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The Essential Tomato Garden

Since we have such a large collection of wonderful Tomato varieties, we developed this special Collection with our core, top picks for the complete Tomato garden to meet all of your culinary needs. Sungold Cherry and Red Jelly Bean Tomatoes are like garden candy, popped fresh into your mouth once picked. Glacier Early Tomatoes are great for early harvests. Carmellos are the perfect slicing Tomato for non-oozy sandwiches. Brandywine is our top pick for salad of sliced Tomatoes with fresh mozzarella cheese, Basil leaves and vinaigrette. Marinara and San Marzano II Plum Tomatoes are unparalleled for cooking in sauces, stews, composed vegetable lasagnas, salsas and soups.

This website special includes one packet of each of the following varieties (about 230 seeds) at about 15% off regular prices:

  • Brandywine Tomatoes (about 50 seeds)
  • Carmello Tomatoes (about 35 seeds)
  • Glacier Early Tomatoes (about 50 seeds)
  • Marinara Plum Tomatoes (about 15 seeds)
  • Red Jelly Bean Grape Tomatoes (about 15 seeds)
  • San Marzano 2 Plum Tomatoes (about 50 seeds)
  • Sungold Cherry Tomatoes (about 15 seeds)
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    #9102
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    $27.95
    • Buy 50 for $25.15 each and save 10%
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    • Information
      • Absolutely nothing compares to eating a sun-warmed, homegrown Tomato straight off the vine. This garden mainstay is easily grown and most rewarding. Start seed in a warm, bright, well-ventilated area six to eight weeks before setting out. Transplant out after the last spring frost date. To encourage stockiness, sink seedlings deeper into the well-enriched soil than you grew them - soil should cover the lowest layer of leaves. Position stakes, cages or supports at that time to avoid disturbing the plants later on. Keep soil evenly moist and well-fertilized. Once harvested, store Tomatoes at room temperature, as anything below 50°F destroys the enzyme that gives Tomatoes their flavor. When a variety is said to have determinate vines, it means that the vines top out and all of the fruit ripens at once. When a variety is said to have indeterminate vines, it means that the vines keep growing and bearing fruit until a killing frost. Deer resistant.

      Average seed life: 2 years.
    • Gardening Tips
      • Tomato Disease Codes
        We have listed the diseases to which select hybrids have been bred to be resistant~one of the true benefits of improved hybrids.
        V: Verticilium Wilt
        F: Fusarium Wilt
        F1: Fusarium Wilt Race 1
        F2: Fusarium Wilt Race 2
        N: Nematode
        A: Alternaria alternata
        L: Septoria leafspot
        ST: Stemphylium
        EB: Early Blight
        LB: Late Blight
        TMV: Tobacco Mosaic Virus

        Tomato Sowing Instructions
        Planting Depth        :1/4”
        Row Spacing:36”
        Plant Spacing:24”-30”
        Days to Germination: 6-15 days
        Germination Temperature:70°-85°F

        It’s best to raise Tomatoes as transplants. Sow Tomato seeds in sterile seed mix 6 to 8 weeks before the danger of frost has passed, water lightly and provide bottom heat. Grow seedlings at 60° to 75°F in a brightly lit, well-ventilated area. (Windowsills are not bright enough; the plant will get leggy and flop over.) Fertilize lightly as needed, increasing the pot size as needed. After the last spring frost, place outdoors for a week to harden off and to introduce to stronger sunlight. Prepare fertile Tomato beds in full sun with lots of compost and/or well-rotted manure. Transplant, burying seedlings deeper than initially grown, incorporating organic fertilizer under each transplant. Support with Tomato cages or tie plants loosely to rough wooden stakes, using soft cloth. Feed occasionally as needed. Keep Tomatoes well-watered by soaking the soil and not the leaves. Harvest when ripe!

        Green Means Go
        If you're wondering if your Tomato plants (or any annual crops) are getting the soil fertility they need, keep an eye on the "seed leaves". This is the first pair of leaves to emerge when a seed sprouts. They remain at the base of the stem as the plant grows. If the seed leaves stay healthy and green, you're doing something right with the soil in that row. If they are pale, yellow or withered, you need to prepare the soil more carefully next time you plant.

        Juicy Fruits
        The more water a vegetable contains, the more water you need to give it in dry, hot weather. Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Celery are especially thirsty. If you can, group them together and run a soaker hose through the patch.

        Not-So-Strange Bedfellows
        According to the theory of companion planting, Tomatoes and Basil benefit one another when grown in the same plot. Certainly, they cause each other no harm, for we have often interplanted the two in a row, especially when we're training Tomatoes vertically on strings. There's plenty of space in between them for bushy Basil plants. After all, they keep excellent company in the kitchen, whether you're serving fresh Tomatoes strewn with the pungent green Basil leaves or cooking both up into a luscious sauce for pasta. It's handy to be able to pick the two together. And who knows? Perhaps the Basil's strong scent repels insect pests that might otherwise prey on the Tomatoes.

        Taming Tomatoes
        The better your Tomato crop, the more important it is to support those heavy, leafy vines laden with ripening fruits. Our favorite system is to train them in circular cages~and we don’t mean those flimsy ones you buy at the garden center, which are neither tall enough nor strong enough to support the weight of indeterminate (vining) varieties. Instead we purchase sheets of concrete reinforcing wire, which is sold at hardware stores in flat rectangular sheets of heavy duty metal grid, with 6" X 6" openings, just the right size for reaching in to pick. Each sheet, cut in half, will make two 5' tall cylindrical cages. Cut the sheet in half with wire cutters, leaving stubs of wire that can be twisted around the opposite sides to form a cylinder about 18" in diameter. Also snip off the horizontal wire at the bottom, leaving more stubs you can poke into the earth to hold the cage steady. As the Tomatoes grow you can train them a little, removing the bottom suckers up to the first fruiting branch, and guiding each uppermost tip to stay within the cage as it grows. But most of the time the vines will simply rest their elbows on the wire, so to speak, as they climb, remaining staunchly upright.

        Deer Resistant Seed Varieties

        Cooking Tip: Variations on a Theme
        At the height of Tomato season, platters appear on the table regularly, and we never seem to get tired of them. But it’s nice to vary the dressing. Sometimes it’s just a simple vinaigrette. Sometimes its a heavier balsamic vinegar dressing with olive oil and honey. Sliced red Onions are often part of the mix. Basil, either with the leaves whole or cut into ribbons, is a frequent player. And sometimes we make a pesto with our Lemon Basil and some good olive oil--maybe a little extra lemon as well, and some parmigiano cheese. It stays a brighter green than other pestos, and is wonderful spooned over the Tomato.

    • Featured Recipes
    Absolutely nothing compares to eating a sun-warmed, homegrown Tomato straight off the vine. This garden mainstay is easily grown and most rewarding. Start seed in a warm, bright, well-ventilated area six to eight weeks before setting out. Transplant out after the last spring frost date. To encourage stockiness, sink seedlings deeper into the well-enriched soil than you grew them - soil should cover the lowest layer of leaves. Position stakes, cages or supports at that time to avoid disturbing the plants later on. Keep soil evenly moist and well-fertilized. Once harvested, store Tomatoes at room temperature, as anything below 50°F destroys the enzyme that gives Tomatoes their flavor. When a variety is said to have determinate vines, it means that the vines top out and all of the fruit ripens at once. When a variety is said to have indeterminate vines, it means that the vines keep growing and bearing fruit until a killing frost. Deer resistant.

    Average seed life: 2 years.
    • Tomato Disease Codes
      We have listed the diseases to which select hybrids have been bred to be resistant~one of the true benefits of improved hybrids.
      V: Verticilium Wilt
      F: Fusarium Wilt
      F1: Fusarium Wilt Race 1
      F2: Fusarium Wilt Race 2
      N: Nematode
      A: Alternaria alternata
      L: Septoria leafspot
      ST: Stemphylium
      EB: Early Blight
      LB: Late Blight
      TMV: Tobacco Mosaic Virus

      Tomato Sowing Instructions
      Planting Depth      :1/4”
      Row Spacing:36”
      Plant Spacing:24”-30”
      Days to Germination: 6-15 days
      Germination Temperature:70°-85°F

      It’s best to raise Tomatoes as transplants. Sow Tomato seeds in sterile seed mix 6 to 8 weeks before the danger of frost has passed, water lightly and provide bottom heat. Grow seedlings at 60° to 75°F in a brightly lit, well-ventilated area. (Windowsills are not bright enough; the plant will get leggy and flop over.) Fertilize lightly as needed, increasing the pot size as needed. After the last spring frost, place outdoors for a week to harden off and to introduce to stronger sunlight. Prepare fertile Tomato beds in full sun with lots of compost and/or well-rotted manure. Transplant, burying seedlings deeper than initially grown, incorporating organic fertilizer under each transplant. Support with Tomato cages or tie plants loosely to rough wooden stakes, using soft cloth. Feed occasionally as needed. Keep Tomatoes well-watered by soaking the soil and not the leaves. Harvest when ripe!

      Green Means Go
      If you're wondering if your Tomato plants (or any annual crops) are getting the soil fertility they need, keep an eye on the "seed leaves". This is the first pair of leaves to emerge when a seed sprouts. They remain at the base of the stem as the plant grows. If the seed leaves stay healthy and green, you're doing something right with the soil in that row. If they are pale, yellow or withered, you need to prepare the soil more carefully next time you plant.

      Juicy Fruits
      The more water a vegetable contains, the more water you need to give it in dry, hot weather. Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Celery are especially thirsty. If you can, group them together and run a soaker hose through the patch.

      Not-So-Strange Bedfellows
      According to the theory of companion planting, Tomatoes and Basil benefit one another when grown in the same plot. Certainly, they cause each other no harm, for we have often interplanted the two in a row, especially when we're training Tomatoes vertically on strings. There's plenty of space in between them for bushy Basil plants. After all, they keep excellent company in the kitchen, whether you're serving fresh Tomatoes strewn with the pungent green Basil leaves or cooking both up into a luscious sauce for pasta. It's handy to be able to pick the two together. And who knows? Perhaps the Basil's strong scent repels insect pests that might otherwise prey on the Tomatoes.

      Taming Tomatoes
      The better your Tomato crop, the more important it is to support those heavy, leafy vines laden with ripening fruits. Our favorite system is to train them in circular cages~and we don’t mean those flimsy ones you buy at the garden center, which are neither tall enough nor strong enough to support the weight of indeterminate (vining) varieties. Instead we purchase sheets of concrete reinforcing wire, which is sold at hardware stores in flat rectangular sheets of heavy duty metal grid, with 6" X 6" openings, just the right size for reaching in to pick. Each sheet, cut in half, will make two 5' tall cylindrical cages. Cut the sheet in half with wire cutters, leaving stubs of wire that can be twisted around the opposite sides to form a cylinder about 18" in diameter. Also snip off the horizontal wire at the bottom, leaving more stubs you can poke into the earth to hold the cage steady. As the Tomatoes grow you can train them a little, removing the bottom suckers up to the first fruiting branch, and guiding each uppermost tip to stay within the cage as it grows. But most of the time the vines will simply rest their elbows on the wire, so to speak, as they climb, remaining staunchly upright.

      Deer Resistant Seed Varieties

      Cooking Tip: Variations on a Theme
      At the height of Tomato season, platters appear on the table regularly, and we never seem to get tired of them. But it’s nice to vary the dressing. Sometimes it’s just a simple vinaigrette. Sometimes its a heavier balsamic vinegar dressing with olive oil and honey. Sliced red Onions are often part of the mix. Basil, either with the leaves whole or cut into ribbons, is a frequent player. And sometimes we make a pesto with our Lemon Basil and some good olive oil--maybe a little extra lemon as well, and some parmigiano cheese. It stays a brighter green than other pestos, and is wonderful spooned over the Tomato.

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