About our big dinner salads....and other random musings (begun July 17, finished today)

Busy Bumblebee on our Salvia Coccinea Coral Nymph in late August

What a rare event! We made big salads tonight for dinner where our own lettuce co-existed with our own tomatoes! Typically the lettuce is long gone before the tomatoes arrive. I wish I took a picture - Sue and I make big salads when they are the main dinner course. Aside from lettuce and tomatoes (tonight I used Dwarf Liz’s Teardrop and Glory F1 hybrid) were chopped sweet orange peppers (Trader Joe-sourced), our own cucumbers (Unagi hybrid, which I highly recommend), blueberries (picked just a few miles down the road), a few halves of Rainer cherries (Trader Joe again). I put some sliced deli turkey on mine, and Sue likes Kalamata olives on hers. There were also some craisins, toasted walnuts, some torn basil leaves (it is so nice to have fresh basil to use), grated Syrah soaked Bella Vista (yep - Trader Joe), olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice and black pepper. Sue adds a bit of Balsamic to hers. It fills a plate - but being on average about 95% water, has but few calories - so it is an amazing feast that fills us up. We’ve been doing salads like this for many, many years.

It was such a quiet day - Sundays here seem to be that way. The birds aren’t as vocal as they were, with just the house wren and song sparrows filling the spaces. Hummingbirds are around again after a bit of an absence, at our two feeders or our various flower gardens, particularly loving the phlox, salvia and crocosmia. The main morning task was watering - afternoon was for hammock time and a book, and tomato harvesting. We love our days here in Hendersonville. When Sue and I are in our back yard corner, the three dogs tend to hang around near us - except when some sound sends them running to see if a mole or vole or rabbit or squirrel - or delivery truck - threatened their domain. We could watch them frolic and interact all day (and sometimes it seems like we do!).

I’ve fallen behind on answering emails, which are mostly gardening questions at this time of year. I hope to get caught up tomorrow, but sometimes it just seems a bit overwhelming, working on issues in others’ gardens at the same time that I am working on those showing up in my own. If yours is one of the unanswered emails, apologies - you will get a response soon! (note added August 25 - yes, I did get caught up - but am falling behind again!)

Walking around the garden after dinner is hitting that time when it can be intimidating. Tomato growing means issues, and those issues accelerate as the season progresses, the plants get big, and the warm, humid weather takes its toll. Not only is there the regular watering, feeding, tying and diseased foliage removal, daily harvests are now here - and the decisions on what to do with it. I always have plans to take it slow, sample each variety carefully, take lots of pictures - then - WHAM - there are 20 or 30 or more pounds of tomatoes sitting on this or that table, all ripening at once. Which need to be tasted? Which need their seeds saved? Is it canning time yet? Something is leaking - which tomato is the culprit? It is just about at that point in the year, and I know it will flash by, as I will be very busy daily for the next month or more.

I often wonder how I got to this place - 40 years of gardens, two books, a collaborative on line course, Zooms and interviews and phone calls and emails and Instagrams and blogs. Mostly I wonder what’s next - what to stop, what to start, and how I can be in the moment more, have less “lists” - start to disencumber myself from being so consistently “on” and busy. I am so happy that I left Facebook and Twitter behind. Instagram is really my main sharing format, and though I have a love/hate feeling about all social media, I will likely stick with it for some time. I’ve come to realize that my blogging really is mostly for me - my record, my archive, and a place to do posts like this - thinking out loud, ruminating about things. My feeling is that blogs don’t often get read - too many words, too much time needed to do so, and our society is moving more and more toward brief sound bites. That, though, it not me - I love to write, love words, love the whole act of putting thoughts down (no longer on paper, but through my fingers, from this keyboard). Part of me is ready to do less gardening - smaller gardens for sure, feeling less tied to the yard, feeling more free to take off for days to kayak or hike. Part of me is ready to move away from the Zooms and the sharing. And an even bigger part of me is not ready for that quite yet - even though I burn out each year doing this, I somehow reenergize over the fall and winter and do it all again the following year. It does give me things to ponder as I garden, and mow, and hike, and laze in the hammock.

The above was all written in mid July. Now, on August 25 as I finish this blog, it all still rings true. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I had wonderful experiences providing Zooms for the plant breeding department at Cornell (on the Dwarf Tomato Project), and Penn State Master Gardeners (on tomatoes). One more Zoom remains - the tomato talk - to an Orange County NC Master Gardener group in late October. Then - that’s it!

Things that are now done - Better Call Saul (for which I am very sad - I loved that series, and thought that the finale was brilliant), the Friday Office Hours for my Growing Epic Tomatoes course with Joe Lamp’l, and my weekly Thursday Instagram Lives. This is a relief for me. It opens up space to do more things, feel less tied down and obligated.

I now embark on completing the book on the Dwarf Tomato Project - that will be my main focus between now and next spring. When not working on that, it will be all about hiking, or kayaking, or reading, or listening to music - or lazing in the hammock with Sue. This all makes me very, very happy.

Finally - some ripe sweet bell peppers! Royal Purple, Chocolate Bell and Orange Bell, late August. Seed saving time!

Off The Vine Volume 2, Number 3. "Seed Sources" by Carolyn

I thought I’d return to a pic from August 2019 - being reminded of what an unruly mess my driveway garden became!

Time for a Carolyn contribution - and amused she begins with an admonishment! Carolyn LOVED to send seeds to people. It is also great to read of her support for the SSE. They are approaching their 50th year anniversary - yet their exposure is not at all what it should be. There are myriad reasons for this that I won’t go in to. Though I don’t support absolutely everything they do these days, I consider their continued existence absolutely critical. This article by Carolyn is a good - but somewhat dated - read. All of the companies listed have undergone changes over the years, and one has vanished (Heirloom Seeds). Time heals wounds - but sometimes creates them as well.

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Seed Sources

by Carolyn Male

I’d first like to mention that Craig and I are not a source of tomato seeds for Off The Vine subscribers.  We both are active listed members of the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE, see below), and participate in their seed activities, but do not feel it is appropriate for us to offer seeds for sale.  I’m going to discuss both commercial sources and the special seeds we are offering through Off The Vine, but I’d first like to encourage all of you to consider membership in the SSE.  SSE is not a commercial firm and is not a seed company.  It is an organization dedicated to the preservation of heirloom vegetables, fruits and grains.  If preserving our genetic heritage is important to you, you might wish to support SSE by becoming a member.  Membership will give you access to about 3000 tomato varieties!  Almost all of the varieties mentioned in Off The Vine are available through SSE.  It is hoped that you would multiply seed obtained through SSE and reoffer it to others as a listed member although that certainly is not a requirement for membership.  It’s pretty late in the season to obtain the current seed listings in the 1996 yearbook, but by sending in $25 now, you might get it this spring.  It gets very busy at SSE in the spring and there is usually a big backlog.  They now publish a brochure which contains a few selected vegetables and flower varieties which are available to everyone, but the tomato offerings are limited.  The address is Seed Savers Exchange, 3076 North Winn Road, Decorah, IA, 52101.

The following list of commercial seed sources is not inclusive; they are companies Craig and I or others we know have dealt with and have been pleased with both the service and the seeds.  The catalog ($2 ) of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, PO Box 170, Earlysville, VA, 22936, is a treasure trove of heirloom histories and excellent open pollinated varieties.  There is a large selection of heirloom tomatoes including many that have been mentioned in Off The Vine (too many to list separately).  Vince and Linda Sapp at Tomato Growers Supply have made a large commitment to heirloom tomatoes and now carry a superb selection.  Again, many of the varieties have been mentioned here and are too numerous to mention individually.  Their catalog is free and the address is Tomato Growers Supply Company, PL Box 2237, Fort Meyers, FL 33902.  Rob Johnston of Johnny’s Selected Seeds has an excellent selection of heirloom tomatoes.  Again, many have been mentioned here in Off The Vine.  The catalog is free and the address is Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Foss Hill Road, Albion, ME  04910.  Tom Hauch has a small catalog which features many excellent heirloom tomatoes.  The catalog is $1 and the address is Heirloom Seeds, PO Box 245, West Elizabeth, PA  15088.  Totally Tomatoes, PO Box 1626, Augusta, GA, 30903 (catalog free) also has a nice selection of heirloom tomatoes.  Craig and I have been sending seed for trial to the first three companies and we are pleased that they have selected some of our varieties to offer in their catalogs.

We are also making available to you a selection of 12 very special seeds, of which you may request any six varieties.  These seeds are special because they are the result of either natural or deliberate cross pollination and the grow outs from some of these should be especially interesting.  We need to discuss a little about tomato genetics before I describe the varieties.

The fruits which result from initial cross pollination (natural or deliberate) of two parents gives seed which is referred to as F1 seed (F1 hybrid).  When planted, all the plants and fruit of F1 seed should be identical (but see comments later about Brandywine crosses).  Seed isolated from the fruits of F1 parents is referred to as F2 seed.  When this seed is planted you’ll get a variety of different plants which might vary with respect to foliage type, fruit shape and color, earliness, etc.  So if the F1 plants were potato leaf, for instance, the F2 plants may be regular leaf or potato leaf.  And if the F1 fruit were red, you could get red, orange or pink fruit, or whatever, in the F2s, depending on the parents.  If you find an F2 plant that you like, save the seeds and plant again the next year.  These F3 seeds will also segregate out different characteristics and you’ll have to select again and grow out the next year to see the F4s.  So how long does it take to genetically stabilize a variety?  Well, how does 3-10 years sound?  But it is really fun, and remember that every authentic family heirloom tomato was grown out and stabilized by someone until it came true every year!  Some of the rejects are darned good and this stabilizing game really does start to grow on you.  So if you have the room and inclination, give it a try.  We ask in return that you let the folks offering the seed know your results.  Whether or not the results are requested is listed for each seed offering. 

The first series of seeds were hybridized by Stanley Zubrowski, an amateur Canadian hybridizer who has been trying to combine flavor (Brandywine) with a variety of early season varieties.  All five F1s are potato leaved and the fruit about 4-6 ounces with a variety of fruit shapes and the color is red or pink (they should all be red because Brandywine is pink and each of the five varieties it is crossed with are red; red is dominant to pink).  These crosses are Brandywine X Stupice, Brandywine X Kotlas, Brandywine X Polish, Brandywine X Glacier, and Brandywine X Outdoor Girl.  The seed offered is the F2 seed.

Tad Smith, author of our late blight article and the hybridization article in this issue, is offering two crosses.  The first is Yellow Oxheart X Ukrainian Heart (red).  The F1 plants are wispy, as one often seeds with oxheart foliage and the fruit are large pink hearts.  Tad knows the Ukrainian Heart parent was red and is at a loss to explain the pink offspring.  Seed offered is F2 seed.  Tad’s other cross is Purple Perfect X Purple Price.  These parents have the same coloration as Cherokee Purple, as do the F1 fruit.  I happen to love Purple Perfect, the one parent, and several folks reported from last year that they got some excellent selections.  Seed offered is the F2 seed. 

I’m offering two crosses.  The first is White Queen X unknown.  White Queen is the best white I’ve ever grown, is oblate (flattened) with very good taste.  The F1 fruit are large red and bomb-shaped with excellent taste; could be some interesting ones that come out of this because I don’t know what the other parent is, other than it’s red.  Seed offered is F2 seed.  My other offering is OTV (Off The Vine) Brandywine, and this is a great tomato.  The OTV reflects the fact that this cross originated in Craig’s garden between Yellow Brandywine and unknown, and I’ve stabilized it out to the F4 generation.  While pink, yellow, and red/orange large beefsteak type fruit have appeared in the F2 and F3 generations, I’ve been selecting for the large red/orange potato leaf type and last summer seven of seven plants grew true.  I really want to know your results with this one, and you might as well make my day by including the results of the White Queen cross if you’ve selected that one.  Seeds are F4.

Craig is also offering two crosses.  His first is Cherokee Purple X unknown (red).  Instead of the clear skin that gives Cherokee Purple its dusky rose color, this F1 has yellow skin which makes the fruit brownish in color.  Seed offered is the F2 seed.  Craig’s other cross is Sungold X unknown, and the F3 he’s offering is a potato leaf variant with red/orange cherry sized fruit.  Seed offered is the F3 seed.

Lastly, 12 lucky folks may opt to grow out selections offered by Dr. John Navazio of Garden City Seeds.  The description that follows is his; “I’m happy to give readers of OTV a chance to select a potentially good flavored tomato.  The original cross was between a very good flavored heirloom from Maine called simply “Potato Leaf”, and a select high-flavored breeding line from the late Univ. of RI tomato breeder, Dr. A. E. Griffiths.  F3 plants will vary for leaf type, flavor compounds, and shape.  Each packet contains about 15 seeds; please try to grow at least 8-10 plants and only save seeds from the best ones for further stabilization of the variety.” Seed offered is F3 seed.  Each packet has a number on it which you should record and will also be recorded by Pat Millard, and each packet as Dr. Navazio’s address at Garden City Seeds.  Courtesy dictates that you send him a postcard and let him know your findings and what you plant to do with your selections; I’m sure he would appreciate that.  If your space is limited and you grow half the seeds this year and half the next, that would be fine.

Other than John Navazio’s seeds, if you are going to plant only one, two or three of the plants, please request only five seeds.  If you are going to plant more than that, which should be done to see the range and types of variation, then request ten seeds.  Send your request to Patrick Millard, 1126 Justin Ridge Way, Waynesville, Ohio  45068 and enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope with a 32 cent stamp; we would ask non-US folks to please enclose one US dollar and not put stamps on their SASE.  Again, Craig, John and I would appreciate a postcard letting us know what you get from your grow outs.  I just know you’ll have fun with these seeds.  Remember, you may request six varieties!

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I’ve absolutely no idea what happened with many of the experimental seeds that were sent out. I don’t think anything of significance came from them…well, except for Cherokee Chocolate, the brown fruited mutation of Cherokee Purple. Perhaps we will read about some of the others in future articles from this newsletter - we shall see!

We were also fostering puppies in August - here’s Koda keeping an eye on them.

Off The Vine Volume 2, Number 3. "Breeding Tomatoes in the Home Vegetable Garden" by Tad Smith

The remaining dwarfs in the mid August garden

Reading this interesting addition to our newsletter reminds me that I need to reconnect with Tad Smith. We had occasional phone conversations back in the Off The Vine days, which I always enjoyed. Chats with him help fuel my own interest in amateur breeding.

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Breeding Tomatoes in the Home Vegetable Garden

Dr. Tad Smith

Breeding tomatoes adds another dimension to the joy of growing tomatoes in the home vegetable garden.  In addition to the anticipation of tasting that first luscious fruit of the season, there is the unknown fascination about the size and taste of this “new” tomato.  If the new tomato has characteristics that please the gardener, then it may become a permanent part of the yearly planting in the home garden.  What could possibly be more satisfying than eating the fruits of one’s own handiwork?

There are several ways to breed tomatoes.  For the gardener simply interested in planting some crossed-pollinated seed, let the bees and chance play the main roles. Tomatoes are normally self-pollinating, but 5% cross-pollination from insect activity is common in the home garden.  If bees are not active or the weather is poor, cross-pollination is less likely to occur.  However, this passive method places a major limit on the choice of parental tomato varieties because a method is needed to distinguish seedlings that developed from cross-pollinated seed.

Leaf shape can be an excellent marker to pick out the hybrid seedlings.  For example, it is possible to cross a regular leaf tomato variety with a potato leaf tomato using no special skills.  This can be useful for gardeners with unsteady hands or less than perfect vision needed to cross pollinate the flowers.  Besides, botany class may have been years ago.

In the spring, plant one potato leaf tomato plant surrounded by several regular leaf plants.  During the summer and early fall, collect a large amount of seed from 10 or more tomatoes from only the potato leaf plant.  Next spring, plant all of the seed in several flats.  As soon as the first true leaves develop, examine the true leaves carefully.  Scattered throughout the flat of mostly potato leaf seedlings will be a few regular leaf seedlings.  Since all of the seed came from potato leaf fruit, any regular leaf seedlings are the results of cross pollination.  In this case, the regular leaf trait was dominant over the potato leaf trait.  By choosing the potato leaf plants as the female parents, it was easy to spot the regular leaf hybrid seedlings.

This passive method requires working with tomato varieties possessing traits that can be differentiated in the seedling stage.  Besides the potato vs regular leaf, the Woolly trait can be used.  The Woolly gene is found in the Angora variety of tomato.  If gardeners are not familiar with Angora, they should try it because it has a beautiful coat of white hairs over the entire plant surface.  The Woolly trait is dominant over plants lacking a heavy coat of hairs.  Therefore plant several Angora plants around one regular non-hairy plant. Examine seedlings derived from seed collected from the non-hairy plant for woolly seedlings.  These Woolly seedlings will be the hybrids.

Active cross pollination is a more reliable method to breed tomatoes.  There is no limitation on the parents used in the cross, except do not use hybrid plants.  The technique of cross-pollinating tomatoes is relatively easy, but it requires practice and skill.  It is well worth the effort to practice by crossing a potato leaf plant with pollen from a regular leaf plant.  Then evaluate your skill by checking the leaf type of seedlings.  If the seedling characteristics indicate that your skills are good, then attempt to cross pollinate plants that would lack visual differences at the seedling stage.

The inside method requires at least four large pots for two plants of each variety.  Grow the plants in a southern window and augment the light with a bank of fluorescent lights set for 16 hours.  Longer light regimes will damage tomato plants.  Add a source of calcium to the soil mix to eliminate any chance of blossom end rot.

Once the plants form flower buds, it is time to plan the cross pollination.  Just before or as the flower opens, remove the fused stamens from the flower that should form the future tomato.  By removing these pollen producing parts of the flower (emasculation), self pollination is prevented.  The stamens form a cone like structure around the center structure of the flower.  A jewelers micro-forceps works well for this delicate task.  The goal is to cleanly remove all of the stamens without damaging other parts of the flower.  Practice removing the stamens on tomato flowers during the summer in the vegetable garden.

Generally, the emasculated flower requires a day or two to recover from the injury and to become fully receptive to pollen from another flower.  The flowers that provide pollen should be at peak bloom, and the best time for cross pollination is around noon.  The forceps tip is used to collect pollen from the inner surface of stamens from a different tomato variety.  There are numerous grooves on stamens that contain large amounts of pollen.  Of course, there is no reason to be gentle with the pollen source flowers.  The pollen is transferred to the tip (the stigma) of the center part of the emasculated flower.  This central part contains the stigma and long style located over the ovary.  After pollination, the ovary of the flower swells and develops into a tomato.

Pollinate as many flowers as possible.  Once the fruit sets, allow only two fruits to develop from each flower cluster.  Otherwise, the weight of the fruits on plants raised inside may cause the tomatoes to pull loose from the stem.

The seeds from this cross at the F1 hybrids, and the F1 plants will be identical and express only the dominant traits of the parents.  Since they are hybrids, they may be more vigorous than either one of the parents.  Store the seed in coin envelopes that are carefully labeled and dated.  Place the envelopes inside a plastic zip-lock bag and store it in the refrigerator.  Tomato seeds stored at low temperature will be viable for decades.  One tomato will yield anywhere from 10 to 200 seeds, depending on the variety and success of the pollination technique.

The genetics of tomatoes are well known.  As a starting point, many common tomato traits are recessive.  This includes the potato leaf shape, green stripes on fruit (seen in Tigerella), yellow flesh color, determinate plant shape, and unpigmented fruit epidermis (clear skin found on pink and white tomatoes).  If any of these traits are matched with a typical red tomato variety, the dominant traits of the red tomato variety will be expressed in the F1 hybrids.

Only a few tomato traits are dominant over the characteristics of normal red tomatoes.  The Woolly trait is one example.  Another dominant trait is beta-carotene.  In this case, the tomato is orange in color because of the dominant production of beta carotene pigment in the fruit.  Caro Rich and Caro Red are two varieties with this gene.

The recessive genes do not disappear in the F1 hybrids.  They simply are not expressed.  However, these genes will be expressed in some plants of the next generation (F2) of tomatoes.  The F2 generation produces tremendous variation from plant to plant.  At this level, plant breeders start the long selection process of developing a new variety.  This is a topic for another article.

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Even though I really enjoyed reading through this article when Tad submitted it, it was still great to have info I’ve absorbed through the years reinforced. Any of you who are interested in trying to cross some tomatoes will find lots of useful things in this article.

The garden from the rear corner, under the shady pines, just before removing all of the indeterminate plants

Updates finished, looking ahead a bit...

A very different view after removing plants today

Today (August 16) I yanked the dead or dying tomato plants from the straw bales and tossed them over the fence into our back woods. I still have 8 tomato plants growing in 5 gallon grow bags sitting on top of the front bales where indeterminate tomatoes resided earlier this season. Six are F2 generation from the Glory family (Dester X Dwarf Gloria’s Treat) - four are regular leaf, two are potato leaf. Two are chartreuse foliage Dwarf Jade Beauty, sent to me by a Growing Epic Tomatoes student - they appeared in a packet of Dwarf Jade Beauty from Victory Seeds. They may be a mutation or a cross - we will find out once fruits from the combined efforts of three of us begin to ripen. These plants are doing battle with septoria and early blight, so the possibility of them bearing ripe fruit is not assured.

The line of cherry tomatoes and other random varieties along the plant continue on. Two, from plants given to me by my garden friend Eddie at the Marion event this spring, will most likely provide ripe tomatoes. Tennessee Surprise will be a large bicolor, and the other is an unusually shaped tomato, a ridged plum shape, that is a mystery. I just saved a batch of seeds from Mexico Midget. The other of interest is from the Suzy family - it is indeterminate, the plant is dead, but a few fruit were appropriate for seed saving - very odd, matte/fuzzy skinned, and a green/pink mottled color. The flesh was very seedy. My goal are fuzzy dwarfs, so this is a dead end, albeit a curious one. Once we harvest the many cherry tomatoes present, these plants will be pulled, probably in a week or two.

bell peppers loading up - White Gold near, Fire Opal rear

I just harvested a load of eggplants from the still healthy, productive plants in straw bales, as well as lots of Shishito and Padron peppers. There are fruits on the bell peppers, and I am hoping some will ripen to the final color before they rot, so I can save seeds.

My next task are to plant spinach and lettuce seeds, so we can get salad greens throughout fall, winter and next spring. I will start those in small containers and transplant them into my two raised beds in a few weeks. I will also plant a few garlic cloves - perhaps aiming at a dozen plants. I overdid it last year, but we’ve enjoyed eating our own garlic. I’ve also got a very full plant of Greek Columnar Basil, which is soon to become pesto.

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Now on to the future. This coming Thursday - August 18 - will be my last weekly Instagram Live weekly ask me anything/garden update. It was great fun doing them between March and now, but it is time to bring them to a close. It is highly likely I will do one per month, just to keep connections going, before starting the weekly instances again next spring. So - one each in September, October, November, December, January, February - then regular weekly sessions starting mid March 2023. This matches the last of the Friday Office Hours sessions for Growing Epic Tomatoes, weekly Zooms done with Joe Lamp’l. He and I are both ready for a bit of a break!

I will continue posting blogs - there are lots of articles in Off The Vine to post, and I expect to finish that little project by the end of 2022.

In June, I suspended the review of my tomato seed collection, stopping at #250. I will restart this review in September, realizing that there will be quite a lot of filler - varieties that I never did get to grow out, or with little background info. We’ll see how it goes.

It is time for me to focus on finishing the Dwarf Tomato Project book. Reduced gardening activity and the Instagram Lives, as well as less frequent posts on Instagram and less frequent garden updates on my blog, will provide some of that time I need to do so. In addition, I will be reducing time spent on answering emails. My plan is to focus on responding to garden questions email on one day per week - to be determined. I will start this process on September 1.

Finally - about the Dwarf Tomato Breeding Project. It has been an incredible ride - begun in 2005, it is now 17 years later - with 145 releases in various seed catalogs. Efforts on this, particularly with regard to my role - making crosses, decisions, distributing seeds - will now reduce considerably. This project will likely never formally end - work will be devolved to those who wish to take responsibility for moving various parts forward. It simply is time!

In my next blog, I will start to post my ideas on what next year’s garden - including various mini-projects - might look like. It’s way too soon for me to know for sure, but I can share some first thoughts and options!

Chartreuse foliage Jade Beauty

Thoughts on a very brief tomato harvest....or was it all that different?

kayaking on Lake Santeetlah - on our August trip

“Just when you think you’ve figured it all out, this happens!”

That could be the defining phrase for all gardeners. We are all constantly grappling with change on both macro and micro levels. There is variability within every season - temperatures, weather, critters, diseases. Then, there is the broader variability of how things are changing on a more broad scale - amount of rainfall, average last frost dates, length and intensity of heat waves. We get to deal with both, every year. Sometimes things work out just fine - and sometimes they don’t.

We moved to Hendersonville in January 2020. The first garden was pretty delightful. The first tomato ripened on July 15, yields and flavors were excellent - we canned 63 quarts, a record that we will never break (because our gardens will be smaller from now on), and all plants were removed - the tomato season ended - on August 25. That’s six weeks of tomato production. Weather was quite ideal throughout, with few 90 degree days and a reasonable amount of rain.

2021 was unique in that the garden was tended in a very disciplined fashion, in order to support filming for the course Growing Epic Tomatoes that Joe Lamp’l and his team created, focusing on his and my tomato gardens. Harvest began on July 10, yields were heavy, and it all came to an end on August 30. Duration of tomato production for 2021 was therefore was a little over 7 weeks. The weather was perfect, and we canned nearly as many quarts - 56.

2022 started out quite well. With less pressure to film, I still focused on many of the techniques that led to such a successful 2021. Fruit set was excellent early on, and plant health held well. First tomato harvested was a bit earlier - on July 4. Then….the heat cranked up, along with humidity. Then the daily late afternoon thunderstorms began. It became impossible to keep up with the spread of diseases - initially septoria and early blight, but also more fusarium wilt than I’d experienced here yet. I am about to remove all of the plants - the season has come to an end, on August 15. Total quarts canned - 7 - very low, even considering my garden contained 60 plants, about half of what I grew the last two years. Duration of tomato production ended up at 6 weeks.

In writing this blog, it is the first time I crunched the numbers on my first three gardens, to compare. I’ll pull out the pertinent data here. In each case, the plants went into the bales on roughly May 1.

2020 - 130 plants - harvest duration July 15-August 25 - 6 weeks. 63 quarts canned.

2021 - 110 plants, harvest duration July 10-August 30 - 7+weeks. 56 quarts canned.

2022 - 60 plants, harvest duration July 4-August 15 - 6 weeks. 7 quarts canned.

There are some interesting trends. First ripe fruit are coming in a bit more quickly each year. The pressure from disease is increasing. There were more days at 90 and above this year, and more late day rain which kept foliage wet overnight.

As far as critters, this year was largely free of hornworms, army worms, fruit worms, Japanese beetles and stink bugs. This was a disease year as far as issues. 2020 and 2021 had more hornworms and fruit worms, Stink bugs have not been a problem here. But - this was also a slug year, due to the rain. I’d not experienced slugs in my straw bales in 2020 or 2021, but they really came on late here, and mostly impacted my cukes, beans and squash.

Clearly next year will be different once more - the conditions (warmer? cooler? wetter? dryer? more or less humid?), and the critters. It will also be different in terms of my approach. I’ll discuss that in my next blog.

So in summary, my first take on 2022 - spinach, garlic, lettuce, cucumbers, eggplants, and tomato quality excellent. Bush snap beans and summer squash not quite excellent, but very good. Tomato yields very good early on but dropped off. Sweet bell peppers disappointing - rotting prior to ripening.

My first guess on 2023 - no bell peppers, less eggplants, a different mix (and location?) of tomatoes - less or no containers, less on the Dwarf tomato project. Better location for beans, squash, cukes - add melons. Nearly full turnover to straw bales.

Stay tuned for more in the upcoming blogs.

View from our airbnb in Robbinsville

Off The Vine Volume 2, Number 3. "Truth in Advertising?" by Craig

My set up for Tomato Day at the Hendersonville Farmers Market on August 6

I clearly decided it was time to express a big beef with increasing inaccuracies in describing or listing various heirloom tomatoes. It was clearly time for me to get it off my chest!

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Truth in Advertising?

by Craig

One thing about gardening as a hobby is its peaceful and therapeutic nature. Life itself, including our jobs, and even many other hobbies can be controversial and stressful. We gardeners do have to adjust to some challenges during the growing season, though. Dealing with mother nature as she shows herself in the unpredictability of weather comes to mind. Then there is the annual onslaught of bugs, critters and diseases. But, there is also the sense that gardening is an ethical hobby, in which there is nothing to be gained from misrepresentation and dishonesty. What you put into the ground in the spring will be matched later on by what you harvest, with no unpleasant surprises.

Alas, gardening does occasionally fall victim to those who are more concerned with profit than with truth. As a person who treats gardening with respect, and expects those involved to maintain high standards, this is the one area that has been bugging me lately. It really was not very noticeable in times past, when seed catalogs were mostly concerned with peddling the latest and greatest hybrid tomato. But, an interesting trend toward heirlooms has emerged recently, which is great news for all adventurous gardeners. Due to the success of the Seed Savers Exchange in attracting attention to the superiority of many heirloom varieties of all vegetable and fruit crops, it was only a matter of time until seed companies decided that they were missing the boat on potential profits.

I get a lot of seed catalogs in the mail each spring, but not nearly as many as I used to. That is because of the realization that there is very little, if anything, that they now carry that I either do not have, or cannot easily acquire from gardening friends, many of whom are also active members of the SSE. Also, Carolyn, myself and many others have been providing some smaller seed companies with samples of what we feel are the best of what we have grown. This has led to wider exposure and availability through inclusion into various seed catalogs. But, I still get enough catalogs to be able to show you how much more accessible heirlooms now are. For example, two of the major US seed companies, Burpee and Parks, now carry heirloom tomatoes (Parks carries one, Brandywine, and Burpee carries two, Big Rainbow and Brandywine). Stokes, though carrying 30 open pollinated tomatoes, do not sell any well known heirlooms, eliminating Bonny Best and Dwarf Champion recently. Perhaps this is because they tend to cater to professional growers, and it is widely felt that heirloom tomatoes are too fragile and risky for all but small market growers and home gardeners to grow. Nichols carries 20 open pollinated tomatoes, including a number of better known heirlooms such as Ponderosa and Oxheart. Some companies, such as Pine Tree and Gleckler, have always carried a balance of the new and the old, and continue to do so. Johnny’s Selected Seeds decided to expand their selection of heirloom tomatoes a few years ago, and now list 26 open pollinated tomatoes along with a good selection of recent hybrids. Among the heirlooms they list are such popular ones as Prudens Purple, Cherokee Purple, Great White, Yellow Brandywine, as well as the less widely known but equally excellent Giant Paste and Cuostralee. Southern Exposure Seed Exchange has an outstanding collection of open pollinated tomatoes, most of which are fine heirloom varieties.  Amongst the 67 open pollinated (OP) varieties is a unique offering of tomatoes developed at the turn of the century by Alexander Livingston. Seeds Blum has a similarly large collection of heirlooms, divided into colors, sizes or uses. I have not yet received the catalog from another fine company, the Tomato Growers Supply Company, but previous years have seen the number of well, and not so well, known heirloom tomatoes on a significant increase. Two other companies that are involved with such tomatoes are Seeds of Change, which lists 35 OP tomato varieties, and Totally Tomatoes, with 144 OP listings. Seeds of Change has amongst their collection some varieties that they developed by selecting from well known hybrids , such as their Peacevine Cherry. This tomato was bred from growouts of the Sweet 100 hybrid. Totally Tomatoes, Shumway, and Vermont Bean Seed are actually the same large company, despite sending out separate catalogs. There are many other seed companies, large and small, that are out there offering various numbers of heirloom tomatoes amongst their offerings. What a change from 10 years ago! When I became deeply involved in gardening back in 1986, which was the year that I joined the SSE, the only commercial source for the out of the ordinary was Glecklers. We should all applaud the efforts of these and other seed companies that have decided to make these great heirlooms available to a wider audience.

So, why am I complaining, and what is the major reason for this article? I am thrilled to see the heirloom tomatoes widely available to the gardening public at long last. Now thousands of gardeners who have not opted to join and participate in the SSE for one reason or another can find out what we have known for a long time. There is so much to experience beyond Big Boy and Roma. Seeds from heirlooms can be saved and passed on to others. Finally, there is now a much better chance that these varieties will not become lost or forgotten. But, what about the information that is showing up in the seed catalogs? Is it accurate, or has it been distorted to attract sales? And even more troublesome, have the companies that are now offering these varieties ever even seen them growing, or tasted them? Why do many of the descriptions read the same, catalog to catalog? I feel that there is no need to attach an over the top description to heirlooms. The fact that they have been maintained for their excellence speaks for itself. And, the history of a variety should be carefully recorded, just as the genealogy of a family is maintained accurately.

It is disturbing to me to see how much misinformation is indeed being perpetuated in the seed business. Truth in advertising? There is no guarantee of that. I can deal with too much rain, or very dry periods, or the bugs. I can even forgive the deer that have recently become so fond of nearly everything green in my garden. What is offensive to me is the lack of respect that some have for their customers. There are simply too many mistakes in seed catalogs in the area of heirloom vegetables.

Some examples will be given to illustrate my points. I want to start with the tomato that has become one of the biggest mysteries so far. Abraham Lincoln was bred by the Buckbee Seed Company, and was first released to the gardening public in 1923. The original description from the 1923 seed catalog states that it is a large tomato, over a pound each, on a large plant. The drawing of the plant on the cover of the catalog shows a plant that has bronzy tinged green foliage. I have obtained this tomato from numerous sources, including numerous seed companies and home gardeners. Each time I grew short 4 foot tall green plants bearing medium sized red tomatoes. No one seems to have the real thing, yet seed company after seed company maintain the original description.

There are numerous examples of the colors of heirloom tomatoes being incorrectly given. Many pink tomatoes are listed as red, especially Dinner Plate, Wanda’s Potato Top, Jefferson Davis, and Brandywine (though there is a Red Brandywine, and it is nothing like the pink version). This probably seems like a minor point. I think it is a major issue, however. One problem with growing heirloom tomatoes and saving seeds is knowing if you have crossing. Color and leaf shape are important factors in identifying whether you have the real thing or not. Another observation is that many seed companies offer descriptions that are exactly the same as those that appeared in the old Gleckler catalogs. Or, as I said previously, some descriptions seem to be identical, company to company. You would think that it would be wise for these companies to grow the tomatoes out and see for themselves, and write their catalog descriptions from their observations. A lot of the descriptions also seem to come from the SSE Yearbook listings, which is even more risky, since a lot of crossing and inaccurate recording of information occurs in the SSE growers networks. One catalog gives lots of incorrect growth characteristics of the plants. An example is listing vigorous indeterminate varieties as growing 18 to 24 inches tall (feet, maybe!), or small 4-6 ounce fruit being 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Another catalog lists a series of Russian tomatoes with accompanying descriptions that are way over the top compared to their performance in the garden. There are also such problems as listing German Johnson, a well known North Carolina heirloom and one of the original parents of Mortgage Lifter, as a potato leaf variety, when it is really a regular leaf plant. It makes you wonder if the seed companies know what they are selling to the public, or even care.

The thing that gives me the most trouble, though, is when twisted history ends up in the catalog description. There are examples of calling such varieties as Green Grape, Green Zebra, Banana Legs, or Snow White Cherry heirloom varieties (they were actually the result of growouts from hybrid crosses made in the 1970’s and 1980’s). More disturbing is giving a tomato a completely new history! My favorite example is Cherokee Purple. I was sent this tomato in the late 1980’s by J. D. Green of Servierville, Tennessee. He told me that he received the tomato from his neighbors, whose ancestors received the strain from local Cherokee Indians there. A major seed catalog now lists the history as ”originally given by native Americans to early Appalachian settlers, making its way from Pennsylvania to Georgia”! Some catalogs list Mortgage Lifter as being an Amish heirloom from the 1800’s, when in truth it was developed in West Virginia in the mid 1920’s. There is a full history of this remarkable tomato in the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange catalog. Then there is Mr. Stripey, which is showing up in lots of catalogs over the past 2 years as a large bicolor heirloom. In reality, Mr. Stripey is a synonym for an older English developed variety called Tigerella, which is a small red tomato with jagged gold stripes.

So, what is an avid heirloom gardener to do? My advice is to deal with seed companies that have a track record for treating heirloom tomatoes and their history with accuracy and respect. Such companies as Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Tomato Grower’s Supply Company, and  Southern Exposure Seed Exchange fit this bill, and are making a significant impact in bringing these wonderful living treasures into people’s gardens all over the country.

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I can’t say that things have changed all that much in the decades since I wrote this. One seed company joined the trusted list for sure - Victory - with highly accurate varietal descriptions. The internet has allowed many seed companies to flourish with some highly off the mark descriptions. It is always sad when I see profit winning over truth!

View of what remains of the garden from the comfy corner of the yard on August 12.

Off The Vine Volume 2, Number 3. "Growing Tomatoes Amongst the Gators and Squeeters" by Doreen Howard

As I am starting to pull dead plants, I think back to this late June view - hope, health and future tomatoes!

Here’s a guest post by Doreen Howard, whom Carolyn knew well. I think I was interviewed once by Doreen for one of her articles on tomatoes. I spent some time searching for her on line to see what she was up to, and had no luck.

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Growing Heirlooms Amongst the Gators and Squeeters

by Doreen G. Howard

Growing any tomato is a challenge in a climate that receives 72 inches of annual rainfall, averages 85% humidity year-round and boats of temperatures in the 80’s during summer nights.  Summer runs from April 15 to Thanksgiving – if we are lucky.  There are only about six weeks in the spring in which night temperatures range between 45F and 75F.  It’s no wonder that the only cash crops grown in the area (45 miles south of Houston, Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico) are rice, mosquitoes and alligators.  I jest about the last two; we endure them without profit.

Heirloom tomatoes present additional problems to tropical gardeners like me.  In addition to the disease and pests nurtured by our primordial soup and the short window of opportunity for fruit set, the heat produces misshapen blooms that prevent fertilization.  Also, tropical storms that dump 8-10 inches of rain within hours often preclude fruit set and stress the plants.  Such was the case in 1995.

I grew Abraham Lincoln, Valencia, Black Prince, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, White Beauty, Tigerella, Pineapple, Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter, and Purple Calabash.  As a control, I grew a plant each of two hybrids that do well in my area – Champion and Carnival, and Green Zebra, a tasty open-pollinated variety.

All plants were set out February 25 with protection.  Nights were in the 40F range.  Each was caged, the cage wrapped in Reemay.  All were propagated according to the principles of Texas A&M’s Team Tomator, time-released plant food in the soil at planting, mulch, weekly foliar feeding and regular applications of fungicide to prevent early blight.  Heirloom varieties were not fed weekly after they reached four feet in height.  By April 20, I had huge, healthy plants loaded with flowers and small fruit.  Nightly temperatures were averaging 68F, and days were in the 85-90F range.  A week later, it hit 100F at noon, and night temperatures soared into the 80’s.  True summer had arrived and didn’t let up until Halloween.

Most of the tomatoes matured and were picked during the next 30 days.  The last fresh fruit was picked on July 4.  Of course, there was no further fruit set.  Disease began to take its toll, and the sad looking plants were pulled from the garden.  I don’t compost old tomato plants, because they are so full of fungal and viral diseases.

It was not the best year for tomatoes or any crop along the Gulf.  After five mild winters, pests and diseases were pervasive in 1995.  The stink bugs (Nezara viridula) and various virulent outbreaks (Early blight, Septoria, and Fusarium wilt) sharply reduced yields in comparison to previous years.  That included the usual hybrid big producers, Champion and Carnival.

I picked a total of 50 Carnivals that averaged 5 ounces each.  The usual output of Carnival is at least 75 fruits that averaged 10 ounces.  Pineapple performed in the same miserable manner.  1995 fruit averaged 6.5 ounces versus 1994’s average of 13.5 ounces.

Cherokee Purple was a big tomato, several fruit were larger than 10 ounces, but on average the 24 I picked were in the 6-8 ounce range.  The color was interesting, brick red interior with green shouldered, dusky pink exterior.  Valencia also had big fruit; it bore 22 in the eight-ounce range.  I didn’t like its mushy texture, though.  The biggest fruit came from Radiator Charlie; three giants weighed in at 18. 20 and 22 ounces.  There were only nine tomatoes on the plant.

Black Prince yielded 15 tomatoes; in 1994, I picked at least 78 from one plant.  White Beauty produced the least, five fruit.  But they were wonderful in flavor and perfect in appearance, chalky white skin and interior.

Green Zebra was the most prolific, 99 fruit in the four ounce range, even surpassing Tigerella, which produced 63 1.5 ounce fruit.  The best producing heirloom was Purple Calabash, with 67 tomatoes.  Of course, it was the worst tasting of the lot.  In fact, it was the worst tasting tomato I’ve ever eaten.  I grew it out of curiosity, the antiquity of it and its color fascinated me.  A dinner guest thought that Purple Calabash was the best tasting tomato she had ever eaten and took home seeds.  So, you never can really say something is the worst.

Brandywine was the only heirloom tomato that did not yield a crop.  The plant was as tall and healthy as other varieties.  It was also loaded with flowers that never produced fruit.  Sometimes a small fruit would remain after the blossom drop, but it, too, would drop.  This puzzled me all winter, so I started asking questions on the Internet newsgroups.  Gardeners in Australia and parts of Southern California reported the same phenomenon.  The answer to the puzzle came from NC State student Keith Mueller, who is a Masters candidate in the Department of Horticultural Science.  He emailed me the following information.

This is why Brandywine may not have set fruit.  Fasciated, rough shouldered or irregularly fruiting tomatoes like Brandywine tend to have irregularly shaped flowers.  The result can be a stigma which is not typically enclosed by the anther cone.  It exerts beyond the anthers.  Or, as I’ve seen in some cases, the stigma actually grows larger than the diameter of the anther cone, splitting it.  Both incidences make it difficult for pollination.  Heat can also make the style exert and push the stigma beyond the anthers in normal flowers.

Keith’s suggestion was to hand pollinate, because normal vibration pollination is not possible with irregular flowers.  I’m going to try this technique on the new crop of Brandywine I have seeded under lights now.

Another technique I will be using is popping estrogen and multivitamin pills in the planting hole of each tomato.  George and Mary Stewart of Houston, Texas used this combination in 1990 to grow huge tomatoes.  Their Carnival and Celebrity fruits averaged 1.5 pounds.  The smallest was a pound.

The victims of my 1995 experiments, including Brandywine, will be planted for the 1996 season along with White Potato Leaf, Pruden’s Purple, Hawaiian, Costoluto Genovese, Texas Wild, Black Krim, Bush Big Boy, Banana Legs, and San Marzano.  I’ll let you know the results next fall.

Incidentally, the Internet is a great source of tomato information.  Keith Mueller has an excellent web page on tomatoes including how to make crosses.  The URL is:  http://www4.ncsu.edu/eos/k/kmdmuelle/public/hp.html.

Texas A&M’s Master Gardener diagnostic program for tomatoes and other vegetables can be found at:  http://leviathan/tamu.edu:70/1s/mg.  The Team Tomator project is at:  http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu.

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Quite interesting article. What strikes me is that what she endured all those years ago are plaguing warm climate gardeners annually - septoria, early blight and fusarium. All three certainly paid visits to my garden this year. I certainly have better luck with Brandywine than she did - I wonder what her seed source was? One final thing - those links undoubtedly don’t work any longer, but I included them for completeness and to be faithful to the original article. I remain good friends with Keith Mueller - he is known as KC Tomato, and continues his breeding work in Kansas City.

The dreaded Fusarium wilt taking down my Lucky Cross this year

Hendersonville Tomato Report - part 2. First Look at New Dwarf Families

A selection of uninspiring new Dwarf Tomato Project selections

Well, you can’t win ‘em all! As impressive as the F2 selections from my indeterminate X indeterminate crosses were (as reported in my last blog), the F2 dwarf selections from a set of indeterminate X dwarf hybrids (to form new dwarf families) didn’t particularly impress. For one thing, they seemed to be much more prone to disease than expected (particularly Septoria leaf spot, but also Fusarium wilt). Despite that, yield was fine - but having plenty of tomatoes that don’t light up the taste buds, even if unique and impressive looking, represent likely dead ends.

Blue’s Bling X Dwarf Mocha’s Cherry - Blingy family. I grew one dwarf, regular leaf, variegated foliage. The tomatoes were uniform, round, 3 ounces, purple in color with antho on the shoulder. The flavor was not great - I rated it 6.5. My hopes for this cross were to find a variegated leaf purple dwarf with antho on the shoulders with decent size and an excellent flavor. I got the color and the variegation, but not the size or flavor. It may be considered a dead end, but also may be worth a look to see if something better emerges in the next generation. In the above picture, it is the variety at the bottom of the pic.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Speckled Heart - Lilly family. I have such high hopes for this family, as both components are great tomatoes. I grew out two F2 dwarf selections, both regular leaf. I didn’t spot a potato leaf dwarf in my seedlings, but my garden friend Denise has some growing. Neither of these are represented in the above picture. There was one really good result, and one so-so. The first Lilly F2 to ripen produced a nice yield of very pretty round pink tomatoes with gold stripes. The flavor was actually quite good - not earth shattering, but sweet, balanced, quite lovely, 7.5 rated. I think it is well worth seeing what appears in the next generation. The second plant was pretty ordinary, yielding 4 ounce slightly oblate scarlet tomatoes, very meaty, with a mild, non-offensive flavor that I rated 6.5. I have high hopes that others will find some real stunners in this family.

Lucky Cross X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum - Crossy family. I did a number of crosses onto Dwarf Mocha’s Plum, mostly out of curiosity - what the small plum shape and size, purple fruit color with antho shoulders would do combined with large fruited tasty indeterminate varieties. I planted one regular leaf dwarf and one potato leaf dwarf. The regular leaf plant produced lots of 2 ounce purple plum shaped fruit with antho shoulders of no outstanding flavor - rated 6. The potato leaf plant looked very promising, with variable size near hearts up to 5 ounces, red/yellow bicolors. Alas, they were quite bland, also rating a 6. I hoped for more. Rather than growing out each of these, I would likely return to the F2 seed to grow out a few additional selections to see what else there is to find. Already, I am thinking that the size and fairly weak flavor of Dwarf Mocha’s Plum is dominating in the resulting selections.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum - Plummy family. I planted one regular leaf and one potato leaf selection. The regular leaf plant produced 3 ounce plum shaped pink fruit with antho shoulders of a slightly better flavor, rating a 7. The potato leaf plant was pink with antho, round, smaller at 2 ounces, and less flavorful, coming in at 6. I don’t see either of these as being worth pursuing further, and would return to dwarf hunt with the F2 seeds to see what else may be found. I am now really thinking that Dwarf Mocha’s Plum was a poor choice as a crossing partner.

Don’s Double Delight X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum - Donny family. I grew only one plant, and it has potato leaf foliage. It was really prolific, providing chocolate colored plum shaped fruit averaging 2 ounces, with prominent antho and faint stripes. Alas, I found them lacking in flavor, rating them a 6. They are colorful, and it may be worth growing out a plant from saved seed, but it may be better to go back to dwarf hunting with F2 seeds.

Lucky Cross X Dwarf Buddy’s Heart - Lucky family. I grew but one of these as well, choosing a potato leaf dwarf. The tomatoes were pretty, bright yellow with red swirls in and out, and in the 3 ounce range, oblate in shape. Flavor was lacking, and they were too tart - another 6. The color was fine, the flavor was not - back to the F2 dwarf hunting drawing board.

Blazey F4 dwarf selections (Dwarf Blazing Beauty X Honor Bright) - I grew two plants, one regular and one potato leaf. This is a lead sent to me by Susan from Idaho. The plants were as expected - green foliage tending to yellow with age, showing their genetic legacy from Honor Bright. In both plants, the 2-3 ounce slightly oblate tomatoes started pale green, then went to white, ripening to bright orange. Flavor was lacking, ranking in the 5-5.5 range for both. Swing and miss for these. You can see them in the pics as the two groupings of orange tomatoes, above the pink or purple ones.

So, that’s it - a fun season trying some new dwarfs from new families, with only one really worthy of progressing - the round pink with gold striped selection from the Lilly family. As to what’s next - we shall see.

Here’s the other view of this set of F2 dwarf selections. Colors included chocolate, purple, pink, orange and red/yellow bicolor, some with antho.

Report from the Hendersonville NC Tomatoman Garden Laboratory - crosses and dwarf project update, part 1. Focus on the indeterminates

Selections from Blue’s Bling X Polish (left), Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, potato leaf (top), and Little Lucky X Blue’s Bling, regular leaf (right)

I’ve tasted nearly all of the tomatoes that came from my recent crossing work - both with the indeterminate X indeterminate heirlooms, and with the indeterminate X Dwarfs. The results are mixed, with the most excitement arising with the indeterminate varieties.

Let’s start with those.

Glory F1 - Last year I crossed pollen from Dester onto Dwarf Gloria’s Treat, an act that was captured by Joe Lamp’l’s film crew and residing in one of the lessons in our Growing Epic Tomatoes course. A successful cross would result in an indeterminate regular leaf plant, which is what I found when I planted seeds saved from the yellow/red heart shaped fruit on Dwarf Gloria’s Treat, harvested last year.

The tomatoes on Glory F1 were medium to large, pink in color and variably shaped, slightly oblate, through round, with some hearts (as predicted - this color and shape represents the combination of the various dominant traits). The flavor was excellent - well balanced, intense and delicious, rating a strong 8 out of 10 - in line with both parents, which are similarly excellent.

Saved seed was planted, resulting in a 3:1 ratio of indeterminate to dwarf, and in the dwarfs, 3:1 ratio of regular to potato leaf. I have six plants (4 regular leaf dwarf, 2 potato leaf dwarf) happily growing in 5 gallon grow bags, ready to be situated where some currently dead indeterminate plants reside in their straw bales. The most likely colors will be pink and yellow/red bicolor, though it would not surprise me to see red, and yellow as well. Shapes should vary between oblate and heart. Flavor should be excellent. These tomatoes will provide my August into September harvest if I can keep them healthy - frequent rains and heat and humidity are really supercharging disease incidence.

Polish X Blue’s Bling F2 - Two years ago I crossed these two varieties, and the hybrid (grown last year) was a regular leaf indeterminate plant that gave large oblate delicious pink tomatoes. I decided to grow out one variegated potato leaf plant this year (saved seeds from the hybrid gave a 3:1 ratio of regular to potato leaf, and in those potato leaf, 3:1 ratio of green to variegated).

The tomatoes on the F2 plant in this year’s garden are in the one pound range, oblate, smooth, a nice rich purple color, and are quite delicious if allowed to fully ripen. They are very meaty, with the internal structure reflecting that of Polish. I am quite excited about this, as it represents a potato leaf version of Blue’s Bling with slightly better flavor and internal structure. It is a very early generation, so further work will be required to stabilize this fortunate find.

One possible name for this combination going forward is Polish Bling.

Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom F2 - Two years ago I crossed these two varieties, and the hybrid (grown last year) was just superb - a large, pink regular leaf tomato with superior flavor. I decided to grow two plants this year from the saved seed - a potato leaf, and a regular leaf selection. The potato leaf is a very high yielding healthy plant producing large, nearly globe shaped fruit that are yellow shading to pink on the outside, and a glowing pink in the center. When fully ripe, it is delicious, tending to the sweet side of things. I really like this tomato, and it is a good starting point for a rather unusually colored delicious new variety with superb pedigree. One possible working name for this lovely selection is Lillian’s Rose.

The regular leaf plant is quite unusual. It is healthy, vigorous, flowering like crazy, but shy to set fruit. I finally harvested a ripe tomato a few days ago - it is medium sized, pink in color - I’ve yet to check the internal color, or taste it - that comes later today. I am mystified by its struggle to set fruit, but just emphasizes that there are many traits of tomatoes that can surprise when one works with crosses.

Little Lucky X Blue’s Bling F2 - Two years ago I crossed these two varieties, and the hybrid (grown last year) was a regular leaf plant with medium to large round to oblate pink tomatoes with an excellent flavor. I decided to grow out two plants this year from the saved seed, one potato leaf, one regular leaf, both with variegated leaves. The potato leaf plant provided a truly outstanding result - a large smooth oblate tomato that was essentially a pink/yellow/green tricolor - the interior yellow with pink and some green, particularly in the seed gel - with outstanding flavor. A working name for this could be Lucky Bling.

The regular leaf selection is really coming on now, a very healthy, prolific plant providing medium to large bright yellow tomatoes with a bit of red blossom end blush - bright yellow interior with a red ring in the core, and similarly excellent flavor. One possible working name is Swirly Bling.

With four out of five successes in the above selections (and the jury being out on the 5th), I am very pleased. This really only scratches the surface in possibilities on not only the above crosses, but those that I didn’t explore yet - Cherokee Chocolate X Stump of the World, Don’s Double Delight X Cancelmo Family Heirloom, Ferris Wheel X Striped Sweetheart, Green Giant X Cancelmo Family Heirloom, and Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripes. I may dip into them next year.

Lower fruit shows the interior of Blue’s Bling X Little Lucky, potato leaf

Off The Vine Volume 2, Number 3. "C & C's Corner" by Carolyn

Big eggplant harvest late July 2022

Here we go, into the third issue of Volume 2. Everything is pretty much on schedule, as my guess is that it would take all year to post OTV in its entirety, article by article. I hope folks are enjoying them.

We start as usual with Carolyn’s introductory column of this and that. Let’s read together…it is, as is typical, very meaty - packed with various ideas and thoughts and plans from Carolyn. I will comment on things that surprised me after the article.

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C and C’s Corner

by Carolyn

It might be a good idea to read this column first because I introduce to you the various articles and their authors.  Also, please remember that the masthead on page two of each issue tells you how to contact Craig and me and states the current subscription and back issue coasts.

If your mailing label as 23 next to your name (23 means volume 2, #3), it’s time to renew your subscription to Off The Vine; we hope you’ll stay with us.  Renewal notices will not be sent out, so after you’ve read this issue please send your renewal, clearly marking it as a renewal, before the next issue is published, which should be in May, 1996.

Our regular subscribers know that in February of 1995 we announced that subscription prices would increase as of Volume 3.  Thus, subscription prices for both renewals and new subscribers are now $7 for US residents, $8 (US) for Canadian and Mexican residents and $9 (US) for all other foreign addresses for three issues.  I would appreciate it if non-USA subscribers would please send checks only if they are from a US based account’ if they are not, I have to return them to you.  Canadian Postal Money Orders in US funds are just fine as an alternative for our Canadian readers.

And speaking about renewals, I was pleased and surprised to get a 10 year renewal to Off The Vine from Viola Sheffield.  I can’t speak for Craig, but I simply had not thought about what I’d be doing in 2006!  I had a lovely chat with Viola, and she expressed “faith” in us but….we’ll see!

We have three guest authors for this issue.  Many of you will recognize Dr. Tad Smith’s name because Tad also is the source of two of the Ff2 seed varieties we are offering in this issue.  Tad is a Research Associate at Rohm and Hass in the Agricultural Products Research Group.  He is a talented hybridizer and has written an article to encourage the novice gardener to get involved in hybridizing heirloom tomatoes.  I think his ideas about “practicing” first will appeal to many who are put off with detailed genetic descriptions.  We expect a follow-up articles with more genetic characteristics and how to stabilize crosses in an upcoming issue (also see seed source article in this issue).

I know that some of you currently sell/trade your heirloom tomatoes and some are thinking of doing it, so I asked Jeff Dawson to write an article on selling tomatoes to the restaurant trade, which he has done for several years.  Jeff is the Garden Director for Fetzer Valley Oaks Vineyards in California, where they grow a wide variety of heirloom vegetables for study and use in their test kitchens.  Jeff has written an article on eggplants for the new Taunton Press magazine Kitchen Gardening; the article will appear this summer (ditto my article on heirloom tomatoes for the same publication).

Doreen Howard is a free-lance professional garden writer from Texas and has written an article about rigors of growing heirloom tomatoes in the semi-tropics!  I hear more complaints and anguish from folks along the gulf coast re tomato growing, than from any other area in the US!  Doreen has published articles in every major gardening magazine at one time or another.  Her most recent one, that I’m aware of, was in the Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Companion (out in mid-January, 1996) where she interviewed several folks about their one best tasting vegetable in a number of categories.  As an interviewee I was dumbfounded when she said I could name only one tomato!  Ridiculous, said I, and then laughed when I found out that Jeff McCormack and I had independently picked German Red Strawberry as our top tasting tomato!  Doreen can be contacted at Doreen@mastnet.net or (409) 849-2160.

Craig has written a timely and very important article about descriptions of heirloom tomatoes in current catalogs and has interviewed Calvin Wait as our featured “tomato” person, while I have written, as usual, this column and the Seed Source article describing selected seed companies and our seed offering for 1996.

Green Grape, Green Zebra and Banana Legs.  These varieties will be familiar to many of you.  But did you know that they were hybridized or “created” by Tom Wagner, who sold seed for them and other of his novelty tomatoes in the early 1980s, through his Tater Mater Seed Company?  Tom called me a few years ago and I knew that he was no longer putting out a catalog and selling seeds.  He called me again recently to request certain heirloom varieties to use in his breeding program.  Tom currently works as a consultant for The DiMare Co., working with hybrid tomatoes, but his first loves are his novelty tomatoes and potatoes.  Now here’s where you, our readers, area going to help solve a problem and offer some solutions!  Tom would like to offer seeds again, but he needs support and a greenhouse to continue his work.  He has some fantastic new tomatoes to offer, but can’t offer them himself.  If he sends them for trial to seed companies he will receive virtually nothing in return, just as Craig and I receive virtually nothing in return for sending seeds out for trial.  Craig and I are sending out heirloom tomatoes which really belong to everyone, but Tom has 43 years of professional breeding experience, he started at age 8, and these are his creations which he hybridized and stabilized.  So, suggest ways that Tom can realize some return from these new varieties and/or identify a source of support so he can continue his program.  Let me whey your appetite by describing a few of them.  Tangerine Zebra is tangerine with green stripes and is milder and less acid than Green Zebra.  Saucy Green is a green when ripe Roma type which can be used for salads, dips, etc.  Brandystripe is pink and yellow striped with red flesh and Angora type fully foliage.  Christmas tomato is red with green stripes; Strawberry Surprise is so shaped and sized, pink with yellow orange flesh.  Chile Verde is a long, skinny green when ripe tomato, and Cafady’s Folly is a long slender red fruit with yellow zig zag stripes.  Sounds terrific!  Craig and I will be growing out these and other of Tom’s new creations in our gardens this summer and reporting back to him and you how they do in the south (NC) and north (NY).  He has several dozen varieties ready now and potentially hundreds of varieties available.  Please call or write me with your ”solutions” and I will communicate with Tom.  And no, don’t come to our gardens this summer looking for seed.  I promised Tom that we would guard them, and if that means “confiscating” even a stray raccoon or woodchuck trying them for breakfast or lunch, so be it!

In the last issue I asked the person who sent me Mexico tomato to contact me so that I could give proper credit, and Elton Dorval did so.  He stressed that Mexico can be picked quite green and does very well ripening late.  And I want to thank the many folks who offered to send out the F2 seeds described in this issue.  Pat Millard was the first to contact me, so he “wins” so to speak.  But to have at least 12 of you offer made me feel very good.  Read more about Pat and the F2 seeds in the Seed Source article.

I’m sure many of you saw in the newspapers the recent study from Harvard which reported that eating tomato sauce at least six times a week significantly reduced the rate of prostate cancer!  I’m pleased to share with our lady readers that lycopene, a red pigment found in tomatoes, may also be of benefit to women with regard to other cancers.  Dr. John Navazio of Garden City Seeds has an active program regarding beta carotenes, which, like lycopenes, are carotenoid pigments.  He is working with tomatoes, as well as other vegetables, and hopefully will share this work with us in the future.  Be cautioned, though, because a recent study also showed a positive link between beta-carotene consumption and lung cancer, but the beta carotene levels were from supplements, not from eating vegetables.

I really look forward to your comments when you send in your renewals and I also pass some of them on to Craig.  They range from repositioning the staples (can’t- done by machine), to keep it low key (we don’t know any other way), to why you don’t have a column on tomato diseases and culture.  The answer to the latter is no.  We hope to offer you specialized information on  heirlooms.  There are many fine publications which cover diseases and culture of all tomatoes and we would refer you to those.  From time to time folks call me, usually distraught because “stuff is dying”, and I try to help out, but we’d prefer not to do a column.  So thank you for your comments when you renew, and please let us know how we are doing in terms of meeting your needs.  We are always looking for readers to contribute material for Off The Vine; just contact me before writing and submitting something.  Craig wanted to share the following paragraph with you.

“I hope you all had a nice holiday.  In NC we had a huge (for here) snowstorm in early January; 2” of snow was sandwiched around 4” of sleet.  I felt more like 20 than 40 as I sledded with my daughters and cross country skied with my wife.  Work was called off for most of the week and I got to relax at last!  Now life is busy again, things are chaotic at GlaxoWellcome, and seed catalogs are pouring in.  The next big arrival should be the 1996 SSE yearbook, followed by the onslaught of requests.  I’m now starting to think seriously about my 1996 garden, though, and it won’t be 120 different tomato plants!  My garden was much too closely planted.  Combine that error with all the rain we got and it spelled a low  yield and disease disaster.  This year I’ll probably plant 20 or so of my favorites along with 20 new ones.  My dream is a larger garden, a greenhouse, a sunnier lot…some day!  Thanks to all of you who continue to support and read our humble newsletter.  Please feel free to contribute and comment.  Also note my email address in the masthead on page 2.  I can usually be found looking for my email after 10 PM each evening.  Enjoy this issue”

Ah, youth!   I’ll be 57 in June and have arthritis; you won’t find me out there sledding!  Craig and I have been best friends for almost 8 years and I’m telling you I know him well, as he knows me.  There’s no way he’s going to plant just 40 varieties.  He’ll succumb, as I do each year, to the lure of the unknown when a new variety suddenly appears.  OK Craig, your daughters will submit affidavits to me stating you planted less than 40 plants at your residence and elsewhere; what’s at stake is wine…Stag’s Leap Petite Sirah or Opus One…your choice!  And “big 2” snowstorms?  How my heart bleeds as I remember the 3 feet we had on the level until two weeks ago.  In all fairness, Craig was raised in New England and can appreciate a good Nor’easter!  This has been a horrible winter for us northerners across the country.  As I sit here at my computers I’m dreaming of complaining about the heat!  See you in May.

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Wow - that was a lot to digest (as is always the case from Carolyn’s entries!). Some big time tomato names emerge - Doreen Howard, Tad Smith and Calvin Wait, and Tom Wagner among them. The other shocker - Carolyn noting her age as 57 - very odd as I sit here typing this at age 66! Enjoy this piece of Off The Vine, gardening world nostalgia!

These are the 15 tomatoes blind tasted with Joe Lamp’l for a module in our Growing Epic Tomatoes course. There are some real heavy hitters in this group - Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, Polish, Dwarf Sweet Sue, Hugh’s and Captain Lucky among them.