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Bicolor Tomato Seeds |
Black/Purple Tomato Seeds |
Green Tomato Seeds |
Red/Pink Tomato Seeds |
White Tomato Seeds |
Yellow/Orange Tomato Seeds |
Tomatillo |
Hardy Dry Farmed Tomato Seeds |
This year at the farm we are growing out over 150 heirloom tomato seed varieties to add to our 2010 catalog! 98% of all our tomatoes were grown by us. We NEVER use any chemical fertilizers or pesticides in growing our seeds.
For an exhaustive resource on tomatoes please visit our web page devoted to this tasty treasure (launch 3/29/10).
www.OrganicHeirloomTomato.com
Also new this year for 2010 we will start slowing upgrading our packaging for tomato seeds in resealable Mylar bags. These new bags are the ultimate in seed packaging for long term storage. Don't use all the seed? No problem just reseal them and they are good for next season. No other seed company currently uses these bags and we are proud to be the first. After all we are seed savers too!
Sustainable Seed Processing?
Absolutely! Nothing is wasted in our seed cleaning process. For instance the picture here with the chickens. It literally takes hundreds of pounds of heirloom tomatoes to get a pound of heirloom
tomato seed. There can be a lot of left over heirloom tomatoes and since they have to be rotted to get the protective seed coating off, they are not fit for human consumption. Don't worry that is more for the chickens and turkeys! They absolutely love semi-rotted heirloom tomatoes and we get some tasty eggs. It also takes many gallons of water to process and clean those heirloom tomato seeds. ZERO percent ends up in the sewer. All of our water is returned to irrigate our fields for the next harvest. Nothing is wasted. That is sustainability. That is just common sense. Water is a resource like anything else and no one understands that better than farmers in California. Here it may not rain for over 8 months. We know how important clean water is and we are excellent stewards of this resource.
Not All Tomato Seeds are Created Equal
Most folks don't think a whole lot about ordering a pack of heirloom tomatoes seeds. You buy them, plant them and hope they grow. However, having the absolute best tomato seeds gives you a head start. Selection is probably the most important thing. If you have been a gardener for a while you may have noticed how tomato seed from different companies may grow radically different tomatoes. Most companies do not grow their own tomato seed anymore like they used to. Quality control frequently slips through the cracks and you can end up with some very different looking/tasting tomatoes from year to year. Not with Sustainable Seed Company. We grow 98% of all our tomatoes. That means we personally and painstakingly select only the finest tomatoes to take seed from.
The Tomato Plant
Healthy seeds produce healthy heirloom tomato plants. We start of course by selecting only the best tomato plants. Those plants that show disease resistance, vigor, tasty fruits, large fruits and pest resistance. Then we grow these tomato plants with the best organic fertilizers to ensure maximum performance. Then it is time for the harvest!
Processing the Tomato Fruits
We pick only the healthiest, biggest, true to type tomatoes for our tomato seed. Tomatoes have a jelly-like protective coating around the seed that needs to be removed in order for the seed to have maximum germination. Unlike a lot of companies that use acids to remove the seeds protective coating, we do it the old fashioned way by letting the fruits ferment in there own juices. Yes, it takes longer. Yes, it stinks and yes it takes me a great deal of time doing this all by hand. However, you get a better tomato seed in the end I believe.
Final Tomato Seed Cleaning
Once the tomato seeds have had there gel coats removed, we remove the excess pulp and clean the seeds through a series of screens. These screens remove dirt and other things that may have come in from the field with the tomatoes. The screens also allow small inferior tomato seeds to wash out. We want only the biggest and best tomatoes for our customers! Then all this seed goes to a dryer where the tomato seeds are gently dried over a period of days to get them to just the right moisture content for the tomato seed packing process. The whole process starting with planting tomato seeds in March to the end of harvest in October is a very long process and one of the reason tomato seeds cost so much compared to other heirloom seeds. It is surely a labor of Tomato Love!
The History of Tomatoes in Sonoma County
1915 Soil Survey of The Healdsburg area, California by the USDA
"Tomatoes are grown both as an auxiliary crop in non-bearing orchards and to some extent as a primary crop. Their commercial production is centered mainly around Healdsburg. Small acreages are planted near Sebastopol and Santa Rosa. Tomatoes do best on the Yolo silt loam and fine sand loam. Yields are reported as ranging from 8 to 20 tons per acre, with an average yield of 12 tons. The crop is usually sold to canneries. the variety grown in known as the Kennedy tomato. this has large, handsome fruit, but it contains more water than some other varieties. Tomato growing has been a very important industry, and the profits have in the main been very satisfactory."
Here are just a few of the many heirloom tomato seed varieties still in existence today: Burpee matchless heirloom tomato seed, break o'day heirloom tomato seed, earliana heirloom tomato seed, June pink heirlooom tomato seed, penn state heirloom tomato seed, truckers favorite heirloom tomato seed, bonny best heirloom tomato seed, self pruning heirloom tomato seed, john baer heirloom tomato seed, chalk's early jewel heirloom tomato seed, beefsteak heirloom tomato seed, ponderosa heirloom tomato seed, stone heirloom tomato seed, golden queen heirloom tomato seed, bloody butcher heirloom tomato seed, blocked heirloom tomato seed, bobbie heirloom tomato seed, bounty heirloom tomato seed, box car willie heirloom tomato seed, bradley heirloom tomato seed, cabot heirloom tomato seed, calypso heirloom tomato seed, campbell heirloom tomato seed, compstock heirloom tomato seed, coral heirloom tomato seeds, costa rica heirloom tomato seeds, currier heirloom tomato seeds, debbie heirloom tomato seeds, delicious heirloom tomato seeds, early annie heirloom tomato seeds, elfin heirloom tomato seeds, epoch heirloom tomato seeds, eros heirloom tomato seeds, fireball heirloom tomato seeds, floradel heirloom tomato seeds, federle heirloom tomato seeds, gala heirloom tomato seeds, giant heirloom tomato seeds, german red heirloom tomato seeds, giant paste heirloom tomato seeds, and grandma mary heirloom tomato seeds.
We strive to sell the highest quality open pollinated and heirloom seeds. Our chief concern is empowering you, the customer, to be able to grow your own vegetables year after year by being able to save your seed. Not growing GMO seed or hybrid vegetable seed allows you to keep the seed your plants create and know you'll get the same vegetable every time. We value your input and comments and want to create a community of concerned citizens who care about the food they eat, the ground they grow their vegetables in, and the world in which we live. To protect your pollinators and bees, please limit or eliminate your pesticides use, they will thank you for it! Thank you again for purching such high quality heirloom seeds!
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