Many of you will be familiar with the Shady Lady Tomatoes that we grow. They are red slicers and hold well in your boxes. Steve, our seeds man at Lockharts Seed in Stockton recommend that we try Qualit 23 this year as we have been having problems getting enough leaf cover to stop the Shady Lady getting too many sun burnt. We save the seed of the heirlooms we grow.

These seeds are expensive as you can see from the price I wrote on the pack as it went to the greenhouse for sowing into trays. This is enough seeds to plant one acre. We will make two 1/2 acre plantings. It is important that everyone on the farm knows the value of the resources they are using. Last year we spent over $50,000 on seeds and plants up from $35,000 in 2008!