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Old March 26, 2018   #12
mouka_f_slouka
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Chicago
Posts: 115
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NarnianGarden View Post
I am not surprised that anyone from anywhere in the world likes to order seeds from the US - but happily, there are now many inexpensive gardening web sites popping up in Europe too.

Perhaps the old Maroccon varieties really have been either forgotten with modern hybrids, or, you need to find a family who used to grow tomatoes back then..

I find it awesome that people have the patience and courage to grow tomatoes in a place that has such extreme weather conditions and probably way more diseases to battle than here in the North. (even with our cold weather we do get some diseases...)
Moroccan farmers in the southwest area, that's where that farmer is, have been producing tomatoes for decades now. They export most of their crops to Europe. One of the side effects of this intensive farming is the slow depletion of the groundwater reserves. There isn't enough rain to replenish those underground water reserves. The farmers are digging deeper and deeper to reach those fossil water reserves.
As for the diseases and bugs that ruin tomato crops, there are more and more of them because exactly of the varieties that were introduced and on whose backs these pests have hitched a ride. The winters are not cold enough to kill off these diseases. They reproduce at record numbers and sometimes bring ruin to large farms. Small farms do not have as much debt and can always rebound by borrowing small amounts of money from relatives or neighbors. Big farms are on the hook with banks and this has disastrous consequences.
I will go to small villages and look for seeds this summer. I planned on doing it anyway.
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