By Kira Hamman

Springfield, Illinois

There is a story, no doubt apocryphal, that Abraham Lincoln’s cooks tried to poison him using a dish made of tomatoes.

They failed, of course, and tomatoes not only became one of Lincoln’s favorite foods but became wildly popular with the American public as well.

There’s justice for you.

But the real story of Abraham Lincoln and tomatoes is, of course, the Abraham Lincoln tomato. Introduced in 1923 by the H.W. Buckbee seed company of Rockford, Illinois, Abe Lincoln soon became an R.H. Shumway variety. It was billed as “the largest tomato ever grown,” appropriate given its namesake’s famous height. Shumway claimed Read the rest of this entry »

By Michael Nolan

You know you’ve accomplished something when you have a tomato named after you.

Okay, so maybe that wouldn’t be such a big deal to anyone other than the tomato centric, but the Abraham Lincoln heirloom tomato would be just as impressive by any name.

The original variety was first introduced in 1923 by W.H. Buckbee who is responsible for naming it after Illinois’ favorite son, good ol’ Honest Abe.

This hearty heirloom plant produces tremendous crops of extra large fruit that is ideal for organic gardeners thanks to its natural disease resistant properties.

Here are a few more interesting facts about the Abraham Lincoln original heirloom tomato, most based on my own experience with it: Read the rest of this entry »

By Michael Nolan

Mother Nature just doesn’t seem to want to agree with my timetable for planting tomatoes this year.

Severe thunderstorms and sporadic tornado warnings notwithstanding, the temperatures will go from a balmy and beautiful 75 for several days and then plummet rather suddenly to the 30s overnight.

As any true tomato gardener knows, these conditions are just not helping me start this year’s crop.

It was just last week that I finally started the first of my tomato seeds indoors. Yes, I realize I’m late, but you seriously wouldn’t believe the weather.

Thus far this year I hope to enjoy: Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Ever wonder why cherry tomatoes are small and round while Romas are long and oval-shaped?

Crop scientists at Ohio State University’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) did, and through studies “identified one key candidate gene that was turned on at high levels in the tomato varieties carrying the elongated fruit type, while the gene was turned off in round fruit.”

They named that gene SUN after the “Sun 1642” type of tomato, which looks like a Roma with a pointy end.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Maybe you would love to grow tomatoes but don’t have access to a plot of land that would be suitable. Well so long as you have room for a container and a sunny spot on your porch or balcony, you can have a fabulous container garden.

We recently talked about getting started in container gardening, but below you’ll find some more tomato varieties that would prosper in such an environment, as recommended by NJ.com.

For small varieties to be grown in 3- to 5-gallon pots: 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 »