February 2012. The Old vs. The New

It’s still cold outside but it’s time to start thinking about the spring garden. This month we are talking about the vegetable garden but the information also applies to ornamentals. The easy way to start your garden is to go to your garden center, buy seeds from the meager selection and then look at the few varieties of tomato transplants. The garden center chose those varieties because they usually do well in our area.

That is the safe way to garden, but why not live dangerously and take a chance on some of the more interesting varieties that you can order from the seed catalogs?

Several years ago we decided to try growing some of the old-timey tomatoes that we remembered from days gone by. We talked with Jimmy Boudreaux, our tomato expert, and he had a clever comment about the difference between the heirloom varieties and those of this era: If someone throws an heirloom tomato at you it will splatter all over your face. If they throw a new, commercial type one at you, it will make a big bruise on your face.

Before arguing in favor of you trying heirloom varieties, we should be fair about the new ones. There are very good reasons for the popularity of the current varieties. They are resistant to many diseases and they can be shipped without getting mashed very badly. Most of the varieties taste pretty good, also.

Another good point is that, if you plant them in your garden, you can be pretty sure of getting a good crop, and if you let them get “vine ripe,” they will taste better than the same varieties you buy at the supermarket. The manager of the supermarket has sound reasons for offering those pretty good but reliable varieties. His customers expect that he will have a good selection of tomatoes whenever they go to the store, all year long.

Yes, but couldn’t he, at least, offer the better vine ripe tomatoes during our tomato season? No, our weather is too variable. He must plan and make contracts several months in advance. When you go in to get tomatoes for a party he can’t say: “Sorry, but the weather has been bad and the local grower couldn’t harvest a decent crop.” Of course, the grower is sorry too, because he has tomatoes rotting in the field and isn’t getting any income.

If you are lucky enough to have a farmers market in your area, you can get some of the better-tasting tomatoes there between late spring and the summer weather. Summer is usually too hot in our area for many of the older, “heirloom” varieties to set fruit, although in some years the plants will keep on growing. In the milder fall weather, there will probably be tomatoes in the farmers markets again.

Now, for the good news. You are gardening as a hobby and are able to take risks that commercial growers can’t afford. Diseases and insect infestations usually reflect the weather conditions. This is not an absolute, but you should expect some problems every year, regardless of the weather.

Most of those fine-tasting old tomatoes had some disease and insect resistance but not much. Back in the old days, gardeners would occasionally say, “Well, I didn’t have much luck with my tomatoes this year.” That bad luck sometimes meant they didn’t garden very well, but it frequently meant that the weather was favorable for some disease or insect problem.

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