Growing Your Own Tomatoes

Last summer I found this delightfully sweet tiny little tomato at a nearby farmers' market. The tomato was about the size of a blue berry. I must admit I wanted it because it was "cute". So, I bought some to share them with some friends.

I enjoyed their flavor so much they almost didn't make it to my friends. I liked them so much I knew I just needed to grow some for myself. Without knowing their name or where they originally came from (and neither did the farmer I bought them from) I decided to save some seeds and try my hand at growing the plants myself.

So, last year when I decided to do this I had no clue how to save the seeds. Since then the process of "fermenting seeds" has come to my attention. Instructions are all over the internet from a large number of sources about how to do this. Even though my family were farmers for many generations I guess I am truly a "city farmer". This process is a simple process which results in a clean seed. The goo is washed from the seed while the "good" seeds sink to the bottom of the washing solution and the "bad" seeds float to the top and can be discarded along with the rest of the "scum." The scum is what forms on top of the water after the seeds have been soaking for a few days.Any way... I saved my seeds on a napkin thinking the napkin would absorb the gel and they would dry. The result was that they stuck to the napkin. This year iwill use the fermenting process,

I drew a quick sketch of what the fruit stem looked like, gave them a name. The farmer I bought the seeds from was Paul. And after finding an image of the tomatoes online I learned they are "currant" tomatoes. Hence, my tomatoes will be called "Paul's Organic Currant Tomatoes".

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