regrets & tomatoes

Ah, yes. The search for the perfect tomatoes.

Kim, aka Blackswamp Girl, asked me about the yellow banana tomatoes. I bought the seedlings from Richter's Herbs in Goodwood, Ontario. As they concentrate on herbs, they have a limited selection of vegetable seeds and seedlings. The last time I had some great tomatoes was a couple of years ago when I bought a whole bunch of interesting seeds for heirloom tomatoes from David Ackerman, of Upper Canada Seeds. His email address is uppercanadaseeds@rogers.com.

I have in the past received great seeds from Cook's Garden , & Salt Spring Seeds is also wonderful, but no longer ship to the US. Seeds of Change , based in New Mexico, West Coast Seeds, in BC , and Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine have been very good.

At Seeds of Diversity, Canada,, you can find all sorts of information about suppliers and growers of heirloom vegetables, fruits, and other plants.

And on an eccentric note: (not tomatoes, but garlic -- which I adore)
Fish Lake Garlic Man
RR#2, Demorestville, Ontario K0K 1W0 (Canada) 613-476-8030
Ted Maczka's goal is to make Canada self-sufficient in garlic. He offers several selected cultivars, all organically grown, and a list packed with informative tidbits. He attends Garlic festivals and is available as a speaker. Catalog $3 with SASE. Well worth meeting this man, a real colourful character. He will arrive wearing, as likely as not, a wide brimmed black hat. Sitting on the brim of this enormous black hat are any number of heads of garlic. He loves to talk and expounds enthusiastically and with many amusing jokes on the virtues of garlic. Love this guy!

I hope that helps.