After three long months of low sunlight, planting new vines and coaxing them back into production, we’ve got Baby Boy grape tomatoes back in your favorite store. They’re a sure sign of spring – and they taste like mid-summer right now.

Think salads. Fresh beautiful salads with those sweet, juicy “squish-in-your-mouth” Baby Boys. Mmmm. They’re finally here.

There may not be many in store at first, but the sun is getting stronger every day, and the Baby Boy vines are loving it. The bees are working hard. We’re picking more and more Baby Boys every day.

The bottom line is the Baby Boys are back. Grown right here in Minnesota for Minnesota. Pick some up next time you go to the store.

It’s only February 7th and we’ve spotted the first little splash of red in among the Baby Boy vines. The first Baby Boy of the season. It’s on the vine right now, soaking up sunlight and sweetness, getting ready for you.

No doubt about it, they’re on their way. Another couple weeks, and we’ll be able to start shipping them.

Another couple weeks and it’ll be time to try some of those great summer recipes for Baby Boys.

Like this one:

Slice a half pint of Baby Boys and salt and pepper to taste.

Dice a sweet yellow onion, then peel and slice a medium cucumber.

Mix the Baby Boys, onion and cucumber with a 24-ounce container of cottage cheese and two tablespoons of mayonnaise (the real stuff, not “lite”).

Salt and pepper to taste. Let it sit at room temperature for a while before serving (but be sure to refrigerate overnight), then enjoy.

Save this recipe for the Baby Boys now. No fair using those imported grape tomatoes. Nothing else is as luscious and sweet as a Baby Boy, so just give us a coupe of weeks. They’ll be there.

Forty degrees above one day. Zero the next. Nothing like Minnesota winter weather to give folks something to talk about.

But while the weather outside is taking you for a roller coaster ride, the weather inside here at Bushel Boy has to stay as steady as we can possibly keep it – winter or summer. Because that’s what our Bushel Boy tomatoes like – a nice, steady 70 degrees. All year long.

Sunshine does most of the job – winter and summer. Even on cloudy February days things will warm up around here pretty good. On sunny days, we may even have to open a window or two to keep temperatures nice and steady.

On sunny days in the summer, we open a lot of windows – and pull some computer controlled shades – to keep the temperature as close to 70 as possible – and keep the tomatoes and tomato vines happy.

Nice and steady. 70 degrees. That’s what we’re after all year long. Especially this time of year, with the new vine-ons and beefsteaks and Baby Boys starting to grow.

(By the way – looks like those first Baby Boys of the year are growing nice and steady – and should be on track to start showing up in the store around February 22nd .)

That’s the weather report. It might be forty above where you are. It might be zero. But here at Bushel Boy Farms, we’re expecting a nice, steady 70.

Here’s the latest on the 2008 Baby Boy crop for all of you who’ve been waiting since the last of last year’s crop disappeared from store shelves in mid December:

We’ve got all the new vines planted now, and they’re starting to flower. The bumble bees are busy pollinating them. The days are starting to get longer, and the sunlight is getting stronger, too.

It’s only a matter of a few weeks until we can start picking the first Baby Boys of this year – and rushing them to your favorite store. Looks like it should be right around Washington’s birthday (February 22nd) if everything goes well.

Availability might be a little slow and spotty at first. Sometimes your store might have them. Then again sometimes not. It just takes a little time for the plants and the sunlight to “synch up” and get going.

But, like we said, this time of year the sunlight and the Baby Boy vines get a little stronger every day. And by the middle of March, the Baby Boys will be going and growing “full-tilt” – and available everywhere.

Thanks for your patience and understanding, Baby Boy fans. And hang in there, Only about four weeks left to go – and counting. Keep your eye on our blog and we’ll keep you posted.

We don’t know about you, but here at Bushel Boy, the tomato vines are ready for some mid-winter sunshine.

November and December are usually the darkest months of the winter around here, and January’s colder temperatures usually bring clear skies and sun. But it has been a bit cloudier than normal since Christmas, and the vines (along with everyone who works here) could really use a nice, long sunny spell.

When the sun comes out, the greenhouses brighten up. People do too. Even the bumble bees seem to have a little more zip and get busier. You can almost hear the vines say, “Aaahhh!” as they get busy turning that sunlight into luscious red Bushel Boy tomatoes.

So let’s think sunshine, everyone. Let’s get this cloudy weather out of here, get these tomatoes growing, and get ourselves closer to spring one sunny day at a time. — Bushel Boy

Happy New Year to everyone from all of us here at Bushel Boy Farms. All our best to you for 2008.

We’re celebrating by launching Bushel Blog – a running update on everything that’s happening here at Bushel Boy Farms. Check in now and then to talk tomatoes (and soon – a whole new line from Bushel Boy – more on that in the weeks ahead). And be sure to check Bushel Blog to follow this year’s new crop from seed to vine to the store – and on to your table.

Busy, busy, busy.
You might think January is the “off season” for tomato growing, but here at Bushel Boy, it’s one of our busiest times of the year.

With the sun so low in the winter sky, (the period from December 15th to March 15th is the time of the year with the least sunlight), we have to work hard to coax our vines into producing fruit.

It’s especially hard to grow Baby Boys this time of year – so tough, in fact, that we stop producing Baby Boys in mid December, and use the winter months to clean out the old Baby Boy vines and plant new ones.

It takes about 12 weeks from planting until the 1st of the new crop of Baby Boys are ready to be picked, packed and shipped to your store. Given our schedules, it looks like you’ll start seeing Baby Boys (in limited quantities at first) back in the store by early March.

There’s plenty of other “goings on” going on here at Bushel Boy – - including a big surprise scheduled for this spring. More details coming soon.

Stay tuned to Bushel Blog. We’ll keep you posted.