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Old May 13, 2010   #1
habitat_gardener
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: California Central Valley
Posts: 2,539
Default Costco "Heirloom Tomatoes"

A neighbor was stocking up at Costco yesterday and saw 1/2-1 gallon tomato plants at 3 for $10, so got some. They're labeled Heirloom Tomatoes, usda organic. Two of them have names -- Monica Variety and Shady Lady -- but the other one has only the Heirloom Tomato label. Shady Lady is a hybrid! (and I haven't found any info on Monica). The source is Rocket Farms in Salinas, an orchid and poinsettia grower that has recently started growing organic herb and veg starts. The two labels mention only the name -- not size, det/indet, dtm, color, etc. -- but each label includes the words Heirloom and Organic in big letters.

So whoever was looking for Heirloom tomatoes (mentioned in a post a few months ago) may have bought them at Costco or another big box. For nonseedsavers, maybe Heirloom is enough of a buzzword, even if they're not selling anything that anyone else would define as an heirloom.

And I bet the neighbor's mow-n-blow crew will plant them without labels, so that even the two that were labeled will revert to anonymity.
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