“My mom grew up where her grandfather had homesteaded in 1879- north central Nebraska. They had no plants to buy but they always had a large garden. I remember many years later (now we are talking south central Nebraska) when she planted tomato seed straight into the garden- She had ripe tomatoes ONE week later than from transplanted tomatoes. Only one week. I am going to do that this year. They certainly come up volunteer. I get as many tomatoes that way as I do from the plants I set out. they are not hybrid — I prefer heirloom most anything—”
I love heirlooms too ... mostly because I can save the seeds. I like the idea of not having to be dependent on seed companies each year. I still buy seeds to try new and different things, but I have more than enough to plant and save if I was unable to purchase new ones.
I’ve had tomato volunteers in the past as well. That might be a interesting experiment to try this year ... sowing some inside under lights and direct sowing others and recording date of first tomato for each. It would be interesting to see if the extra effort is really worth it. I think it is worth it for peppers. I have direct seeded peppers before and had very few by the end of season, but had a big crop from the ones I started inside last year. Of course, the pepper variety might have a lot to do with it as well.
One of the fun things about gardening- there are so many things a person can do- try this or that, experiment, learning as we go.