The Seeds are all Planted. Greens are Transplanted. Here's what I am growing...

Cell of Bright Lights chard ready to separate into individual cells

A typical season (since I dove into heirlooms in 1987) would mean 5 or 6 plug flats, all 50 cells filled with seeds. This season is now so clearly different - 2 plug flats, one of which less than half full (the greens plantings). A few days ago I planted tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and basil. That’s it - my 2024 garden is now well underway, including varieties that will be in my back yard and the Veterans Healing Farm Flag Garden, with a few planted to bring to local events. I’ve also separated and transplanted the greens that were seeded a few weeks ago into individual cells in a plug flat. It is the last day of February - I’d call this progress.

Here is the list and seed lot number of what I planted:

• Abraham Brown T23-4 - for my garden

• Polish T23-5 - maybe my garden, maybe VHF garden

• Big Sandy T23-7 - for the VHF garden

• Lucky Cross T23-8 - for my garden, and perhaps the VHF garden

• Brandywine T23-13 - maybe my garden, maybe VHF garden. If T11-7, 11-49 and 11-60 germinates, one of them could be in my yard, the others at the VHF

• Cherokee Purple T22-3 - both gardens. If T11-51 germinates, that will be in my yard

• Cherokee Chocolate T22-2 - both gardens. If T11-13 germinates, that will be in my yard

• Cherokee Green T23-22 - backup

• Earl T21-5 - one or both gardens

• Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom T23-10 - my garden

• Cherokee Green T16-142 - my garden

• Lucky Bling T23-24 - not sure

• Mary’s Favorite Yellow T23-27 - not sure

• Captain Lucky T23-173 - both gardens

• Potato Leaf Yellow T23-36 - both gardens

• Sun Gold hybrid JSS packet - my garden

• Egg Yolk T23-46 - my garden

• Mexico Midget T21-70 - my garden

• Dwarf Choemato X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy F1 hybrid T23-123 - my garden

• Dwarf Blazing Beauty X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy F1 hybrid T23-124 - my garden

• Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy F1 hybrid T23-125 - my garden

• BrandyFred X Polish F1 hybrid T23-126 - just a check to see if the cross took.

• Fairytale Angel T23-132 - VHF garden

• Lillian Rose T23-133 - not sure

• Fairytale Fruit T23-131 - not sure

• Nepal T23-150 - VHF garden

• Red Brandywine T18-11 - VHF garden

• Sample sent to me to confirm whether dwarf

• Uluru Ochre T23-52 - to share

• Dwarf Gloria’s Treat T23-60 - to share

• Dwarf Eagle Smiley T23-199 - to share

• BrandyFred T23-88 - to share

• Dwarf Beauty King T23-97 - to share

• Dwarf Wild Spudleaf T23-111 - to share

• Dwarf Saucy Mary T23-110 - to share

• Sweet Scarlet Dwarf T23-117 - to share

• Dwarf Purple Heartthrob 7583 - to share

• Dwarf Chocolate Heartthrob 7577 - to share

• Shishito pepper T23-3 - my garden

• Pinata pepper T22-9 - my garden

• Midnight Lightning eggplant T23-3 - not sure

• Mardi Gras eggplant F23-1 - not sure

• Skinny Twilight eggplant T23-4 - not sure

• Twilight Lightning eggplant T23-2 - not sure (I will plant 2 of these 4 in my garden)

• Various basil - Devotion, Prospera, Genovese, Caramel Chianti, and saved from the WNC Arboretum - 6 cells, a pinch in each - I will have some in containers in my yard

Separated chard seedling all tucked in deep

Reiterating thoughts on both gardens: For the Veterans Healing Farm garden (VHF), there will be big changes from last season. The farm has to relocate, so there is no use of the greenhouse. We will have use of the flag garden on the other side of Shaw’s Creek for this growing season. Current plans are to put the plants into prepared straw bales, 2 plants per bale. We hope for 30 bales/60 plants, focusing on those varieties that combine flavor with productivity. The varieties I planted will cover our needs. We will also have a few bales ready for varieties for the farm volunteers. The main challenge will be providing adequate water. The tomato team will surely rise to the challenge!

2 of the three transplanted greens flats - spinach, kale, collards, lettuce, chard

For my garden, I plan to put one plant in each bale, with 12 bales for tomatoes. I may have a few driveway containers for experimental varieties. Anything I planted that won’t be grown out are extras to distribute at my events.

The above does indeed represent a significant change, and I look forward to have the ability to focus more on each plant and share techniques and care during the weekly Instagram Lives. It should also leave plenty of time for me to complete the book on the Dwarf Tomato Project.

While I am planting seeds, Sue is down in the cats’ downstairs room working on a quilt

It's Planting Time! Here are my choices. And - some milestones. And March events.

Greens planted on Feb 6, getting some filtered sun outdoors Feb 23

With just a week remaining in February, it is time to get my seed planting plans in place. I already have some things up and growing, which I will show and describe below.

Let’s start with some milestones.

• Epic Tomatoes was published in December 2014. It’s been 10 years since its release!

• My first significant garden was in 1981 - 43 years ago. That’s a lot of pounding stakes into the ground, dealing with dirty fingernails, feet with ground in clay soil, and tomato foliage-stained T shirts!

• I joined the Seed Savers Exchange in 1986 - 38 years ago. No wonder my heirloom seed collection grew to the size it now is.

• The SSE was formed in 1975. That means next year is its Golden Anniversary - 50 years for the great idea and incredibly relevant organization.

• I received, and first grew (and named) Cherokee Purple in 1990. That is 34 years ago.

• I’ve grown Cherokee Purple 52 times, Cherokee Chocolate (which appeared in my garden in 1995) 40 times, Cherokee Green (which appeared in my garden in 1997) 28 times, Brandywine (Sudduth strain which I received from Roger Wentling in 1987) 45 times, and Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom 30 times - these are the varieties I’ve grown the most often by a wide margin.

Time certainly flies when you’re having fun - the speed that the above transpired can only mean I am having a blast!

Now, on to seeds planted, or planned to be so soon.

My first 14 cells, planted on February 6, included spiderwort (a slow germinator, still waiting for it) Bright Lights chard, an heirloom Collard, a smooth leaf Kale, the spinach varieties Acadia, Space, Seaside, and Giant Nobel, and lettuces Magenta, Cherokee, Cimarron, Gabriella and Green Ice. The seeds germinated quickly and mostly well (a few varieties are a bit old and were no shows), and are getting their first taste of outdoors and sun today.

As for tomatoes, I always like to go back and germinate some really old seed of important varieties. Sadly, the list of potential candidates is much smaller this year. Today I planted Cherokee Chocolate from 2011 (T11-13), Cherokee Purple from 2011 (T11-51), and Brandywines from 2011 - T11-7, 49 and 60. These are the oldest vials, closest to originally sent seed, that could germinate. for Brandywine, 11-7 is 4 plantings removed from source seed, and 11-49 and 11-60 are 5 plantings removed. Cherokee Chocolate 11-13 is only 2 plantings removed from discovery, and Cherokee Purple 11-51 is 3 plantings removed.

At this point, it seems the 12 tomato plants destined for my main tomato strawbale garden, 1 plant per bale, are Abraham Brown, Polish, Lucky Cross, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, Cherokee Green, Captain Lucky, Potato Leaf Yellow, Sun Gold F1 hybrid, and Egg Yolk - and either Earl, Mary’s Yellow or Rainbow Bling. I will have Mexico Midget in a container in a different location, and am pondering growing out 1 each of the new hybrids I made last year at the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse. For all of these plants, I will be going to most recently saved seed.

Varieties I will start for the Farm straw bales in addition to the above are Earl, Big Sandy, Nepal, Red Brandywine, and. Fairytale Angel. I did want to have a few plants at my home to donate or give to local gardens, so am also going to start Lillian Rose, Fairytale Fruit, Uluru Ochre, Gloria’s Treat, Eagle Smiley, BrandyFred, Beauty King, Wild Spudleaf, Saucy Mary, Sweet Scarlet Dwarf, Purple Heartthrob, and Chocolate Heartthrob. All of these will be from most recently saved seeds. Filling the 50 cell plug flat will be peppers Shishito and Pinata, eggplants Midnight Lightning and Twilight Lightning and some downy mildew resistant Basil, as well as some Genovese.

Events for March

• March 4 - Containers and Strawbales, Zoom for a PA library

• March 16 - Veterans Healing Farm, US Garden History, Johnson Farm on Rt 191 Hendersonville, 10 AM, free

• March 19 - Containers and Strawbales, Hendersonville Library 5:30 PM, free

• March 20 - Tomatoes, Sonoma CA garden group Zoom, details to follow

• March 27 - Containers and Strawbales, Sow True Seeds, Asheville, 5:30 - link to follow (fee event)

first flowers are crocus - we did not plant these (thanks birds or squirrels!)

Seed Sending Update, Gardening Thoughts, Latest Events Schedule and more...

Last time Sue and I were on cross country skis in a big snowstorm in Raleigh 24 years ago

January is done, all gone in the blink of an eye. That’s 8.3% of 2024 now behind us. The weather here has been pretty consistently cold and wet - no snow (sadly), but it certainly feels better to be snuggled indoors. Growing season is right around the corner, though - that is clear from the new growth on the hellebores and the emerging growing tips of tulips and daffodils, and swelling buds on the quince bushes.

Here’s a series of updates on topics noted in the blog header

1. Satisfying all seed requests. All done! My 2023 seed request folder is empty. My seed supply is now uniformly very low. I won’t be able to fill any seed requests until the coming fall - and it will be much, much smaller due to the low number of tomato plants I will be growing this year. For all those who got (or will soon be getting) seeds from me, any donations you would like to make are welcome - the donate button at this link goes to Paypal.

2. Gardening thoughts for the coming year: Our garden will be very different from nearly all other gardens. The goal is 12 tomato plants - 12 tomato varieties. I haven’t completely settled on the varieties, but Cherokee Purple, Captain Lucky and Sun Gold will be three of them. I think I will skip bell peppers and have just Shishito and a Jalapeno. There are likely to be two eggplants. There will be cucumbers, and lots of bush snap beans. I am pondering having ONE tomato plant per straw bale to maximize production. This would all add up to 20 straw bales total. To get things started, I hope to get some greens seeds started indoors soon. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants will be seeded on March 1, with a target plant out date of May 1. I hope to get straw bales conditioning in early April.

3. Gardening at the Veterans Healing Farm: Recent news is that the Farm has to relocate. We will not have access to the greenhouse, but will instead put the tomatoes in the flag garden on the other side of Shaw Creek. My tomato team is intact from last year, and I will be gathering them soon to plan things out. We will plant in straw bales, and my latest thoughts are 10 varieties, 6 plants each - about half of last year’s plant and variety number.

Digging in the garden with my dad Wilfred in West Chester, PA, 34 years ago. This was the garden that I first grew the unnamed purple heirloom sent to me that I named Cherokee Purple.

Finally, below is the latest event schedule - it has been growing over the last few weeks. I am not sure which of these may be open for registration beyond the organizing group, but will let you know as each approaches.

• January 16 - WI MG Zoom, topic Strawbale and container gardening, 7:30 PM eastern (closed event, no wider attendance possible) (completed)

• January 18 - The Growing Space podcast recording (my friend Erin Hostetler, The Patio Gardener’s new podcast) - I’ll let you know when this runs and how to listen (recorded - will air in the spring - more info to follow)

• February 3 - central IL MG Zoom on Tomatoes - time - 10 AM eastern - closed event, no wider attendance possible) (completed)

• February 10 - Greater Greenville (SC) MG SC symposium - giving two talks (tomatoes and containers/strawbales). Event requires registration - see the link. It is apparently sold out. (completed)

• February 21 - 56th Annual Winter Vegetable Conference, Asheville NC - Dwarf Tomato Breeding Project - Event requires registration - see the link. (completed)

• February 21 - Hardy Plant Society, mid Atlantic group Zoom, talking tomatoes, 6:30 PM. Not open for others to join (completed)

• March 4 - Peters Township Public Library, McMurray PA Zoom - straw bale and container gardening - 6 PM. Not sure if it is open for others to join.

• March 16 - Veterans Healing Farm, History of Gardening in America - 10 AM, Johnson Farm off of Haywood Road

• March 19 - Hendersonville Public Library - Gardening with Containers and Strawbales - 5:30 PM, free

• March 20 - Sonoma County CA MG Zoom - tomatoes - 8 PM eastern. Not sure if others can join.

• March 27 - Sow True Seeds - containers and straw bales - 5 PM - I will post registration link when available.

• April 5 - Veterans Healing Farm - Strawbales and containers, at the farm on Yale Road - more info to follow

• April 5 - Tomato Talk - live discussion at 7 PM eastern.

• April 6 - Central Oregon MG Zoom - tomatoes - 1 PM Oregon time, 4 PM eastern. Not sure if others can join.

• April 8 - VA Beach MG Zoom - tomatoes - time TBD. Not sure if others can join.

• April 20 - Morganton - containers and straw bales - much more info to come

• May 14 -Veterans Healing Farm - tomatoes - Yale Road location - more info to follow

• September 12 - Brevard train depot, strawbales and containers - more info to follow

• October 9 - WNC MG Symposium - Hendersonville - tomatoes; time TBD.

• I am also working on an article for The American Gardener on tomato staking and pruning that will run in the spring.

Possible participation in other podcasts, such as Joe Lamp’l, possible additional workshops at Sow True Seeds, and unforeseen requests are all possible - check back for updates.

As for the Dwarf Tomato Project book, now that seed requests are fulfilled, I hope to dive into that project very soon. I want to write it (I NEED to write it), and it will get done - eventually. I plan to self publish the book.

On into February we all go! Keep following my Instagram posts (@nctomatoman), and keep reading my blog. I should start Instagram Live sessions some time in March. Any questions - just shoot me an email - nctomatoman@gmail.com - and I do read and respond to comments on this blog.

Picture of my dad, Wilfred, in his scout uniform, age 10. Picture found when we were packing for our move from Raleigh to Hendersonville in 2019. My dad was a major influence on my love of gardening.

Hello 2024! Initial plans, activities and thoughts to kick off the year.

back yard on a chilly, windy Jan 1, 2024.

Happy New Year! I am not sure where 2023 went, but here we are, like it or not!

I really don’t do resolutions - there is no need because I have a planning/task driven tendency (for better or for worse) which keeps me moving forward. With age and retirement the “must do” list really does get much shorter. Whatever doesn’t get done today just gets moved to tomorrow - which I suppose is just another way to think of procrastination! For example, as I set to embark on getting envelopes stuffed with requested seeds, that perfectly depicts procrastination - I had hoped to have all seeds sent by Christmas. Let’s call it by mid January instead!

My thoughts about 2024 are pretty relaxed. If there is a major objective, it is to make significant progress on the Dwarf Tomato Project book. I’ve got a set of garden workshops in my calendar - I’ll outline them at the end of this blog entry. There will be involvement with the Veterans Healing Farm, the specifics to be determined. I will have a garden, but despite the disbelief expressed by many of my friends, it will represent a significant reduction in size and complexity. It just feels like time to do so. I do expect to continue with Instagram Lives from my yard, with frequency and timing to be determined. I expect to do garden planning in January, seed starting in early March, strawbale prep in early April, and planting in early May. I will blog on my specific plans (varieties, crops) later on in the winter.

We will take a week to go to Ocracoke in May with our kayaks - we miss that little island so much and it will be good to return (though we realize it will be haunted by the ghosts of our 2 chocolate labs, Buddy and Mocha, that accompanied us there for so many vacations some years ago).

Mostly, I look forward to another year of hiking with Sue our dogs, lots of hours sitting in our comfy chairs listening to great music and interesting podcasts and audiobooks. We will seek things to watch (we are on the last season of Slow Dogs - not the best thing we’ve seen, but quite good).

Fall will likely see left knee replacement surgery, which I had scheduled for last December but decided to delay. It has to happen sooner or later if I want to keep gardening and hiking.

My last thoughts as we all embark on 2024 - I so appreciate having so many gardening friends and such support for my endeavors. Not saving tons of seed, not leading a complex breeding project, not ending up with a significant list of seed requests by the end of 2024 will be a big change, but I am ready for it. It is encouraging to see in many of my younger friends the seeds of continuing and furthering some of the things I was deeply involved in, putting their own personal twists on things. That is perhaps the most important thing of all.

Just a small part of my reorganized seed collection. I’ll be going through these to fulfill seed requests and carry out seed staring (when the time is right)

As promised, here is a list of events I have on my calendar. I am not sure which of these may be open for registration beyond the organizing group, but will let you know as each approaches.

January 16 - WI MG Zoom, topic Strawbale and container gardening, 7:30 PM eastern (closed event, no wider attendance possible) (completed)

January 18 - The Growing Space podcast recording (my friend Erin Hostetler, The Patio Gardener’s new podcast) - I’ll let you know when this runs and how to listen (recorded - will air in the spring - more info to follow)

February 3 - central IL MG Zoom on Tomatoes - time TBD - I will confirm whether it is open to others to join - 10 AM

February 10 - Greater Greenville (SC) MG SC symposium - giving two talks (tomatoes and containers/strawbales). Event requires registration - see the link. It is apparently sold out.

February 21 - 56th Annual Winter Vegetable Conference, Asheville NC - Dwarf Tomato Breeding Project - Event requires registration - see the link.

February 21 - Hardy Plant Society, mid Atlantic group Zoom, talking tomatoes, 6:30 PM. Not sure if it is open for others to join

March 4 - Peters Township Public Library, McMurray PA Zoom - straw bale and container gardening - 6 PM. Not sure if it is open for others to join.

March 16 - Veterans Healing Farm, History of Gardening in America - 10 AM, Johnson Farm off of Haywood Road

March 19 - Hendersonville Public Library - Gardening with Containers and Strawbales - 5:30 PM, free

March 20 - Sonoma County CA MG Zoom - tomatoes - 8 PM eastern

March 27 - Sow True Seeds - containers and straw bales - 5 PM - I will post registration link when available.

April 5 - Veterans Healing Farm - Strawbales and containers, at the farm on Yale Road - more info to follow

April 6 - Central Oregon MG Zoom - tomatoes - 1 PM Oregon time, 4 PM eastern.

April 8 - VA Beach MG Zoom - tomatoes - time TBD

April 20 - Morganton - containers and straw bales - much more info to come

May 14 -Veterans Healing Farm - tomatoes - Yale Road location - more info to follow

September 12 - Brevard train depot, strawbales and containers - more info to follow

October 9 - WNC MG Symposium - Hendersonville - tomatoes; time TBD.

Possible participation in other podcasts, such as Joe Lamp’l, possible additional workshops at Sow True Seeds, and unforeseen requests are all possible - check back for updates.

Flowerless perennial flower garden on Jan 1, 2024