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Growing Sheboygan Paste Tomatoes in the Vegetable Garden

Although there are many types of tomatoes, growing instructions are almost identical across subspecies. Begin the seeds indoors two months before your estimated final spring frost date. Use a well-draining potting or germinating mix that you have already gotten wet to start the seeds. Plant two seeds per cell and cover the seeds lightly with soil. Water them in with a gentle stream such as a mister or spray bottle to avoid rinsing the seeds away. Water them regularly and use a clear dome to increase humidity and moisture around the seeds. Some growers simply wrap plastic wrap around the trays to lock in moisture. As soon as the first seedling sprouts, immediately move the tray so that it receives full sun; a warm, bright windowsill or artificial lights positioned a few inches above the tray do the trick. Remove the humidity dome once the seedlings have reached the height of it. Ideally, they will have true leaves. Thin the seedlings to one per cell by removing the weaker seedlings when they have reached two inches tall. Optionally, apply fertilizer once they have two sets of true leaves; this optional step gives tomato plants a hearty boost for the early season. Transplant the seedlings into larger, 4 or 6-inch pots once their root systems have developed beyond the cell’s capacity.

Practice crop rotations to avoid soil-borne diseases and nutrient depletion. Before moving the seedlings into your garden soil, the seedlings should be hardened off gradually to acclimate them to outdoor conditions. Transplant the seedlings into the garden once the danger of frost has passed. Add a calcium supplement to the soil beneath the seedlings before planting them out. Bury the stems a few inches deep and spread out the existing root ball to facilitate as much root development as possible. Remove the lower leaves that don’t get sunlight and any suckers growing in between fruit-bearing branches. Fertilize with compost, worm castings, or another fertilizer of choice when planting into the garden. A 4-6-8 blend is a good generic ratio for tomatoes, but a soil test at the beginning of the season can determine the optimal ratio for your specific garden. The best soil pH is between 6.2 to 6.8. This indeterminate variety should be supported as it grows. Allowing the plant to fall over onto the ground will quickly compromise the fruits before they can be harvested. Prune the plant periodically throughout the season to remove suckers and bottom leaves. Fertilize again in mid-season. Water regularly but prevent standing water by not overwatering the plants and by improving soil drainage if necessary. Limit disease spread by not splashing water or mud on the leaves. Protect the plants from temperatures below 45 F; they are not cold-tolerant. Garden quilts or other covers should be used if temperatures are expected to dip below their tolerance level.

Harvesting Sheboygan Paste Tomatoes

Tomatoes are ready to harvest when reddish-pink. Gently clip or twist the fruit to remove it from the stem without damaging the remaining branch. Sheboygan paste tomatoes are an indeterminate bush variety and will continually fruit for as long as four months straight but will promptly end at the first frost of fall. Harvest the tomatoes as soon as they ripen to encourage more fruit before the end of the season.

About Sheboygan Paste Tomato Garden Seeds

Sheboygan Tomatoes span from 4 to 6 inches in size and 4 inches in diameter. These juicy, ovular tomatoes are lovely for canning! Their succulent, meaty insides combine with their smooth, pinkish-red outsides to make one beautiful-looking fruit.

This variety of tomato is equally as delicious for processing into pastes or other sauces as it is for fresh eating straight out of the garden and onto a sandwich or salad. It is also known to be outstanding for canning and other preservation methods.

Indeterminate variety tomatoes need more structural support than determinate tomato plants. Indeterminates will continue to grow all season long until the frost kills them. There are multiple solutions to finding the right support system; whichever system you choose, it should be able to adapt to the height of the tomato plant as it grows throughout the season and bears fruit.

The Sheboygan Tomato variety was developed in Sheboygan, Wisconsin by Lithuanian immigrants during the 1900s. Lighter in color than other red tomatoes, its skin color is often described as pink. The flavor is sweet, juicy, and rich!

Tips From Our Gardeners

"Fruits and vegetables developed by mom and pop type of situations, such as the Sheboygan tomato, almost always prove to be high quality. The consumers know exactly what they want!"

- Lara Wadsworth, True Leaf Market Writer

Other Resources

• Guide to Tomatoes

Sheboygan Paste Tomato Seeds Per Package:

• 300 mg packet - Approximately 65 Seeds
• .25 oz - Approximately 1,700 Seeds
• 1 oz - Approximately 6,800 Seeds
• 4 oz - Approximately 27,200 Seeds

Non-GMO Sheboygan Paste Tomato seeds are available for Fast Free Shipping on qualifying orders.