As cooler temperatures begin to arrive, the opportunity to grow your favorite spring crops a second time arrives… But this time even better!
Please join us for a free and informative gardening class. We will be covering how and what to grow in cool Fall months, to maximize harvest this year. Including site selection, appropriate plants and season extension techniques.
RSVP for this FREE event by calling 208-389-4769
This recipe is 💯 Measure with your heart. Zucchini and tomatoes being the two basic ingredients that I preferred to have in equal portions, you can add different herbs and veggies and seasonings to your taste!
Do as I say, not as I do. This is what happens when pruning your tomatoes is just not a thing during a super busy spring and summer. All is not lost! With some light pruning now and some more aggressive pruning in a few weeks, I still think I’m going to have a pretty awesome harvest.
Tomatoes not ripening on the vine?
Lindsay, owner of North End Organic Nursery, explains the process required for tomatoes to turn from green to red.
She also offers a surprising tip for ripening tomatoes that have already begun to change color.
Get to know tomatoes!
Today’s featured tomato is: Mortgage Lifter
Also known as radiator Charlie’s mortgage lifter, the tomato has a fun backstory of it being developed by the owner of a radiator shop located at the bottom of a steep hill in West Virginia. Over six years, he bred and developed this tomato, and sold them to customers and passersby for one dollar per plant back in the 1930s. Legend has it that he paid off his repair shops mortgage through the sale of the plants, not by fixing radiators!
Mortgage Lifter is an abundant and dependable producer of dark pink beefsteak tomatoes weighing around a pound each. We’ve been impressed at the variety’s ability to produce beautiful tomatoes under a myriad of challenging conditions. The flavor is exceptional and the large size makes them perfect for sandwiches—one slice more than covers a slice of bread!
80-90 days from transplant.
Get to know tomatoes!
Today’s featured variety: Pruden’s Purple
Spoiler alert! It’s not purple!
72 days. Vigorous indeterminate vines with potato leaf foliage produce 1 pound fruits with excellent sweet, balanced classic tomato flavor. This dark pink beefsteak tomato dates to the 19th century when “purple” was used to describe pink tomato color, long before the more recent proliferation of black and purple tomato varieties. Sometimes incorrectly listed in catalogs as being related to Brandywine, it is a comparable beefsteak type but ripens a week or two earlier and is much less finicky about growing conditions, especially less susceptible to cracking. Has some resistance to late blight.
A great choice for new gardeners looking for a dependable heirloom beefsteak tomato.
In stock now at NEON!
Get to know, Tomatoes!
Today’s featured variety: Holy Myrrhbearer
Grown from seed through Snake River Seed Cooperative!
I freaking LOVE this tomato! Truly heart-shaped, with velvety texture–SO GOOD!
These seeds reportedly came from Russia in the 1800s and passed down from a monk to one of the Sisters of the Holy Myrrhbearers, who shared them with grower Kristi Appelhans. They make beautiful, heart-shaped tomatoes, mostly 3″ with a few honkers. Excellent for sauces, canning, and fresh eating.
Tomatoes are native to northwestern South America and by at least 500 BC they had been domesticated and were being cultivated as far north as modern-day Mexico, enjoyed by Aztec and other civilizations. They spread to Europe and the Caribbean through the Spanish colonizers, where they became staple parts of the food culture in many European countries as well. Their circuitous journey brought them from the Western hemisphere to the Eastern and back again!
Indeterminate. Open-pollinated.
Get to know tomatoes! Tomatoes come in so many amazing colors, sizes and complex flavors… We are going to feature a different tomato every day for the rest of May!
Today we feature: Malakitovaya Shkatulka
A Russian Jewel
It really is a gem, as its name suggests: Malakhitovaya Shkatulka means “malachite box” in Russian.
Malachite is a gem used for jewelry and at one time was also used to make jewelry boxes. The tomatoes are large: my bigger ones reached 3/4 lb each, and have a beautiful green skin that is blushed with an apricot hue as they ripen.
This tomato has a very satisfying tomatoey flavor in line with other low acid varieties, such as Brandywine. I think another of its outstanding features is the gorgeous color, especially in a simple sliced tomato salad with red onion, fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
