Students at the College of New Caledonia's Quesnel campus will be seeing red next month.
Once the growing gets going, that is, and the tomatoes start to ripen.
It's all part of a new tomato production and food security research project, spearheaded by CNC's Applied Research and Innovation department.
The four-month project is also a partnership with Quesnel-based EdgeWood Farm, which is offering up its greenhouses and staff as support.
With $25,000 in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, researchers will try to find out the best varieties of unheated greenhouse tomatoes to grow in the north, a press release Thursday said.
It will also examine whether consumers prefer the taste of heirloom varieties over greenhouse hybrids, and whether tomato quality and yield ratios differ between plants grown above ground in the seven-gallon pots housed at CNC or those grown in the ground at the farm.
"We hope that this research will provide information that will help all growers with tomato production in Quesnel and in the north," said Jennifer Catherall, a CNC instructor.
"In addition, we hope that this project will open the door for future projects centered on small-scale food production in the region."
All plants will be grown without the use of chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, the release said.
EdgeWood Farm's manager said it was excited about sharing knowledge with northern community growers.
"We feel that by better understanding crops like the tomatoes in this study, there is great potential to make gardening in the region more accessible to home gardeners," said Tegan Curry.
The project will run from May to September.
