Wild Boar Farms Roots and Refuge Specials: https://www.wildboarfarms.com/product/roots-refuge-2/
The original Tomato Video: https://youtu.be/AMlxoBuqObA?si=9nXtkPKjVK63sMXo
Tomato seed starting: https://youtu.be/Siqd7DVojso?si=ZBefvFRaRsj4ZAeB
Roasted Tomato Salsa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWBt4y6ZvyM
Pruning: https://youtu.be/RmKK136KH7Y?si=8WTvCRlzq5faVi1Q
Seed Isolation Bags: https://amzn.to/408iyCM
WHERE TO FIND US:
– read my writing on substack: https://jesssowards.substack.com
-Our Website: https://rootsandrefuge.com
-Miah’s Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@miahsworkshop
-My Cooking Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@The_Farmers_Table
– Sign up for our newsletter: https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-signup
-Order Coffee & Tea from our roaster: https://www.beulahroastingco.com
-Our Amazon Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/SFA0IZHZRCOZ?ref_=wl_share
-The Roots and Refuge Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/roots-and-refuge-podcast/id1669328823
-Merch sales: Real Food Comes Dirty Shirts: https://roots-and-refuge-farm-shop.fourthwall.com/products/real-food-comfort-color
-The music in this video is by Daniel Smith
PRODUCTS I LOVE AND SUPPORT:
Greenstalk Vertical Gardens: https://rstr.co/greenstalkgarden/roots10
The white beds in my tea garden (Birdies Beds from Epic Gardening): https://shop.epicgardening.com/ROOTSANDREFUGE
BootstrapFarmer Site: https://shrsl.com/3w46t
The Roots and Refuge Shop: https://roots-refuge.myshopify.com
Order our T-Shirts and Sweatshirts https://roots-and-refuge-farm-shop.fourthwall.com/collections/all
Dramm Watering head: https://amzn.to/3Djs9yF
Long neck Dramm watering wand (for more established plants): https://amzn.to/41xxcoH
Heat mats: https://amzn.to/3QCyhVX
Grow lights: https://amzn.to/41yscAd
(Some of these thinks are affiliate links which means I make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Using my affiliate links helps me buy seeds and soil and goats, so thank you.)
49 Comments
43:30 I love the annual tomato ramble! ❤
I love your enthusiasm for gardening. I can tell tomatoes are a favorite by the way you light up when you talk about them. I like the long format, but then, I am retired. Good information just takes longer. I bless you and your family.
love it!
"Why am I like this?" in reference to growing something you know you're going to hate. #sorelatable
Wapsipicon (sp) Peach are fuzzy and they are FANTASTIC tomatoes. You might be surprised
Try Pine Tree Seeds climbing triple crop! They’re my must grow.
Jess, you're my favorite TOMATO growing lady! I say that I'm cutting back from eighty plants this year, but…It's so hard to thin my plants without planting them up.in more pots. I actually feel sorry for my plants if I don't save every single one. LOL
I need more space! I could plant my whole yard in tomatoes.
I love your videos Jess!! I love growing tomatoes too!!
I love this video every year and I do not mind spending an entire hour listening to you Talk about tomatoes and of course I’ve already bought wild boar farms seeds, but I added the small space collection to the garden this year. Can’t wait to see how they grow.
Thank you! I didn't think I could grow tomatoes in my zone 4 garden. Ihad some success last year, I believe, because of your encouragement and inspiration. Bless you! ❤
Long, short, rambley, organized, I don’t care, love them all – although I’m partial to long and rambley. It’s like hanging out with a friend. Thanks Jess!
Hey from your neighbor… I’m over by Lake Marion. I’ve watched you since your early Arkansas days. Anyway, I’m here tonight looking for a review on your tower gardens. And cannot find it. Any help or recommendations would be helpful. Thank you.
Seeds always jump into my cart, too. So weird how they do that!! 🤔
Been following you forever. Always 🥰 Blessings to you and your beautiful family. You are such an inspiration Thanks for always sharing and being true to yourself ❤
Long, rambly talks are perfect to listen to while putting my baby to sleep. Loved this! Can't wait to dig deep into my garden after taking last year super easy.
How often do you fertilize your tomato plants?
I love the annual tomato variety video!
💚💚 Yay, Jess talking tomatoes 🍅🍅🍅‼️. Thanks for going over what you're growing this year, I love hearing about all the varieties and I always learn new things. Here's to a great gardening season in 2026‼️💚💚
Funny story I don't like raw tomatoes but ever since stumbling onto Jess's channel I have been on a search for one that I might like….I have grown many varieties and love all the different colors but alas the search continues….also fun fact I will eat the tomatoes because I don't want my grandkids to decide they don't like them because of me. So, as much as it makes me slightly nauseous to bite into them I do it every time my grandkids are with me😆
Love all your videos rambley and straight forward ❤
I bought a bunch of tomatoes for canning from a semi local orchard/farm and they were all shades of purple, red, and orange etc. I saved the seeds all in the same bag and now I have 72 ‘mystery saucer tomatoes’ that have me waiting with bated breath. That’s the only kind of mystery I’m looking for.
Just got done watching a super rough but important Shawn Ryan episode. Girl I needed this after that. Made labels for my starts which get going tomorrow. ❤❤❤
Hi from AZ zone 9! I grew Paul Robeson last year for the first time, and I am hooked. They haunt me and live rent-free in my brain lol I was shocked at how great they are. My boys love them too, and one of them is definitely a tomater hater haha I also found myself snacking on them with the browned butter you suggested years ago! <3
Have you tried Rapunzel, it's soo cool and yummy!
I neeeeeeeeded an hour of Jess's tomato talk! I have my first tomato sprouts coming up for the year, and I am driving my friends and family crazy talking on and on about tomatoes and being ready for tomato weather. 😂
Have you ever tried to grow a green tomatoe
😂❤😂❤😂 59:55 I literally laughed out loud, I was not expecting the honesty 😂 🤣 #fuzzy food 😅
The tomato wizard at her best!! 😊
Can you talk about knowing when to harvest some of the crazy colored tomatoes at peak? It’s been a bit of a challenge for me to pick at the right time when you are not looking at green>red = ripe. The dark and purple varieties are harder to tell
All formats you do are great! You are a #human instructor… there are a LOT of ai channels now, sadly. Keep it YOU-nique 👍🤗
Jess, and yes Dr. Wiches, and Paul Robson, My 2 favs. and the 3rd, Cherokee Carbon. Cherry, sweet 100's hands down. I watched and tomato farmer, older gentleman. 2 things he puts in the soil & Man ole man did it work.; it's epsome salt and gypsum. I use Biotone Epsoma also to start them. One dr. W. got huge, at least 8-9 huge 1.5 lb. tomatoes.Here's to 26 tomatoes!! 🍊🍅🍊🍅🍊🍅🍅🍅🍅🍊🍅🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍅🍅🍅🍅
Love my Canestrino tomatoes and am curious if you will too! Great flavor, low gel so good for a sandwich or for sauce.
I love all tour videos. You’ve inspired me to go ahead and start some of those weird seeds. Why not?
Love it Jess! Thank you
Do you have a discount code for Bootstrap farmers?
Pretty sure you fan-girled over Charles Dowding 😊
I got a really nice package of mixed organic cherry tomatoes for 3.49 at fred meyer today. Not as good as what I grow but we really like tomatoes in our tacos.
I love a good tomato ramble!
Tomato talk is always a good time.
Where do you get your Paul Robeson, Dr Wyches, Abe Lincoln, Kellogg breakfast, Italian heirloom tomato seeds
I listen to my audio books faster too. Normal speed sounds like it's slow motion lol
Who else watched this while starting seeds? My tomatoes: Beefsteak from the dollar tree, Thornburn's terra cotta, Pink bumblebee cherry, Paul Robeson, Blush OG, Oregon Jory, and a Serbian variety from a friend.
I have hillbilly and pineapple started! Got them both from seeds n such
Thanks Jess. I’ve already over ordered at baker creek 😂 but I will make sure to get some more of the wild boar farms. One can never have too many tomato varieties. It’s just me and my husband and I grow only cherry and grape tomatoes due to only having a tiny HOA sized yard but I make sure to always have 10-20 varieties 😂😂 I have a tomato issue. I just like growing them. They’re so easy to grow for me and so high yielding. I share with neighbors and coworkers and it’s just the most fun plant for me. I only eat raw tomatoes if they come out of my garden. I cannot stand the taste of store bought tomatoes since growling my own five years ago.
I don’t think you understand how much we lovvvvvve these yearly seed unboxing / tomato varieties videos. It truly kickstarts the season for us home gardeners! Been bingeing your older videos to hold me over. I can cry tears of joy (wow, dramatic )
Paul Robison did not pan out for me. Pink Berkeley is great. They are both hard to tell if they are ripe on sight. But the Berks were easier. I only grew them once and to be fair, I grew the Paul Robison in a raised bed where I also had planted hops. The tops never got ripe while the bottom was over ripened. Hops and veggies don’t work together. Lesson learned. Hops are now gone because tomatoes are more important. Ketchup is not something I have ever made that my family likes. I made green ketchup one year out of upcoming frost warnings and my sister loves it. It’s good but not what we eat and love. I have pared down on my garden. We love marinaras and salsa and tomato sandwiches. I do use the slicers for sauce and salsa or crushed tomatoes. I only buy plum tomatoes from the store and my husband will eat them but I don’t like them.
I call my dehydrated cherry tomatoes, tomato candy, using Sungold and Bronze Torch. I think you would like the flavor of Bronze Torch, a dark, long cherry, extremely prolific, from Johnny's.
Jess’s excitement about growing tomatoes just warms my heart. I’ve learned so much from Jess. Thank you Jess! Love you so much! ❤❤❤