History..... Part II

After a recent visit to Fredericksburg, I started wondering why that town is thriving and my hometown (Yoakum-which has many positive attributes) is definitely not thriving. After realizing that Fredericksburg seemed to capitalize on what it does best in the hill country climate of Texas, I did a little research. I knew Yoakum used to be known for tomatoes. I started asking questions of my parents and people of that generation, wanting them to tell me more about when Yoakum was a more thriving town, and why Yoakum had stopped producing tomatoes.

 I was surprised to find that quite a few people either in my family or friends of my family grew tomatoes during that time. Turns out that after a bad drought in the area in the ‘20’s, the chamber of commerce searched for a cash crop that would be successful in the area and settled on tomatoes. Because refrigerated cars had just been invented, the tomatoes could be shipped on the railroad that ran through Yoakum. The best reason I can find in my research that tomatoes stopped being a crop in this area is competition at the time, and the rise of the leather industry in Yoakum. Hmmm…..not that the climate changed, or that to soil was found unfavorable, I think residents just sort of moved from one crop to another-which would be cattle.

So I started thinking……And decided that I’m going into the tomato business!!

The climate is right, the cost is minimal and Yoakum needs me!  J

So, I started doing some research. I asked my family about methods of raising heirloom tomatoes. Unlike hybrid tomatoes that cannot be grown from saved seed, heirloom tomatoes can grow from their own seed year after year. I set my goal for the first year of going from seed to seed. In other words, grow plants from seeds in a hotbed, set them out in the garden when they are big enough, raise tomatoes, and learn how to dry the seeds to save and plant again next year.

I ordered 100 seeds and planted in a hotbed (see first picture in first post) at the end of last year. Seven plants grew. Seven. Only seven. That’s okay. My goal can still be reached. As long as I could grow the seven plants into bushes that would produce enough tomatoes to save seed, I’m still on track.

Well, as you can see from a previous post, I’ve surpassed my goal. I have not however, saved seed yet. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!