Hi from the Naiscoot River, Ontario (Toronto too!)

[Noelle]

Hello everyone: glad to be here. Found the site while on the hunt for a variety of paste tomato. I'm actually from Toronto, Canada where I have been gardening and growing tomatoes off and on (depending on where I moved) for 40 years. I just recently stopped tending a small experimental vegetable garden in my local park after 10 years of trying out new vegetables, new ideas for irrigation and having wonderful gardening conversations with all the passersby, many of whom had raised significant crops in the "old country". Everyone had stories to share and advice to give. So this is my first venture into a different kind of conversation.

The Naiscoot River is my nemesis...a granite island where the Naiscoot River meets Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) with virtually no soil, erratic weather, huge winds, a short growing season and of course, my struggling tomato plants. (think Siberia). A fool's pursuit but I keep trying. Looking forward to advice and information about early (and tough) tomatoes. Tasty would be good....

[jcm05]

Welcome Noelle. We have a few other members from Toronto. Glad you found us.

[Noelle]

Thanks for the welcome.
Fall is coming way too quickly for my liking. So many green ones....
So now I get to read all the earlier posts and dream on.

[swampr]

Welcome Noelle,
What kind of tomatoes do you like best? Did you find the paste you were looking for?

Early tough and tasty? Sungold is an obvious choice if you dont mind f1s. Try chianti rose if you're looking for a brandywine relative that harvests a liitle earlier.

[Noelle]

What kind of tomatoes do I like best? Well that seems like an easy one to answer but when I sat down to write this I realized it's not. So here goes. this will be a little convoluted.
In an earlier life I studied history----I can tell you lots of really obscure things about nineteenth century British social history and early Canadian banks. When I was a teenager I pleaded with my father to let me plant a 14th century rose in his garden because I fell in love with the idea that it was sooooo old and still around (he refused). So I like tomatoes with a past. I always want the ones that so and so brought from Italy 50 years ago and gave it to his Portuguese neighbour who has been growing it ever since. I read somewhere that the Peto 98 tomato is supposed to be extinct and I am staring at a Peto 98 package someone brought me from Jamaica. So I want to grow that too even though it will probably be disappointing.
And then I like the ones that make me want to eat the whole thing out of my hand because they taste phenomenal. And then I like the ones that you can really cook with (the paste tomato hunt) and now of course I need the ones that don’t mind being buffeted by the wind.

So a long way of saying that if it captures my imagination somehow, I want to try it.
Chianti Rose: I like the name already. Thank you.

[peppereater]

Welcome, Noelle, from another tomato lover facing the rigours of nature in the southern plains of the U.S.