Welcome to Summer!

2012 Harvest sample : Black Krim, Brandywine, Green Zebra, Sungold, Sweet Million, Black Zebra

Welcome to the Seattle Tomato Farm!  Actually, what passes as a "farm" here is really just a deck on the front of our house, where we are growing 14 varieties of heirloom tomatoes in containers. 

Wait....Tomatoes in Seattle?  Isn't that impossible? The conventional wisdom, of course, is that it is too cold here, and summer too short - especially near the cold water of Puget Sound where we live. Yes, I had pretty much concluded that myself over the 25 years I've lived here, settling for a handful of tasteless Early Girls and a few hybrid cherry tomato varieties.

Then I discovered greenhouses... Simple plastic greenhouses (like those from Flower House or others) can make all the difference between a fall crop of unripe green tomatoes and an abundance of ripe ones. A greenhouse, carefully monitored to avoid overheating, (more on this later) can extend the brief Seattle growing season, making all but very late (e.g. 85+ days) tomato varieties possible.  

So here's what I'm growing this year:

Brandywine OTV       2

Green Giant                2

Green Zebra               2

Jaune Flamme            2

Lime Green Salad      2   

Mariana’s Peace         1

Paul Robeson             2

RC Mortgage Lifter    2

Sungold                        4

Sunset’s Red Horizon   1

Yellow Brandywine    2

Aunt Ruby’s German Green   1

Pruden's Purple    1

Aunt Ginny's Purple  1

and three Brandy Boy hybrids for comparison  (Burpee)

I bought tomato plants this year, rather than growing from seed, from a farm in California that has an astonishing inventory of heirlooms : Laurel's.  I was able to schedule them for delivery around the first of May, which seems to be the frost-free date here in Seattle  (some 2 weeks earlier than it was when I came here 25 years ago). 

Stay tuned as I update our progress over the course of Summer 2013.