumble Bee this year. The Master Gardener group I’m in grew them in the demo garden at our county fair last year and boy were they great!
Good job Matt and Tipper…starting those seeds is a good start on Spring and Summer. Love the new tractor and I see many hours on it to come for the Deer Hunter. Just wait til you take pictures of those Grands on it with him. Prayers for Granny and God’s Blessings on you guys.
Glad your seedlings are planted and keeping them in the greenhouse for safe keeping. Tipper you are so blessed to have a competent spouse who loves gardening like you do. You two seem to be an excellent team.
Randy was commenting on the price of one tomato plant being $6.00. The prices of all plants whether it is flowers, veggies, etc. have experienced a hefty dose of inflation. I don’t see it changing anytime soon.
Well I’m back to wearing my jeans this morning…..it’s 54 degrees. We had a cold front come through during the night. Yes, I know that is not cold to many, but where I live it is downright chilly. Tonight it will be in the 40’s. Yesterday one could wear shorts. Go figure.
Ah, I love hearing which tomatoes others are growing. Tomatoes are my favorite thing to grow. I always say, though, that I’ll only grow varieties I can’t get in a store! This year we’re doing Brandywine, Paul Robeson, Terra Cotta, Barry’s Crazy Cherry, Black Beauty, and Abe Lincoln.
good luck tipper, it’s 28 degrees here in north Georgia, I see the doctor today for my vascular evaluation, and circulation test, God bless Granny
Norman-I hope it goes well!
Praying you Do well Mr. Dahlonega. Praying they can fix your ills and you can feel much better. Tomatoes are probably one of natures best foods to me and so many others. I’m reading your post today and my mouth has been watering like crazy. Can hardly wait to eat the fresh bounty coming this summer and hopefully do some freezing and canning of the tomatoes. Happy Spring to all and blessings to everyone. Give Granny hugs and love for me. Hope Katie and Corie are doing well. Looking forward to sweet baby boy. By the way, 28 degrees this morning here in Southern Mississippi. Oh boy, that is so cold. Brrrrrrr! You all in this winter weather, stay warm and take care. Shouldn’t last too long, thank God. Later, gator. Jennifer
It seems the tommy-toes we grow are very prolific producers. Other than snacking while working in the garden and for use in salads, do you process or preserve any of those varieties?
Victor-we dry the Juliets and if I’m canning tomatoes I throw the little ones in if I have an abundance, but we mostly eat them out of hand or in salads 🙂
I also love a Cherokee purple. I’ve never had any luck starting from seeds I think I’ve just not yet had the right set up. Thankfully we have several farms and local garden centers out here that sell plenty of good starts. We’re still trying to get our heavy clay soil to produce a good harvest for us. It gets a bit better each year but not much yet. Last year we got a few Cherokee’s before it couldn’t grow any more and quite a few sungolds and sweet 100’s. Those were both a favorite. I think one of my favorite summer sights is the kids eating tommy-toes and sugar snaps straight out of the garden. Our cucumbers did ok, and I got just a few okra. Praying for a better harvest this year.
Good morning. It’s back in the 30’s this morning here in eastern NC. Everything is covered with pine pollen, I start sneezing as soon as I go outside.
Good luck with the maters. I’ve never tried Cherokee purple. I wonder if they’d do well here in flat country.
I’ll bet that Matt makes sure that the Cherokee Purples are clearly marked as you said. At least this year Tipper will not be accused of being tipsy while marking the solo cups lol!
I don’t plant enough tomatoes to plant a large variety. I like to plant the early girl, celeberty, and my late daughter’s favorite the Cherokee purple. This year I am planting a new one, it is named Cherokee-carbon, a cross/hybrid between the Cherokee purple and Carbon tomato. The seeds are available from the online seed companies such as Seeds and Sow or something like that. I have a friend with a greenhouse growing these plants for me. I managed to eat a few of these tomatoes last year and I think it made the best tasting tomato sandwich I have ever ate. I have no luck trying to grow my own plants from seed. I was at Tractor Supply a few days ago and they are selling their plants this year for $6 a plant. The plants are pretty but not $6 pretty to me. It is 29 degrees this morning at my country home but a few degrees warmer closer to the city of Greenville.