There is so much to blog about, I can't decide. Gotta start somewhere! The 2019 Garden - mid June status

The tomatoes are in full bloom! This unusual one is a tiny cherry tomato, from one fruit plucked from a plant growing in front of the Mackeys Ferry Peanut shop on Route 64 last year.

Enough with events and product reviews (though I love to do events, and am happy to try out new products). It’s gardening time! There is really so much going on out there that it is hard to stop gardening and start sharing results and observations.

First, some data - at last count (I add things all the time), there are 123 tomato plants, 10 eggplant plants, 35 pepper plants, a ground cherry, two types of summer squash, two types of bush green beans, 2 types of cucumbers and one type of pole beans up and happily growing. The garden was planted in two major efforts - indeterminate tomatoes in straw bales on April 26, and all of the rest on May 15.

As of mid June, the indeterminate tomatoes are approaching 4 feet tall and dwarf tomatoes are 2 feet tall on average. Pretty much everything out there is in blossom, and most tomatoes set fruit. The weather has been “unusual” - much of May hot and dry, much of June wet, relatively cool and when not raining, delightful.

Full driveway garden, taken standing in the bed of my truck

My days are starting to fall into a regular, delightful pattern. Daily chores are watering (unless it has rained), examination of all plants for blemished foliage (fungal infections, followed by removal of damaged leaves), tying to the stakes, and close observations. The weekly chore is feeding. I’ve also done the first dozen crosses (more about that in a future blog).

I am excited about so much of what I am growing this year. This is a garden with multiple research efforts, and a major culinary focus. It will be fun to describe each general project; there are 2 involving peppers, one project focusing on eggplants, and continuation of the dwarf breeding project, as well as carrying out new crosses to make new families, or just explore genetics. I am growing several family heirlooms sent to me for evaluation (what an honor to be able to do that!).

I will be therefore blogging much more frequently to get everyone caught up. By the way, I feature one plant each day, posted on Instagram, but also cross posted to Twitter and my Facebook author page; be sure to look for it (I am @nctomatoman on IG and Twitter, and my FB author page is under Craig LeHoullier).

There are a few other surprises ahead - in fact, my weekly meeting to discuss them with my main helper (my daughter Sara) is just about to begin!

Butterfly weed grown from seed collected from a neighbor’s plant

Gardeners, Seed Savers, my Seedling customers - come to Durham tomorrow evening! Seed Savers Exchange meet up...

Tomato diversity from a 2018 August harvest

Imagine what our gardens would consist of had Kent and Diane Whealy not conceived of and launched the Seed Savers Exchange in 1975. The great diversity we enjoy today would be but a dream and our gardens would likely be quite boring. When I discovered and joined the organization in 1986 it truly changed my life. The thousands of active members trading varieties through the exchange over the years changed the world.

Tomorrow evening, between 4-7 PM, Heather Haynes, SSE Director of Development, is hosting a meet up with free appetizers in Durham at Local 22 Kitchen and Bar. I will be there throughout, and Heather and I would love it if local lifetime, active and former SSE members, gardeners and seed savers join us to meet and chat and find out about the current and future direction and activities of the SSE. Bring your questions, ideas, and energy. The Facebook event details can be found here. We hope you can make it - it’s be fun (and, I am now convinced that gardeners will save the world!)

View of my 2019 garden a few days ago.

New Product Review - Gardener's Victory Self-Watering Planter Garden Kit.

I really enjoy the opportunities to test new gardening products. The fine Gardener’s Supply Company asked me to give their new Victory Self-Watering Planter Garden Kit a thorough test (I am also testing the Vertex Lifetime Tall Tomato Cage; stay tuned for my report on that product soon).

The Victory Garden kits (I am testing two of them) arrived in large boxes.

Unopened product box

Upon opening the box, all of the components were nicely packed and easily removed.

Open box

All components removed - arrived in perfect condition

Assembly was very simple, and involved insertion of the two side bars, slipping the top piece over the bars to secure them, inserting the wick and placing the grow bag on top, mixing some of the supplied fertilizer into the potting mix and filling the bag. The planting mix was well watered and one tomato seedling deeply planted. The planter is suitable for a determinate or dwarf tomato type that will be contained by the support system. I planted the determinate tomato Taxi in one planter, and the dwarf growing variety Dwarf Sweet Sue in the other.

Brackets installed, growing bag installed

Planting mix combined with fertilizer added

Determinate tomato variety Taxi planted

Next, came installation of the support brackets. Plastic pieces are clicked into the brackets (a far superior and easier to install design than a previous version of the planter from a few years ago), and wire supports easily inserted into them to create a “cage” for the tomato plant.

All ready to go! Determinate tomato Taxi looking happy.

The openings on either side of the supports are used to fill the lower reservoir with water (when full, excess water exits slots at the lower part of the planter). The self watering nature is very useful, and helps minimize plant stress which leads to blossom end rot.

The first planter took around 25 minutes from opening the box to the completion of assembly. Familiarity reduced this to 15 minutes for the second device.

The next review will occur in a few months when the effectiveness of the planter can be fully evaluated. Though not inexpensive, this is a planting system that is easy to assemble, high quality, attractive and robust; once purchased, it should work well for many years. So far I love it, and am very optimistic that the final report will be stellar.

Second planter with the dwarf tomato variety Sweet Sue planted.

We are in the calm before the storm (of activity). A trip to Connecticut and Cape Cod, an upcoming plant giveaway, and...FINALLY! .. gardening time

Such a treat to be here to help with this annual event!

We’ve been away for a week but our time has been so packed and varied - yet, in spots, so relaxing - that it feels more like a month. It’s not over yet; we have one more important step to complete today, but if flight times hold, we will be reunited with Koda and Marlin, Sam and Pico, late tonight, and asleep in our own bed!

Sue and I were shown great hospitality and kindness by our hosts Nikki and Eliot at White Flower Farm during our visit there. I was invited to their annual Tomato celebration, and provided three tomato themed workshops to wonderful large audiences of fellow gardening enthusiasts. Since WFF was offering 150 different tomato varieties at their plant sale (all looking healthy and spectacular), including half dozen of our Dwarf Tomato Project types and many of my indeterminate favorites, I strove to act as a travel guide for those coming to shop. Litchfield is a delightful town, and Sue and I spent hours walking around the streets, seeing all of the lilacs, azaleas and fruit trees in bloom and marveling at the historical houses, many from the 1700s, beautifully restored.

Sharing info with fellow tomato enthusiasts

My favorite moments of such events are meeting gardeners with whom I have connections on social networking, email, seed sharing or past events. Chris, John, so many others - it was so nice to catch up, put faces and voices and personalities to screen names and posts.

The best, though - and perhaps one of those defining aspects of involvement in heirloom vegetables - was getting to meet Walt and Sue Swokla. Walt sent me his grandmother’s heirloom tomato, and the story of the variety - as well as seed for the variety itself - is available at the Victory Seeds website; Cancelo Family Heirloom, a delicious, large pink heart shaped tomato that is a joy to grow and eat. To add to the magic, it turns out that Walt’s Sue and my Sue are both nurses, and Sue Swokla grew up just a few streets from me, in Pawtucket Rhode Island. We therefore got to share much more than gardening lore - we got to go back down memory lane a bit, and now the four of us have the basis of a new friendship that will go forward for the rest of our lives.

A most amazing chance encounter - Sue and Walt Swokla and I, with so many connections we weren’t aware of prior to this meeting

Our Cape Cod trip is another matter, and was more about reconnecting with family and a few days of R and R, rather than gardening….so we will leave those details out for the moment.

What happens next in the world of tomatoes? While we were away, the weather was pretty brutal from what we heard and read, and I am so thrilled that our daughter Caitlin kept everything thriving via her constant care. Saturday will be a big day - all remaining seedlings will be divided in half with part going to Southwest Library in Durham, part going to Cameron Village library in Raleigh. Plantapalooza will have two locations, starting at 9 AM in Durham and 10:30 in Raleigh. Come and get a plant - mostly tomatoes, some peppers and eggplants - the main point being all remaining seedlings need to find homes. I will be attending the Raleigh event and have books with me to sign and sell if anyone is interested….of course, I will take questions too.

Sue, during our walk on a wonderful trail in Wellfleet, MA, Cape Cod

Once seedlings are out of the driveway, my immediate need is to ensure everything that is planted is well watered and fed….the planted grow bags will be relocated to the end of the driveway, then organized by plant growth next to staking support containers filled with spent potting mix. The final layout will be fixed, additional straw bales will be purchased, positioned and treated for planting with beans, cukes and squash. With no traveling events happening until August, it is time to roll up the sleeves….and GARDEN!

Blogging from Ocracoke Island - taking stock

Time passes differently at Ocracoke…..it does strange things. All it takes is the ferry ride from Cedar Island to this tiny dot of land to send me into a slower pace. It has been a really busy last few months, so the ability to unplug and relax is deeply needed, and appreciated. This is Koda’s first Ocracoke adventure - Marlin gets to spend a week with our daughter, Caitlin (enjoying - I hope! - handling some seedling sales and caring for the plants and driveway garden).

Somehow, most of my speaking events are behind me. Sue and I loved our trip to Washington DC, and it was great meeting many new gardening friends at my US Botanic Garden talk on container and straw bale gardening. Just ahead is a mid May trip to White Flower Farm in Litchfield, Connecticut, after which we will catch up with family for a few days at Cape Cod. A few mid July talks (Museum of History in Raleigh and Duke Gardens) and a mid August event at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania will put a wrap on a really enjoyable set of trips and talks. Details for all upcoming events can be found here.

Koda relaxing on the porch, waiting for a long walk

Seedling sales have been such fun - there have been so many visits from long time garden friends and customers, many going back to our late 1990 “Dixie Cup” debut at the Raleigh Farmers Market. We will have plants until mid May, and I am hoping those in the Raleigh area take advantage of some unusual varieties - Honor Bright, Variegated, the bizarre yellow leaf “Surprise” (one of my discoveries), Velvet Red, Wapsinicon Peach, Peach Blow Sutton, and lots of Dwarf Tomato Project releases, as well as free in-project plants. Drop me an email - nctomatoman@gmail.com - to set up a time and date to get some plants - I will send you the details.

As for my own garden, I managed to get 10 straw bales prepped and planted with indeterminate tomato varieties before our trip. These are the tomatoes I chose for the bales: JD Special C Tex, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Cherokee Purple, Stump of the World, Yellow Brandywine, Green Giant, Cherokee Chocolate, Casey’s Pure Yellow, Lucky Cross, Indian Stripe, Matchless, Andrew Rahart Jumbo Red, Redman Giant, Egg Yolk, Aker’s West Virginia, Peak of Perfection, Azoychka, Sun Gold, Cherokee Green and Nepal. I have my reasons for growing each of these, varying between need for seed, historic research from USDA seed stock, old favorites, or the most important aspect - flavor!

Next will be planting the remaining indeterminates, as well as determinate and dwarf tomatoes, in grow bags…….planting peppers and eggplants in grow bags, and prepping a few more bales for direct seeding of cucumbers, bush beans and squash. This will mean reorganization of the driveway, as well as my annual plant donations, date and location to be determined. This also sets the tone for the rest of the spring, into summer and fall….gardening, observing, reporting, blended with speaking and writing. It is, altogether, a delightful agenda, which will be liberally sprinkled with long dog walks in the woods, biking and kayaking with Sue.

Sue walking Koda at Springer Point, Ocracoke Island NC

Transplanting, seedlings, podcasts, and events...oh my!

Greens! We are loving salads and stir fries with greens we planted last October and survived all winter under floating row cover

There is just a whole lot going on right now.

First - a few podcasts….my latest with Joe Lamp’l can be found here. I cherish my opportunities to talk gardening with Joe - hope you find something useful in our conversation!

Next - the Open Source Seed Initiative interviewed Patrina and I on our Dwarf Tomato Project work - that podcast can be found here. What a joy it was to be on the line with Patrina - and to think back on the project that over the 14 years of its existence has placed 106 new, stable, dwarf-stature tomatoes into seed catalogs. Pretty much the entire collection can be found from Victory Seed Company on this page. Though the project is “formally closed”, mop up work continues, and we will probably be at 150 or so releases when all is said and done.

Finally - I’ve had two info-packed, fun conversations with Daryl Pulis on her America’s Home Grown Veggies podcast - episodes can be found here. I value my long friendship with Daryl, and love the way that she takes me places along our gardening journeys. All of these podcasts touch on different aspects, and I am grateful to all of the hosts for providing the opportunity to me to share what I’ve learned through the years, as well as to learn from them.

our backyard cherry tree quickly popped open with the spring weather this week.

OK - now on to events. St. Louis was simply wonderful, and being able to present at Bowood Farms as well as the Home and Garden Show was very special. Detroit was similarly enjoyable, and I got to hear and meet gardening friend Carol Michel and Jessica Walliser, both so knowledgeable and talented. I also got to meet some old friends, some who I’ve only bumped into on social networking, and made lots of new ones as well.

Next up are a series of local events - the Sandhills, two at Durham libraries, The Forest at Duke, Apex NC - then comes the US Botanical Garden in DC. All of my upcoming talks - dates, times, locations, details, registration (if needed) and cost - can be found here. Please consider attending one of the local events - each attendee gets a packet of seeds, handouts, a chance to purchase my books - and if between mid April and mid May, a chance to purchase seedlings.

Making great progress on transplanting, but last night and tonight’s frosts mean huddling in the garage

Last topic - and a big one - seedlings! It is almost time. As with recent years, seedlings will be for sale from about mid April to mid May, by appointment only. Please email me at nctomatoman@gmail.com to set up a date and time to come by - I will email you back a Word document with all details.

I’ve expanded the variety list this year with tomatoes, and many of the available Dwarf Tomato Project varieties are so new that even I have not grown them yet.

Below is a selection of what could be available; it all depends upon weather and how the newly transplanted seedlings progress.

Indeterminate (tall growing) varieties

Red – Akers’s West Virginia, Andrew Rahart Jumbo Red, Federle, Red Brandywine, Nepal, Druzba, Italian Heirloom, Mexico Midget, Martino’s Roma, Bisignano #2, Reif Italian Red Heart, Velvet Red, Variegated

Pink – German Johnson, Mortgage Lifter Mullens, Stump of the World, Arkansas Traveler, Eva Purple Ball, Brandywine, Ferris Wheel, Polish, Cancelmo Family, Dester, Anna Russian (very few), Peach Blow Sutton

Purple – Cherokee Purple, Carbon, Black Cherry, JD Special C Tex, Indian Stripe, Black Krim, Black from Tula

Chocolate – Cherokee Chocolate, Japanese Trifele Black, Paul Robeson, Abraham Brown

Yellow – Hugh’s, Lillian’s Yellow, Egg Yolk, Lemon Drop, Wapsipinicon Peach

Bicolor – Lucky Cross, Little Lucky, Gold medal

Green – Cherokee Green, Green Giant, Aunt Ruby’s Green, Abraham Green

Orange – Sun Gold, Dr Wyche Yellow, Kellogg’s Breakfast, Yellow Brandywine, Yellow Oxheart

Striped – Speckled Roman, Berkeley Tie Dye, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye

White – Coyote, Great White

Dwarf (compact) growing varieties

Red – Hannah’s Prize, Maura’s Cardinal, Sarah’s Red, Sneaky Sauce

Pink – TastyWine, Bendigo Dawn, Melanie’s Ballet, Mystic Lady, Bendigo Drop

Purple – Rosella Purple, Velvet Night, Vince’s Haze

Brown – Tasmanian Chocolate, Tiger Eye, Andy’s Forty

Yellow – Egypt Yellow, Jasmine Yellow, Sweet Sue, Summer Sweet Gold

Orange – Blazing Beauty, Sunny’s Pear, Loxton Lad, Uluru Ochre, Laura’s Bounty

Bicolor – Caitydid, Wherokowhai, Russian Swirl

Green  - Beryl Beauty, Emerald Giant, Grandpa Gary’s Green

Striped – Beauty King, Firebird Sweet, Fred’s Tie Dye

White – Mr. Snow, Mandurang Moon

Peppers – variously colored sweet bells, and a selection of ornamental or other types of hot peppers – could include a few different Jalapeno, Carolina Reaper (HOT!), etc

Eggplants – a small selection from my dehybridizing work – mostly long and slender, but a few more tear drop shaped.

Ground Cherry Goldie

Dwarf Project experiments (no charge, just need some info on what results you achieve and if possible a ripe fruit or seeds) – many types, particularly dwarf Cherry varieties (Teensy family) – just ask!  Lots of fun to be had with them.

Whether it is via podcast, a trip to our driveway, an email, or a chance to speak at an upcoming event, I look forward to the many impending tomato chats that will be happening soon!

Whoops - one more thing - we are dipping our toes into fostering a dog. The fellow below is most delightful - his name is Marlin, he is probably a year old or so, loves Koda and even leaves our cats Pico and Sam be in relative peace!

Marlin doing what he does most of the time - play!

more road blogging, this time from Detroit....gardening progress

Flowering cherry making an early appearance

I’ve seen a lot of airports and hotel rooms recently, but it is worth it - last week’s wonderful experience speaking in St Louis, and tomorrow in Taylor, Michigan (near Detroit), sharing the stage with Jessica Walliser and Carol Michel. This is my last Sue-less event; she will be joining me on speaking trips to DC (mid April) and Connecticut (mid May).

All seeds for my upcoming seedling sales, donations and gardening are planted. The hardening off process is well underway, and the seedling flats are now comfortable with full sun, and temperatures into the upper 30s. So…it is time to transplant. I’ve purchased the first 10 bags of Metro Mix 360 and have a box of the 3.5 inch pots, boxes of white labels and sharpie markers all ready to go.

just one of nearly 20 containers of fall planted greens that spent the winter under floating row cover

I started pulling the plugs of densely planted seedlings and giving each cluster its own 3.5 inch pot as true leaves form and I find time to do transplanting (and night time weather begins to moderate. Below are three pictures of this technique with a plug of Bisignano #2.

with just a gentle squeeze, the plug of more than 30 seedlings pops easily out

Each plug of seedlings gets its own 3.5 inch pot - the Bisignano plug awaiting addition of planting mix

All nestled in - once all 18 cells are planted, they will get a deep watering.

This is a great way to hold quantities of seedlings until they get separated into individual seedlings. There is a far lower risk of the seedlings drying out. This works fine with eggplants and peppers - any thickly planted type of seeds.

If all goes well, transplanting into individual pots will start Sunday, and seedling availability in the Raleigh area may begin in mid April. Seedlings by appointment only; email me at nctomatoman@gmail.com for a list and details.

Next will be purchasing of some straw bales and the onset of preparation. The coming months will be a patchwork of speaking events, writing, transplanting and getting my own garden planted. Time will certainly fly…because I will be having fun!

Last but by no means least…my most recent podcast with Joe Lamp’l, recently recorded and posted, is here.

Moving some seedlings among the greens and other plants

more notes from St. Louis - anatomy of a speaking trip

Front of the Convention Center in St Louis, which hosts the Home and Garden show

Time does funny things when one is away. What felt like it would be a long stay is nearing the end. It is early Saturday morning….some ambient music (“Plumes” by Loscil) is playing on my laptop as I give this a try. (I’ve not often done “trip diary” types of blogs, and will finish this and give it a good read before - and if - I publish it).

Epic Tomatoes came out very late 2014, and sent me on my speaking adventure immediately after - so this is the 5th year of hitting the road with my gardening stories. (Time does do funny things, because it seems impossible that it’s been 5 years.) Despite averaging 20 events each year, this particular trip - speaking at the big Home and Garden show - is the most extensive in terms of time away, and number of times on the stage. I really didn’t know what to expect….some questions that I pondered on the plane flying here - “what would the stage be like - location? projection system for my slides? acoustics? typical audience (or not)? what would I do in between? how will I keep my energy and enthusiasm while giving two talks per day, alternating topics? Did I order too many books? Do I have enough seeds with me”….just a small sampling of what was whizzing around my brain.

My schedule was pretty packed, on one hand, and pretty relaxed - depending upon how one looks at it. There was a local TV spot on Thursday morning at 8, then talks at the show at noon and six. Friday - talks at noon and six. Saturday (today) - a talk at noon, then an Uber to Bowood Farms garden center for a talk at 2, then back to the show for a talk at 5:30 - then a chance to meet my friend Keith and his wife (first time in a LONG time; he lives in KC). Tomorrow - one talk at noon, then to the airport - then my own bed tomorrow night. Whew.

But that’s just a schedule - the experience that has been filling in those days is what is making this a very special trip with marvelous, indelible moments. So, following is what this has felt like, rather than what was on my to-do list.

Ready and waiting

Just after landing in St Louis on Wednesday afternoon, my host, Ellen, picked me up at the airport and brought me to the hotel, which is just across the street from the Show. Ellen has been just wonderful - she has been managing this show for a long time, and it is apparent that she has things well under control, including making her speaking guests feel informed and comfortable. I got a chance to orient myself on Wednesday - load my talks onto the laptop, meet the AV man Bobby, check out the stage (away from the noise and bustle of the show in a corner), marvel at the video quality of the projection screen (my slides just pop off the screen), find the place for snacks and bottles of water, locate my books and seeds sent ahead. After that I was free to unwind from the flight, grab a bite to eat, refine and finish my talks and run through emails.

My slides through a swing set

This kind of show starts slowly and winds up as the weekend approaches. The format leads one to feel quite relaxed; I showed up an hour early on Thursday morning, got wired up for sound, set seed packets and handouts on seats, test ran the slides - then just ambled around the show. There were no announcements, and no one introduced me - the informality reduced the stress, so when the time approached and people were gathering, I just eased from chatting to audience members to moving into the material. My area has about 90 chairs, and the show was very quiet on that Thursday noon time, but 20-30 folks found their way to my container/straw bale talk and we had a great time. Some books were sold and signed, seeds taken, cards handed out, new gardening friends made. It was a nice start!

After grabbing some lunch and taking some time in my hotel room to unwind (as in nap!), it was back to the show for the Thursday night tomato session. I was delighted to find most of the seats filled, an enthusiastic crowd of interested, and interesting, gardeners, and the overall energy was just great…more books sold and signed, more gardening friends made.

Friday was more of the same, except that with each talk, more seats were occupied. I am now rationing my seed packets a bit, because I want to have them last until Sunday. I think my book supply will end up being pretty spot on. Today - Saturday - will be a bit more of a test of my stamina, as noon (strawbales/containers), 2 (tomatoes, with a dive into home breeding), and 5:30 (tomatoes), then time with my friends, will make a busy - but undoubtedly very quickly passing - day and night.

I saved the best for last….the quality of people that are attending my talks or stopping by to say hello. Many ask if I was the “guy on TV Thursday morning”, or “the fellow on that PBS video (the Growing a Greener World episode - Joe Lamp’l, if you are reading this, LOTS of people are watching your show). I’ve had nearby vendors or staff that man children’s’ gardens or work at the arboretum pause for extensive chats on all sorts of gardening topics. The conversations with my talk attendees before or after end up going everywhere - each of our youths, our pets, the weather, gardening in general - but the common factor is that everyone is simply so nice.

80 year old incredibly talented local gardener - his story is inspiring, and I’ll always remember our conversations

In all of my time doing this sort of thing post-Epic Tomato release, events like this create a bubble of gardening joy that educates (all different ways - I learn as much from my audience members as they learn from me). My events have never - not once - veered into any of the topics that are causing such deep divisions in our country today. I am so thankful for having the privilege to participate in this these types of events, and for the joy, peace, unity and community that they provide. It gives me such hope.

So, I deeply thank all of those who make the effort to attend one of my talks - not only here in St Louis, of course, but any of my events, past and future. Some have asked me if I ever feel burned out. Hardly….in fact, just the opposite. I feel energized, renewed and encouraged.

(PS - well, I finished it, read it - and decided to push the button and publish…so here it is!)

Blogging from the road - trying to sort out my 2019 garden inhabitants

I’ve got a few hours until my next talk - I am in St. Louis, so pleased to be the headline speaker at the Home and Garden Show. Music is playing on my phone, the coffee is nearby, and I am thinking about….what else? Tomatoes (and peppers and eggplants and….). Sue is just about to move the plethora of germinated seedlings out of the safety and warmth of our front room to the garage, under shop lights.

Safe seedlings - we hit the 20s on a few nights while I am away, and the garage seemed to be too much of a risk. Better leggy than dead seedlings!

It may sound a bit funny to be still planning what to grow when thousands of seedlings are up and growing, but I always plant more varieties than I can fit. While I was in the airport, I took out my 2019 garden notebook and started to make some categories and sort my options.

The list of varieties that are my primary flavor types (indeterminate) - the must-grow-because-must-eats - is as follows: Azoychka, Akers West Virginia, Andrew Rahart Jumbo Red, Nepal, Italian Heirloom, Dester, Polish, Stump of the World, Brandywine, Ferris Wheel, Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, JD Special C Tex, Carbon, Indian Stripe, Yellow Brandywine, Sun Gold, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Egg Yolk, Cherokee Green, Green Giant, Mocha Stripes, Little Lucky, Lucky Cross, Casey’s Pure Yellow, Striped Sweetheart. That’s too many - I will have 10 straw bales, so need to whittle the above down to 20. Bye bye Italian Heirloom, Dester, Polish, Brandywine, Ferris Wheel and Striped Sweetheart (which I will grow in a 5 gallon grow bag just for some fresh seeds). The others in the cut list were recently grown. I will have seedlings of all of the above for local spring seedling sales.

Now on to the Dwarf Tomato Breeding Project varieties….and that is a real puzzle. My strategy is to grow some of the recent releases I’ve yet to try, and some promising leads from yet to be finished lines. On the former list are Hannah’s Prize, Maura’s Cardinal, Sneaky Sauce, Sarah’s Red, Melanie’s Ballet, Mystic Lady, Vince’s Haze, Tiger Eye, Egypt Yellow, Jasmine Yellow, Sunny’s Pear, Laura’s Bounty, Grandpa Gary’s Green, Parfait and Andy’s Forty. Also released, but favorites, on the grow list are Sweet Sue and Blazing Beauty. For works in progress, I hope to grow best leads from Sweetie, Buzzy, Beastly, Fancy (two different ones), Hearty, Teensy (six different colors), Ivory Ink, Pink Ink, leads from Choppy, Freezy, Walter’s Fancy, Ann’s Dusky Rose plum (purple variant), two from Scotty, three from green striped Beauty finds, and four from Emerald Isle as I continue looking for green hearts. I also plan to grow a few new crosses - Rangi (Tom’s Yellow Wonder X Beryl Beauty), and Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Zlubu Kytice.

More tomatoes - just in case I feel like doing some additional crazy crosses, I hope to grow Blue P20, Honor Bright, Variegated, Velvet Red and Surprise (for the antho, yellow leaf, variegated and fuzzy leaf genes). A hodge podge of varieties sent to me over the years are on the grow list, probably in smaller grow bags just to get an idea of the fruit size, color and flavor, and a few seeds - Fruity, Fuzzy (flat and upright growth), Roman Figun, scalloped Tiny Tim, a few new Micros from my friend Dan, Russian, Hibor, Swamp Sweet, Civil War, Bartelly Cherry, Redman Giant, Abraham Brown chocolate, Abraham Brown yellow skinned green, saved seed from a tiny cherry growing in front of Mackey’s Ferry peanut shot, Blue Bling, Abraham Lincoln (another try at the bronze leaf original), historic varieties from the USDA Matchless and Peak of Perfection, a mystery red tomato…..whew. Can I fit all of these? Will they all make it? Stay tuned and read my blog for the coming months to see!

Then we get to eggplants and peppers….on the grow list are the latest selection/generation from my Orient Express dehybridization work - Twilight Lightning, Midnight Lightning and Skinny Twilight, my green/lavender selection from a Cloud 9 cross - Mardi Gras, then my dehybridization of Islander pepper work - Carolina Amethyst, Fire Opal, White Gold, Candy Corn and Royal Purple, as well as Chocolate Bell (from a hybrid). Finally, a few other hots from a friend - Arbol, Cascabel, Manzano, the latest from variegated sweets from JC Raulston arboretum (spectacular last year), the latest from my Gemstone/Bouquet ornamental hot pepper work, Pinata jalapeno type…and that’s that.

If all of this works out, is 120 plants - a big effort, but in line with what I’ve been achieving the past 10 years or so. It will be fascinating, delicious, offer some surprises, a LOT of work….and fun!

That’s that - blog done…off to talk tomatoes in St Louis! See you in Raleigh starting mid April for seedlings (for the list and more details, send an email to nctomatoman@gmail.com )

Ready to talk tomatoes, with props, in St Louis

The State of Heirloom Tomatoes in 2019 - part 3 (conclusion)

Cover of a Seed Savers Exchange catalog showing tomatoes

The tomato journey I’ve taken you on, which started in the mid 1800s, will now reflect on what we can grow today and ponder where we may end up next. This is a remarkable time to be a tomato grower and tomato lover. Thanks to efforts of the SSE and the many companies that focus on heirloom and open pollinated varieties, as well as all of the inventive research and development being done by seed companies, universities and amateur plant breeders, the array of home garden tomato options has never been greater.

Heirlooms - the explosion of varieties listed in the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook is stunning. We are talking thousands and thousands of varieties from every corner of the world, beginning with a handful in 1975 and reaching the stunning numbers only a few decades later. I’ve frankly lost track of many of the recently uncovered heirloom types; it is not possible to be on top of very many, never mind all, of them. Heirlooms continue to emerge even to this day, as families in possession of tomato treasures connect with gardeners who are seed savers and sharers. Three examples that I am very familiar with were shared with me at various speaking events, or through email contact - Cancelmo Family Heirloom, and yet to be formally named varieties from Mimi Koch in Durham (family heirloom from Italy), and from Nora Wojciechowski, hand delivered to me at my event in Oakland County Michigan last year, a local variety grown and shared by a Mr. Cutler. Both were sent to Mike Dunton of Victory Seeds, and so hopefully will make their appearance in their seed catalog before too long; I loved them both.

Cover of Victory Seed Company catalog

It is hard to make generalizations about the ability of a particular heirloom to thrive - or fail - in one’s garden. Since each variety has a unique set of genes, the ability to tolerate or resist diseases may or may not have been developed over the years. My advice is to give a well regarded variety a few chances in your garden. If it struggles, there are only multiple thousands of others to try.

There are so many sources for heirloom varieties in 2019 - seed companies, from small to large, as well as countless offerings on Facebook, ebay, and Amazon, to name just a few sources. My advice is always to tread carefully. I’ve been to farmers markets - and even our Tomatopalooza event of some years ago - and noticed tomatoes don’t always match up to the original descriptions. Crossing, seed mix ups, or simply chasing dollars rather than accuracy lead to issues. Gardening takes work and does cost some hard earned money….be sure to use trusted seed sources for your seeds, and be clear on what to expect.

Cover of a Southern Exposure catalog

Tomorrow’s Heirlooms - Open pollinated varieties that emerged beyond the 1950s are, to me, “tomorrow’s heirlooms”. If they are great varieties and end up being regrown and handed down for many years to come, the “tomorrow” will eventually be dropped. Some of these are accidental - Cherokee Chocolate (which emerged from Cherokee Purple in my garden in 1995), and Cherokee Green (as an off-type from Cherokee Chocolate in 1997) are in this category. Many are created - some by selecting from an accidental cross, as with Lucky Cross and Little Lucky, some created by actually carrying out a specific cross and then selecting until a new variety is stable, as with our Dwarf Tomato Project varieties.

They are proliferating at a rapid rate as more and more gardeners learn about the fun of doing crosses and then hunting for great things during the selection process. Some of the earliest examples of these emerged from Tom Wagner (as with Green Zebra and Lime Green Salad). Brad Gates has released numerous interesting colored varieties from his Wild Boar Farm, including Berkeley Tie Dye. Another gorgeous line of tomatoes is the Artisan series, including the various Bumble Bee and Blush selections, small fruited and with distinctive stripes.

The other tomato color rage seem to be those with high levels of anthocyanin, giving the fruit dark black/purple/blue shoulders and more when the fruit are exposed to direct sun. The first of these were a bit (to more than a bit) lacking in flavor to my palate, but this family of open pollinated varieties seem to be exploding in number as more and more breeders see what they can do with this fun color characteristic. A well known example of this type is Indigo Rose.

Hybrids - Lots of work is being done to make hybrids more interesting as well. With lots of disease tolerance factors being worked in, it is apparent that those creating hybrids are really trying to tackle some of the challenging disease issues tomato lovers face while at the same time working in improved flavor and better texture. There is a Goliath series of hybrids, lines of hybrids with essentially the same names as well known heirlooms, such as the Brandymaster series, the Chef’s Choice line of tomatoes, a series called Heirloom Marriage, A look through the catalogs of companies such as Tomato Growers Supply or Totally Tomatoes provides lots of examples of these interesting sounding and possibly well worth trying hybrids.

I confess to grow only a very few hybrids, such as Sun Gold (regularly), and on occasion, Big Beef and Lemon Boy. I’ve still got far too many open pollinated/heirloom types to test, and love to save and share seeds.

Cover of a Tomato Growers Supply catalog

Grafted varieties are also becoming much easier to find, and different root stock can be grown to provide the opportunity for gardeners to create their own grafted plants. There are two key considerations to make this a worthwhile investment. The whole point of using a grafted plant is to prevent a disease agent in the soil from inhibiting success of the plant. So, consideration 1 is knowing what specific diseases inhabit your soil and give your tomatoes trouble - then using a rootstock that resists or tolerates the disease(s). Consideration 2 is caring for the upper part of your plant (above the graft line) well, since anything that attacks the plant from above could negate the benefit of the graft. Be sure to mulch well, minimize wet foliage, provide good air circulation and remove blemished foliage as it appears.

Plant stature (fulfilling needs of the space-constricted gardener) concerns are finally being considered, as gardeners realize the unwieldy growing character of most of the delicious heirloom types. The two options for more easily controllable tomato varieties are determinate (emerging in the mid 1920s when a “self topping” variety called Cooper’s Special appeared), and dwarf in stature. Though dwarf (also known as tree type) tomatoes have been around in limited numbers since the mid 1800s, little was done to further expand the options until the work of Tom Wagner, Ken Ettlinger, our own Dwarf Tomato Project and the various other dwarf projects that are ongoing. We’ve come a very long way in the last 50 years or so in this arena.

What’s next? There are some possibilities. We’ve certainly moved into a bit of “fad” type themes - tomatoes with stripes, tomatoes with the blue antho colored shoulders, What is most valuable, however, is to continue what we’ve begun with our Dwarf Tomato Project in terms of trying to vision what gardeners will need. To expand gardening, it is important to take space needs into consideration. There is some good work happening with microdwarfs - plants that are a foot or so tall and can be grown in very small containers. Flavor will always be a top priority, and we are now learning to accept as many colors as possible so we can “play with our food”. I think that the next logical step is to focus on disease tolerance, trying to get a handle on what is attacking crops where and carrying out the breeding work to install the genes into new varieties that will best fight the diseases. It isn’t very easy work to do, and takes time.

To finish up this three part series, I will reiterate a really important observation…we who are gardening at this time have the largest array of tomato varieties to choose from when compared to any point in history. We are lucky…go forth and fill your gardens with whatever sounds good to you after perusing catalogs, or reading SSE yearbook descriptions. Give my favorites that I list in Epic Tomatoes a try and let me know what you think!