Free Heirloom Red Tomato Seeds for the Unemployed

2B Seeds is looking to give back and follow their family's tradition in a very BIG way by offering a package of Free Tomato Seeds to all whom are unemployed or in need of providing food for their family. A nominal shipping and handling fee is required to receive the free tomato seeds, and this offer remains valid only while supplies last.

Tomato Seeds produce tomatoes with a uniform shoulder color and consistently good taste. The 10-14 oz red fruit can be grown staked, caged or as a bush type. Indeterminate. 75 days to harvest.

WE WANT YOU TO BE SUCCESFUL WITH YOUR TOMATO SEEDS

Some gardeners transplant their tomatoes soon after the soil is prepared for the spring garden.,Be prepared to cover early set plants overnight to protect them from frost. For best results with very early plantings, consider black plastic mulch and floating row covers for heat accumulation and frost protection. For best results with minimal risk, plant when the soil is warm, soon after the frost-free date for your area.

The space that will be required depends upon the growth pattern of the variety and method of culture. Space dwarf plants 12 inches apart in the row, staked plants 15 to 24 inches apart and trellised or ground bed plants 24 to 36 inches apart. Some particularly vigorous indeterminate varieties may need 4 feet between plants and 5 to 6 feet between rows to allow comfortable harvest room.

Apply starter fertilizer when transplanting. Hoe or cultivate shallowly to keep down weeds without damaging roots. Mulching is recommended, especially for gardeners who wish to maintain their plants for full season harvest. Black plastic or organic materials are suitable for mulching. Delay application of organic materials until after the soil has warmed completely in early summer so that growth is not retarded by cool soil temperatures early in the season.

Side-dress nitrogen fertilizer (ammonium nitrate) at the rate of one pound per 100 feet of row (equivalent to 1 tablespoon per plant) after the first tomatoes have grown to the size of golf balls. (If ammonium nitrate is not available, use 3 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer.) Make two more applications 3 and 6 weeks later. If the weather is dry following these applications, water the plants thoroughly. Do not get fertilizer on the leaves.

Tomatoes should be firm and fully colored. They are of highest quality when they ripen on healthy vines and daily summer temperatures average about 75�F. When temperatures are high (air temperature of 90�F or more), the softening process is accelerated and color development is retarded, reducing quality. For this reason, during hot summer weather, pick your tomatoes every day or two, harvest the fruits when color has started to develop and ripen them further indoors (at 70 to 75�F). On the day before a killing freeze is expected, harvest all green mature fruit that is desired for later use in the fall. Wrap the tomatoes individually in paper and store at 60 to 65�F. They continue to ripen slowly over the next several weeks. Whole plants may be uprooted and hung in sheltered locations, where fruit continues to ripen.

Recipes

Fresh Garden Salsa

This coarse textured salsa is more of a relish or Pico de Gallo. The ingredients can be finely diced or use a medium for chunky salsa. Serve with traditional tortilla chips or use as a side dish with grilled meat, or anywhere you want a bright, tart, savory accompaniment.

• 2 large ripe, red slicing tomatoes, cored and chopped
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• 1 green onion, top included, chopped
• 1 to 3 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, minced
• Juice of a lime
• teaspoon salt

To Can Tomatoes

Tomatoes are an intermediate acid food. To make them acid enough for canning in a water bath canner or pressure canner, lemon juice (2 tablespoons/quart), vinegar (4 tablespoons/ quart) or citric acid (1/2 teaspoon/quart) must be added. Use half the amount of acid for pint-size jars.

Acid can be added directly to the jars before filling with the tomatoes. Vinegar tends to change the flavor; lemon juice actually produces the best results. Fresh or bottled lemons can be used. If the additional acid makes the produce taste too acidic for you, add a pinch of sugar to each jar to offset the taste.

Green tomatoes are more acid than ripened tomatoes and can be canned safely using any of the following directions. Select only disease-free, preferably vine-ripened, firm fruit for canning. Two and a half to three and a half pounds of fresh tomatoes will yield one quart of canned tomatoes.

Tomatoes can be raw or hot-packed. All tomato products must be processed in a water bath canner. Processing times vary depending on the form (whole, crushed, or juiced) of the tomatoes being canned and the jar size (pints or quarts) and whether a hot-pack or raw-pack is used.

You can combine fast-maturing varieties with mid and late season, but wait until any danger of frost has passed to transplant your tomatoes.

USDA Hardiness Zone - First Frost Date - Last Frost Date

• Zone 1 - July 15th - June 15th
• Zone 2 - August 15th - May 15th
• Zone 3 - September 15th - May 15th
• Zone 4 - September 15th - May 15th
• Zone 5 - October 15th - April 15th
• Zone 6 - October 15th - April 15th
• Zone 7 - October 15th - April 15th
• Zone 8 - November 15th - March 15th
• Zone 9 - December 15th - February 15th
• Zone 10 - December 15th - January 31st (sometimes earlier)
• Zone 11 - No frost - No frost

START INDOORS in a warm, well-lighted area at least 5-7 weeks before last the last frost. Sow Tomato seeds 1/4" deep in seed starting formula. Keep evenly moist. Tomato seedlings emerge in 5-8 days at 70° F. Prior to transplanting to the garden, accustom to outdoor conditions by moving to a sheltered place outside for a week.

• Seed Depth: 1/4"
• Soil Temperature for Germ.: 70-90�F
• Days to Germ.: 6-10
• Plant Spacing: 18"-24"
• Full Sun
• Moderate Water

TRANSPLANT:

The seedlings to stand 3-4" apart each way if left un staked; 2 1/2" apart each way if staked or grown in cages. Tomatoes need full sun and well drained soil. Did you know that the best time to transplant is on a cloudy day or in the morning or evening hours when the sun is not as intense? And water your tomato seedlings just before you are ready to transplant to help the root ball stay intact.

GARDEN TIPS:

Water deeply once a week in dry weather. Cultivate or mulch to control weeds. A trick that we learned from a grower of Hydroponics Tomatoes was that in the absence of bees, he would flick the tomato flower with his index finger lightly, and this would help in the pollination process.

• Space robust, long-vine, indeterminate varieties about 3 feet apart.
• Stocky determinate plants can be grown at tighter 2-foot spacing.
• A single patio tomato plant will fill an 18-inch-wide container.

GROWING INFORMATION:

• Tomatoes take up nutrients best when the soil pH ranges from 6.2 to 6.8, and they need a constant supply of major and minor plant nutrients. To provide the major nutrients, mix a balanced timed-release or organic fertilizer into the soil as you prepare the holes for planting, and be careful to follow the rates given on the label. At the same time, mix in 3 to 4 inches of compost. The compost will provide minor nutrients and help hold moisture and fertilizer in the soil until it is needed by the plants.
• To quickly increase the root mass of the tomato plants, we recommend soil that is loose and deep planting, so that two-thirds of the plant's stem is buried in moist, loose soil. Cover the ground with 2 to 4 inches of mulch to help suppress weeds and keep the soil evenly moist. You can use straw and or shredded leaves as they make great mulches for tomatoes, or you can use weed-free grass clippings, applied in 1-inch layers every few weeks. Do not apply grass clippings any thicker or they will mat down and prevent water from passing through entirely. If summer droughts are common in your area, use soaker hoses, drip systems or other drought techniques to help maintain the even soil moisture, which is the key to preventing cracked fruits and blossom-end rot. For maximum efficiency and eye appeal, place soaker hoses around the plants and cover with mulch.
• As the summer starts to heat up, some tomatoes will show signs that it is difficult for them to set fruit. Be patient, however, and you will start seeing little green tomatoes again when nights begin to cool down. Meanwhile, promptly harvest and remove the ripe tomatoes as to relieve stressed plants of their heavy burden. If you live in an area where summertime temperatures are typically in the 90s, be sure to choose some varieties bred for their ability to set fruit under high temperatures.
• By late summer, plants that began producing early in the season will show signs of exhaustion. It will take but a few minutes to coax out new growth by pruning away withered leaves and branches. Then follow up with liquid fertilizer and treatments for leaf diseases or insects, if needed.
• If you have humid conditions that are close to the ground, this will create the ideal conditions for fungal diseases like early blight, which causes dark spots to form on the lower leaves. Remove the leaves from the bottom so nothing is touching the ground.
• In mid-summer, big green caterpillars called tomato hornworms eat tomato foliage and sometimes damage fruits as well.
• As your tomatoes begin to ripen, their color changes from vibrant medium-green to a lighter shade, with faint pink or yellow stripes. These "breakers," or mature green tomatoes, can be chopped into Tomato salsa, pickled, or pan-fried into a crispy appetizer. Or you can allow the tomato flavor to become much more complex as the fruits ripen, so you have good reason to wait. The exact signs of ripeness vary with each variety, but the general rule would be for perfectly ripe tomatoes is that they show deep color yet still feel firm when gently squeezed.
• Store your picked tomatoes at room temperature indoors, or in a shady, cooler place outside. Never refrigerate tomatoes, because as temperatures get below 55�F, this will cause the precious flavors to break down. Abundant crops can be frozen, canned, or dried for future use.

If you see cracking:

Both radical cracking (from the stem downward) and concentric cracking (around the stem) is caused when the plant takes up too much water too quickly. As tomatoes begin turning red, their skin becomes less flexible. Uneven watering or rain following a dry period encourages the plant to drink too quickly, thus cracking the fruit in a radical direction. Later in the season cool nights combine with uneven moisture will then cause the concentric cracking. The smallest like cherry tomatoes and tomatoes over 3" in diameter are most susceptible, as well as old varieties. Some of the new tomatoes that are crack resistant would be a Celebrity Tomato.