Welcome to gardening season, 2026. This morning, the sun is shining, the temp hovering around zero. A moose left some fertilizer near our shed and the trees were filled with trilling Bohemian Waxwings just a few days ago. Spring is here!
In typical fashion, I started the tomatoes earlier than I probably should have and started more varieties than I assured myself last Fall that I would. It is so hard to narrow down the choices. Generally speaking, I am erring a bit on the side of "growing what's reliable" this year with respect to the tomatoes, especially the determinates. A few of the indeterminates are satisfying the urge to grow ones that are "interesting/unusual". If I had unlimited space, I would have also started some anthos, some large heirloom beefsteaks, more oxhearts, and some unique-looking cherries (e.g., Elf's Tears, Multifloras).
Anaheim peppers were started on February 22nd, tomatoes on March 30th, and leeks (Giant Musselburgh) on April 1st.
Winter-sown (April 1st) in milk jug greenhouses: Curly parsley, Dwarf Siberian kale, 5-Mix kale (from Annapolis Seeds), mixed poppies, Pacific Beauty calendula, Verna Velvet Blue pansies.
Our grand experiment this year is growing skirret. Those seeds were also planted in milk jug greenhouses on April 1st. Skirret, a perennial root vegetable, is apparently a tad tricky to start from seed. If it comes through, I will post an update in a few weeks' time.
Drum roll, please..! Here are the tomato varieties chosen for this year's garden. Three of the varieties are ones I agreed to grow out for an online seed group. Pray I will find space for all of these.
An asterisk indicates my first time growing the variety.
A double asterisk indicates the grow-outs I'm doing for the online seed group (which are also new-to-me varieties).
Determinate and Dwarf
Scotia (DET, red, open-pollinated, medium fruit, prolific, slicer/canner, Nova Scotia heirloom. Early 60-70 DTM.)
*Plourde (DET, red, round, 8-12 oz, meaty, excellent flavour. ~1m tall, ~80 dtm. A rare Quebec heirloom. Grown by the family of Aurelius Plourde of St. Alexandre de Kamouraska since 1925.)
EM-Champion (DET, red, blunt hearts, meaty, 3-4’ tall, early-midseason, can grow in large pots. Origin: Russian.)
Fisher’s Earliest Paste (DET, red, egg-shaped, early, hardy, good flavour. 90+ years of selection by the Fisher family of Montana. RARE.)
Dwarf Audrey’s Love (DWARF, 2-4 oz striped bicolour elongated plum, chocolate with green stripes, great flavour, 3' tall, heavy producer, mid-season: 80 DTM)
**Dwarf Emerald Giant (DWARF. A green-when-ripe beefsteak, 8-16 oz, sweet/fruity, balanced flavour. Stout central stem. Ripe tomatoes often have a pink blossom end. Height 3-5' tall. A late season variety (85-90dtm). Developed as part of the Dwarf Tomato Project.
Dwarf Roza Vetrov (DWARF, pink, open-pollinated, small/salad fruit, round pointed fruit, early, good in cooler climates/short seasons. origin: Russian, names translates as “Wind Rose”)
*Amber (DET, small golden globes, 1-3 oz, early 65 dtm, compact, can grow in pots, high yields, crack resistant. Productive even in cool/wet seasons. Russian.)
Favorie de Bretagne (DET, GWR, green & gold striped variety with deep yellow hues when ripe. Sausage-shaped with a pointy tip, fruits range from 1-3” long. Sweet, fruity, mild flavour. High yields. 2-3 feet tall, compact sprawling habit (about 2 feet across). Can be grown in large pots or hanging baskets. Prone to splitting if over-watered. Developed by Tom Wagner. 75-80 DTM.)
*Pendulina (DET, orange or red – received in a trade, so unsure. Small/cherry, round with a slight point, suitable for growing in pots or hanging baskets, can have a ‘tumbling’ growth habit.)
Semi-Determinate
Katja (SEMI-DET, pink beefsteak, larger fruit than most early varieties: 3-5” and 8-16 oz. Good flavour, good slicer variety. Plant sprawls a bit, does well in cool summers. 75 DTM. Origin: Siberia.)
Indeterminate
Japanese Black Trifele (IND, black/mahogany, pear-shaped, medium-sized fruit, rich flavour, ~80dtm. Despite the name, it’s origin is either Estonian or Russian, depending on the source you read.)
*Pink Truffle (IND, pink, pear shaped, ~100-110g, mid-season maturity, Russian commercial heirloom)
*Romeo (IND, red, very large roma, 400-900g, ~70-75 dtm, sauce/paste. Meaty with few seeds. High yields. Requires sturdy support. Disease resistant. Similar to the variety “Opalka” but much larger.)
**Kim’s Civil War Oxheart (IND, pink, large oxheart, 250-600g, productive, meaty, few seeds, early-mid season maturity (~70-75dtm. An heirloom from Oregon.)
*Zena’s Gift (IND, pink, large blunt oxheart, slightly ridged, thin skin. 70-75 dtm.)
**Javelin (IND, dark green skin with black/mahogany stripes, an elongated plum with pointed end, 50-100g. Mid-season maturity. ~1.5m tall. Looks similar to the variety “Dwarf Audrey’s Love” but longer. Origin: Ukraine)
*Minuit à Montréal (IND, a dark/”black” variety about the size of a tennis ball. Round. Looks similar to the variety, “Black Prince”. A cross between Black Krm x Teton de Venus. ~75 dtm. Origin: Quebec.)
*Garnet (IND, a cherry tomato, bronze w/gold highlights. Tomatoes average 1 inch, grow on long trusses. Sweet/rich flavour, very productive. 60-84” tall. Tomatoes ripen uniformly and are crack resistant. ~75 dtm.)
