By Michelle Fabio

Tomatomania, the world’s largest tomato seedling sale, kicked off the weekend of March 29-30 in Encinitas, California.

What started out as a once-a-year event 18 years ago has now stretched into a 6-week affair with stops in Encino, Sonoma, Beverly Hills, Arcadia, and even an East Coast trip to Litchfield, Connecticut.

This seedling-buying event has consistently offered tomato connoisseurs Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

In an emotional Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, Doug Oster has informed us that the world of tomato gardening has lost one of its best.

Oster had been privileged to know Fred Limbaugh, a gardener who specialized in the “Potato Top” tomato that had been grown in his family for generations, so-named because of its “potato-like foliage.”

Over their eight-year friendship, Oster and Limbaugh walked through Limbaugh’s backyard and talked about his deep love of gardening, the outdoors, and his German shepherds as well as about how life was treating him now that he had reached his eighth decade.

Several years ago, Oster decided to start giving away Potato Top tomato seeds so that Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Being the avid tomato gardener you are, you probably know exactly which tomatoes will be sprouting up in your garden this year.

But in case you’re still undecided, Mother Earth News has compiled a list of “America’s Favorite Tomatoes” based on the opinions of Seed Savers Exchange members as well as other tomato experts around the country.

The results of the survey talk about the differences between hybrid and open-pollinated varieties and group favorite tomatoes into categories for early growth, tomatoes for making sauce and paste and sandwiches, and for varieties called “great green and zebras” and “oranges, strawberries, and lemons.”

Go to Read the rest of this entry »

By Amelia Tucker

When planting hybrid tomatoes, are you safe from escape plants for the next season? No!

Hybrid tomatoes are a combination of varieties making a third plant with the desired qualities of the first two plants in it.

When you save the seeds from a hybrid tomato, you have no idea what variety will grow the following year.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Amelia Tucker

With the season drawing to a close, you should know which plants grew the best this year.

Why not save those seeds and get a jump start on next year’s gardening?

It is easy to do and you will be saving the seeds from the plants that grew best in your particular area, ensuring a better harvest every time.

Here is what you do:

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By Tomato Queen

[This is part 2 of two-part article series. View part 1]

Local garden exchanges are a great opportunity to find random treasures that are someone else’s nuisance, as well as to find homes for plants that need thinning out and taking over.

But what about being able to plan for next year’s garden?

When you’re enjoying your harvest, keep a mind toward preserving this year’s favorite seeds for yourself and also to exchange with others.

Seed exchanges are what you call win-win—you can request seeds you want, send out your favorites, and also find an appreciative gardener who can make good use of the seeds from plants you didn’t enjoy that much.

Read the rest of this entry »