Redlands, 02/22, sunny & on the cold side

Spring is almost here! While the official date is March 20th, signs of springtime are beginning to emerge everywhere. Buds are swelling on fruit trees. Blossoms have pushed out on blueberry shrubs. Daffodils, hyacinths and tulips have all peeked from under ground , the flat-leaf cabbage planted in the fall edible garden is going to seed & the French Lavender is in its prime!

Sure, many of us are familiar with ornamental plants perfect for Spring planting, but what in the world do we add to our edible gardens this time of year? The weather can still be  full of  rain and the night temperatures can still reach  the freezing point. While gardening in the early of spring can still feel like wintertime, it does present us with a season for growing lots of delicious foods that are happiest now, not in the coming warmer months.

Take lettuce for example. For anyone who has tried unsuccessfully to grow lettuce in the warmer months, please believe me that chances are your efforts were a success despite outward appearances! Lettuce can be grown in the warmer months, but in my experience gardening here in the IE for over 20 years, it is way more difficult! I love to grow lettuce from fall through the beginning weeks of summer [June 21st] when the temperatures are lower.  Mother nature gives me a hand with the water and the pests are so much fewer [have only seen one or two slugs in our garden since Fall, yeah!].

Redlands, 9 February, sunny, bright & cool

Hands down, the tomato is the all-time favorite garden plant.  Year after year, more tomato plants are sold in our country than any other plant. We think it is pretty cool that of all the plants that could be “favorite” – an edible plant, the  tomato is Queen!

Why is tomato Queen of edibles? They are easy to grow. They come in all shapes, colors and sizes. And then there is their taste. Nothing beats the taste of a sun-warmed, juicy, fragrant tomato. In summertime, for breakfast, lunch , snack , dinner, nothing beats sliced tomato, with fresh mozzarella, lettuce leaf basil, olive oil, pepper and a dash of course sea salt.

And as we all know, not all tomatoes taste the same. Given the  choice between a standard hothouse tomato and  heirloom variety, well, is there a choice? Personally, we ourselves love this fruit just like you, so when it came to deciding which varieties to grow for Spring/Summer 2011 – we decided to go out on a limb. As growers, we love to buy our seeds in larger sizes, 1/4 oz or larger. Unfortunately, finding many of the varieties we wanted to grow in that size was just not possible. It is worth remembering that part of the reason we grow heirloom seed is in an effort to help preserve heritage – often times growing edibles purely to produce additional seeds for future use.

Before we go on and tell you all about the varieties we are growing this year, we want to throw out the idea of seed saving. This year, we want to encourage each of you to preserve some of the seeds from this years upcoming bounty. There are some great books on this subject like“ Seed to Seed” by  Suzanne Ashworth. Perhaps if enough of you would like to learn this aspect of sustainable gardening, we would offer a workshop. Let us know!

One last word on tomatoes – their nutrition. We know that one of the most important reasons many of us grow our own food is purely for the incredible nutritional value. We have come to understand that food looses vital nutrients when it is transported and processed. There is a difference in the nutrition of a freshly harvested tomato and one that has been canned or picked even a few days prior. 

Nutritional value of 1 cup of sliced/chopped tomatoes:Vitamin A 1499IU,30% ,Beta Carotene 808 mcg, Lutein+Zeaxanthin 221 mcg, Vitamin C 22.9mg 38%,Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol)1.0mg 5% Vitamin K 14.2mcg 18%,Potassium427mg12%

And now…Tomatoes

In the Green Catagory

•  Grandma Olivers Green Tomato.   This variety is NEW for 2011. It is an attractive green heirloom that produces large fruits, the inside is  a creamy-lime green color, and it has  a  sweet, tangy flavor.  This variety is said to have been passed down from Jacob Hardman of Indiana, being traced back to the 1920s.

 

In the Orange Catagory

• Golden Jubilee.  A  popular favorite we sold out of last year! This orange variety has a mild,   sweet flavor; good size and yield. An old standard.

 

In the Yellow Category

• Yellow Brandywine. Remember our pink brandywine from last year [our best selling variety ? - now it's in yellow, too!]  A Superbly rich and delicious-tasting tomato with  large fruit. The golden variety gives good yields, and fruit are said to be even better tasting than Pink Brandywine. Large potato leaf plants are very sturdy & deep green.

 

• Yellow pear Very sweet, 1 1/2 yellow, pear-shaped fruit have a mild flavor, and are great for fresh eating or for making tomato preserves. Very productive plants are easy to grow.

 

In the Pink Category

•  Pink Brandywine The most popular heirloom vegetable dating all the way back to 1885! A favorite of many gardeners, large fruit with superb flavor. The beautiful pink fruits can get  up to 1-1/2 lbs. each!
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• German Johnson 80-90 days.  New this year! Very large 1-2 lb fruits are deep pink, very flavorful and nearly crack-free. The plants are very productive with superb quality fruits! Delicious and limited!
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• Hendersons Pink Ponderosa 87 days. Huge size, some over 2 lbs., a meaty pink-red beefsteak introduced by Peter Henderson & Co. in 1891, and the most famous of their varieties. In 1903. Great for canning as thick slices.
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• Pink Oxheart – Beautiful big, oval, pointed fruit with a fine sweet old time flavor! A good all-purpose variety

 

In the Purple Variety

•  Cherokee Purple 80 days. An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre-1890 variety; beautiful deep dusky purple-pink color, superb sweet flavor, and very large sized fruit. Try this one for real old-time tomato flavor.

 

• Purple Russian- New this year! This Ukrainian heirloom is at the top of its class with delicious purplish, egg-shaped fruit. This heirloom as superb flavor, it is one of the best varieties we carry for eating fresh & preserving.  The plants are very productive; fruit weigh about 6 oz.
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• Black Cherry -  New this year! These beautiful tomatoes look a lot like large, dusky purple grapes Their rich flavor that makes them one of the most famous of all black/purple tomatoe. They have large vines that yield very well. Very, very  delicious. Limited

 

• Crème Brulee – New this year! A beautiful tomato from the former Soviet Union. This variety produces pretty, globe shaped fruit of medium size with deep caramel color with hints of red and chocolate. The flavor is rich, sweet and full-bodied, and the texture is tender and smooth.  Limited.

 

In the Red Variety:

• Beefsteak: A popular old standard variety, deep red and very large, fine flavor, rich old time tomato taste.

 

 

• Cour di Bue: A favorite from last year that we sold out of early! This Oxheart type Italian heirloom has been a favorite in Italy for many years. Beautiful 12 oz. fruit have a delicious sweet taste, similar to the shape of a heart, great for fresh eating or cooking. Large vigorous vines.

• Red German Strawberry:   New this year!  Big, flavorful 1 lb fruit are shaped like a giant, red strawberry. These beautiful tomatoes are loaded with a rich, sweet flavor. With only a small amount of seeds and juice, they are great for canning and sandwiches. This superior tasting tomato is a family heirloom from Germany.
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• Principe Bourghesse:  Sold out early last year, the Italian heirloom  is famous for sun drying. Small 1-2 oz. grape-shaped fruit are very dry and have few seeds. They have a rich tomato taste that is wonderful for sauces. Determinate

 

• Red Pear: Small, 1 1/2, red fruit are pear-shaped. This heirloom dates back to the 1700′s. The fruit is sweet and tasty – a favorite of children [of all ages]

 

• St Pierre: A beautiful French heirloom. The tender fruits have a full, rich tomato flavor and are large in size, great for canning or eating fresh . They are deep red and excellent producers.

 

• Thessaloniki . The Greek heirloom tomato that was introduced to the USA in the 1950’s . It is a  large, red uniform fruit with excellent flavor, high yields and disease resistance. An early variety,  keeps well.

 

In the Stripped Variety

• Ananas Noir: New this year!  (Green Pineapple) A most exciting new tomato, developed by Pascal
  Moreau, a horticulturist from Belgium. The multi-colored, smooth fruit (green, yellow and purple mix) weigh about 1 1/2 lbs. The flesh is bright green with deep red streaks. Superb flavor that is outstanding, being both sweet and smoky with a hint of citrus. The yield is one of the heaviest we have ever seen! Limited

 

• Hawaiian Pineapple New this year! 90-95 days This variety produces 1 lb fruit with yellow-and-red mottled flesh. Flavor is excellent: sweet, fruity and somewhat pineapple-like in taste. Productive and beautiful. 

Redlands, 02 February, sunny, breezy & a little cool.

Seems like no matter where we go and who we speak with, once someone hears that we grow heirloom veggie plants and a herb plants galore – a  few things almost always  come up. The first is “what is an heirloom?”  the second is “what kind of tomatoes are you growing?” and last but not least, ” my basil looks terrible, will it come back?”

We will tackle the first of these questions today in this blog entry. So what exactly is an heirloom?

Perhaps the most simple way to describe what an heirloom variety of a plant is to take you back to your parents garden or your grandparents garden when you were a child. What do you remember? Sweet peas growing over the garden gate? Eating warm, ripe tomatoes off the vine? Picking sweet apricots, plums, peaches or apples from the trees and enjoying every bite? Do you have memories of your family canning cucumbers [soon to be pickles] or putting up jars of tomatoes?

Heirloom varieties of plants are also called heritage. These varieties have been in production for at least 50 years. They are the varieties our parents our grandparents, even their parents grew. Stored inside each seed is the DNA for  the taste, color, fragrance of the fruits you ate long ago are all still present. When the world of modern agriculture was busy creating hybrid varieties that would oftentimes out produce the older varieties & withstand long miles of transport without too much blemish or rot [and thus still be sold for greater profit], there were countless others who continued planting their gardens using seeds saved from their families, friends and past gardens.

Over the years, these same gardeners continued to plant saved seeds and at the end of each new season, they would harvest and save the seed once more. It was quite common come January to have seed exchanges where neighbors would trade seed amongst themselves. Sharing seed from plants that had been grown successfully and locally gave growers some real advantages come the following season [s]. As plants adapted to climatic changes, fended off pests, etc, they stored that in their genetic code. Pretty cool!

So why all the hype about heirloom and heritage varieties these days? First and foremost – TASTE! While it is pretty cool to have red tomatoes on the grocery store shelves year round, what most of us would give if it only had flavor. Instead, what we have is a red, tasteless, odorless ball of water-like fibers. Heirlooms on the other hand are the answer for those of us  absolutely longing for fresh food, full of divine flavor along with sweet, mouth watering fragrance !

We all know that eating more fruits and veggies is key to optimal health. Heirloom play a vital role here. First off, heirlooms are not genetically modified in any way! Our bodies have all the needed enymyes, proteins, acids to process foods grown without genetic modification. When we alter food – like a GMO, even a hybrid, may of us – especially those prone to allergies and with conpromised immunity can have great difficulty digesting and utilizing the nutrients within the food.

And what of the nutritional value of GMO and hybrids? While hybridization may give us plants with more disease resistance and greater amounts of produce, a study that monitered hybrid crops over 50 years clearly showed that nutrition suffered in favor yield [statistically reliable declines (R < 1) for 6 nutrients (protein, Ca, P, Fe, riboflavin and ascorbic acid]. We all know the jury is still  out regarding the effects hybrid [and GMO} foods have on not only our health but that of our environment.

I don't know about you, but I have to work pretty hard at eating [and getting my family to eat] enough fruits and veggies on a daily basis.  I really don’t want to go through all the effort [and arguments] to finally get veggies to pass every one’s lips only to know that the nutrition that we were eating them for was not even in there! God only knows how much nutrition is left after food has traveled for days to reach the grocery shelve and let’s not even get me started on eating foods deplete in nutrition, flavorless, only to be heavy in chemicals!

Let’s get back to the food  – specifically varieties of food. As we all know, food is very regional. Food can connect us  with our heritage, our customs, our native lands and other people. As a grower of edibles, I have to admit that there is something absolutely wonderful about tasting foods from other countries, regions across the globe all without ever stepping on an airplane [or having a full body scan]. We can savor the tomatoes from Germany, edamame from Japan, cucumbers from France by growing them locally –  in our own backyard.

And what of our rich California heritage? It’s  pretty cool to grow the Crane melon – a famous California heirloom  introduced in 1920 by Oliver Crane whose family has been farming near Santa Rosa for six generations or the Bidwell melon,  grown by General John Bidwell, who received his seed stock from the USDA in 1869[ He was a soldier in the Civil War and also became a US senator] He grew this melon in Chico, California. Talk about doing our part to preserve the rich ancestry of California agriculture.

Soap box moment [hey, at least you were warned ahead of time]. As our climate changes [the politically correct replacement for "global warming"], GMO’s spreading outside of their “controlled planting zones” to mingle with pure seed, as wars and strife alter the landscapes of countries, of villages, of regions – if we are to preserve our heritage, our customs and the rich plant life that we humans depend on for our very existence – we need to preserve and grow using heirloom seeds.  Our ancestry, health and that of our planet  is on the line here. Let’s do our part to preserve it!

Hopefully, this overview of what an heirloom is inspires you to plant only these varieties in your garden this year and to learn more about seed-saving. On that note, we highly recommend the book “Seed to Seed” by Suzanne Ashworth. If any of you are interested in a workshop all about growing and saving seed, let us know. Maybe we could even do our own local seed swap next January.

Enjoy the day!