Back to August 2024 Newsletter
What's a Canadian Tomato?
There are several reasons why we'd call a tomato "Canadian". For some varieties, it's because they were bred and introduced in Canada. Governments and universities have operated vegetable plant breeding programs for over a century, and introduced hundreds of varieties to the public. Also, farmers and gardeners have bred their own varieties, sometimes even named them, and through seed saving networks we all can grow them. There are also "naturalized" varieties that have come from all over the world but have adapted to Canadian growing conditions over time. Any time a seed variety is saved for several generations in the same place, it adapts to the local environment and becomes a local variety.
Place names, family names, and clues in prefixes and suffixes tell us which tomato varieties are Canadian.
You can find them in our Member Seed Exchange, and also from local seed companies - check our Canadian Seed Catalogue Index!
Here are some of the varieties our members are growing in the Community Seed Grow-outs this summer
|
Arctic Cherry Early Lethbridge Sub Arctic Maxi Andy's Buckflats Wonder Coastal Pride Red Sugawara Charlie's Red Staker Manitoba Morden Yellow Scotia |
Alacrity Earlibright Mennonite Orange Betty Kreton's Sweet 100 Cobourg Quinte Doucet's Quebec Early Market Petitbec Quebec #5 Superbec |
Arthur Fowler Adelin Morin Mac Pink Montreal Tasty Rideau Sweet Cherry Beaverlodge Slicer Centennial Rocket Sub Arctic Cherry |
This enormous tomato came to us from a seed saver in Quebec. It sure lives up to its name!
One of our members saved seeds from a hybrid Sweet 100 tomato, then grew them out for decades until they became a reliable open-pollinated cherry tomato. She said it was the sweetest and best for making juice.
Earlirouge tomato was introduced in 1977 by the Smithfield experiment station of Agriculture Canada. Many excellent short-season tomatoes were introduced by publicly-funded breeding in the 1960s-1980s and we think they're worth bringing back today.
These delicious Mennonite Orange tomatoes are an heirloom from Pennsylvania that was grown in Ontario since 1910. Seeds saved every year allow the variety to become regionalized, so we call it a Canadian tomato now.
Adapted to the Canadian prairies, this tomato was grown for years by a member in Manitoba. We encourage prairie gardeners to adopt and enjoy it too!
An employee at a major Canadian commercial seed company grew this Grandma Climenhaga heirloom tomato in her back yard, even though she had access to the world's top performing hybrids. She liked it better, and we think every gardener would agree!
Do you have photos of Canadian varieties that you're growing? Send them to us and we'll post them!
Not yet a member?
An annual membership to Seeds of Diversity gives you access to our seed exchange, seed grow-out programs, and our online news.
We depend on donations to do our work.
Thank you for your support!
Stay in Touch!
