Time to Plant Tomatoes?

     I started tomatoes a little earlier than usual this year-- about 2 weeks earlier. (And they are indoors under lights.) I am trying to get ahead in planting so that I will be ready when spring comes. HAHA. Today is the first day of spring and although it was overcast and rained, it is really Springy out! It's been hot in Iowa the past week, like mid 80s, which is pretty unusual. The crocuses bloomed and were done in a day, but right now the grass is greening up, lots of perennials are popping out of the ground, forsythia are blooming along with daffodils, Magnolias, a few tulips, maples, etc. This is typically the scene in mid-April. So I am not feeling like I am all that ahead of things. But really should we be taking chances to plant things so early?

     I grow tomato plants (and other plants) to sell at farmer's market and a local specialty grocery store. I have been growing heirloom varieties for about 15 years. The first heirloom tomato I tried was 'Brandywine'. My friend Sara and I had a garden together at her house. It was my first real garden and I was a horticulture student at Iowa State. We had a lot of fun growing whatever caught our eye, while our little children played around us. So I had read about heirlooms and their superior flavor and the generational seed-sharing stories and thought we should give it a try. The only heirloom that I could find at that time was Brandywine. I like Brandywines okay, but they aren't very productive. After that I started seeking out other heirloom tomato varieties and have grown and tried quite a few.

     I wish I could grow them all, I really do. They all have different subtle flavors and lovely colors, shapes, and sizes. Since I am limited by space and pocketbook, I had to stop somewhere. Perusing catalogs a couple months ago, I finally whittled down my list to 23 varieties that I am growing this year. Some are old favorites, some are recommended favorites of friends that I thought I should try, and some are totally new to me. They aren't all heirlooms.

Here's what I am growing:
Cherokee Purple
Paul Robeson
Green Zebra
Cosmonaut Volkov
Abraham Lincoln
Eva Purple Ball
Mortgage Lifter
Arkansas Traveler
Oregon Spring
Johnny's BHN-1021 (Not an heirloom, but I figured I should check out the current hybrid scene too- who doesn't like disease resistance?)
Rutgers
Pineapple
Orange Blossom
Juane Flamme
Juliet
Indigo Rose
Roma
The Blush
Speckled Roman Sun Gold
Supersweet 100
Black Cherry
Snow White cherry

Supersweet 100, Snow White, Sun Gold, Black Cherry, Juliet

Roma and Speckled Roman

Arkansas Traveler

Green Zebra

    

Cosmonaut Volkov

     Today, I transplanted from the seeding tray in the basement to singles and packs in the greenhouse. I am going to do an experiment too. 'Oregon Spring' was developed by Dr. James Baggett at Oregon State where tomatoes don't typically grow so well. So they developed this tomato that you can plant outside a month early and just cover it if there is predicted frost. With this whackadoo weather, I thought I would try planting it out now and see what happens. If it works, we could have tomatoes in the middle of June!? Now that would be a feat.

     At this rate, the tomato plants will be ready for sale and to be transplanted into the garden in a month or so. I guess we will just have to see how the weather goes.