Youth Grow Brightmoor has been giving Brightmoor youth a place to grow, learn and connect for six years. 2020 holds a lot of unknowns in the garden as everywhere else, but waaaaay back in February, we planted over 300 tomato seeds, intending to sell the plants to give our youth an early boost in this summer's profit sharing. But since we're all taking care of each other by staying apart, we don't yet know what that means to the garden.
But we DO know what it means for the tomatoes. It means we want these tomatoes to be in the hands, and the gardens, and ultimately the tummies of all of our neighbors. For free. The plants are already a nice healthy size for taking up residence on your windowsill. And we'd love for them to shelter at home with you.
Take a look at what we've got on offer and email Louella or call 313-687-4463 to make your requests. (We'll need your name, which varieties you'd like, and how many of each. And a way to get in touch to arrange pickup.)
It makes our hearts happy to imagine a summer of abundant tomatoes for everyone who wants them.
Tomatoes need 8 hours of sunshine each day, but if you've got sun and interest, we're delighted to help you if you need it! Read on and let us know what you'd like. (Sorry there are so few pictures—technology was uncooperative; click the link at the end of each description to see a photo.)
In addition, some insane seed buyer has ordered even more seeds for tomatoes that are productive and delicious and thrive in containers with minimal or no staking. Those will soon be started and ready to give away as well. If you end up with more tomatoes than you need, we feel certain you'll share them with your neighbors. (For those who don't know, many Detroiters consider Memorial day a good time to get tomatoes in the ground.)
Wow, we've had a tremendous response! Please limit requests to no more than 7 per household and no more than 2 of any particular variety. Thanks. Tomatoes whose names are in red are all gone. All of our tomatoes have found new homes. Please check back for info on the great cherry tomato giveaway.
But we DO know what it means for the tomatoes. It means we want these tomatoes to be in the hands, and the gardens, and ultimately the tummies of all of our neighbors. For free. The plants are already a nice healthy size for taking up residence on your windowsill. And we'd love for them to shelter at home with you.
Take a look at what we've got on offer and email Louella or call 313-687-4463 to make your requests. (We'll need your name, which varieties you'd like, and how many of each. And a way to get in touch to arrange pickup.)
It makes our hearts happy to imagine a summer of abundant tomatoes for everyone who wants them.
Tomatoes need 8 hours of sunshine each day, but if you've got sun and interest, we're delighted to help you if you need it! Read on and let us know what you'd like. (Sorry there are so few pictures—technology was uncooperative; click the link at the end of each description to see a photo.)
In addition, some insane seed buyer has ordered even more seeds for tomatoes that are productive and delicious and thrive in containers with minimal or no staking. Those will soon be started and ready to give away as well. If you end up with more tomatoes than you need, we feel certain you'll share them with your neighbors. (For those who don't know, many Detroiters consider Memorial day a good time to get tomatoes in the ground.)
Wow, we've had a tremendous response! Please limit requests to no more than 7 per household and no more than 2 of any particular variety. Thanks. Tomatoes whose names are in red are all gone. All of our tomatoes have found new homes. Please check back for info on the great cherry tomato giveaway.
Fat Juicy Slicing Tomatoes
Tangerine- all gone
Heirloom producing intense glowing-orange, juicy slicing tomatoes, heavy for their size with mild, sweet flavor and creamy texture. The tall, sturdy vines produce heavy yields over a long season. Description, photo, and seeds from Renee's Garden seeds. Pantano Romanesco--all gone A Roman heirloom that was sent to us by Mr. Barbetti from Italy. The fruit is large and deep red, with almost a purple tint. The flesh is very rich, flavorful, and juicy. An excellent tomato for home and market gardeners; very rare and delicious. Description and seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. |
Sheboygan -all gone
Sheboygan is a juicy paste type tomato that produces a ton of medium sized, 6 oz pink fruit. It has a complex, balanced taste characteristic of heirloom tomatoes. Unlike most paste tomatoes, eaten fresh it is good too. Listed in the Slow Food Ark of Taste. Seeds, photo, and description from Nurture and Nature Seeds. Pink Berkeley Tie Dye-all gone 8-12 oz. fruit. Beautiful, early, and very sweet rich flavor. 10 out of 10 people liked it better then Cherokee Purple in a farmers market taste off. Compact. Port wine colored beefsteak with metallic green stripes. Excellent sweet, rich dark tomato flavor. Fabulous. Description and seeds from Wild Boar Farms. |
Cherokee Green -all gone
Grows to 6-12oz. Lime green and chartreuse flesh is very meaty and great assertive tomato flavor. Fruits turn a slight amber when ripe. This is an outstanding color mutation from Cherokee Purple. Description, photo, and seeds from Wild Boar Farms. Flamme-all gone Beautiful tomato that originated with Norbert Perreira of Helliner, France. Early crops of apricot-colored 4 ounce fruits borne on elongated trusses. Excellent fruity flavor with a perfect blend of sweet and tart. Great for drying or roasting, retains deep orange color. Description and seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. |
Two-bite Salad or Snacking Tomatoes
Purple Russian--all gone
Original stock of this variety came from Irma Henkel in Ukraine. Plum-shaped fruits are 3-4" long and weigh 6 ounces, generally crack-free. Great flavor, sweet and meaty. Plants are very productive. Description, photo, and seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. Grape Pandorino--all gone Pandorino’s vigorous, tall vines are covered early with multiple cascading clusters of cherry-bright, sweet fruits to harvest all summer long. Best of all, these little grape shaped beauties have a wonderful full tomato flavor that’s nicely balanced and not just sticky sweet. This delicious and high-yielding Italian variety is extremely disease-resistant and widely adapted and will bear bountifully in all climate zones. Description and seeds from Renee's Garden. Brad's Atomic Grape-all gone Our Favorite tomato! Elongated, large cherries in clusters. The color (and flavor!) is a full-blown assault on the senses. Fruit holds well on the vine or of. Olive green interior is blushed with red when dead-ripe. Crack-resistant fruit is extraordinarily sweet. This release from Wild Boar Farms won best in show at the 2017 National Heirloom Expo. AMAZING! Description and seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. |
Blush--all gone
Blush is vigorous, productive and boy is it tasty! Fruits are oval, 2- 2½" long, exhibiting a light gold skin with a "blush" of grapefruit red. Our crew taste-tested our tomato line-up and Blush was given the number 1 vote for 2014. It is sweet and tart, juicy and aromatic with overtones of tangerine. Growers will appreciate that it has decent resistance to early blight. Description, photo, and seeds from Nurture and Nature. Evan's Purple Pear—all gone 2-3 oz. fruit. Good to very good production, great disease tolerance typical of potato leaf. Cluster, purple pear shaped fruit, with excellent sweet rich flavor. Ripe fruit has some hang time. Originally from a Prudence Purple. This was a crowd favorite in Louella's garden last summer. Description and seeds from Wild Boar Farms. |
Suitable for Containers
Super Bush all gone
These scrumptious hybrid tomatoes are bred for abundant yields on space saving 2 1/2 to 3 foot plants. Perfect for large pots and patio containers. Bears juicy fruits with full-sized sweet tomatoey flavor, not bland or watery like so many other bush varieties. A perfect way to enjoy the incomparable flavor of vine-ripe tomatoes even when you have limited garden space. Seeds, photo, and description from Renee's Garden. Austin's Red Pear--all gone A favorite at TomatoFest. Our organic tomato seeds produce regular-leafed, vigorous, bushy, open-pollinated plants that yield abundant crops of extra-large, 2-ounce (up to 2"), red, pear-shaped cherry tomatoes. Excellent tasting cherry tomato. A perfect choice for a snacking tomato, or in salads. Requires staking. Seeds and description from Tomatofest. |
Tasmanian Chocolate all gone
Strong-yielding, short, sturdy vines offer beautiful, plump mahogany red/orange, faintly striped tomatoes with delicious, well-balanced flavor. Needs staking. Seeds, photo, and description from Renee’s Garden. Litt’l Bites Windowbox - all gone The ultimate patio tomato, bearing scrumptious fruit on compact, productive plants. These fast-growing little powerhouses are soon covered with multiple cascading sprays of bite-size fruits that can only be described as truly delicious little sweet morsels of goodness. Plants form dense, mounding canopies about 20 in. wide and 12 in. tall and produce till frost, making them ideal for colorful, attractive hanging baskets and containers. Seeds and description from Renee's Garden. |
Green Grape - all gone
Ripens yellow-green, looks like large Muscat grapes. Flesh and juice are green. 13⁄8 in. fruits borne in clusters of 4-12. Sweeter than ‘Green Zebra,’ the flavor is in the top 5% of varieties we have grown. Lovely served with pesto. (Semi-determinate, likely requires staking.) Seeds, photo, and description from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Gardener's Delight Cherry-all gone This German cherry tomato is so sweet it used to be called Sugar Lump, in fact it is said to be the best tasting cherry tomato. Cute cherry-sized, red fruit borne in clusters of 6-12. This variety is container adaptable. The plants need staking and should be given plenty of room. The fruit is prone to cracking. Seeds and description from Grow Organic.com. |
Little Tomatoes with Big Flavor
Amethyst Cream Cherry--all gone
Lovely white cherry with purple splashes on the top. Great flavor, delicate but complex. Big production. Sunburn, crack resistant. Great hang time and shelf life. Seeds, photo, and description from Wild Boar Farms. Tommy Toe--all gone Vigorous plants produce hundreds of small, 1-inch cherries, unfazed by heat and humidity. The flavor is very good, not exactly sweet but with an old-fashioned, full, complex flavor. Originated in the Ozarks around 1900, but also exceedingly popular in Australia. Seeds and description from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. |
Igleheart Yellow Cherry
- all gone Winner of 2015 SSE Tomato Tasting. When the parents of James Igleheart of Indiana lived in Connecticut around 1960 they received these seeds from their Italian gardener. James’ wife, Diane, serves the tomato to guests and encourages them to save the seed and plant it. Yellow cherry tomatoes with a sweet, rich flavor and moderate acidity. Seeds, photo, and description from Seed Savers Exchange. Mexico Midget--all gone Winner of SSE’s 2014 Tomato Tasting. Hundreds of ½-¾" dark red cherry tomatoes on each plant. Huge tomato flavor for such small fruits. Seeds and description from Seed Savers Exchange. |
Velvet Red Cherry— all gone
When fully ripe, the red, cherry-sized fruits really pack a punch. They are gorgeously sweet and juicy, the sort of tomato that explode in your mouth and spill down your chin. This is a big plant that produces a lot of fruit. I’ve grown it several times since and have found that it will keep climbing and bearing pendulous clusters of 1″-sized jewels until the hard frost. Seeds, photo, and description from You Grow Girl. |