Off The Vine, Volume 2, Number 1. "Many Are Called, Few Are Chosen", by Carolyn

Husker’s Red penstemon in bloom in our flower garden, end May 2022

I really love reading through Carolyn and my garden updates in these old OTVs. It reminds me, again and again, of how we really were true explorers of the many varieties coming into the SSE yearbooks, but also how we ended up being the source of varieties into the yearbooks as well. Read on to find out how Carolyn made her challenging choices of what to squeeze into her tomato garden.

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Many are Called; Few are Chosen

by Carolyn

It could be worse. I could be addicted to heroin, crack or alcohol; as it is I’m addicted to heirloom tomatoes! The major agony of early March is to decide which seeds get planted and which get to stay in their little packets, passed over once more.

To put the situation to perspective, I have seed for about 1000 varieties of which I’ve grown out maybe 5-600 varieties. Since I much prefer to grow out something new, something not listed in the SSE Annual, it means that it will be a long time until I get to some of those others. Let me explain, by going through my mental reasoning this year, how I select which varieties to grow.

I have before me my grow out list as a reference. The first 40 were a snap, so to speak. I like to recycle the seed I’m offering through SSE every five years so I had to look at the 1991 varieties and decide which ones to keep going and which ones weren’t requested. Not a problem. Then I had to inventory the 1992, 1993, and 1994 seed to see which varieties were depleted. Magnus was planted for a closer look (up and giving both potato and regular foliage), Orange Strawberry and Hillbilly Potato Leaf to see if they are true, Cuostralee Pink to confirm it really is a single mutant of the red variety, which was also planted, and Aunt Ruby’s German Green (1993 seed) because I found out in December of 1994 that someone growing out my 1994 seed found it wasn’t pure. Remember from the last issue of Off the Vine how I described the seeds from the “monster” tomato which the mice ate? Well, I’d saved seeds from sister fruit and in they went along with the orange/red Brandywine F3 seeds described in the last issue of Off the Vine.

Next came the various crosses used to offer the F2 seed to you readers. I had forgotten to save seed last year of the Yellow Oxheart X Ukrainian Heart F1’s and had not grown the Brandywine X Kotlas crosses. Finally, two new crosses of Stanley Zubrowski’s, which neither Craig nor I grew last year, were planted. Next came a bunch of Craig’s favorites which I hadn’t grown out yet and then a few Amy Goldman brought back from France when she was there for the annual Fall pumpkin festival. Next came some interesting ones of French origin from an English SSE member and Off the Vine subscriber. And the subtotal on the above was 72.

Omar, an adjunct who taught Biology Labs for us went home to Lebanon to sell the family hotel on the Mediterranean and as he promised, came back with seeds for a huge pink the farmers in the Lebanese hills grow. And my student Heidi went home to Cameroon, Africa and over the Xmas break and brought back a hot pepper and one tomato variety. Then came a series of varieties sent to me by Off the Vine readers and from the descriptions, many of these sound great! None of them is listed in SSE. Of course I planted all the newly offered SSE Russian varieties. Next came varieties from Bill Minkey. Now the subtotal is about 110. Whoops! I almost forgot to plant the varieties I’ll need for the 1850’s vegetable garden I do for the local Shaker Heritage Society so in went Riesentraube, King Humbert, Green Gage, Eearly Large Red and Red and Yellow Pears. Whoops again, I’ll need some greens, whites and bicolors in the tomato patch for the several field demonstration days I do in the fall. So White Queen, Green, Evergreen, Green Grape, Isis and Marizol Gold go in next. I asked Craig if he would obtain the seeds from the USDA this year because I was so busy with the new Off the Vine requests, renewals, etc. I told him what I wanted and he decided on the rest. I only planted 32 of the USDA varieties; the commercial heirloom types and the ones with names that amused me like Victorian Dwarf, Cream City and Ham Green Favorite. I cannot explain to myself why I sowed something called Potato Leaf; I can’t believe I did that. Then I had to plant some favorites like German Red Strawberry, Manyel, Kellogg’s Breakfast, Large Pink Bulgarian, Bulgarian Triumph, Aunt Ginny’s Purple (which I totally forgot to list in SSE this year), Opalka, Martino’s Roma, Galina Ivory Mutant and Crnovic Yugoslavian, to name a few. My list ended there but then a few more varieties trickled in and I just had to sow them. Final damage count? About 160 varieties.

In Craig’s article he discussed whether or not to plant original or saved seed. I always plant saved seed when I have a choice because it’s the only way of finding out if the seed is pure. Two years ago I started listing next to my name in the SSE Annual the varieties I subsequently determined to have been sent out crossed. Since I certainly am not growing everything in 1995 that I grew in 1994 I would appreciate any feedback that any of you might give me.

The limitation I have on how many varieties I grow relates to the amount of bench space made available to me by the commercial farmer who lets me do my transplanting at his greenhouses and then grows on the plants for me. He’s a terrific grower and since he started growing the plants for me I’ve had no cutworm damage in the field because the stems are so stocky. I have no limitation on field space, and I do have help with the initial cultivation and fertilization of my plants, but there’s still a lot of hoeing and weed pulling to do. Yes, it’s hard work, especially with my annoying arthritis, but I can’t wait to see what the foliage will be like, and the blossoms, and finally the fruit shape and color. It’s the “possibilities” that lure me and hold me and make each summer so wonderful and challenging.

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That was a fascinating read (as always!). It is interesting to read the history of what was named Omar’s Lebanese - a huge, pink delicious tomato that Carolyn was responsible for popularizing after she received the seeds. Reading about how Carolyn decided what to grow was illuminating - and fun!

Sugar Snap Peas - we are just starting to pick them, beginning end May 2022

End of May garden update - taking stock after a whole lotta rain, and focusing on our flower gardens

Sugar Snap Peas, Iris, Daylilies

Enough! Waving the white flag here after a week of rain. But, with the forecast for the week to come showing solid sunny days in the upper 70s, we enter the “perfect garden condition” phase. I am writing this blog in bits - today is May 28, and it was blue sky and 75 degrees. Delightful! The next 10 day forecast shows temps varying from 75 to 82, with just a few days with 30% chance of late day showers.

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Random gardening thoughts on the season so far:

I’ve really loved it. Stepping back from seedling sales meant starting far less plants. Needing less materials meant far less money spent. I already had enough square pots and plug flats, and a good start on plastic labels. All I needed were a few bags of Metro Mix planting mix. They discontinued my favorite, the 360 blend, so I went with 830, and thought it worked fine. Less plants meant less transplanting, less worry about frost, and less movement in and out of the garage. My typical schedule worked fine - March 1 seed start, April 1 transplant start, with plants looking good by May 1.

I did have some customers, but not through advertising - just word of mouth, or those from the past two years. Pretty much everyone who comes to get plants are delightful. The only hitch is that we have three pretty protective dogs that can get barky - each for its own reason. Getting them into the house is a must.

My two raised beds had - and still have - garlic, which hindered their use a bit. One bed had spinach that I planted as seedlings in September (along with some lettuce and chard). The rough winter (two nights with temps in the low teens, and one 11 inch snow) did in the lettuce and chard, but the spinach, once things started to warm up, was spectacular. I cut the scapes from the garlic a week ago. The spinach started to bolt, so was removed, and replaced with lettuce, and a few strawberry plants from a friend. I hope to harvest the garlic in a few weeks, and the beds will then hold microdwarf tomatoes, particularly a variegated find from last year, up to 10 plants between the two raised beds.

I seeded sugar snap peas against the fence and created string trellis, as in previous years. The peas are now 6 feet tall and we are starting to pick some. In front of the peas are iris, moved from other gardens, and in front of those, daylilies I started from seed, sent by a friend. We should be seeing the daylilies bloom very soon. I think the iris was perturbed by the move, so just foliage this year.

Shade garden - bleeding heart, pulmonaria, astilbe and more

We’ve had a great time with our flower gardens. Our shade garden is full of bleeding heart, Solomon seal, Celadine poppy, and astilbe. To that collection are a few plants purchased this spring - pulmonaria, two hellebores, a new foamflower, and an epimedium. Some foamflowers and ferns complete the dense mix in that garden, anchored in the corner by a Virginia sweetspire. In the same area, different corner, we relocated a nine bark that has made its way around the yard.

Main flower garden - all sorts of things blooming, and on the cusp.

In our big flower garden, all sorts of things came up early in the spring - tulips and daffodils, joined by phlox, miniature roses, clematis Princess Diana and a white one we moved from Raleigh, coral bells, lots of lamium, oregano, an unusual rudbeckia, several gladiolas, an echinacea, cardinal flower, lots of Kalimeras, a Husker’s Red penstemon, two different cranesbills, a threadleaf coreopsid, a Japanese painted fern, balloon flower, and four astilbes. To that we’ve added some new plants - we purchased a new Rozanne cranesbill (it died last year), some new Salvia Greggei, Salvia leuchantha, an epimedium, a new echinacea, a spider wort - as well as some annuals (snapdragon, zinnia, salvia coccinea). Right now, clematis, penstemon, cranesbill, lamium, the new salvias, and the miniature roses are all providing color. Soon to join them will be the phlox and cardinal flower and gladiolas.

Near the shed, the garden is primarily a pathway for the dogs, with mostly phlox, with some rubdeckia and a relocated butterfly bush and Miss Kim lilac on one side, and red bee balm and a relocated peony, and a large old type lilac on the other, with balloon flower emerging here and there. Oddly, we’ve yet to see Miss Kim bloom in Hendersonville. Right next to the shed is a huge Lady Banks rose on a trellis that bloomed fairly lightly - a late frost once again nipped buds. We are now seeing lots of daylilies and canna coming up.

Husker’s Red penstemon looking great

Our big back flower edge garden is mostly shrubs. Everything in there is thriving - the hydrangea is budding well, the red rhododendron (which I am trying to propagate) was spectacular, choke berry and elderberry and forsythia are now huge, two red roses are gorgeous, and the garden ends with daylilies, crocosmia, a Russian Olive tree, a double white spirea, and a Virginia Sweetspire. It is overgrown, it is wild - and it works just great. Nearby is a fig that I rooted in Raleigh and we brought with us. It had the typical winter die back but is largely looking fine. Will it be in too shady a spot to give us figs? We shall see.

Near the deck is a garden constantly in flux. With a gorgeous Samaritan Jo clematis just finishing up bloom and a big spot of Green and Gold, it started with daffodils and tulips and an old fashioned lilac and a chartreuse foliaged spirea, and how is showing Japanese Iris (violet blue or yellow), gladiola foliage, Deutzia we brought from Raleigh, Russian Sage, a new Amsonia, and some annuals - zinnia and snapdragon. The soil isn’t great and we tend to move things in and out of this garden, depending on how they do.

Princess Diana clematis is the star here

A strip garden near the hose spigot was nothing but walking iris, lemon balm, spearmint and lamium with some Autumn Joy sedum. Sue and I stripped all of that out and it how holds daylilies - some from my friend Eddie, some from seed, with the sedum and some lamium, a a pot of Salvia coccinea. Near the heat pump, a wall strip garden is mostly Stella D’oro daylilies, with Wisteria on an arbor, and a flowering magnolia next to the arbor. The late spring frost and hard pruning meant no Wisteria blooms, but the magnolia, after early blooms got frosted, put on a nice show this spring.

In front, we have an azalea garden, with a Viburnum, newly planted Flame azalea, relocated hybrid Mountain Laurel, a yew and a quince mixed in. Some daffodils bloomed there early, and daylilies are now just starting. A strip garden on the side yard/front is mostly various hostas, with some sweet woodruff and a bright green leaf, pink flowered spirea. The main flower garden is anchored by a huge white flowered camellia, a smaller pink flowered camellia, two chartreuse leaf spirea, two recently hard pruned Rose of Sharon, and a holly. The garden has a few azaleas, a lot of lily of the valley, a red hot poker plant, lots of self seeded columbine, and some gladiola and daylilies. Early on, it was full of daffodils.

That’s a tour of our flower gardens, in general, but with some end of May details. Tending the flower gardens with Sue is one of the pleasures of the season. Sure, the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, along with the green beans, summer squash and cukes are great. But their seasons can be quite concentrated - while the flowers provide joy from early spring through late fall.

Back edge garden, showing our two red roses.

My Tomato Collection Tour - Part 18. Tomatoes #221-#230

Garden view - May 26 2022

The race to #250 is on! Let’s go! Of this set, Red Brandywine is the winner. Burcham New Generation should be more widely known.

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Tomato #221 - Burgess Colossal Crimson - This is another tomato sent to me by Barney Laman of California (he of Mexico Midget fame) in 1990. I didn’t get to grow it. First listed in the 1927 Burgess catalog, it is said to be a selection of the Henderson variety Winsall, which was released in 1924. All of these regular leaf pink varieties are likely very similar to the 1890s Henderson variety Ponderosa, a regular leaf large meaty pink tomato.

Tomato #222 - Pink Delight F2 - Barney sent this to me in 1990 because he loved the hybrid Pink Delight, which was removed from catalogs - he was hoping saved seeds would give similar results. Alas, I didn’t grow it.

Tomato #223 - Big Pink - this is the last of the 1990 tomatoes Barney Laman sent me. I know nothing about it, and can’t find it listed anywhere - then again, the name is completely generic! Someone in the SSE lists it as a “large pink tomato” - there is no way of knowing if it is the same as the one Barney sent me. I never did grow it.

Tomato #224 - Azteca 10 - I got this from Ron Thuma of Kansas, SSE member, in 1990. I did grow it in 1990. My description is “medium sized, semi determinate round red, OK taste”. Needless to say, I did not return to it!

Tomato #225 - Red Brandywine - Acquired from Steve Miller of Pennsylvania (Landis Valley Museum) in 1990, this is a fine tomato I’ve grown many times. It is totally different from the large potato leaf pink or yellow varieties that have Brandywine in the name. I believe this to be the tomato released by Johnson and Stokes in 1890. It is regular leaf, scarlet red, smooth, medium sized and has a fine, well balanced flavor. This is often the variety I recommend to people that are looking for an “old fashioned red tomato on the tart side”.

Tomato #226 - Burcham’s New Generation - this monstrously large oblate pink tomato was sent to me by Norma Vinyard of Missouri in 1990. It supposedly originated with Mr. Burcham, who selected it for size and flavor. He sent a sample to Jan Gibson of Chapel Hill, NC, who shared it with Norma Vinyard - who listed it in the SSE. It was very large, very smooth, oblate, regular leaf pink with a fine flavor. It deserves to be known and grown more widely.

Tomato #227 - Holy Land - I received this from SSE member Lloyd Duggins of Indiana in 1990 and grew it that year. It was indeterminate, oblate to round scarlet red, and very bland. Lloyd received seeds from a local woman who brought the seeds back from Palestine wrapped in a napkin. I was not impressed.

Tomato #228 - Red Rose - also received from Mr. Duggins, supposedly arising from a Brandywine X Rutgers cross. SSE still lists it as a medium sized, tasty pink tomato. I’ve not grown it.

Tomato #229 - Vogliotti - received from major SSE tomato collector Calvin Wait of Missouri, I’ve not yet grown this variety. SSE lists it as a large oblate scarlet red tomato of excellent flavor. I would have to go to old SSE yearbooks to find the history, if any is provided.

Tomato #230 - Alberta’s - this was also received from Calvin Wait - I never did grow it, and can’t find a thing about it - back to the SSE yearbooks to find out what in the description drew me to asking for seeds!

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As you read, above, only two real stars in this set of tomatoes, with quite a few relative unknowns. Red Brandywine is indeed the star, and Burcham’s New Generation probably should be an additional star.

A very happy Princess Diana clematis on May 26 2022

Off The Vine, Volume 2, Number 1. "Riesenbraube Wine" by William Woys Weaver

Pic taken in DuPont on May 24, our first spring here, 2000 - Mountain Laurel

Wine from tomatoes? Sure - see below! Another guest article…

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Riesentraube Wine

by William Woys Weaver

The taste was snappy, but with a slight overtone of skunk; not exactly a wine for romance thought I, so delete the candlelit dinner scene. Color: a species of orange rosé, heavy on the orange. Would fermented Kool-Aid resemble this? No. Too dark. Definitely not grape.

My puzzled glance at the grizzly old farmer sitting opposite me elicited a toothless grin. He was thoroughly entertained, and by then the colorless schnapps he was sipping, distilled from this same strange wine, had flushed his face a mirthful pink.

“What is it?” I asked in German. Dr. Eszter Kisban of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, who was translating this tete-a-tete back and forth from German to Hungarian, turned to me with a blank look on her face: “He said the wine is made from goat tits.” The sitting room of the farmhouse, packed full of Hungarians eager to see their first breathing American (me) exploded with gales of nervous laughter. “That is what he said,” continued Eszter apologetically, “kecske cscsu.” (More laughter.) this was my introduction to the Riesentraube tomato and vintage Riesentraube wine.

This scene transpired in the fall of 1983 when the Hungarian Academy of Sciences hosted an ethnological food conference at its mountain retreat in Matrafured, Hungary near the Slovakian border. In spite of food shortages, paper shortages, intermittent electricity, police surveillance (the communist Party was in power then), and a long list of other obstacles, my Hungarian hosts managed not only to pull off an international conference, but on the sly, also arranged for forays into the countryside. My visit to the farmer who made tomato wine was one of them.

It happened spur of the moment and at night. We ended up somewhere outside of Gyongyos, a large town mear Matrafured. The first thing I saw when I got out of the car were tomato vines trained over the picket fence that surrounded the yard. Even at night I could see the huge “puffs” of open flowers that make the Riesentraube tomato so distinctive. Later, I was shown a large platter of the tomatoes. In fact, I ate some.

This much I was able to ascertain about the tomato and its local history: no one in the area knew it by a German name, but all the farmers in the room agreed that the tomato had come from Austria “long ago.” It had been grown in the Heves region before World War II, and the German farmers who had lived there had made wine from the tomatoes, just like the wine we were drinking. When the Communists came to power they expropriated the German farms and deported the owners. This was one of those expropriated farms, and the tomatoes had been growing there when the present Hungarian owner took over the house.

I think it was this tragic story more than anything else that etched such an impression in my mind because I never forget those “goat tit” tomatoes. Certainly it would have been easy enough, on hindsight, to have gotten seed out of Hungary, but since the main purpose of my visit was to smuggle a book manuscript out of Poland, through Hungary and into Austria, my seed saving instincts were put on hold. As there was a certain degree of danger involved in my undertaking, any suspicion from border guards would have thrown that project off track.

Having just published in 1983 my study of a 19th century Pennsylvania German cookbook through the University of Pennsylvania Press, it never occurred to me that there might be a connection between the tomato wine of the Pennsylvania Dutch and the wine I tasted in Hungary. Yet evidently there is. Subsequent research has brought it all into clearer focus. In fact, Carolyn Male put out the challenge to me last year to actually recreate tomato wine from the Riesentraube tomato, and so I have. But first, something about the name.

Riesentraube simply means in German “large grape” as opposed to something that is normal size or dwarf (zwerg). That is the context of risen in German botanical literature even though it literally means giant or extra-large. It seems, however, that German growers had the Grapes of Eshcol in mind when they named this tomato. The Grapes of Eshcol are the monster grapes mentioned in the Bible, usually depicted hanging from a staff between two men. The Riesentraube produces huge clusters of tomatoes which resemble those old Biblical pictures of the Grapes of Eshcol.

To Hungarians, they look like the underbelly of a pregnant she-goat. And since each tomato has a “nipple” on the end, this has given rise to the colloquial Hungarian name. According to Hungarian agronomists, the Hungarian Goat Tit Tomato is an entirely different variety from the Riesentraube, but the two are commonly confused. Doubtless, the Riesentraube tomato exists in many places under other names equally as colorful.

My next experience with the Riesentraube tomato came through Seedsavers Exchange, where much to my surprise, I found it listed. Seed came into SSE from Curtis Choplin of North Augusta, South Carolina. His seed originated from the former East German seed bank at Gatersleben. My surprise was actually a form of startled joy because by 1993 I had found material in Pennsylvania suggesting that the Riesentraube tomato was being grown among the Pennsylvania Dutch as early as 1855 or 1856. More thorough research must be done in local German-language agricultural materials, but in the May 1857 issue of the monthly Das Bauern-Journal, published at Allentown, Pennsylvania by Mohr and Trexler, there is a recipe for tomato wine. This is the tomato wine I tasted in Hungary. The translation from Das Bauern-Journal reads as follows: Wine from Tomatoes; Simply press the juice from the fruit, cleanse it by letting it run through a linen bag, then combine this with 2 to 3 pounds of sugar to each gallon of liquid. Put this into kegs. After fermentation has taken place, you get a tasty wine.

That is a matter of opinion. Frankly, tomato wine requires a little more exactness than the above recipe would imply and considerably more patience because this is one of those wines, like dandelion wine, that does not mellow out until about the third to fifth year of aging.

I pressed Riesentraube tomatoes on September 26, 1994, with fermentation over by October 10. I can report that in my opinion the wine is nowhere ready for table use. While it begins as a bright red juice, the wine turns a muddy brown as it ferments. As of the writing of this article, the wine is still orange-brown, resembling dark apple juice, and still a bit cloudy. There is an initial sweet, toasty taste that is followed by a slight bitterness, then a lingering tomato taste on the back of the palate. The bitterness will soften with aging and the end result, like the wine I drank in Hungary, will resemble sherry. It is excellent with toasted walnuts and cheese.

My recommended method for making tomato wine is the same as that for making gooseberry wine in that the fruit is first cooked to soften it and to sterilize it of all problematic yeasts. Since gooseberries and tomatoes do not normally carry grape yeasts, it is better to eliminate all yeasts and introduce a controllable one. I also add 2 cups (500 ml) of vintage elderberry wine (1985 pressing), but any decent port will also do. I firmly believe that his helps amplify the tomato flavor as well as softens the overall character of the tomato wine. It does nothing to the color.

Lastly, in order to calculate the amount of tomatoes needed, it is important to remember that 3 to 4 pounds (1 and ½ to 2 kg) of Riesentraube tomatoes will yield about one gallon (4 liters) of liquid during crush. The water content of the tomato, like that of grapes, varies greatly due to weather conditions and time of harvest. I believe that the end-of-season tomatoes I used last year had far too much acid and much less flavor than those I might have harvested during the heat of August. This is a consideration that only trial and error will resolve, given the great variation in growing conditions throughout the country. The accompanying recipe (page 5) follows the basic outline of the original 1857 recipe, but greatly expands on the implied steps and procedures.

Note: The original recipe calls for oak kegs. Aging the wine in oak will definitely alter its taste and character, probably improving the toasty or smoky quality of its flavor. Since I was not able to experiment with oak, this aspect of the recipe remains speculative. However, the Hungarian wine that I tasted in 1983 had been aged in oak and was superior to what I have thus far produced. (Riesentraube tomato seeds are available to members of Seedsavers Exchange and to the general public from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Ed. Note)

Tomato Wine: Weaver’s Method

1 gallon (4 liters) tomato juice

3 lbs. (1 ½ kg) white granulated sugar

2 cups (500 ml) elderberry wine or port (optional)

1 teaspoon dry yeast

To make the juice, quarter the fruit and remove the seeds. Put the fruit in a deep, non-reactive stewing pan (preferably stainless steel) and pour over this 2 quarts (2 liters) of boiling bottled spring water. Do not use chemically treated water. Cover and bring the fruit to a slow boil (about 20 minutes), then remove the pan from the heat.

Pour the fruit into a strainer and gently press out all of the pulp and liquid. Measure out the juice. To each gallon (4 liters), add 3 pounds (1 ½ kg) of sugar, mixing the juice and sugar together in a large, clean 5-gallon (20 liter) crock. Add the optional elderberry wine or port, and when the mixture cools to room temperature, add the yeast. For a quantity of liquid over 10 gallons (40 liters) add 1 tablespoon of dry yeast, but not more.

Cover the crock with cheesecloth and set the wine aside in a warm place to ferment. When fermentation ceases (this will depend on weather conditions as much as room temperature), transfer the wine to sanitized half-gallon jugs. If the wine appears a little frisky, do not cap the jugs or they will explode. Let the wine rest until it is perfectly still, then cap the jugs and let the wine age. As it ages, sediment will accumulate in the bottom on the jugs and the wine will gradually clarify. Once it is clear it maybe bottled up into wine bottles, corked and put down to age like any grape wine.

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Tomatoes really can be used for anything, it seems! I’ve had tomato desserts, tomato pesto, tomato ice cream - and now we have a recipe, above, for tomato wine! I don’t think I’ll be making it any time soon though!

Blossom sitting on fern, Pisgah Forest, May 2020. Another example of proof we made the right move at the right time!

Mid May Garden Update, Part 2 - Focus on the Tomatoes

Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet, on May 21

Now, on to my favorite crop - the tomatoes! I am growing far less than last year, but they will be no less interesting.

The following are indeterminate varieties planted in strawbales, two plants to a bale.

Cherokee Chocolate (2 plants) - I used lot T16-119 - I planted 2 because I am going to grow them very differently. One plant will be grown in a cage and only minimally pruned, the other grown allowing just one sucker develop. Fruit size, yield, fruit set, plant health will be compared. I am growing this because it is a can’t-do-without variety for us. By the way - T16-119 was grown from T11-13 - which was from T96-3 - which was grown from T95-47, the chocolate tomato that started this variety.

Cherokee Purple - I used lot T16-104 - Another can’t-do-without variety. T16-104 is from T02-3, which is from T91-27, which is from #287 - the seed sent to me by JD Green as an unnamed variety in 1990.

Cherokee Green - I used lot T20-8 - and, yes, can’t do without this one either! T20-8 if from T19-17, which is from T18-7, which was from a packet from Johnny’s Selected seeds - I was the source to Johnny’s.

Glory F1 hybrid - Last year I crossed pollen from Dester onto a flower of Dwarf Gloria’s Treat - this is the hybrid that was created. I have high hopes - and expect slightly heart shaped pink fruit. My friend Marsha in Florida grew it and reported it to be absolutely delicious - and, yes, pink and slightly heart shaped and large!

Lucky Cross - I used lot T21-24. I love this variety and don’t wish to do without it. T21-24 is from T20-4, which is from T19-10, which is from T11-14, 19 or 21 - all of which are from 2002 saved seed. This variety has a very complex genealogy!

Polish - I planted lot T20-7. This spectacular tomato is one that it is the very top tier of my collection. T20-7 is from T18-14, which is from T12-21, which is from T01-45, which is from T90-8, which is from #89 - the sample sent to me by Bill Ellis as a SSE transaction.

Estler’s Mortgage Lifter - Since the seed from the SSE storage gave an apparently incorrect variety, I am going with a seed sample from SSE member Neil Lockhart. My hopes is for a huge pink tomato, in the 2 lb range.

Captain Lucky - I’ve wanted to grow this Millard Murdock’s selection from Lucky Cross for some time. It is potato leaf, and should produce green fleshed tomatoes with swirls of other colors.

Yellow family heirloom - this was sent to me by Joann Jacobs of Wisconsin last year. It is regular leaf - aside from that, it is one of this year’s mysteries!

Mary’s heirloom - Supposedly a very old family heirloom from West Virginia, sent to me by Harry Moran. Another mystery! Gorgeous regular leaf plant so far.

JD Special C-Tex, potato leaf variant - sent to me by Randy Dowdy of Texas in 2020, I am finally getting around to test this. I love JD Special C Tex - a big Cherokee Purple type, but he claims this is same fruit on a potato leaf plant. We shall see!

Blue’s Bling X Little Lucky, potato leaf, variegated F2 selection - This is a selection from the hybrid I grew out last year and loved. There are all sorts of color possibilities and I wanted to grow one each of a variegated potato leaf and regular leaf plants (see below). Fruit size should be from medium to large, and round to oblate.

Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom regular leaf F2 selection - This hybrid I created was the best tasting tomato in my garden last year. I am growing out a regular leaf and a potato leaf F2 selection. All sorts of colors are possible! Fruit size should be large and oblate. Pink, red, chocolate, purple, shades of yellow are all possible.

Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom potato leaf F2 selection - see above

Blue’s Bling X Little Lucky, regular leaf, variegated F2 selection - see above

Blue’s Bling X Polish, potato leaf, variegated F2 selection - An F2 selection from another of my recent hybrids. I wanted to grow out a potato leaf variegated selection - we shall see what the fruit color is like. I expect we will see pink or purple tomatoes, of large size and oblate shape.

German heirloom - This was sent to me by a gardener from Indiana in 2017 and I am finally getting to grow it. It is regular leaf. Of course, I love mysteries - and my garden will be full of them this year!

World War II - This was sent to me by Geny Laroche of New Hampshire in 2020. I am finally getting to it, and it is regular leaf.

McCutcheon - my friend Adam Kirk gave me seed earlier this year - it is a West Virginia heirloom that should have very large fruit. It is regular leaf.

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The following are dwarf varieties, and a few determinate varieties, in 5 gallon grow bags

Dwarf Mocha’s Cherry X Blue’s Bling F2 variegated selection - This whole section contains F2 dwarf selections from recent hybrids. I can’t wait to see what sort of tomatoes are produced on all of these. For this one, the fruit color is likely purple, but size, shape and antho coverage - and flavor - have many possibilities.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F2 regular leaf selection - See above. Wide color variations are possible.

Lucky Cross X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F2 regular leaf selection - See above - another with wide color possibilities.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F2 potato leaf selection - see above.

Coastal Pride - sent to me by my garden friend Mike, he really likes this orange fruited dwarf - it is not one of the Dwarf Tomato Project creations. I’ll look forward to seeing and tasting this! This variety was bred in Canada by the McMurrays.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Speckled Heart F2 regular leaf selection - see above. All offspring should have stripes, and heart shapes are likely too.

Blazey family selection orange fruit F4 regular yellow leaf selection - Blazey was an odd cross I did between Honor Bright and Dwarf Blazing Beauty. I am hoping for good tasting orange tomatoes on a yellow foliaged plant.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F2 potato leaf selection - see above

Blazey family selection orange fruit F4 potato leaf selection - see the Blazey entry, above

Don’s Double Delight X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F2 potato leaf selection - all sorts of colors, and stripes, are possible with this one.

Dwarf Irma’s Highland Cherry pre-release selection - This is from the Teensy family - Mexico Midget X Summertime Green, with Dwarf Eagle Smiley the first release. This should be the next one, and will have tasty chocolate cherry tomatoes.

Cancelmo Family Heirloom X Dwarf Moby’s Cherry F2 selection - Cross a big pink heart with a dwarf yellow cherry and all sorts of things are possible!

Fuzzy X Cherokee Purple F3 purple fruited fuzzy leaf selection - I was delighted to find purple tomatoes on a fuzzy plant - let’s see if it continues.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Speckled Heart F2 regular leaf selection - see above - this is a second plant from this particular cross.

Fuzzy X Cherokee Purple F3 pink fruited fuzzy leaf selection - Seed for this was from a quite large pink tasty tomato on a fuzzy plant. Let’s see what I get!

Lucky Cross X Dwarf Buddy’s Heart F2 potato leaf selection - see above - all sorts of colors possible, and heart shape too.

Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet -This was given to me as a plant at my Marion NC speaking event by my TN friend Eddie Lambert. The plant is showing the characteristic bright chartreuse leaves and there are already a few small tomatoes.

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The following are indeterminate tomatoes in 5 gallon grow bags

Tennessee Surprise - This is also a plant given to me by Eddie. The tomatoes should be large and orange.

Ribbed Mystery Variety - This is yet another plant given to me by Eddie and I’ve no idea what it will produce.

Yellow Fruity - Fruity Red is a tasty red cherry tomato - this is a yellow one out of the same breeding work by Tim Peters.

Orange Fruity - This is the orange fruited specimen from the Fruity family.

Egg Yolk, potato leaf - “Wild Thing” - seed sent to me by Walter Roos of Georgia this winter.

Sun Gold F1 hybrid - Seed from Johnny’s - how could I NOT grow it!

Suzy’s Wild Red - This is from seed sent to me by Allan Robins of Georgia. I am going to compare it to Mexico midget.

Suzy family F4 selection potato leaf indeterminate fuzzy fruit - This family was created when I crossed Peach Blow Sutton with Dwarf Sweet Sue, with the goal of getting dwarfs with fuzzy fruit. A friend sent me this last year, but it seems that the plants are indeterminate, not dwarf. I am growing out one potato leaf example.

Egg Yolk, red fruit - Also from Walter Roos of Georgia.

Suzy’s Wild Orange - Also sent to me by Allan Robins, this is an orange or yellow fruited variant of Suzy’s Wild Red. We shall see.

Egg Yolk - Not only is it a favorite of ours, but I need fresh seeds.

Mexico Midget - A regular in all of our gardens, the perfect snacking tomato morsel.

Mortgage Lifter, Halladay’s - This and the one below are part of an Epsom Salt application mini-project. Grown from 2013 saved seeds, this one will not get regular Epsom Salts.

Mortgage Lifter, Mullens - And this one will - also grown from 2013 saved seeds. What will the Epsom Salts applied weekly to this plant do?

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I also have seedlings of a variegated microdwarf from a cross I made between one of Dan Follett’s Micros and Cherokee Purple. The fruit were red last year. I am going to squeeze some into my raised bed once the garlic is harvested, in a few weeks. Finally, a red fruited multiflora Micro that my friend Justin sent me.

All in all, total number of tomatoes planted - 51, with up to half a dozen of the micros.

This is significantly down from last year’s 109 plants - just as planned! And I am sure some of you didn’t believe I could do it!

Dwarf Irma’s Highland Cherry, on May 21

My Tomato Collection Tour - Part 17. Tomatoes #211-#220

Straw bale planted tomatoes as of May 21 - Cherokee Purple and Cherokee Green

I’ve decided that once I hit tomato #250, I will take a summer break. The weekly Off The Vine republish posts will continue, and regular garden update blogs will occur too. I will resume the seed collection tour once the garden is complete. This entry won’t be a particularly fascinating set of tomatoes. It will be just a temporary lull, as some heavy hitters will show up in the next entry.

Tomato #211 - LIllian’s Large Yellow #2 - sent to me in a second envelope by Robert Richardson in 1989. I grew it in 1990, and it grew exactly like Lillian Large Red Kansas Paste.

Tomato #212 - Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom #1 - also sent to me by Robert Richardson in 1989. - This grew exactly like Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom - the large fruited bright yellow with potato leaf foliage.

Tomato #213 - Abraham Lincoln - sent to me by Jean Crumpler in 1990. I grew it in 1990, and it was yet another disappointment - a semi determinate, medium sized round prolific red that was nothing like the description of the variety when it was released in 1923.

Tomato #214 - Ole - also sent to me by Jean Crumpler in 1990. I never did grow it. I can’t find anything about this variety aside from a listing in the Seed Savers Exchange, describing it as a red, slightly blocky 6-12 ounce tomato. It does seem to be available if I ever with to acquire the seeds and finally grow it!

Tomato #215 - Jackpot - from Ted Telsch, 1990. I didn’t grow it. It may be a no longer available hybrid - I could find nothing about it.

Tomato #216 - Macero II - purchased from Harris Seeds in 1990. I grew it in 1990, and it was essentially just like a typical Roma type - Red, medium plum, determinate, prolific - and bland. I suspect this was a Harris produced variety as an improvement on Roma.

Tomato #217 - New Hampshire Red - sent to me by B. George in 1990. I never did get around to growing it. Very obscure, couldn’t find a bit of information.

Tomato #218 - Fireball - from Barney Laman, CA, 1990 (he of Mexico Midget fame). I grew this in 1986, and was not impressed - I didn’t grow the seeds from Barney. Refer back to my very early tomato collection blogs.

Tomato #219 - Beefmaster - also from Barney in 1990 - I never did grow it. It is a large fruited scarlet red hybrid that still could be found in some catalogs.

Tomato #220 - Gurney Hy-Top F2 - yet another from Barney in 1990. I never did grow it. Odd for Gurney to release an F2 generation. Seems no longer available - suspect it was a medium red tomato, perhaps a determinate.

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So - what tomatoes from the above set are must-grows? Aside from the extra Lillian’s samples sent to me, there’s nothing worth recommending here, and I didn’t even grow many of them. At this point, I was involved in some garden magazine seed swaps, and people were sending me tomato seeds that I didn’t request - but that they clearly thought highly of.

We’ve had this since 2020 - just bring it into the garage in the fall, loses its foliage, water just occasionally - put it out in spring, Osmocote the heck out of it - and voila!

Off The Vine, Volume 2, Number 1. "What to Grow in 1995. A Tomato Enthusiast Out of Control!" by Craig

Marlin keeping an eye on things, mid May 2022

I wrote an article to share the increasing challenge of deciding what to grow, as my seed collection grew each year. I haven’t read this in a long time - and am interested in seeing how my decisions were made, and how my current garden choices align with this garden from nearly 30 years ago!

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What To Grow in 1995? A Tomato Enthusiast Out of Control!

 by Craig

So, when one has hundreds of varieties of tomato seeds sitting out in little glass vials on the shelf of the garage, what happens in late winter when it becomes time to think about the garden? What kind of selection process do I use to decide what to grow in the coming summer’s garden, and which will have to wait another year or more? For many of you, deciding what to grow may be an easy process, but not for me! I can always seem to come up with a good reason to grow any particular variety of tomato, but with such a large collection, discipline and planning is a must! Here is the reasoning process that I have struggled with this year in planning my tomato growouts.

I guess that the first thing that I do is mentally divide the tomato varieties that I have in my possession into several categories. The two major priorities are what will taste best (since it can be argued that the most important reason to have a garden is to eat of its bounty), and what needs to be grown for seed purposes. There are many factors that contribute to this second priority, such as how many people are reoffering, if any, in the SSE annual, the age of the seed (meaning, how long has it been since it was last grown), what is the priority if it has yet to be grown, etc. Often, such as in this year and, I suspect, all years hence, it comes down to how much room I have for tomatoes in my garden, and how close do I dare space them! Usually, I then start looking for friends and remote gardens in which to inject my varieties. 

Rather than to continue to explain the process, I will use actual details that are in progress for my 1995 garden. This year, my original goal was to concentrate on those varieties that have performed best for me over the years. There is interest from a local grocery store to market heirloom tomatoes, so I was going to grow several plants of these “best” types to sell to the store. First in priority are the potato leaf pink tomatoes, since most of the best that I have tasted are in this category. For this purpose I selected Brandywine, Polish, and Stump of the World.  But, do I plant saved seeds or the seeds from the original source? I decided to try some of each.  Next are large pink regular leaf types that are extremely sweet and delicious. I chose Mortgage Lifter, but from two sources (Charlotte Mullens and Jim Halladay), both original and saved seed. I also decided to add Wins All, which excelled for me last year and is a legitimate old commercially developed variety, sent to be by someone in North Carolina who has been keeping it going for many years. Next, keeping with the pinks, are the wonderful heart shaped varieties that are so spindly as seedlings, such as Anna Russian, Ukrainian Heart, and Nicky Crain. (Again...saved or original??  Both!..). Already it is getting cumbersome and complicated. On we go to the red tomatoes, and I selected Bisignano #2, Opalka, Reif Italian Heart, Big Sandy, and Favorite. To provide tomatoes of unusual and different colors, I chose to grow Yellow-White (also known as Viva Lindsey’s Kentucky Heirloom), Hugh’s, Lillian’s Yellow, Potato Leaf Yellow, Yellow Brandywine, Green, Golden Queen, Robinson’s German Bicolor, and Aunt Ruby’s German Green. Oh yes, I forgot two favorites, Eva Purple Ball and Cherokee Purple, as well as Madara yellow cherry. That gives me a total of 25 varieties to grow to eat and sell to the grocery store for market. Accounting for the number of each type I wish to grow, this will take care of about 36 plants (I will be able to fit about 80-85 or so in my garden, with about 30 in remote locations).

This year, I acquired 41 varieties from the USDA germplasm collection in Geneva and Fort Collins. Most of those will be grown in the remote locations, but I am still very curious in what they will look like, and I certainly want fresh seed from them. The ones that are old commercial varieties, and will find a home in my garden, are: Imperial, Stick, Earliest of All, Enormous, Buckbee’s New 50 Day, Success, Gold Ball, Diener, and Peak of Perfection.  The others, Abel, Nectarine, Golden Beauty, Giant Beauty, Santa Clara Canner, Ham Green Favorite, Golden Monarch, Jagged Leaf, Vivid, Cream City, Potato Leaf Type, Golden Glory, Heterosis, Tops All, Albino, Trimson, Early Giant, High Crimson, Giant Tree, Yellow Ponderosa, Orange Chatham, Orange King, Bountiful, Giant Italian Potato Leaf, Royal Wonder, Yellow, The Orange, and Matchless will have to be grown in other locations. (The jury is still out on if these will be exactly the ones to be orphaned!). Some apparently shorter growing varieties, such as Dwarf Stone, Dwarf Recessive, Victorian Dwarf #1, and New Big Dwarf will be grown in pots on the periphery of my garden. 

Last year’s growouts of the USDA varieties left some unsolved mysteries. I will try growing one more time Acme, Queen of the Purples, and Mikado in hopes that they might be true to the description. A few of the USDA varieties did not germinate last year, and will get a potassium nitrite treatment and another chance this year (samples of Beauty and  Alpha Pink are in this category). A few of the USDA collection will be grown for the first time, such as Mikado Ecarlate, or regrown to get another look at the variety, such as Abraham Lincoln and Magnus.

Now we come to varieties that come from seed savers and need growing out for seed and observations about performance. In this category are Big Yellow, A. C. Red, Mennonite, Orange Strawberry, Potato Leaf Hillbilly (I am dying to see a potato leaf bicolor), Southern Night, Yellow Brandywine and Brandywine from a fellow in Ohio, Italian Giant, Indische Fleische, Bull Heart, Russian Persimmon, Snowball, Azoychka, Cosmonaut Volkov Red, and Orange. (These will be grown in my home garden). Finally, the experiments, such as my search for the regular leaf bicolor of Nina’s Heirloom and F3 growouts from Sun Gold, round out the list.

Does this represent everything that I would like to grow? Not by a long shot. I have hundreds of varieties that I will need to get to within the next 3-5 years, and there will be renewal of seed of other varieties. And, I suppose, more people will send me their favorites, and there are a host of other interesting varieties sitting in the USDA collection, or somewhere else in the world waiting to be grown. What fun this is!

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After re-reading this, my head is spinning. I was only about 10 years into my heirloom tomato adventure, and my annual decisions on what to grow were already very complex. Many of the tomatoes I wrote about continue to be favorites, and others bring back fond memories, though I’ve not grown them in some time. Perhaps re-reading this article will influence what I grow next year!

Betts keeping an eye on things, too!

A Deeper Dive into my 2022 garden choices - Part 1. Peppers and Eggplants

Rear view of the main garden, May 16

One significant improvement I hope to realize in this year’s garden is improved results with two of our favorite crops, peppers and eggplants. In our first two Hendersonville gardens, I tucked them into the gravel driveway area in grow bags. The hours of sun were not optimal, and though I had reasonable yields, it was not what I hoped for. In addition, getting ripe fruit suitable for seed saving didn’t go all that well. The bell peppers tended to rot or suffer insect damage, and the eggplants didn’t make it to the golden stage of over-ripeness best for seed saving.

The major change this season is to use strawbales for most of the peppers and eggplants, augmented by plants in grow bags sitting in front of the bales. Better staking, more sun, and the amazing environment of the straw bales should provide far more success. We shall see!

Bell peppers in straw bales, on May 17

The following peppers are planted in straw bales - all planted on May 6.

Orange Bell - this is a selection of the Orange Bell I’ve grown for many years, acquiring it in a SSE transaction. My garden friend Darrel Jones selected for various improvements. It is a wonderful pepper, one of my favorites - thick walled blocky medium green bells that ripen a rich orange color, at which time it gets very sweet.

Chocolate Bell - This is a pretty stable selection from a Stokes hybrid - called Chocolate Bell - offered only briefly nearly 20 years ago. The original hybrid, no longer available, was quite unique - a big blocky thick walled bell that goes from deep green to chocolate brown, and very sweet at that stage. Last year, it was excellent - interestingly, the interior wall is deep crimson despite the outer appearance ripening to deep chocolate brown.

White Gold - This, and the next three, are advanced selections from my dehybridization efforts from Islander. I think that all are quite stable. White Gold is a slightly elongated bell, with an unusual color progression - cream to golden yellow.

Carolina Amethyst - This selection is released and available here and there. This selection mimics the hybrid - color progression cream to a gorgeous lavender, finally ending up medium red.

Fire Opal - This is my favorite of the four selections, a slightly elongated bell that starts cream, then to lavender - finally to golden yellow.

Royal Purple - This last of the Islander selections is the most blocky shaped bell - it starts out pale chartreuse green, then turns black purple, finally ending up a deep crimson red.

Shishito - We ended up purchasing these from a local farmers market all summer long. It seemed appropriate to grow them, since they are a very prolific plant. I don’t find them the best flavored, but we do like to brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss them on the grill until they are blistered with black patches and soft.

Padron - Unlike the very mild Shishito, Padron can throw some real spicy specimens, providing quite a burn in the mouth. We also enjoy grilling them. Like Shishito, they are very prolific.

The following peppers are in 5 gallon grow bags, planted May 14. The grow bags are situated in front of the straw bales, one bag per bale.

Pinata - We LOVE this unusual Jalapeno type, bred by the Chile Institute in New Mexico. The plant is super prolific - the peppers go from cream, to yellow, to orange, to red, with all four colors on the plant at various times of the season. They are utterly Jalapenos in heat, use and flavor.

Shishito - We decided to do for two plants - one in the bale, on in a grow bag. I think we will have plenty!

Eggplant Mardi Gras in a straw bale as of May 17

The following eggplants were planted in straw bales on May 6.

Skinny Twilight - This, Twilight Lightning and Midnight Lightning are all my selections from the Johnny’s hybrid Orient Express. Skinny Twilight is the same shape - a long, slender Asian type - with medium purple skin and pale greenish flesh. It is very prolific.

Twilight Lightning - This selection is very slender, very productive and is a pale lavender with white streaks. The white flesh is sweet and has few seeds.

Mardi Gras - This unique variety is my selection from a bee-made cross between the white eggplant Casper and another variety. I’ve worked on it for many years and believe it to be stable. The teardrop shape fruit are pale green, with an unusual pale lavender blush over the green. The flesh is quite green.

Midnight Lightning - This is the selection most like Orient Express. The plant is very pretty, with significant purplish shading. The fruit are black purple, slender and prolific, with pale green flesh. This plant is from 2021 saved seeds.

The following eggplants were planted in 5 gallon grow bags on May 14.

Midnight Lightning - See above - this plant is from 2019 saved seed.

Mardi Gras - see above.

Green Ghost - This is another selection from the unexpected cross that yielded Mardi Gras. The plentiful eggplants have skin of pale green and are quite slender in shape, with pale green flesh.

All in all, that makes 10 peppers and 7 eggplants, which should do the trick for our cooking needs.

Right hand column - peppers and eggplants, bales and bags - guarded by Marlin - on May 17

Mid-May Garden Update

State of part of the garden after lots of planting, on May 14.

Lots is planted, and lots is growing! The garden at our Hendersonville home is a patchwork, with fun to be had all over the yard. We have a front flower garden (viewable from Sue’s sewing room), a strip garden along the front of the house, a side garden that is mostly hosta, then our back yard array. There are 5 discreet flower or shrub gardens, as well as the two raised beds and the various straw bales or containers in the center of the yard.

The weather has been pretty much ideal, following a cool, extended spring with a few late frosts. Right now the days are perfect - upper 70s to low 80s, a few showers, nights in the 50s. If I could bottle this up for use later in the summer, I would!

Yukon Gold potatoes growing in large containers, in partially composted wheat straw from last year’s bales

At this point, the following is up and growing:

Potatoes - Yukon Gold, in four containers filled with composted wheat straw from last year’s bales

Swiss Chard - in a container, and in a raised bed

Lettuce - in a container, and in a raised bed

Spinach - in a container

Garlic - planted last September, in two raised beds - probably a month from harvest

Sugar Snap Peas looking good - blossoming and climbing

Sugar Snap Peas - planted quite early, trellised

Strawberries - plants from a friend, in a raised bed and in a container

Summer Squash - up and growing well, direct seeded into straw bales, 4 types

Bush Beans - up and growing well, direct seeded into straw bales, 6 types

Cucumbers - up and growing well, direct seeded into straw bales, 2 types

Eggplants - some in straw bales, some in grow bags - total of 7 plants, including the varieties Mardi Gras, Green Ghost, Midnight Lightning, Twilight Lightning and Skinny Twilight

Peppers - some in straw gales, some in grow bags - total of 10 plants, including Chocolate Bell, Orange Bell, Fire Opal, Royal Purple, Carolina Amethyst, Shishito, Padron and Pinata.

Tomatoes - total of 49 plants, in grow bags or straw bales. Only a few are my typical favorites (Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Green, Cherokee Chocolate, Polish and Lucky Cross). 32 are indeterminate, the rest are dwarfs.

I’ll give a full report on the tomatoes in a future blog. I still have some microdwarf tomatoes to plant - they will go into the raised beds once the garlic is harvested.

Bush Beans (foreground) and Summer Squash (rear), in straw bales

Off The Vine, Volume 2, Number 1. "Desert Sweet Tomatoes" by Amy Goldman

Mountain Laurel just about to open on local trails - this was see on Pink Beds Train in Pisgah National Forest

Here, we have another guest article - this time by Amy Goldman, current special advisor to the SSE board.

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Desert Sweet Tomatoes: Jewels of the Negev

by Amy Goldman

I first became aware of the tomatoes called “Desert Sweet” (a brand name) several years ago while visiting relatives on a kibbutz(collective farm) in Israel. “Kibbutzniks” (local residents) extolled their virtues. Being a tomato aficionado I had to know more and sought out Yoel DeMalach, the man in charge of the nearby Ramat Negev Desert Agroresearch Center (RANDAC). Yoel has 40 years of experience in growing and breeding vegetables and field crops, specializing in onions, and has taught agriculture at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva. He has been intimately involved in the development of Desert Sweet tomatoes and along with his frequent collaborator Dov Pasternak of The Institute for Applied Research at Ben Gurion University, is well known for his research with brackish (slightly salty) water irrigation.

The most distinguishing characteristic of these tomatoes is that they are irrigated almost entirely with brackish water, yet paradoxically they are intensely sweet and delicious. Why use saline, rather than fresh water irrigation, and concomitantly, how does this account for a marked increase in glucose (sugar) content? For the answers to these questions let’s start with a little background information.

“Sweet” or fresh water is scarce in Israel and these water resources are being rapidly depleted. On the other hand the Negev desert, Israel’s arid southern region, has vast reserves of brackish water under is sand dunes. The water pumped from wells over 1000 feet below the desert is 400% more saline than the fresh water from the Sea of Galilee. The task of the RANDAC and other collaborators such as Ben Gurion University and The Volcani Agricultural Center has been to literally “make the desert bloom” using salty water and new approaches to agriculture, eg. xericulture, salinity-genetics. And this they have done to a significant degree, based upon experimentation performed over many years.

The tomato is regarded as a moderately salt-tolerant species and thus was a good candidate for research. In order to minimize damage to both soil and plant tissues caused by brackish water, modern drip-irrigation methods were developed. Changes in protocols were made to maximize results. For example, Israeli scientists found that tomatoes need to be germinated and grown in sweet water until the fourth leaf stage. Jointly with the Volcani Center extensive breeding and selection was, and continues to be done, to identify the most saline-resistant tomato cultivars.

A series of controlled experiments performed by teams of researchers have revealed a wealth of information, which, as an amateur gardener, I am neither entirely capable of understanding nor able to report here in full. Nevertheless, some of the most salient features of the research have involved manipulation of different levels of salinity, including rates and times of application, and of even “plant architecture” (pruning vines to two or three branches). The effects of changing these variables was then determined by looking at tomato yields, growth rates, acidity, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, sugar content, taste and fruit size under actual field, screen and hot-house conditions.

The results are in and they are fascinating. Irrigation with brackish water improves the quality of tomato fruit and makes it sweeter. Take this to mean better tasting fruit as judged by “blind” taste testers, sweeter fruits with higher concentrations of sugars, as measured objectively, and less fruit cracking.

Saline irrigation significantly reduces total yields of tomatoes but in some cases increases “marketable” yields of certain types such as cherry tomatoes. Fruit size is significantly decreased. The smaller fruit size accounts for yield decreases as the number of fruit produced is unaffected or actually increased. Irrigation with saline water also results in an increase in the percent of dry matter or total dissolved solids of the fruit. The decreased water content of the fruit presumably accounts for the decreased fruit size and increased percentage of dissolved solids and sugars.

By 1990 Israeli researchers were able to produce high quality fresh market tomatoes using saline irrigation. The “Desert Sweet” designation is actually a brand name applied to a number of tomato varieties bred at the Volcani Institute and grown and irrigated with brackish water in hothouses elsewhere in the Negev. The Desert Sweet project began in 1991 and now these tomatoes are exported and sold worldwide, but only I their glucose levels exceed 200 milligrams per kilogram. If they don’t pass this sugar test they stay in Israel where my mother-in-law can love and enjoy them.

If I’ve piqued your curiosity, and appetite, and you’d like to sample these tomatoes bred specifically for the specialty market, head straight to your nearest gourmet grocery and look in the fruit, not vegetable, section. If you’re in luck you may find Desert Sweets “On” or “Off the Vine” … tell’em Carolyn and Craig sent you. The seeds, on the other hand, are proprietary property and are not available commercially. However, if you live in a desert environment and have been searching for suitable tomato or tomatillo seeds to grow, write or call: Native Seeds/SEARCH, 2509 N. Campbell Ave., #325, Tucson, AZ 85719; phone (602) 327-9123.

Another group assisting the desert dwellers in The Arid Lands Development Foundation, a new non-profit foundation which has opened its doors for the express purpose of promoting dry lands agricultural research and raining projects worldwide, specifically as these have been developed at RANDAC. One of their first projects has involved helping the Hopi people of Arizona to develop and economic base in agriculture. The Foundation, with the assistance of Yoel DeMalach and Dov Pasternak, approached the USDA last year for funds to do an extensive feasibility study. Who knows? We may soon have Hopi-grown peppers and corn in the fruit section as well. For more information write or call: Mr. Sam Hoenig, Executive Director, The Arid Lands Development Foundation, 701 Beta Drive, Suite 27, Cleveland, OH 44143; phone (216) 461-8199.

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Lots has changed since Amy wrote this article, but it is great to have her contribution to our newsletter. Enjoy!

Flame Azalea growing alongside the trail we hiked in the Pink Beds in the Pisgah