Get your tomato seeds!

Thursday, April 30, 2009

It may be a little too early to think about eating tomatoes, but it’s not too early to think about growing them.  Mother’s Day (May 5) is, generally speaking, the last frost date in the Philadelphia area and is almost always the day I plant tomatoes.  If you’re a tomato connoisseur, 2009 may be your lucky year: Campbell’s Soup Company is giving away Campbell’s Soup tomato seeds through June 21 at HelpGrowYourSoup.com - this is the first time these seeds will be available in the company’s 100 year history!

Campbell’s is partnering with the National Future Farmer’s of America office and Urban Farming Inc. to promote American agriculture, hoping to grow more than 1 billion tomatoes across the country.  The plan is to donate 22.5 million seeds, and the partnership will also result in several new community gardens across the country.  Locally, there will be an event on May 2 in Camden at the Woodland Community Garden -  that’s the corner of 9th Street and Sylvan Street.

More about the tomatoes:

The tomato seeds themselves also have a rich heritage. Campbell began growing tomatoes from its own seeds on New Jersey farms during in the 1930s. Those “Jersey” tomatoes were renowned for their rich taste and texture, so much so, that when truckloads were delivered to the Campbell facility in Camden, city residents followed and picked up fallen tomatoes from the streets.