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Old November 17, 2006   #6
betsylt
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Fairbanks, AK & Silicon Valley, CA
Posts: 83
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Quote:
Some of the varieties they carry are obviously the same like Beefmaster, Big Beef, Early Girl, etc. but each one carries different varieties of heirlooms too. I remember seeing Hillbilly, Black Prince, Brandywine, Costolo Genovese, several different "Mountain" varieties, Rutgers, Jet Star, Supersonic, Marglobe, etc., etc., etc.
I'm going to second what username5 suggested -- once you decide which heirlooms (or less common hybrids for that matter) you are aching to try, start them from seed if you can't find them at the local stores.

Now, there's a timing issue here -- by the time you see what the stores have, it may make starting seeds a little late in your season. Some of my local nurseries know in advance what they'll be getting in, so asking before the starts show up might give you a clue as to what you may want/need to start from seed.

Have you started thinking about what you'd really like to grow next year? What sorts of tomatoes do you favor? If you have a sense of what you want, I'm sure that the folks on this board will be able to tell you the general likelihood of getting starts (or even seeds in some cases) for specific varieties.

If you want advice as to what varieties to grow, feel free to tell us what varieties you have liked in the past, and that may allow us to help you with those hard "what-to-plant" decisions.

Last year I lucked out -- here in the San Francisco Bay area, the NORCATT group had a get together for a plant swap, so I picked up some varieties I'd been really wanting but didn't have seed for, and I was able to share some varieties that other people had wanted as well. If there are other tomato nuts in your area, that's also an option.

One of our local people ultimately needed to give away a lot of seedlings because she had limited space, and, even after our swap she was still full up with more than she could handle -- so it's always great when can find other likeminded folks in your general geographical area.

Cheers,
BetsyLT
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