Heirloom Tomatoes Day 1

Amidst all the eating out and trying new recipes at home, we decided to take our love for all things yummy one step further: growing heirloom tomatoes. We were inspired by our recent trip to Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a restaurant exemplifying the farm to table concept and Pizzeria Bianco's amazingly delicious caprese salad. Since neither of us has a green thumb, we decided to start with something easy, tomatoes.


We start our tomato-growing adventure by purchasing heirloom tomato seeds from http://www.tomatofest.com/. We couldn't resist and ended up ordering the Gourmet Tomato Seed Collection, consisting of the following types of heirlooms:

1. Black Zebra Heirloom Tomato (2-inch round fruits with a red-mahogany color and dark stripes, a fantastic sweet/acid flavor)
2. Blondkopfchen Heirloom Tomato (German for 'little blond girl," 1/2-inch, sweet & tangy golden cherries)
3. Box Car Willie Heirloom Tomato A slightly flattened New Jersey variety by Joe Bratka's father. Produces 10 to 16-ounce, smooth, bright-red with an orange tinge. These excellent tasting tomatoes are very juicy and because they are so dependably tasty and abundant throughout the season, Box Car Willie is a staple in many home gardens. Good resistance to disease and cracking.
4. Brandywine OTV Heirloom Tomato (1-lb, bright red, slightly fluted on top, with beautiful flavor and texture)
5. Costoluto Genovese Heirloom Tomato Italian, heat-loving, heirloom tomato that has been enjoyed for many generations along the Mediterranean. Large, deep-red fruits have a singularly fluted profile, are deeply ridged, and heavily lobed. Meaty, full-flavored, slightly tart, and delicious. Because of its scalloped edges, perfect for use in an arrangement of different colored sliced tomatoes. Makes a rich and pungent pasta sauce.
6. Dagma's Perfection - This was a bonus pack that was included in the collection.
   A vigorous and abundant producer of medium-sized (3”, 12 oz.), slightly flattened, pale-yellow fruits with delicate, light red striping. Deliciously flavorful with overtones of tropical fruit and subtle hints of lime. Firm, juicy and elegant in the mouth, and jewel-like in appearance
7. Garden Peach Heirloom Tomato Small 2 oz. delicate and meaty fruit. Really does have a peach color outside. Hint of red inside. Very mild-sweet taste. Light fuzz on fruit and leaves. A very pretty novelty tomato.
8. Hillbilly Heirloom Tomato (old 1-2 lb., W. VA beefsteak, yellow with red streaks with lots of sweet flavors)
9. Julia Child Heirloom Tomato (Potato-leaf plant producing lots of 4-inch, deep-pink, lightly-fluted, beefsteak fruits with robust, tomatoey flavors)
10. Orange Strawberry Heirloom Tomato (3-inch, bright orange, oxheart with tropical fruity taste)
11. Paul Robeson Heirloom Tomato (Russian, 8-oz, dark purple, big, rich tomatoey taste)

As this is our first gardening attempt, we decided to make things as easy as possible: the Burpee!

This growing system will help us germinate the seeds before we plant them in the yard.
We started by adding warm water to each cell, allowing the moss to expand.
We then added two seeds into each cell and buried it about 1/4 inch below the surface.
We then expose the seeds to sulight for about 8-10 hours a day and wait patiently for them to germinate, usually within 5-7 days. Then we can transfer the plant to the pots or the yard with artificial soil mix.
And so the waiting begins....