Heirloom Tomato and Vegetable Plants

About Our Plants

The Coeur d’Alene Coop is devoted exclusively to open-pollinated and heirloom plant varieties that are especially well suited to our north Idaho growing conditions. And while we are not a “certified organic” grower, we always follow organic guidelines in our gardening practices. The seed-starting mix and potting soil we use are approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute (ORMI), and we only use organic fertilizers (fish emulsion) on our plant starts.

We start every plant from seed—often from certified organic seed stock. Each individual seedling is carefully transplanted by hand into a recyclable growing container, and all of our plants are hardened off so they are ready for planting in their new garden homes.

Purchasing Options

Online Shop:  Our online storefront is open from January through April, with local pickup in May.  We do require a $20 minimum purchase. Once your order is complete you will receive a link to schedule a pickup time for your plants in early May (usually the first 10 days or so). We encourage you to shop early, as we often sell out before May.  We do not ship plants.

Plant Pick Up: Once your order is completed, you will receive an email with a link to schedule your pick up appointment. You will also receive a reminder email the day of your appointment.

Please be considerate. I am not a retail operation with staff. It’s just me, carefully packing your order in advance, so it will be ready at your scheduled time. If you unable to make your appointment prior to the pick up date, please use the scheduling app to change your appointment. If you are running late or unable to come the day of your appointment, please be considerate and call or text me to make other arrangements.

Once your order is packed for pick up it needs to be retrieved within 48 hours.

Master Gardeners’ Plant Sale: Held in May. Check out our Facebook page and our Blog for additional details and directions to the sale location at the Kootenai County Extension Office. Our participation depends on stock availability.

Heirloom Tomatoes

We offer more than 25 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, from the traditional large and meaty beefsteak tomatoes to the petite and super-sweet cherry tomatoes. Our selection of tomatoes varies each year as we like to add new cultivars, along with the tried-and-true customer favorites. How can we resist when there are more than 7,500 different kinds of tomatoes to choose from!

Peppers, Vegetable & Herb Plants

Along with our heirloom tomato plants, we offer a variety of open-pollinated and heirloom peppers (sweet and hot), vegetables, and herbs.

Patio Perfect

Everyone loves the fresh taste of “home-grown,” but we know not everyone has space for a large garden. That’s why we offer a selection of heirlooms perfect for small gardens and container gardening. To locate these plants, look for” patio-perfect” listed next to the plant name.

Helpful Gardening Terms

What is an heirloom?  An heirloom is a plant that has a history of being passed down through generations. The age of which a plant achieves heirloom status is somewhat subjective — some say heirlooms must have been created prior to 1940, while others state the variety must be at least 50 years old. Regardless of age, all heirlooms are open-pollinated, which means it will produce true-to-type seeds; but not all open-pollinated plants are heirlooms (there’s that age thing again).

What does open-pollinated mean?  This generally refers to seeds that will “breed true.” When the plants of an open-pollinated variety self-pollinate, or are pollinated by another representative of the same variety (by insects, birds, wind or humans), the resulting seeds will produce true-to-type seeds and plants roughly identical to the parent plant. This is why you only save seed from open-pollinated varieties — you’ll get the same plant (and fruit) as the parent plant.

Check out our Garden Glossary for more helpful gardening terms.

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Here’s a peek at a few tomatoes and veggies we grow in our garden that might be great for your garden too!