Just Ask a Vegetable Gardener

If you ask any vegetable gardener about his crop, his shoulders will straighten up ever so slightly, he'll get a gleam in his eye, and he'll spend as long as you want talking about the juiciness of his ears of corn, the profusion of peas on the vine, the crunch of the cucumbers, the proliferation of squash, and the sweetness of his watermelons. But when you get to the tomato plants in his garden, that's when his chest begins to puff out as he points out the size of the fruit, the number of blooms that will turn in to future tomatoes, and the abundance of tomatoes already growing.

He'll pull a ripe red tomato from the vine, wipe it across his sleeve, and invite you to take a bite. As the juice dribbles down your chin, you'll relish the burst of flavor that's unlike any you've experienced before. It's a taste you won't forget, because it's nothing like the taste of the ones that you buy in the grocery store. In fact, those sterile, chemical-laden tomatoes have no taste at all!

If you spend a little time with this gardener, you'll begin to appreciate the pleasure in growing your own food. And the one thing that seems to unite all gardeners is their tomatoes. Not only is it one of the first crops that novice gardeners try their hand at, growing tomatoes is an art form that unites gardeners from all corners of the earth!

Somewhere along the way, tomatoes became an ingrained part of the very fabric of our society. From tomato fights to tomato sandwiches, this delicious, versatile food has wormed its way into the hearts of most all Americans.

Where did these tomatoes go, and why can't you buy them in the grocery stores any more?

Two words--commercial production.

Heirloom stock has fallen out of favor with the commercial operations. As genetically modified and hybrid, sterile strains are used more and more, certain aspects of the tomato are sacrificed in order that they can be shipped in from hundreds (if not thousands) of miles away by the Big Ag farm operations. They're specifically bred (or altered) to be mechanically harvested, and they're picked before they're ready. There's no way to get the taste of vine-ripened tomatoes from ones that have been picked before they're mature.

Another thing that hurts the commercial production of tomatoes is the sterile chemical-laden soil they're grown in. Rich topsoil has vanished to the tune of 1.7 billion tons per year. The rest we've burned and poisoned with chemicals that strip the minerals and micronutrients from the soil that help the tomatoes grow.

So... how do we get those tomatoes like our friendly neighborhood gardener grows?

You start out with Heirloom Solutions' Old-Time Tomato Growers Kit.

The varieties for the Old-Time Tomato Growers Kit are meticulously chosen for high germination rates and for taste. You won't find more flavorful tomatoes anywhere else. This kit includes:

• Amish Paste Tomato

  Amish Paste, at risk of extinction, has been designated as an Ark of Taste Food. By planting and eating this tomato, you're helping to keep it in production. This variety produces crack-free 8-12 oz acorn-shaped fruits. Firm and meaty, Amish Paste is an excellent processing tomato because it contains only a small amount of seeds. Also great fresh. Indeterminate plants, 80-85 days from transplant. 100 seeds.

• Aunt Ruby's German Green

  Aunt Ruby's produces 1-pound pale green fruits, and is actually green when ripe. Gardeners report they grow well in containers. With a sweet and rich flavor, meaty flesh, and buttery texture, it's incredibly versatile. For truly memorable eating, pursue the obvious: fried green tomatoes. Indeterminate, 80-90 days from transplant. 100 seeds.

• Brandywine (Sudduth's Strain)

  This legendary beefsteak variety sets the standard for flavor by which all others are judged. We're talking Garden-of-Eden flavor--sweet, juicy, rich--whether you use it in sandwiches, salads, salsas, or anything else. (Don't make your BLTs with Brandywine unless you want to be spoiled forever.) Fruits easily hit the one-pound mark; many exceed two. Indeterminate plants, 80-90 days from transplant. 100 seeds.

• Caspian Pink

  Some tomato lovers insist this will be "the next Brandywine." Caspian Pink matures early but also produces well late in the growing season. Experienced gardeners recommend you let this plant sprawl rather than climb. This low-acid tomato is great for both slicing and canning. Medium-sized pink fruits average 10 to 12 ounces. Indeterminate, 80 days from transplant. 100 seeds.

• Cherokee Purple

  Cherokee Purple is known for its rich, complex, smoky flavor. Extremely prolific plants produce large crops of 12 oz. beefsteak tomatoes. There's nothing finer than a ripe Cherokee Purple just off the vine, cut into chunks, drizzled with good sherry vinegar, and sprinkled with a pinch of Celtic sea salt. Plants are indeterminate, but seldom grow more than 4' tall. 75-90 days from transplant. 100 seeds.

• German Pink

  Bavarian immigrant Michael Ott brought this tomato to America in 1883. This variety was one of the first promoted by the Seed Savers Exchange in 1975. If you're looking for just one all-purpose tomato, this is it. It's excellent for canning, freezing, slicing, and juicing. The plants produce large 1-2 pound meaty fruits with few seeds. Indeterminate, 85-90 days from transplant. 100 seeds.

• Gold Medal

  Gold Medal (a.k.a. Ruby Gold and Early Sunrise) is a classic bi-colored beefsteak reintroduced in the 1970's by Ohio tomato collector Ben Quisenberry. Gold Medal produces generously large fruits, often well over 1 pound. Gold Medals are robust early growers so seedlings are hardy to plant as early as possible. Indeterminate, 80-90 days from transplant. 100 seeds.

• Green Zebra Tomato

  With its distinctive green-on-green stripes, the Green Zebra is prized by chefs for its unique appearance. With an emerald green interior, and zingy, fruity flavor, it's fast becoming a market favorite. Green Zebra yields medium-sized 2-3" fruits that grow in clusters of three to five. Great for slicing, salads, and salsa; works well in pasta dishes, too. Indeterminate plants, 75-80 days from transplant. 100 seeds.

• Hungarian Heart

  Hungarian Heart is an oxheart type that's tomato pink inside and out. It was brought to the U.S. in 1901 from a small village outside Budapest, Hungary. Under optimum conditions, expect 10-15 fruits per plant. Huge, irregularly shaped fruits often weigh one pound or more. The savory flavor is delicious fresh, but stands up to canning and roasting as well. Indeterminate, 80-85 days from transplant. 100 seeds.

• Tommy Toe (a.k.a. Steakhouse)

  This prolific, vigorous plant cranks out hundreds of 1" fruits throughout the growing season. Thought to have originated in the Ozarks, this humble little gem is bursting with superb flavor. Grows well in containers. Great for snacking, salads, canning whole, and drying. Indeterminate plants, 75-90 days from transplant. 100 seeds.

But that's not all that you get in your Old-Time Tomato Growers Kit. You also get a Seed Starting Greenhouse where you can tenderly care for your seedlings before placing them in your garden. You get your own mentoring coach with The Organic Tomato DVD, narrated by legendary organic gardener, Lee O'Hara.

We also include The Old-Time Tomato Growers Guide, a handy reference written especially for this kit by none other than Nick Huizenga, Heirloom Solutions' very own in-house botanist, along with a bottle of Old-Time Tomato Grow Soil Reviver to nourish your soil with organic nutrients, beneficial bacteria, and symbiotic fungi that makes nutrients available to your plants. You also get a bottle of Old-Time Tomato Seed Starter to help jumpstart your seeds and give them a head start on the growing season.

The Old-Time Tomato Growers Kit is beyond awesome. It gives you the ability to grow tomatoes that taste exactly the same as the ones that your grandparents grew. You would think a kit like this would run you at least $90 for everything that's included. But Heirloom Solutions isn't going to charge you that, and here's why.

Over the past 100 years, the world has lost over 90% of the known vegetable varieties, and Heirloom Solutions thinks that's a travesty. Not only are strains going extinct, Big Ag is corrupting remaining strains with their GMO varieties. They are trying to make it where you HAVE to buy your seed from them, every single year. But God didn't design the food of the world to be under the control of any one country or entity. God gave the earth to all mankind, and with heirloom seeds, you can save seed year after year and continue perfecting your tomato harvest, without spending another dime on seed. You shouldn't have to grovel at the feet of commercial agriculture just so you can eat.

And that's why this kit, valued at over $90, is being offered for only $24.97, plus shipping and handling. It's Heirloom Solutions' way of giving you back a little something, a little incentive to encourage you to begin investing in your own future. But you must hurry. Supplies are limited, and we don't expect them to last very long. Click here to order your Old-Time Tomato Growers Kit today, and begin enjoying the taste of tomatoes the way they were meant to be.