About the year of 2020 or maybe it was the year before, I started getting into sowing tomato seeds. That carried on for about 5 years. It became a passion and I always grew the plants in my large patio pots, rather than a garden. Here in this photo above are some of my plants in large pots. The chicken wire was there to keep wild animals (like squirrels or chipmunks) away.
I got into sowing the seeds so much that eventually I was growing up to 400 plants in my greenhouse. My greenhouse is a lean-to style of about 12 feet wide by 24 feet long. Supplemental heat was needed. I used seedling heat mats and the propane heating unit. Eventually, spring would arrive. The sun was enough to heat the greenhouse as the warmer season approaches in late March or so. It kept the baby tomato plants growing happily. I visited them every single day – no lie. I think plants know when you pay attention to them.
I have very many photos of the tomatoes from my efforts. I sold lots of plants too. My favorite seed company was Hudson Valley Seed Co. I discovered them at the CT Flower Show one year. I loved their artful seed packets, the instructions inside the packets, and their website is very informative. I also loved that they offered lots of unique varieties. Above is the “Bumble bee mix” cherry tomatoes. Why not experiment and have lots of varieties to eat and talk about?
I stopped sowing the seeds a couple years back. I think of how many I did before. It became a big passion for a few years, probably 5 or so years. I am proud of what I had accomplished. As mentioned, I have lots of tomato photos, but I need to delete them now. I’m posting just a few here today. You can use the search bar to see my prior blog posts on many tomato types. Just type tomato. They should show up on this blog site. In this photo above, I’m holding an “Oxheart” tomato. Those were like the biggest EVER. Shaped like a heart. It was always amazing to see how big they got and they were heavy too.
Theses above are the Honey Drop cherry tomatoes. Good Lord. So sweet and delicious. Really tops! I think cherry tomatoes are easier to grow than regular tomatoes. They don’t seem to get affected as much by things like blossom end rot. They grow prolifically so you have a real lot to pop in your mouth during the harvest season in summer. They almost grow like weeds!
This tomato plant flower is from an Oxheart. Even the flowers were huge. You need flowers to produce fruit. The flowers were admired as much as the tomato fruits. They started growing as soon as the flowers were ready. More flowers, more tomatoes.
This is one of those “mouthwatering” photos. It makes anyone who loves fresh, garden tomatoes wish they could have one right now in the middle of winter. There’s nothing better than fresh. And when picked and eaten right away (if warmed by the sun), even better. I find it hard to find good tomatoes otherwise, like in stores. Growing your own is one of the best ways to get the best flavor.
This is another photo of an Oxheart tomato. Isn’t amazing how nature produces fruit in the shapes of human organs?! When you slice this open, it looks like a heart inside too. They were heavy, full, and just so amazing to eat. They had a more of a mild flavor but very yummy.
This is a starter plant in a bag ready for pickup. I sold them to lots of friends. And family members. Word got around. LOL. I’m proud of how happy these plants looked. It didn’t happen “just because I had a greenhouse”. It was an effort of proper soil. Proper potting up was necessary. I took care with proper hardening off and watched for any insects. If you don’t know what those terms are, just search them on my blog in the red search box. I’m sure I wrote about hardening off and things like seedlings, and more. In Feb or March, I would start to think about what to do for the upcoming sowing season. It was a time to consider preparations. I started planning things out that early. There were little tasks too, like properly washing seedling trays and pots, etc.
Another “mouthwatering” photo here or large golden tomatoes and some red ones. This is heaven on a plate in summer. We would live off these! Sometimes my husband would eat them all before I could take a bite! He was cute though and learned when the very first large tomato was ready, to share.
This photo is of plants on a table on my deck outside. I elevated them to keep the chipmunks or squirrels away as best as possible. My deck would become a tomato jungle in the summer when I was super into growing them in pots. It was fun to sit in a cozy deck chair with a bunch of tomato plants behind me. The animals really didn’t bother the plants until they started to see some coloring of the fruit. At one point, I would pick them a little earlier. Then, the tomato continues ripening on my kitchen counter.
Another big-time favorite was the Fox Cherry tomatoes! If you have never grown these – please do. OMG. So good for flavor and lots and lots of fruit. All of these above were from the Hudson Valley Seed Co seeds.
I think these were the Cherokee Brave tomatoes. Yummy! That is about all I can say. I liked the various colors of each type. Why not try different flavors and savor them. It is like tasting various wines.
Here’s a Goldie. Mild flavor but it is so nice to have a mix of colors when preparing a dish of tomatoes too. These always seemed to come out so perfect. Nice skins.
Well, that is it for now for a tomato recall adventure. Now I can go to my photo database. I can delete the hundreds of other photos I had taken those years back. Believe it or not, it is difficult for me to remove the photos. But, they are taking up space. It is time. I also have lots of other posts about my tomato growing process on this blog site from before.
Cathy Testa
Date of this post: 1/31/2026
Container Crazy CT 