What is a Homestead tomato?

Homestead Tomato is an heirloom, open-pollinated variety that is especially heat-tolerant. Homestead was developed by the University of Florida and released in the 1950s. It was bred to withstand extreme temperatures and continue to set fruit into the summer months. Fruits are large, meaty and average 8 ounces.

What are Homestead tomatoes good for?

Growing Homestead 24 tomato plants provide you with a main-season, determinate tomato. These are good for late-summer canning, making sauce, or for eating on salads and sandwiches. There will likely be plenty for all uses during its determinate season of harvest and beyond.

What is an heirloom tomato and how is it different from regular tomatoes?

While regular tomatoes are grown for appearance and graded into specific sizes, heirloom tomatoes are grown for flavor. Round or plum tomatoes are perfect for the majority of what you need tomatoes for, like chopping, slicing, or cooking.

How do you grow Homestead tomato seeds?

What month do you start tomato seeds?

The best time to sow tomato seeds is mid-March to early April. By the time the weather begins to warm in June and July, the plants should be large and tough enough to withstand the weather in the great outdoors. When the time is right, sow tomato seeds in pots in a high quality seed starting mix.

Tomato Plant Profile: The 'Homestead' Heirloom Tomato - TRG 2011

What is a heirloom tomato plant?

What Are Heirloom Tomatoes? Heirloom tomatoes grow from seeds from the previous season's harvest. This differentiates them from hybrid tomato plants, which rely more heavily on manmade cultivars than open-pollinated and organic seeds.

Are Roma tomatoes heirloom?

Description. Roma tomatoes are egg- or pear-shaped and red when fully ripe. They have few seeds and are a good canning and sauce tomato. While Roma is an open-pollinated variety, in general it is not considered an heirloom tomato.

How do I know if my tomatoes are heirloom?

Heirlooms usually haven't been hybridized for qualities that include shelf life, color and uniform appearance. They are often "ugly" with deep cracks and bumps. The colors are variegated and range from deep browns and purples to light yellows, pinks and everything in between.

Are all beefsteak tomatoes heirloom?

There are around 350 types of beefsteaks out there, and they can be either heirloom or hybrid.

Will Beefsteak tomatoes cross pollinate with cherry tomatoes?

For example, if you take the pollen of a large beefsteak tomato and pollinate a cherry tomato flower, the fruit will still develop into a cherry tomato and will not look or taste different, but the seeds inside will be hybridized.

What is the difference between a Better Boy and a Big Boy tomato?

The Better Boy plant is also crossed with the Teddy Jones tomato and was created by the Petoseed company (now Seminis Seeds). What is this? While the Better Boy has the same large fruit as the Big Boy tomato plant, the Better Boy tomato is more resistant to diseases than its parent plant.

Is Better Boy tomato a beefsteak?

Beefsteak tomatoes are the largest variety of cultivated tomatoes. They are a favorite because of their high productivity, meaty texture and deep flavor.

What is a delicious tomato?

The Delicious Tomato is a World Record giant, bright red beefsteak tomato that can grow to be at least one pound or more. This variety is not only large, but it is also fairly crack resistant. The Delicious tomato gets its name for being very delicious of course!

What are Amish paste tomatoes good for?

Amish Paste tomatoes are great eaten fresh in salads, and are also a good choice for sauces and purees. Tomatoes require a long growing season, and are best started indoors 6 weeks before the anticipated transplanting date (after the final frost of the spring).

What is a semi determinate tomato?

Semi-determinate tomatoes are somewhere between determinate and indeterminate tomato varieties. Generally, these plants are taller than the bush habit of the determinate varieties and yet not as sprawling as the indeterminate varieties. This category usually holds tomatoes that are hard to classify.

Do heirloom tomatoes taste different?

Heirloom tomatoes are special because they taste better than hybrid tomato varieties. Heirloom tomatoes also “breed true”, meaning that the seeds can be saved to grow more of the same tomatoes year after year.

What's the big deal about heirloom tomatoes?

Preserving heritage

Their network has grown to more than 8,000 members, which grow, save, and exchange more than 11,000 varieties of heritage plants. Growing these heritage plants helps keep them available as gardeners develop a taste for them, consumers buy them, and seed is shared around.

Can you eat heirloom tomatoes raw?

Because of their vibrant flavor, heirloom tomatoes should either be left raw or cooked just enough to warm them up.

What is the most flavorful tomato?

Brandywine Tomato

The Brandywine is perhaps most commonly named as the best-tasting tomato variety. It has the perfect balance of sugar and acidity, with that superb old-fashioned tomato taste. Growing conditions can affect the flavor quality more than some other varieties on this list.

What is the most flavorful heirloom tomato?

Possibly the most popular variety of heirloom tomato, the Brandywine has an intense flavor and is comparable in size to a beefsteak tomato. They're juicy, meaty and flavorful and not highly acidic, making them ideal for just eating fresh or in an heirloom tomato salad.

Is San Marzano a heirloom?

It is an heirloom variety. Canned San Marzanos, when grown in the Valle del Sarno (valley of the Sarno) in Italy in compliance with Italian law, can be classified as Pomodoro San Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino and have the EU "DOP" emblem on the label.

What is the most popular tomato?

Globe. Globe tomatoes are large, round, and red – sometimes yellow – and they're the most common tomatoes. They are the medium-sized tomatoes that you find in any store. Also called slicing tomatoes, these are the best option for sandwiches and salads.

What's the sweetest tomato?

Rosada tomatoes are of the baby plum variety and are by far the sweetest tomato variety you can grow. With a Brix rating of 10.5, they are absolutely delectable.

What is the highest yielding tomato plant?