Kristina Clark

I’m really picky about my tomatoes! When I eat a salad at a restaurant, a lot of times the tomatoes on my plate are the only thing left. If they’re even slightly mushy or just sour I just don’t find them enjoyable to eat at all. But I’ve always loved a fresh garden heirloom tomato in the summer with some salt and balsamic drizzle. In recent years I’ve found these really sweet, organic grape tomatoes that I buy every week at the grocery store. These are my family’s favorite tomatoes, and I wanted to grow them in my garden. The problem was that I couldn’t buy the seeds for that exact variety of perfectly sweet tomatoes. Last year I realized I could grow plants really easily from the exact tomatoes that I love and this year I am doing the same. I grew about 8 tomato plants and had more than enough tomatoes all summer. Growing your own tomato plants from your favorite tomatoes is surprisingly simple and I can show you how to do the same!

Step 1: Extract the seeds from the tomatoes. I only took seeds from 2 grape tomatoes and it was more than enough for the amount of plants I want.

Step 2: Clean the seeds. I ran them under cool water using a strainer.

Step 3: Germinate. The best way I found to do this is to lay them on a paper towel, spritz with water until the whole paper towel is damp, and keep them in an air tight container.

Step 4: Check for germination. It only took a day or two for me to see little sprouts. I waited about a week for them to get slightly bigger.

Step 5: Plant the seedlings in seed starter pods or small containers (small plastic cups or compostable gardening containers would work)

Step 6: Keep in a sunny window and water atleast every few days ensuring the soil stays damp.

Step 7: Depending where you live, plant in your garden when the threat of frost has passed.

Step 8: Harvest when ripe and enjoy tomatoes all summer long!