By Michelle Fabio

As of last month, the Arctic Ocean is home to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s first deep-frozen collection of seeds of hundreds of thousands of plants, including our beloved tomatoes.

According to its website, the seed vault, owned and administered by Norway’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food, was created to “provide insurance against both incremental and catastrophic loss of crop diversity held in traditional seed banks around the world.”

The vault’s construction was funded by the Norwegian government ($9 million) and is also financially Read the rest of this entry »

Part Two: Sowing the Seeds of Love (See Part One)

By Kira Hamman

Now that you’ve ordered your seeds, it’s time to get ready to plant.

First, assemble the things you’ll need:
• A flat of teeny pots for starting the seeds. Get one that comes with a tray to sit in that will catch drips.
• Larger (2”) pots for transplanting.
• If you live in a cold region, even larger (4”) pots for transplanting again (if you ever have snow in April, then you live in a cold region).
• Sterile seed-starting mix.
• Good-quality potting soil.
• A spray bottle for water.
• A supplementary light source – this does not have to be an official grow light, but has to be adjustable so you can keep it about 4 – 5 inches above the seedlings as they grow.

Once the seeds actually arrive, Read the rest of this entry »

Part One: Heirlooms For Everyone! A Guide to Choosing Tomato Seeds

By Kira Hamman

As much as we all love seed catalogs, they can be a touch overwhelming at times.

Seventy-four varieties of heirloom tomatoes? Really? How can anyone ever choose?

Here’s help, in the form of an annotated guide to six fantastic varieties. Grow one, grow them all, ignore this list completely – the choice is up to you. But place your seed order quick, because it’s time to get started!

1. Brandywine: The Platonic ideal of tomato. Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Here at Tomato Casual, we’ve talked before about when you should start sowing your tomato seeds, and now the time is finally here (if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, of course).

As a reminder, the most important date you need to know is the expected date of the last frost in your area.

Your plants should be ready to be planted outside about two to three weeks after that, which means that you’ll want to start your seeds Read the rest of this entry »

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 »