Submitted photo Heirloom tomato plants are becoming quite popular among those who enjoy gardening.

A few years ago, Mark Williams, an OSU Master Gardener Volunteer, presented information on heirloom tomatoes for fellow Master Gardener Volunteers.

He was kind enough to share some heirloom tomato plants he started from seeds, asking that we save the seeds from the tomatoes and start our own plants in the spring. He explained that heirloom tomatoes are handed down through generations from previous years. His grandfather had grown this variety of tomato over 50 years ago. It’s believed the plants were grown by four gentlemen near Enon Valley, Pa., many years ago.

I planted my first heirloom tomato from Mark in my raised bed garden that summer of 2024. The tomatoes were large (some reaching 2 pounds), pinkish red, fleshy, low acid and great-tasting. I kept the seeds and in the spring of 2025 (mid-March), I started them indoors. They germinated quickly and I was able to share over 40 tomato plants with family and friends, asking them to “Save the seeds and plant them in the spring to keep them going for more generations.”

Two of these tomato plants were kept for my 2025 raised bed garden. Once again, we were thrilled to have so many very big, great-tasting wonderful tomatoes. Most weighed over 2 pounds and then one that looked like a pumpkin weighed in at almost 4 pounds. My family encouraged me to enter it into the Canfield Fair special category of “heaviest tomato”. As it turns out, this one received a first-place blue ribbon and now this year I will plant the seeds from the champion heaviest tomato in the 2025 Canfield Fair.

You may want to try growing heirloom tomatoes yourself. Heirloom tomato varieties are open pollinated, which means the seeds will reliably produce plants like their parents. Many heirlooms have been passed down for decades through families or cultural groups, and some were introduced commercially before the 1940s.

Now is the time to purchase and plant your tomato seeds. After the danger of frost has passed in our area, which is typically late May, you can plant your tomato seedlings outdoors. If you don’t have a garden, you can grow tomato plants in large pots. Tomatoes need deep, loamy, well-drained soil supplied with organic matter (peat moss or compost) and nutrients. They grow best in slightly acid soil with a pH of 6.5 to 6.8. Tomatoes are sun-loving plants and should receive at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight per day. Remember to space your plants apart giving them plenty of room and air space around them. Stake them or use a tomato cage when you plant them. Tomatoes need watered regularly. Raised bed gardens like mine dry out quickly and need watered daily if it hasn’t rained. It helps to use an application of starter fertilizer when transplanting your tomato plants. This can be followed by using a fertilizer specifically for tomatoes , reading and following the labeled directions on the container. You’ll probably see more heirloom tomato plants in nurseries as they have become very popular. There are several heirloom tomato varieties such as Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Rutgers and Mortgage Lifter, which my heirloom tomatoes resemble.

Is 2026 your year to try growing heirloom tomatoes? You won’t be disappointed!