Farmers Market this Saturday May 5!

This Saturday, May 5, join Terra Firma Farms at the Revelstoke Farmers Market from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

We will have seedlings for sale!

Heirloom Tomatoes

Black Prince - Originally from Siberia.  Mid-sized, smooth skinned tomato with black hues.  Sweet, robust flavour.  Resists cracking and has excellent cold tolerance.  72 days

Green Zebra - Known for it outstanding flavour.  Sweet and tangy.  Yellow and green fruits with dark green stripes.  78 days

Great White - Smooth, glossy, ivory coloured beefsteak.  Sweet and Juicy. Crack resistant.  80 days

Brandywine - Probably the most well-known heirloom.  Large reddish pink beefsteak tomatoes grow on potato leafed plants.  Not a heavy yielder but still worth growing for its dynamic flavour.

Tigerella - Striking red fruits with yellow stripes.  Rich and tangy flavour and good disease resistance.  59 days

Earliana - Uniformly round, red tomatoes with sweet-tart flavour.  Excellent choice for cooler growing regions.  65 days

Valencia - Heirloom from Maine.  Brilliant orange fruits with rich tomato flavour.  Great balance of acid and sweetness.  Grows well in northern climates.  76 days

Black Krim - Dark red tomatoes with black shoulders.  Very juicy with intense, sweet, smoky flavour.  80 days

Striped German - Red and yellow bicoloured fruit with a complex fruity flavour.  One of favourites for both visual appeal and taste.  78 days

Amish Paste - Very large paste tomato that is great for fresh eating as well.  Sweeter than most paste tomatoes.  75 days

Druzba - A prolific producer of deep red tomatoes with smooth blemish free skin.  Good disease resistance.  80 days

White Cherry - Attractive, pale yellow fruits. Sweet, mellow flavour and grow in abundance.  59 days

Black Cherry - Dark red/black cherry tomato with sweet, rich flavour.  64 days

Yellow pear - Beautiful, pear shaped tomato with brilliant yellow colour.  Very prolific.  One of the oldest cultivated tomatoes.  75 days

Gardeners Delight - Bright red cherry tomato with sweet flavour and high yields. Crack resistant.  65 days

Isis Candy - Beautiful, bicoloured gold and red cherry tomato.  Sweet, fruity flavour.  67 days

Why We Love Heirlooms

Heirlooms are open pollinated plants that have a long history of being cultivated and saved within a family or group, evolving by natural or human selection over time. Many older varieties have been passed down from generation to generation simply because of their outstanding flavour. Modern seed geneticists have the burdon of developing varieties for industrial farmers that are uniform, high yielding and with a long shelf life; rarely is flavour ever part of the equation.

Most hybrid tomatoes are perfectly shaped, tough skinned (better for shipping), and can be stored off the vine for months.  These may be desirable qualities for the supermarket industry, but not the consumer, unless you value flavourless tomatoes with the texture of styrofoam.  There is very little resemblance between these and the robust flavour of heirloom tomatoes.  They may not have perfect shape, but we find their uniqueness beautiful, not a flaw.  They may be more perishable, but that's ok, they will not be travelling far.

Several older varieties of seeds are becoming extinct, and being replaced by only a handful of modern varieties.  An estimated 75% of crop diversity has been lost in the last century.  The decline of genetic diversity puts us at risk of widespread crop losses due to a single pest or disease.

Open pollinated plants are adaptive, meaning that by saving the seeds you are able to grow plants that adapt to the conditions, soil, and climate of your area.  As heirlooms pre-date the age of gene splicing we can be assured that they are GMO free.

Heirloom plants have a story to tell.  They play an important role, linking our past to our future.