Tag Archives: vegetable gardening

Final 2011 Seed Lists

FINAL 2011 SEED LISTS (updated)

I’ve researched and updated the seed list I posted earlier about a month ago and thought some of you might like to know where I buy either the seeds or in some cases, the plants ready to transplant here in Santa Fe. So first I created a legend with abbreviations for each seed/nursery and then put them at the end of each seed listed.  Hope this makes it easier for you so you don’t have to figure it out. I also show which tomatoes Amy Goldman’s ‘The Heirloom Tomato’ book recommends which I use as my ‘tomato bible’! I’ve put this in my page section called ‘Seed Lists’  at the top of the blog for later reference.

Here is the legend:
AFN-Agua Fria Nursery (plants)-1409 Agua Fria Street/Santa Fe, NM/505-983-4831
SFGH–Santa Fe Greenhouse (plants)-2904 Rufina Street/Santa Fe, NM/505-473-2700
BH– Baker Heirloom (seeds)
SSE– Seed Saver Exchange (seeds)
TS–Territorial Seeds
JSKG–John Scheepers Kitchen Garden
KS–Kitazawa Seed (seeds)
WCS–West Coast Seeds (seeds)
CG–Cooks Garden (seeds)
TF–Tomato Fest (seeds)
TG–Tomato Growers (seeds)
TT–Totally Tomatoes (seeds)

2011 TOMATOES

HEIRLOOMS

PLUM STYLE
*AG/San Marzano-red plum/80 days/AFN (plants) or BH, SSE, (seeds)

BI-COLOR
Striped German-bicolor-SFGH (plants)
*AG/Gold Medal-bicolor-75-80 days-BH (seeds)
*AG/Ananas Noir-recommended by friend-BH, SSE (seeds)

BLACK OR PURPLE
Paul Robeson-black/75-85 days-AFN (plants)
Cherokee Purple/80 days-AFN (plants)

RED
*AG/Pantano Romanesco-red/70-80 days-BH,TF(seeds)
*AG/Costoluto Genovese-red/78 days-TG(seeds)
*AG/Goldsman Italian American-red-BH (seeds)
*AG/Brandywine/AFN (plants)

CHERRY TOMATOES
*AG/Black Cherry-black/75 days-AFN (plants)
*AG/Green Grape-green/AFN (plants) or SSE (seeds)

HYBRIDS-I grow a few hybrids
Lemon Boy–AFN (plants)
Park’s Beefy Boy-red-70 days-AFN (plants)
Sun Sugar-yellow cherry-62 days-TT (seeds)

* AG-recommended by Amy Goldsman’s book, ‘The Heirloom Tomato’

2011 VEGGIE LIST

BEANS–Rattlesnake bean snap OG (remarkably flavored pole bean)-SSE (seeds)

PEPPER–Shishito (Japanese non hot pepper)-AFN (plants) or KS(seeds)

SUMMER SQUASH-ZUCCHINI–Costata Romanesco (best tasting zuke around)-BH (seeds)

WINTER SQUASH- Galeux d’ Eyesines and Red Warty Thing (that’s what it’s called!)-BH (seeds)

EGGPLANT-Fairy Tale (best sweet, no bitter taste and soft skin eggplant I’ve tasted)-AFN (plants) or TS (seeds)

CUCUMBERS–Parisian Pickling, De Bourbonne, Boothsby Blonde, Poona Kheera, Armenian and Parade– I grow cukes for either taste or which variety is best for different types of pickles-all BH (seeds) except Parade-SSE (seeds)

CORN-not this year (I’ll get it from our Farmers Market)

LETTUCES–Provencal Mix, Mesclun Mix, Buttercrunch, Yugoslavian Red, Santoro Lettuce, and Little Gem-CG (seeds)

SPINACH–Bloomsdale-CG (seeds)

CARROTS-Purple Haze CG (seeds) and Scarlet Nantes-SSE (seeds)

ARUGULA-Apollo-SSE (seeds)

BOK CHOY-Extra Dwarf Pak Choy-BH (seeds)

CHARD-5 Color Silverbeet-SSE (seeds) and Argentata Swiss Chard-JSKG (seeds)

PEAS-Dwarf Sugar Gray-SSE, Oregon Spring II-BH (seeds)

2011 GIANT PUMPKINS & GIANT VEGGIE LIST

2010 GIANT PUMPKINS–all came from private growers
895 Grande 08 (1016 Daletas x 1385 Jutras)
421 Cabossel (895 Grande x self )
1046 Grande 10 (901 Hunt x 1385 Jutras)

GIANT GREEN SQUASH–all came from private grower
903 Noel 07 (848 McKenzie x self)

GIANT MARROW (like giant Zucchini)-all came from private growers
206.5 Wursten 09 or 75.4 Wursten 09
43 Cabossel 10

GIANT TOMATOES
7.18 N. Harp 09 (5.58 Timm x open)-private grower
5.416 N, Harp 09 (5.58 Harp x open)-private grower
Big Zac/TT (seeds)

GIANT PEAR GOURD–private grower
89 Scherber 10

LONG GOURD–private grower
96″ Scherber 10

GIANT SUNFLOWERS
Titan-SSE, BH (seeds)

2011 EDIBLE FLOWER LIST
Following is the list of edible flowers that will be planted or are already on the property:

Borage

Calendula-Orange King-BH (seeds)

Chives-AFN (plants)

Cilantro-AFN (plants)

Dill-AFN (plants)

Lavender (in existing different area)

Marigold-Lemon Gem-TS (seeds) this is the only edible marigold

Nasturtiums-Tip Top -CG (seeds)-prettiest nasturiums

Pansies-get them anywhere

Violas-get them anywhere

Roses (in different existing area)

Black Oil Seed sunflower (for the birds!)-WCS (seeds)

2011 HERBS-Following is a list of herbs that will be planted or exist on the property
Basil-new SHGH (plants)
Lime Basil-new-SFGH (plants)
Thai Basil-new-SFGH (plants)
Oregano-exists
Thyme-exists
Lemon Thyme-exists
Chives-exists
Dill-usually self seeds
Marjoram-new-SFGH (plants)
Mint-exists
Sage-exists
Lavender-exists

How to Make a Coldframe

My coldframe

A dear friend of mine, Kim, asked me if I would explain how to build a coldframe while there is still time before planting time in early Spring. There are many designs available online to make a coldframe or hot bed. Here is the coldframe plan (as a pdf) that I basically used when building my coldframe with a few small exceptions. Now mine isn’t super refined as you can see in the photo but seems to be working! (Be sure you look at the pdf because there is a lot more information in it). As you look at the plan, it’s pretty self explanatory but here is what I did for the sides and the bottom inside.

one page of the coldframe plan

I used 2 inch x 10 inch lumber for the bottom section all around and another 2″x10″ section for the top side slanted pieces. Cutting the diagonal piece is easy, I drew a line from one corner across diagonally to the other corner and cut on the line then I used one piece for each side on top of the bottom piece. The only thing I did differently is I put one more 1 x 2 inch piece vertically in the middle on each side  (screwed in-see photo not diagram) and in the back to join the top and bottom piece together. I added a 2 x 4  (long) piece on the lid that I screwed in (not tightly) so I can raise and lower the lid and prop it up vertically (see the piece holding up the lid on the right side). In the photo you notice I taped BIG bubble wrap (not small bubbles) with duct tape on on the inside of the plexiglass lid to add extra insulation in the dead of winter. I also divided mine into two sections.This isn’t in the plan but in the left section I started with hardwire cloth on the bottom to keep out gophers. Then I added dirt and compost on top of the hardwire so I could plant in it but the soil isn’t heated. The right side has a garden heating cable. I attached the cable with twist ties to the hardwire cloth that is cut out to fit the bottom. Then I turned over the hardwire cloth so now it is on top and place it on the bottom. I did this so I can’t put a spade through the cables while digging around in the dirt when planting. Then I put dirt on top like the other side. So the right side is a contemporary hot house when I plug in the heating cable (which I haven’t done yet). I will use it to heat the soil to a temperature so the seeds will sprout. A traditional hot house has a dug out area where ‘hot’ green manure is placed into. Then on top of that is the dirt that you would put your plants or seeds in. The manure gives off heat as it composts, heating the soil just like the heating cable. Now I love the idea of the manure and doing it naturally but I don’t want to have to replace it every year so I chose the heating cable. I will use an extension cord to bring power from the house. I’m experimenting with the non-heated and heated side to see if it really makes a difference in early Spring. If it does, I’ll heat the left side too next year.

Last time I reported, the right side which I planted with transplants in November, is still doing well while the left side where I planted transplants in January all died in the -20°F we had one night (except the parsley which survived) which is interesting cause I don’t even like parsley! I think the left side all died while the right side didn’t because they did not have any time to grow roots while the right side planted in November did. Remember I haven’t heated the right side yet so I know that wasn’t a factor. Anyways I’m sure the plans will help you more than my description!

Edible Flowers List for 2011

2011 EDIBLE FLOWER LIST

titan sunflowers

There are many flowers that are edible and beautiful either in regular garden or vegetable garden. I like to put all kinds of flowers in the veggie garden—some pollinators, attractors, and edible. I like the entrance to the veggie garden beautiful.  Following is the list of edible flowers that will be planted or are already on the property:

Borage

Calendula-Tangerine

Chives

Lavender (in existing different area)

Marigold-Lemon Gem

Nasturtiums-Alaska Tip Top

Pansies

Violas

Roses (in different existing area)

Black Oil Seed sunflower (for the birds!)

Titan Sunflowers

Growing Heirloom Tomatoes From Seeds

The Heirloom Tomato by Amy Goldman

I just read an article online by Mother Earth News,  ‘56 Heirloom Tomatoes Rated Excellent for Flavor‘ that lists tomatoes from Amy Goldman‘s book, ‘The Heirloom Tomato: from Garden to Table’ which I got last year.  The article lists and describes 56 excellent heirloom tomatoes from her book. After reading this excellent article, if you want to know more, her book- ‘The Heirloom Tomato: from Garden to Table‘ is a must have for those of us who want to grow heirloom tomatoes from seeds and get some idea of what we are growing. It’s a beautiful book with wonderful photos of many heirloom tomatoes that Amy has rated for flavor, texture, color, type, history, where you can get the seeds, etc. I use it to help me decide which heirloom tomatoes to try each year now.

Interior of 'Gold Medal' Tomato

Last year, my favorite tomato from her book that I tried was Gold Medal, a bi-colored (red and yellow interior) tomato that took most of the season to ripen but was worth the wait. Check out the picture on the right to see the beautiful interior of these tomatoes. The plants were loaded and these beefstake type of tomatoes (about 1 lb) are firm, beautiful, and sweet with low acid.  I started these inside under a light box around the first week of March (10 weeks before our first frost free day-May 15) but I try to sneak my tomatoes out early (third week of April inside Wall of Waters) which is why I grow them 10 weeks instead of the customary 8 weeks for tomatoes. I will explain more on growing tomatoes from seeds in future posts as we get closer to planting time. You can buy the seeds at Baker Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com).

Keeping a Vegetable Gardening Journal for Each Year

Pumpkin Journal (left), and Vegetable Journal (right)

You might consider keeping a fruit and vegetable journal for 2011. I actually have 2-one for giant veggies and one for the regular veggies. In this you could put the date you start your seeds outdoors, in your greenhouse, and inside with information like temperature of soil, air, temperature inside what day you started, how long it took to germinate, what the weather was like during this time period, what varieties you started, how much water you supplied, if you presoaked any seeds, etc and then continue this journal throughout the season as to how the varieties do,  when they blossom or when you get your first fruit, what pests or diseases appeared and when, what you did to rectify the issues, what varieties were your favorites and why, etc. I bought a nice notebook (something you will want to keep-not just loose sheets of paper that get lost) that I have kept for the last 3 years and add to it for each new year. Every few days I put down what is happening in the garden in the evening when I have some time. I have found it invaluable in future years to look back (in winter) to help me determine what I would do the same and what I would change for the new season. You’ll be amazed at what you will read the next year.

Closeup of Vegetable Journal

I’ve been trying to tweak out my timetable for starting my seeds inside and have referred back to the journals. For instance, 2 years ago I started seeds inside in February and found for me that was too soon-just too cold and I had to replant a lot of seeds in March. Especially tomatoes-they don’t like cold nights (or days) and get stunted and the leaves turn purple. This is because of a phosphorus deficiency where it is not available to plants when the soil and air temp is too cold. Read my post, ‘Learn from my mistakes when starting tomatoes!’ on how to remedy this. Also for you greenhouse people read this forum from Organic Gardening. Luckily that year, I was able to sneak a lot of the ones I had restarted out in mid April with protection because of the mild winter we had even though the plants were smaller- but they were not leggy.

In contrast, last year I planted seeds inside under lights in early March (thinking I had waited long enough to start). But we had such a harsh cold spring that the plants (which looked great) had to stay inside too long and got too tall because I couldn’t put them out till much later (many plants in June) because of really cold nights (27° F till June 6th). How would I have remembered this and what I did differently without a journal. Every year is brings new challenges to us growers in Santa Fe, NM so having a journal that I can refer back to is helpful. Besides it’s fun..

What Gardeners Do In January

So what do Gardeners do in January? 20 things to do this month…

1. Unplug your outdoor holiday lights and your ready for next year. (Notice I didn’t say put them away)

2. Drink Martinis (nice warm drink) by the fireplace.

3. Put away holiday stuff. Keep out your gardening gifts all over the house.

4. Read gardening books and catalogs by the fireplace. Leave them out too. Your significant other will love you for this..

5. Watch weather (say isn’t that a cloud-oooh I think it looks like a pumpkin up there-do you see it?)

6. Make snow vegetables instead of a snowman. See if your neighbors can tell what they are..

7. Ogle seed catalogs (by the fireplace). Put stickies all over them.

8. Take dog for a drag (they don’t like to walk in snow).

9. Order more seeds (by the fireplace). As if we don’t have enough.

10. Guess how high your utility bill will be this month. Sit by the fireplace more and turn the thermostat down.

11. Get lots of firewood inside before that next storm. Buy green firewood-lasts longer..

12. Find your growing light boxes (or make them if you haven’t). Use full spectrum fluorescent lights instead of grow lights. Same difference and much cheaper. Drag them inside this month to set up and freak out your significant other.

13. Shovel snow outside (getting in shape for spading next Spring-notice I said getting).

14. Get heating mats for your grow boxes-a must have if you start seeds indoors. Nice to sit on too.

15. Layout next year’s garden on your computer (by the fireplace). I use GrowVeg.com. Really fun. Free for the first 30 days and then you can pay if you like it (not much-small price to pay for so much fun)

16. Insulate your grow boxes so they don’t loose so much heat at night inside. I buy a roll of metallic bubble wrap and wrap it around all 4 sides (one side removable in front so I can get to the plants) and a section for the top that I completely remove in the day and lay back on at night. Wrap your dog or cat in the leftover metallic wrap-you’ll enjoy it-they won’t.

17. Schedule when each veggie can go out (by the fireplace). I use a garden planner from a wonderful blog-Skippy’s Vegetable garden. How’s that for obsessive? Hey you gotta do something inside all those months!

18. Thank your significant other for putting up with your obsession. They might be ok with next growing season (hey at least try)

19. Toss that plant you didn’t plant outside and didn’t have the heart to get rid of last fall that is now full of aphids. (where do they come from anyways?)

20. Make your significant other read your blog. (As if they don’t put up with enough gardening stuff)

BONUS: Look up more gardening/pumpkin info on line. I call it gardening/pumpkin porn. (hey you gotta research this stuff, right?)

Happy New Year to all my obsessive gardening friends!!!

Bob’s Garden Pizza on the Grill

Bob rolling the dough on the pizza peel

My good friend Bob made an incredible pizza fixed on the grill this weekend that he learned from his son Ephraim. He used garden veggies for the toppings. Here is the recipe for the pizza dough and the method that Bob uses to make it. Thanks Bob for sharing this great recipe for my blog. What a great way to eat the veggies we’ve been growing this summer! This was so good, I could eat all my veggies this way! It was yummy!

Ingredients:
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 1/3 cups warm water
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Method:

cooking pizza dough on the grill

Pour 1/3 cup

of the warm water into a small bowl. Add the package of dry yeast to the water……stir the mixture until dissolved. Let this sit in a warm place ….it should start to get bubbly…

precooked pizza toppings

Put the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the olive oil, salt and sugar.

If you are using a food processor with dough blade or heavy duty mixer with dough hook,
start the machine and slowly add the bubbling yeast. Then add the rest of the water until a smooth dough forms…you may need to use less or more water depending on the moisture content of the flour.  The dough should be silky smooth.

If you are mixing the flour by hand, add the water, mix until blended, then turn the dough out onto a floured board or counter and knead for 10 to 15 minutes until silky smooth… add more flour if necessary.

Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly coated with olive oil and turn it over once to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about an hour.

Pull off a chunk of the dough and roll it out into a thin layer. This is where a pizza peel comes in handy. This is the wooden paddle that slips the pizza in and out of the oven or grill.

Slide it onto a medium-hot grill, lower the

pizza with toppings ready for grill

lid and bake the pizza for about 5 minutes.
Remove the pizza crust, flip it over and brush it lightly with olive oil

Add your precooked ingredients.

Return the pizza to the grill , lower the lid, and bake for another 5 minutes. The time it takes will depend on the temperature of your grill…. too hot and the crust will burn before the toppings get hot and cheese melts.

Toppings:
It’s important to precook your toppings.
Sliced onions….saute them in oil/butter until they are tender and golden brown
Sauteed peppers and/or other veggies…. spinach, chard, eggplant,  etc.
Sauteed sliced mushrooms

taking finished pizza off grill

Thin sliced tomatoes
basil pesto

tomato (pizza) sauce
pre-cooked meat/sausage/shrimp/chicken….whatever you like
shredded mozzarella
grated parmesan cheese

sweet corn in!

Finally the last of the garden is in. Corn. I was going to plant a variety called ‘Silver Queen’ but that takes 82+ days and I’m planting so late that I don’t think I have time for it to harvest  since that would put me in mid September. So I’m planting a variety called ‘Spring Treat’ which takes only 68 days to maturity. If any of you get a late start on your veggies, just look at the package where it says how many days it matures in and get a variety that takes less time-that way you can still get lots of veggies this season.

tomatoes ready to come out of wall of waters

tomatoes in wall of waters and row cover

Here are the tomatoes in wall of waters and some under row cover. I am ready to take the wall of waters off as many of them have grown out of the wall of waters. 61 tomatoes total. Most of the ones that I planted in early May are doing great considering they had to weather freezing temps at nights and incredible winds. Now it is blistering hot but they love the heat!

Wall of Waters for tomatoes

tomatoes in wall of waters-2010

Here are the 35 tomatoes in wall of waters. You can buy them at your local nursery or order them through the internet. They are an invaluable tool for Spring as they act like little greenhouses or cloches to help protect your tender plants from cold nights and the wind.Be sure you fill them up in the morning so they have all day to heat up. Then they will give off the heat at night and keep the plant warm.

To set them up, put a 5 gallon bucket over the tomato (the tomato must fit inside the bucket) then slide the wall of water over the bucket and take a hose and fill up each cell in the wall of waters. When done slide the bucket out and the wall of waters support themselves. If your plant is taller than the wall of water, you can still use it but will need a friend to hold the wall of water as you fill up each cell. Sometimes the wall of water (WOW) can partially collapse under heavy wind. In that case put some bamboo posts inside the edges of WOW to help support it. In a few years, you might get some leaky cells. I take one of my leaky WOW and cut off a good cell and insert it into the leaky cell and fill it up and it works. I only use wall of waters in early spring when it is still cold at night. Be sure to take them off when the plant starts to get crowded inside of the wall of waters, usually in late May or early June.

arugula and peas are up

My arugula and peas just popped up this week from my cool season crop raised bed up by the house.

oregon spring peas and golden peas

Rocket arugula just up

transplanted tomatoes again

On  April 4 I transplanted some tomatoes in my 4″ pots up to gallon size. They went  “shocky” as I didn’t have room to keep them under the lights even though I gave them Thrive. So I had to build another lightbox on Tuesday to house them and now they are good again. I guess they got a little cold.  Here is a picture of them in the gallon size now. Notice I put some bamboo supports for the stems that I tied with garbage bag twist ties. That way I can relax the twist ties as the stems get bigger.

April 4-tomatoes transplanted to gallon size-doing well

I still have 36 more tomatoes to transplant by this weekend up to gallon size!  This will be the last transplant before putting them in the soil. With about 75 plants, I will give some away to my friends who grow tomatoes! I also changed my planting soil now for the gallon size. Now it is Sungro 702. See picture here.

Sun Gro Metro Mix 702 growing medium

Here is a pic of the ones I will transplant this weekend. I still have some tomatoes left in 4″ pots that won’t need transplanting before going into the ground as I started them later. Notice in the picture below that I raised up the smaller plants on the right side of the pic by putting them on another upside down container. I do this so the smaller plants are at the  same level of the higher ones so they are the same distance away from the lights. Otherwise they would be further away from the lights and could get spindly. Keep your plants within 2 ” of the lights to keep this from happening.

tomatoes in 4″ pots need transplanting

Learn from my mistakes when starting tomatoes!

UGH!  I made 2 mistakes with my newly transplanted tomatoes last week. So I want to share the mistakes and how I luckily remedied them.
MISTAKE #1- After I watered the tomatoes from the bottom tray where they sit in, (which is a good thing), I forgot to drain the water from the pan all day and all night (too much standing water can suffocate the plants)

MISTAKE #2- Secondly I forgot to cover them with the reflective insulation at night to keep them warm while the house cools down. So not only did they sit in the water all day and all night but they got cold as well. In the morning they were slightly wilted and turned a little purple (turning purple means they can’t access the phosphorus from the cold soil.) Last year I had this problem with the tomatoes turning purple, being stunted and being too cold and have really paid attention this year except this one time. I didn’t get a picture of them purple..

rock phosphate powder

So I drained the water away and read if tomatoes turn purple that we should water some rock phosphate in (which is a good organic source of phosphorus) and put them under the lights to get warm.  This happened a week ago and they have snapped out of it and look good, I lucked out! So now I have given all the baby tomatoes some rock phosphate and they are doing really well. I think I’m going to need to transplant them again before I put them in the ground.

tomato plants after the rock phosphate

Here they are now after the rock phosphate- they have really grown since planting them on March 1. I’m hoping weather permitting, I will sneak them in the ground by April 15th, which is a month before the last frost date like last year. This really gives them a head start on the season, especially for those 80+ days tomato plants.

Another tip to not have those skinny, thin stems on your baby plants is to lightly brush them with your hand everyday and it will stimulate them to make stockier stems.

When should we start seeds?

HELPFUL TIME FRAMES FOR STARTING VEGGIE SEEDS

I found this nifty time frame chart about when to start some of our seeds indoors. Not all are listed but as I find more I’ll add it to this chart. Our last frost date here in Santa Fe (zone 5) is May 15 but you can adjust this to your time zone as it is listed as to how many weeks to start seeds ahead of your last frost date.

Please note-Anything you actually put out in the garden early before your last frost date, must have some kind of protection.

TOMATOES-6-8 weeks before last frost (sometimes even up to 10 weeks with proper lighting)

PEPPERS-8-12 weeks before last frost. Big  deal around these parts of the southwest! I find they take forever to start!

EGGPLANTS-6-8 weeks before last frost. I find these take a long time to start also.

LETTUCE-5-6 weeks before last frost if you want to start indoors. (I also like to plant lettuce, spinach and different greens, carrot and beet seeds directly in the soil right after St. Patrick’s Day around here as they can handle a little frost but I still cover them with row cover at night)

SPINACH-5-6 weeks before last frost or plant directly outdoors (around St. Patrick’s Day)

GREENS (broccoli, chard, kale, cabbage,etc)-6-8 weeks before last frost (or plant after St. Patrick’s Day)

GIANT PUMPKINS (or any pumpkin)-2-4 weeks before last frost (but you must protect them if you put them out early) or just wait as they grow fast

MELONS-2-4 weeks before last frost or just wait as they grow fast

CUCUMBERS-2 -3 weeks before last frost or just wait as they grow fast

BEANS-2 -3weeks before last frost or just wait as they grow fast

SUMMER SQUASH-Just plant after last frost date directly in garden

WINTER SQUASH-Just plant after last frost date directly in garden

‘The Heirloom Tomato’ by Amy Goldman

The Heirloom Tomato by Amy Goldman

This winter I got a beautiful book called “The Heirloom Tomato” by Amy Goldman in which she tested and rated many heirloom tomatoes. I am going to grow some of the tomatoes that got rated really high by her for flavor. So I’m trying ‘Aunt Ruby’s German Green’ -suppose to be one of the best (sweet) green tomatoes and a tomato called ‘Great White’ (one of the best white tomatoes) which is suppose to taste like angel food cake!-that plus a bunch more that she rated highly. Since getting into our Farmer’s Market last year as ‘The Tomato Lady’-“Heirloom Tomatoes and Exotic Veggies for the Discriminating Cook”, I did more research this year and picked varieties with different attributes. Some with good old fashioned tomato flavor, some that are really sweet, some great for sauces, some beautifully fluted and some different colors. Besides I like to educate my buyers as to the history of each type of tomato and there is lots of info in her book on this. You can go to my 2010 seed list page and see all of the varieties that I want to grow, including a few hybrids. I’ve put AG next to all the ones I picked from her book, although I grew black cherry tomatoes last year before I got her book and am growing this fabulous tomato again.

PS-I get nothing for promoting her book, I just love the info and pictures.