I agree that you can still have great tomatoes without all of the fuss. Before I had the internet I bought my Brandywines from the local greenhouse. I also started a few seeds in my basement. I planted them out, I also had some volunteers that I would spread around. There was really not much difference in the 3 types of started plants. Those from the store produced about 3-5 days before the volunteers. The volunteers never died from frost and were much sturdier than what I produced indoors. Since all that I grew were Brandywines, I did not have to worry if the plants were all true. All of them produced well and come production time, you really could not tell the difference between which plants were started which way.
Today I can not compare my current way of growing with the gardens of the past. I grow different varieties on different soil and use other techniques and fertilizers. Maybe next year I should grow a bed of Brandywines and use my old vs. my new techniques to see if what I am doing now really makes much of a difference.
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~ Patti ~
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