Finally meeting Carolyn when Sue and I brought her plants on a swing by her home in New York while visiting family - May 20, 2011.

NOTE - I am pasting in our original articles exactly as written. There will be some awkward grammar, some misspellings - and I cringe a bit when I see some of what we wrote.

How this will go: Each week I will paste in an article from our newsletter. At the end, I will share some thoughts after reading the article for the first time in decades! I hope you enjoy reading some material written in the middle of the heirloom gardening boom stimulated by formation of the Seed Savers Exchange.

Carolyn Male’s Welcome -

Welcome to Off The Vine

We’re delighted to finally publish our first issue of “Off The Vine”! In future issues we expect to present articles about home hybridization, history of tomatoes in the Americas, use of heirlooms in commercial breeding programs, feature articles on selected growers, tomato folklore, and “favorite” heirloom tomatoes. We want “Off The Vine” to be interactive with our readers so in each issue we will pose a question or two and ask for your responses. Please include your phone number in your letter so we can obtain your permission should we publish what you write.

We are both enthusiastic members of the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) and since the original announcement for this newsletter appeared in the SSE 1993 Yearbook, our first question relates to the SSE. Both of us are concerned that the yearbook has become, or is becoming, a seed catalog rather than primarily a mechanism for the preservation of heirlooms. In our experience the majority of seed requests we receive are from unlisted members, most of whom are not reoffering seeds in subsequent yearbooks. To us, this is a troublesome situation. At most, seed from about 5% of the varieties sent out is being reoffered. So, our first question is: What ways can you think of that might increase the rate at which members reoffer seed? Please send your responses to Carolyn at the address below; she will be handling most of the “paper work”.

We also welcome your ideas and suggestions for future articles and questions to the readers. If you’ve liked this first issue, and the future goals and plans we’ve outlined, we welcome your subscriptions. We are low budget, low key, and amateurs!

We expect most issues to be 4 to 5 pages double sided.

Finally, there are several people who have been supportive of our efforts to publish an heirloom tomato newsletter and we’d like to mention a few names. Jeff McCormack of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange graciously offered to mention “Off The Vine” in his current catalog. Kent Whealy of SSE voiced his support to Craig at the 1993 Campout and Steve Demuth of the SSE staff did our first layout. Andy Smith, whose fascinating book on the history of tomatoes in the Americas up to 1840 will soon be published, has also been very encouraging to us.

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Craig’s welcome

The Birth of “Off the Vine”

After two or three years in the incubation period, Carolyn Male and I are about to publish the first issue of a newsletter entirely devoted to heirloom tomatoes. We have decided to call this newsletter “Off the Vine”, an idea that Carolyn came up with. (We won’t discuss the options that I was able to concoct!). In case some of you are wondering who we are and what we have in mind for the newsletter, here is some information for you.

First of all, we are members of the Seed Saver’s Exchange. I joined in 1986, and Carolyn got bitten by the heirloom bug in 1989. Actually, we have never met! I can recall that one of my first seed request letters of 1989 was from Carolyn, and I was immediately taken by her friendly tone, sense of humor, and dedication to the cause. We shared many varieties of heirloom veggies over the following years, and talked frequently on the phone. Some of this talk led to the eventual direction that our hobbies were taking us. And, one of our ideas was to fill the huge gap in gardening literature, regarding the lack of any tomato newsletters.

Now for a bit of background on each of us. Carolyn tends her gardens at the farm she was raised, near Albany, New York. She grew up with farming and gardens as an integral part of her life; some things do not change! When she is not watering, weeding or picking, she teaches biology-related courses at the college of St. Rose. Carolyn enjoys growing everything, apparently, though she confesses that flowers are a special passion. Somehow, she has found herself the proud owner of somewhere around 800 varieties of tomatoes, and each year must make the difficult yet delightful decision of what to grow!

As for me, I have taken a roundabout route toward landing in North Carolina. Originating in Rhode Island, where I gardened with my grandfather, I have spent time in New Hampshire, where I received my degree in chemistry, Washington (Seattle must surely be what heaven is like), and Pennsylvania. Now, as a pharmaceutical chemist for Glaxo, I need to ensure that my gardening time does not get in the way of the many other interests that I pursue, not the least of which is my family! After joining the SSE, my gardening experience became a real part of my life. And, each year I also must decide between about 800 varieties of tomatoes.

As for our newsletter, we envision a forum for gardeners that have a particular interest in heirloom tomatoes. Among the topics we hope to address are gardening concerns, such as isolation distances, particular varieties, including their various merits or detriments, history, or apparent demise, and interviews with notable heirloom tomato collectors. It should be a lot of fun, and we hope that some of you give it a try.

If you would like to subscribe, please send $5.00 (US) to “Off the Vine”, c/o Carolyn Male, 21-2 Latham Village Lane, Latham, NY 12110. This fee will get you three issues per year (if all goes well...), each issue being 5-7 double sided pages. Please remember that this is a very grassroots-style effort. It won’t be glossy, but it will always be interesting! We look forward to hearing from you.

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Well, reading that took me back. The world lost Carolyn on June 14. 2019. Our gardening friendship lasted 30 years, complete with many ups and a few downs (certainly expected for two opinionated people!).

Obviously, the addresses and subscription info listed above is long obsolete. It is included for completeness. It is remarkable to ponder how far each of us had already embedded into growing heirloom tomatoes. This newsletter came out about 7 years after I joined the SSE, and for Carolyn, about 5 years.