Q: My heart is broken! I ordered tomato plants from Burpee but they say they can not ship to Georgia because of our state regulations. Where can I buy heirloom tomatoes?

A: Burpee can ship tomato plants to Georgia but they choose not to, because their organic growing methods conflict with Georgia Department of Agriculture regulations. Georgia requires that imported vegetable transplants be treated with insecticide to combat whiteflies. The rule was implemented in 2007 to protect Georgia’s $189 million tomato/pepper/eggplant crop from viruses that whiteflies spread. But why are you going out-of-state to buy tomato transplants? There are many local sources of heirloom and improved tomato plants. I’ve collected a list at xrl.us/HEIRLOOMTOMATO