Homestead Tomatoes

 

18 pellets in 6 sandwich bags
Homestead Tomatoes

After midnight, I started germinating tomatoes. I had the little black tray with a clear plastic lid. But, exbf fell and crunched it. I was more concerned he lost his balance and fell backwards out of the house. I had to go help him get up. I had a floor lamp on the porch, but he could not pull up on it at the angle he was having to pull. So, I brought a floor lamp I am going to work on to replace the one that blew up. I held it far from him and pulled on it as he pulled. Even though he fussed at me, it worked. He never even said "Thank you." sigh

At any rate, the tray is probably toast. So, I got busy with what I know will work just as well. I put a towel fresh from the line on the ottoman.

a heaping Tablespoon of seeds for $.99

 

seeds in a Coke cap because I would lose them on this towel

 

 

 

love them!

 

 

 

swollen pellets

 

I did not take a picture of the pellets, but they sort of look like a checker, just a bit larger. I put them into the pie plate and kept pouring warm water in until there was only a little bit of water not absorbed. I think I had to add one more to make 6 full sandwich with three each bags.

 

 

two seeds in the one pellet

 

 

tool

 

Usually, I just get a toothpick, but I did not want to have to be coordinated enough to pick it up and keep up with it on the light colored towel. So, I remodeled a plastic fork. I used this fork tool to open up the fabric on some of the more tightly closed pellets. Then, since I was putting two seeds in each pellet, I used the fork tool to push seeds where I wanted them.

pellet on its side

 

I took this picture to show you how the pellet swells up, about 1.5 inches high.

 

Each pellet has two seeds to improve the prospect of all pellets having a tomato seedling. The place I bought these has a reputation for repackaging last year's seeds. So, two is insurance. I am hoping I might get lucky and be able to transplant the extra seedling if two germinate. We will see.

 

The basket of seedlings will go into the car to germinate until I can get the greenhouse stabilized in the yard. Seeds that take 7-10 days to germinate take only 3-4 in the car. The first year I germinated seeds in the car, all went well. The next year, I germinated later and they all fried. It just got too hot and I drove them around and parked them in the sun.

 

I think it will be 80 days to fruit. Maybe. Homestead tomatoes do well in hot weather. Most people complain their tomatoes burned up last year. Homestead tomatoes will not. I did not get these from Bonnie Plants. I am really surprised Bonnie has heirloom tomatoes!

 

With my new greenhouse, I plan to germinate more of this variety. This is what my father grew when I was a child. Now, I have to start collecting more five-gallon buckets.

 

Your turn

Have you ever grown Homestead tomatoes or eaten them? What is your favorite variety? Do you use pellets for germinating? In a  tray bought to hold pellets? In sandwich bags?