It’s time to order tomato seeds, and as I began to think about choosing which types of tomatoes to grow in the garden this year, I started thinking about all the tomatoes I have grown over the years.

I’m partial to big, juicy beefsteak tomatoes. I like to slice them up and put them in salads. I live on tomato sandwiches for most of the summer, which makes it easy to lose weight. When you put giant, juicy slices of tomatoes between the lettuce and sprouted grain bread, you’re going to lose weight, although you won’t go hungry!

Time to Order Tomato Seeds

This year, I’m sticking with the tried and true tomato seeds.  The cherry tomatoes will be Sweet 100s.  I am not a huge fan of cherry tomatoes. We always have more than we can eat, even if I sit around snacking on them all day.  But my husband loves them, so I will plant a nice flat of them. Any extra plants will go to the Master Gardener plant sale at the Heart of Virginia Festival in May.  By the way, any of my extra seedlings plus a whole bunch of perennials from the gardens here at Seven Oaks are going to be donated to the plant sale, so stay tuned and check back here in April for the final list.

The other old favorite I’ll grow is Early Girl. You really can’t go wrong with Early Girl. My dad grew it, Mr. Hoffman next door in Floral Park grew it, we grew it in Huntington and it grows fairly well, although not great, here in Virginia.

I want to try one new variety but I am going to leave that until the last minute.  I plan to choose one of Virginia recommended varieties from my master gardener manual and test it against Early Girl to see if it healthier, hardier or tastier.

I can hardly believe that it’s February.  It’s another 60-degree day and I’ve got heather, pansies, and a perennial whose name escapes me blooming merrily along outside. The daffodils are 4″ up and growing in the orchard and I have peach trees that look like they’re going to bud at any second. I keep hoping they will hold off, since budding now means no fruit (or at least I think so) – the pollinating insects aren’t ready, and I’m sure we will get another frost before April!

But I can order those tomato seeds.  Time to log onto my favorite catalog site and get going!