For all of you in the Livingston area — I have tomato starts for sale. They were started from seed on March 15, and although you could put them in this weekend (the traditional start time) I’d suggest using Wall o’Water’s if you do. We’re more than likely to get another snowstorm before it’s over, and I’ve had great luck with the Wall o’Waters in the past.

Seedlings are $5 per plant, and all of them are cold-hardy varieties. They’ve been in the cold frame for about 3 weeks, so they’re hardened off and although they’re small right now,  a week or so in a nice warm weather in a wall o’water and they should sprout right up. (Plus I transplanted them deep for better root growth.) Also, since I started them myself in sterile soil mix, you shouldn’t have to worry about picking up verticulum wilt.

I have the following varieties available:

Milano Plum: this is a determinate plant (bushy, not viny) and last year it gave me a bumper crop of heavy plum style tomatoes (about 4-6 inches long). These tomatoes were fabulous for salsa.

Mountain Princess: Another determinate plant that sets nice round mid-sized tomatoes (about 3 inches in diameter).

Marmande: From Seeds of Italy. This is an old French tomato that I’ve had great success with the past few years. It ripens fairly late in the season but sets bunches of slightly flat, ridged tomatoes. Great flavor. Semi-determinate plant (responds well to heavy pruning).

Grushovka: A Siberian variety from High Altitude Gardens. Determinate plant that sets clusters of rose-colored, oblong fruits. Very productive.

Olga’s Round Yellow Chicken: A Siberian variety from High Altitude Gardens. I admit it, I plant this one for the name. Indeterminate plant that sets bright orange, very round tomatoes.

Galina: A Siberian variety from High Altitude Gardens. This is one of my favorite tomatoes. It’s very indeterminate, and will sprawl up and across any trellis you set it on, and it’s also highly productive. This plant sets large yellow cherry tomatoes that have a wonderful balance of sweetness and acid. I’m not a fan of very sweet tomatoes, so I love this one. Kids love it too …

Black Cherry: another sprawling indeterminate plant that bears dark purple cherry tomatoes. Again nice acid-sweet balance. Not quite as early as Galina.

Marglobe: From Seeds of Italy. Old heirloom variety, indeterminate, clusters of medium-sized deep red fruits. Great taste, mid-season.

Principe Borghese: From Seeds of Italy. A classic. Semi-determinate plant, not too sprawly, that throws clusters of small, thick-walled, delicious plum tomatoes. These are the tomatoes that they make sun-dried tomatoes from. I like them for sauce.

Jaunne Flammee: This is one of my favorite tomatoes. Indeterminate and sprawling plant that throws clusters of bright-orange, egg-sized fruits. These are delicious tomatoes that come in about mid-season and continue to ripen all the way through.These seedlings are from seed I saved myself, so they’re acclimated to Montana.

Perestroika: A Siberian variety from High Altitude Gardens. Indeterminate plant that throws nice round medium sized tomatoes. Red-orange fruits with nice flavor.

Prairie Fire: Bushy determinate plants. This is historically the first tomato of the season. Nice round orange-red fruits, on the smaller side but taste really delicious. Plant is prone to flea beetle damage, but that never seems to affect the tomatoes much.