Looking up through our backyard maple, November 8 2022

Well, here it is - the last of Carolyn’s introductory columns. Given we were still looking for renewals, it seems that the decision to end Off The Vine was pretty sudden - I don’t recall why we pulled the plug after just another handful of issues. Anyway - enjoy the last of Carolyn’s stream of consciousness, wonderful, unique introductory articles that she penned for each issue.

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C and C’s Column

Carolyn Male

We’re almost back on schedule with this issue of Off The Vine, after a very rocky six months or so! Hopefully events are smoothing out in my life…and the same for Craig.

It’s time to renew your subscription if your mailing label has a 33 next to your name (33 means Volume 3, number 3). Separate renewal notices will not be sent out, so if you wish to stay with us, please send your renewal check, clearly marked renewal, to my Latham address. The cost of subscriptions and my address are given in the Masthead on page 2 of this issue. Checks are cash are preferred, and if you send a money order could you please send a US Postal money order? I have no way to cash other types of money orders. Our Canadian friends can send a check if it is a US based account, US cash, or a Canadian Postal money order made out in US funds. It would be greatly appreciated.

Identical sets of mailing labels were made when issue 32 was sent out, so if you recently renewed, or had an address change, you will need see no change on the label. The mailing labels will be updated for the 41 issue which should go out in late May or early June. Please have your renewals to me by May 1 so I can update the computer list. And if there is a problem with your mailing label termination date, or whatever, please contact me by email or phone; that information, again, is given on the Masthead on page 2. A number of you have requested back issues and in a handwritten note in issue 32, which you just received a few weeks ago, I said that I expected to start sending those out in mid-March. It now looks like it will be late March. Between trying to fill SSE seed requests and answer a whole slew of letters which I received as a result of the article in Organic Gardening’s March issue on heirloom tomatoes, I’ve gotten behind again, time-wise. Organic Gardening gave my address in the article, but did not give the price for OTV. I have been inundated with folks wanting seeds mentioned on that article; I don’t know why they did that because the sources for the tomatoes were listed in the resource box. Some of those letters are marvelously inventive! And I received loads of letters about OTV, but since OG didn’t mention the cost, many thought it was free, or wanted information. For all of those letters I have to write individual replies, and it is taking a lot of time. What a mess!

We have two guest authors in this issue. Jim Weaver I first met about two years ago when I was invited to give a seminar on heirloom tomatoes at the Rodale Research Institute in Kutztown, PA. As I was preparing my talk I looked out the up the driveway came a bicycle rider with a neat straw hat! Only later did I find out that Jim is a Mennonite farmer and, as he explained it to me, he doesn’t take the horse and buggy unless the distance from his home is over ten miles; the distance from his home to Rodale was 9.5 miles, so he rode his bike! Jim’s infectious enthusiasm and wit was a breath of fresh air, and I laughed myself silly when he confessed that he really doesn’t like tomatoes…to eat. I had an opportunity to visit Jim’s 70 acre farm and since he didn’t expect me that night, I was hosted by his lovely wife Alma; Jim and his kids were out in the fields (he and Alma have 7 children). What I remember most was Alma’s flower garden…a square garden planted to resemble a quilt. Various sections were blocks of flowers and the juxtaposition of different colors and flower forms was absolutely spectacular. And I remember the fat cats, but none of them had names. Alma said, “Oh, we just call that one the orange cat, or that one the black cat”. I guess that surprised me. They have a greenhouse and a roadside stand where they specialize in heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, Indian corn and winter squash. And Alma prepares all sorts of pepper jellies and other goodies, which they also sell. One of the mail highlights of their year are their annual Chili Pepper and Heirloom Tomato Field Days, which this fall are scheduled for September 5th and 6th. I know Jim is growing about 125 hot pepper varieties, but I don’t know how many heirloom tomato varieties. When I was at his farm he had prepared box after box of the most gorgeous heirloom tomatoes I’ve ever seen, to be delivered to Emmaus the next day for Organic Gardening’s taste testing. The results were written up in an article by Rob Cardillo. If you expect to be in the Kutztown area around September 5th and 6th, 1997, I know you would have a great time at their place. Jim’s phone number is 610-682-6094 if you need directions and the like. I’m so glad he was able to share with us in his article a bit about the Mennonites and their tradition of seed saving and their history.

And while I was staying at Rodale I looked through the guest book at the home where I was staying and recognized many names; one of them was Jim Tjepkema, whose name I recognized as a listed SSE member. Two years ago Jim called me and asked if I would grow out some Bulgarian peppers he had obtained on a trip to Bulgaria and offer them through SSE. I said I would, and we got to know each other a bit better. Jim has been a member of SSE for 14 years and currently offers over 100 different varieties of seed. He is a self-employed crop consultant to vegetable growers and has a particular interest in sustainable agriculture. His 1994 trip to Bulgaria was under the auspices of the Volunteers for Overseas Cooperative Assistance. And I’m glad he has written about a very important topic…that of what the individual home gardener can do to preserve rare plants.

Craig has written an article about his tomato selections for this growing season and an article about the top heirloom tomatoes as determined by numbers of listings in the 1997 SSE Annual Yearbook. While I have written the article on seed sources and our OTV seed offerings for 1997 and the C and C’s column, as I usually do.

We recently mentioned that our tomato friend Any Smith, who has written several articles for us, has a new book out on Ketchup (don’t remember if he used that spelling), and we gave all the information. And now we have another OTV subscriber with a new book, William Woys Weaver is a food historian and has written several books about Pennsylvania Dutch Cookery. I am especially eager to see his latest effort….a book about heirloom vegetables. It is called Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, published by Henry Holt and Co, and the ISBN number is 0-8050-4025-0. The book is expected to reach bookstores in late May, or thereabouts. There will be many color pictures and line drawings, and having seen some of Will’s past efforts, I expect this book to be a treat.

I usually write an article about my selections for the summer season, but this year I don’t know what I’m doing! Mother is doing well in the adult home, but her home, where all my gardens are, has been sold. I will have access to my gardens and field for my tomatoes this summer, but I don’t yet know if water from the house will be available. Without water I can’t go ahead and plant; that’s much too risky in this climate. The heat was left on in the house all winter, and I need to confirm with the new owners that the water system made it through the winter OK, but I just haven’t done that yet. If I don’t have my tomatoes I will be very upset, but I have faith that I’ll find a spot somewhere. What I do know is that if I do plant, I will be cutting way back on the number of varieties I plant. I simply can’t continue harvesting the seed from 150-200 varieties, let alone taking care of all of them. I’m not getting younger and the arthritis is not getting better. Another consideration is that I now feel that I have become a mini-seed company for SSE members. A very low percentage of the seed I send out is being reoffered through the SSE Annual Yearbook. And the whole purpose of preserving varieties is for folks to receive the seed and increase it and relist it in the SSE. So, I have decided to not grow out my 1992 seed for increase. I have been on a five year cycle for growouts, where it is now time to do the 1992 seed plus any other varieties that I am low on. So, I will slowly decrease my offerings in SSE as the years progress, as varieties are not grown out. Of course I will still plant those varieties that I personally love, and new varieties that I have discovered. Right now I have some seeds of a Bulgarian tomato that Andy Smith’s son sent from Bulgaria. And I have some seeds that Adrianna Heckiert got for me from Poland when she went back over Christmas break to work as a ski instructor at her parents’ ski resort in Poland. Adrianna is a student of mine. She was so upset after Christmas because the seeds were confiscated from her at Newark Airport when she went through customs. Now that is ridiculous because it is perfectly legal to import into the US small amounts of clean seeds. But what really got her steamed was the confiscation of her Polish beer that she was carrying with her! Not to worry, her grandmother obtained more seeds and sent them along. And I have a few other new types. For the past few years a friend in England, Ulrike Paradine, facilitates my getting new varieties from two French seed companies…but nothing has arrived yet because they are late in sending varieties over her. So I will report in the June OTV issue what happened with the water situation, and if I’m growing, I’ll tell you some of the varieties I’m growing.

Lastly, I’d like to thank Craig and his wife for helping out with OTV by sending out issues 32 and 33 from Raleigh, NC. I’ve done it for the past three years, but this time I graciously accepted his offer to help because this time of year is just plain crazy for me. I often spend up to 20 hours per week just on SSE requests, and it’s very difficult to meet my academic teaching obligations plus deal with SSE and OTV at the same time. So thanks so much you guys….I really appreciate it. Also, we’ve had an offer for someone to do a web page for us, and I’ll update you on that in the next issue. And finally, someone has approached us, very tentatively, about the possibility of converting Off The Vine to a magazine about heirloom vegetables and/or tomatoes. This would definitely not be the low cost Xeroxed affair you are now receiving. If you have any thoughts about this possibility, please share them with us.

Craig and I hope all of you have a wondrous spring and that the tomatoes are all winners. If you wish to correspond with either of us, our email addresses are given in the Masthead on page 2, as well as our home addresses. I also list my phone numbers. It’s best to reach me at my work number until summer, when either number will do.

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I wish there were dozens more of these - I wish we had continued for many more years. But - alas, we didn’t, so we are now on the home stretch. Seven articles remain to be posted after this one. I am so happy we did this newsletter, and even happier that I decided to make it available for all to read!