
Pollock Tomatoes
There is a type of tomato that has been developed for cool, short growing seasons. It is even considered frost resistance.
Any Pollock of Houston, BC developed a variety of tomato over decades in his mountain-based (100m) unheated greenhouse in the interior of BC above the 54th parallel.
By selectively propagating and selective seed harvesting from an original Bonny Best tomato, over the years he was able to create a new strain ideal for his cool and frosty growing season. It is even blight resistant. The tomato called the Pollock for obvious reasons, is ideal for growing here in NW Ontario.
The tomato is a vine type plant with indeterminate fruit. This means the plants will continue to grow up their stakes and will continue to flower/bear fruit continuously. The fruit produced are medium to large 4oz-10oz rich flavoured slicing tomatoes and will ripen on the vine even in our short growing season.
Seeds should be started indoors in early to mid-march in larger pots under bright lights or on a sunny window ledge. They germinate quickly within 6-10 days. Once the last frost has gone, transplanting the tomatoes outside. Tomatoe transplants require special transplanting instructions to be discussed at a later date in its own article. These tomatoes need to be staked. Typically they reach maturity 50 to 60 days after transplanting. Transplant in mid-June, have ripe tomatoes in mid-August.
I have planted a number of seeds and am currently growing them on my windowsill under grow lights as part of my winter garden experiment. After only a couple of weeks, most of the seeds germinated and the plants are growing well and are already 4-6 inches tall.
Seeds are available from a few suppliers online, and I carry the seeds at the Nipigon River Bait Tackle and Souvenir shop. I may have limited transplants available in the spring.
Visit mybackyard.ca for more information, gardening ideas, information and advice.

Seeds for the plant listed here is available at the physical shop located with the Nipigon River Bait Shop at 21 Second Street in Nipigon Ontario. Limited quantities are available, and all seeds are fresh and have been tested to grow here in NW Ontario.
Days to Grow: 60-100
Spacing: 1 per square foot
Effort: Easy - for a tomato
Some pruning necessary
Plant: Inside in April; transplant after risk of frost has passed
Yield: moderate
Gardening Shortcut Links
- North Hardy Plants to grow
- Pre-designed garden layouts
- Gardening Basics and Resources
- Seeds available at shop:
Frost Dates and growing season
Converting a garden box to a mini greenhouse
Making a Garden Box
Planting Calculator
Garden Designer - Excel
Square Foot Gardening Primer
Growing Vertical - Trellises
The plants listed here are available at the physical shop located with the Nipigon River Bait Shop at 21 Second Street in Nipigon Ontario. Limited quantities are available, and all seeds are fresh and have been tested to grow here in NW Ontario.
- Pollock Tomatoes
- Cylindra Beets
- Butterwax beans
- Super sugar Snap Peas
- York Rutabaga
- Laurentian Rutabaga
- Purple Prince turnip
- Buttercup squash
- Spaghetti squash
- Warted green hubbard Squash
- Baby Blue Hubbard Squash
- Endeavor Squash
- Early butternut Squash
- Atlantic Giant Pumpkins
- Tromboncino Squash
- Russian Mammoth Sunflowers
- Carrots: Nantes
- Asian Green stirfry mix
North Hardy Plants

Square Foot Gardening
Information and resources for square foot gardening here in NW Ontario.

Excel Garden Planner
An excel worksheet I developed to help plan and track my square foot gardening.

North Hardy Plants
Not all plants will grow here, but a lot will.
Useful Resources
The following are additional resources and information as well as basic information for growing this and many other garden plants here in NW Ontario.
Square Foot Gardening Basics
Preserving methods
High productivity, small area


About Garden Planning
Laying out your garden and pre-planning what to plant is best accomplished over the winter months. It gives you escape from the north winds, allows for ordering of seeds and allows you to put some time and effort into laying out your garden.
Since I use the square foot gardening method, I have created a garden planner using Microsoft excel. It allows you layout your garden using the cells in excel, then based on what plants you choose it will calculate planting/harvest times, potential yields, how many seeds you will need and more.
The Garden planner is provided as is, I can and will answer questions on using it and I have made videos on using it. I am hoping to have a full updated version ready for 2019 planning season.