By Larry Hodgson
On this Fourth of July, I thought my American readers might be interested to know there is a Fourth of July tomato (Solanum lycopersicum ‘Fourth of July’). The idea with this particularly early hybrid tomato—maturing in only 49 days from planting out!—is that it will be ripe in time for Independence Day.
Well, that’s going to depend on your climate, of course. You’d need to be able to plant tomatoes out by mid-May for this to work, and that isn’t possible in cooler climates. But it is still a very early tomato.
Expect a bright red slicing tomato weighing about 4 ounces on an indeterminate plant of modest height (36 to 40 inches) that will continue to produce throughout the summer and into early fall.
Growing Your Own
Obviously, it’s a bit late to try growing this tomato this year, but you could put it on your calendar for next year.
‘Fourth of July’ is offered by Burpee Seeds, meaning American readers can order either seeds or plants by mail and plants may also be available in local stores. Burpee doesn’t send either seeds or plants to other countries by mail order, but does ship plants to certain garden centers in Canada, where you might be able to find it.
Happy Fourth of July!