Unique Veggies Growing in the Garden

I have several items in my garden that are from Seed Savers. I want to provide you more detail about each of the items because I am really excited to see how they grow and taste.

The first is a tomato called Mortgage Lifter. This is a Kentucky family heirloom that has been grown since the 1930's by three generations of the James Halladay family. This plant should produce 1-2 pound pink beefsteak tomatoes. They are suppose to be meaty and typically crack-free. This is an indeterminate variety.

The second is also a tomato called Black Cherry. The plant produces 1 inch round cherry tomatoes that are purple-black in color. The flavor is suppose to be very sweet. Just the way you want a cherry tomato to be for when you need a quick snack in the garden. This is an indeterminate variety as well.

So, what does it mean when a tomato is indeterminate?  To begin with, tomatoes are either indeterminate or determinate. It is important to understand which type you are getting so you can grow the tomato plant correctly. Determinate varieties are also called bush tomatoes. They are bred to grow to a compact height of around 4 feet. Determinate varieties stop growing when tomatoes are set and typically all the tomatoes ripen at the same time. After this the plant will die. Plants like this don't need that much caging or staking. Most importantly they should NOT be pruned or suckered. If you do this you will reduce the amount of tomatoes on the plant.  Determinate varieties are excellent for growing in containers and if you have limited space.

Indeterminate varieties of tomatoes are sometimes called "vinning" tomatoes. The great thing about this variety is that they will grow and produce fruit until the plant is killed by frost in the fall. This variety needs LOTS of room and staking or caging is required. While not mandatory, I think it is a good idea to prune and sucker this variety. Because this variety can grow so large they really don't work well in containers. I always grow indeterminate varieties because they last longer and you get a lot more tomatoes.

My other two plants from Seed Savers this year are sunflowers and cucumbers.  The sunflower variety is called Lemon Queen.  This is a sunflower that grows about 7-8 feet tall with large lemon-yellow petals and dark centers.  This variety is suppose to produce multiple blooms on one plant. Sure hope this happens because my wife is constantly cutting flowers.  It will be interesting to see how the plants handle her cutting tendencies.  Pretty sure the birds will be unhappy in the fall.  The cucumber is called Snow's Fancy Pickling.  This comes from the Chicago area and has been available for planting since 1905.  This plant produces slender cucumbers that are 5-6 inches long. They have thin skin so I'm hoping they will be good for eating right away instead of pickling.