My Tomato Collection Tour Resumes - Part 21. Tomatoes #251-#275

Triple Falls in DuPont Forest - captured early Sept 2022

It’s September, the garden is put to bed, Off The Vine posts continue - and it is also time to resume the trip through my tomato collection. I will be taking it in bigger bites, because there will be much less to say about quite a few from here on in - I was building my collection, but not being quite so discriminating.

Tomato #251 - Mexico Midget - so many cherish this variety, sent to me in 1990 by Barney Laman of California when he was in his mid 80s. He got this variety, which he called a “joke” due to its tiny size, from his brother, who acquired it in his hay delivery runs between Texas and Mexico. For such a tiny (as in pea-sized) tomato, it packs a wallop of flavor. The main issue is that any seed company selling it is selling crossed seed (probably originating with the SSE, who started selling packs of seeds that produced fruit significantly larger and less flavorful - and still do). The issue is that it is an odd variety that doesn’t germinate as well as other tomato varieties. I found that the way to remedy this is to add actively fermenting juice from a different variety to the Mexico Midget seed goop, then let it ferment for a few days. Problem solved!

Tomato #252 - Jim’s Red Delight - this was sent to me unrequested by Jim Kohl in 1990. I’d have to find the letter that accompanied the seeds or more details. I recall it being listed at some point in the SSE yearbook, but it isn’t listed in the exchange any longer. I never did get to grow it.

Tomato #253 - Rutgers Select - sent to me by SSE member MO VI N in 1990, I never managed to grow it out. It is obviously a selection from the old 1930s variety Rutgers, a very important tomato across America for many decades.

Tomato #254 - Harbinger - another variety from MO VI N sent in 1990 and another I’ve not grown. Reportedly an English variety from 1910, it is apparently a medium sized, round red tomato that was very likely used for greenhouse growing in a country where outdoor tomatoes are a challenge.

Tomato #255 - Orange Queen - this is the last of the trio of tomatoes from MO VI N sent in 1990, and not grown out by me. It is likely an older Stokes variety. I suspect it is similar to Jubilee, Sunray or Valencia, with medium sized mild flavor orange tomatoes.

Tomato #256 - Portuguese Large Plum - sent to me as a personal favorite of Patty Carman of New York in 1990, I never did get to grow this out. I would have to locate the letter to find out the description, but it is very likely a long red paste tomato such as Opalka.

Tomato #257 - Large Italian Paste - also sent to me by Patty Carman in 1990, I don’t have the description of this variety handy, but suspect it is also an Opalka-type long red paste tomato. I never did grow it out.

Tomato #258 - Russian Sweet #2 - sent to me by SSE member Lloyd Duggins of Indiana in 1990, the seeds didn’t germinate for me when I tried to grow it out. I would have to search for his letter to find out the description of this variety, but can imagine it being a large fruited pink beefsteak type.

Tomato #259 - Deep Yellow German - also sent to me by Lloyd Duggins of Indiana in 1990, I did grow this out in 1996. My garden log states that this was a 4-8 ounce golden colored tomato with very good productivity and flavor.

Tomato #260 - Pepper Tomato - sent to me by NY KI K in 1990, I have no description for this, but imagine it is a somewhat bell pepper shaped medium sized scarlet tomato that tends to be quite hollow. I never did grow it.

Tomato #261 - Cornish - another of the family heirloom tomatoes sent to me by Charlotte Mullens of WV in 1990, I did grow this in 1990. It is a medium sized red tomato sent to Charlotte by Florence Cornish. I don’t recall it being particularly outstanding.

Tomato #262 - Toensfeldt - also from Charlotte Mullens and sent to me in 1990, I did grow this out in 1990. It was a compact determinate medium sized red tomato of no special attributes.

Tomato #263 - Texas Pink - another 1990 acquisition from Charlotte Mullens, I never did grow it. In SSE listings it is described as a typical large pink beefsteak type. Charlotte must have received it from Barbara Lund of Ohio - Barbara got the variety as a seedling in Ohio in 1984.

Tomato #264 - Bower - the last of the Charlotte Mullens tomatoes, I grew this in 1990 and found the medium sized red tomatoes to be pleasant but not outstanding.

Tomato #265 - Mexico - this is the start of a set of tomatoes sent to me by NY BE R in 1990. I did grow it in 1991. My description is for large scarlet fruit with fair flavor, but not memorable.

Tomato #266 - Dinner Plate A - another from NY BE R sent in 1990, Dinner Plate in general is a mess of a variety, described as heart shaped or beefsteak, pink or red. I grew this in 1991 - the regular leaf plants gave medium to large scarlet slightly oblate tomatoes that were delicious.

Tomato #267 - Dinner Plate B - also sent to me in 1990 by NY BE R, this was a totally different animal! Completely unlike Dinner Plate A (except in color), the very spindly, weak looking plant produced big, fat scarlet plum type fruit with great flavor when grown in 1991.

Tomato #268 - German - part of the group sent to me by NY BE R in 1990, I grew German in 1991 and wound up with large, good flavored scarlet red tomatoes. There are so many tomatoes with the name “German” or variations that it is impossible to know if this tomato is still being grown and shared.

Tomato #269 - Peking - this tomato, sent to me in 1990 by NY BE R, never did get grown out. It is still listed with the SSE as a smooth red high yielding tomato. Its history is unknown.

Tomato #270 - Aztec - yet another tomato from NY BE R in 1990, I really enjoyed this medium sized, smooth scarlet round tomato. The flavor was really fine and I believe I sent it to Johnny’s for inclusion in their catalog some years ago. It apparently is a Don Branscomb introduced variety (Don was a significant tomato collector in the 1980s, often mining the USDA seed banks). It is now quite obscure.

Tomato #271 - Siberia - yes indeed - another from NY BE R, sent in 1990, and never grown. Reports are of it being a compact, small fruited, very early red variety. Several tomatoes have similar names.

Tomato #272 - Orange Steak - One more from NY BE R, sent 1990, I never did get this to germinate, which was disappointing. Absolutely nothing is known about this variety; I assumed it was a large beefsteak type of orange coloring.

Tomato #273 - Landry’s Russian - this is the last of the 1990 sent NY BE R varieties. It seems to be a Canadian heirloom with medium sized round red tomatoes.

Tomato #274 - No Name (which I renamed Pink Sweet) - I received this tomato from Hazel Turner of Tennessee in 1990. It is a fine tomato - No Name didn’t seem appropriate, and it being pink and sweet - voila! - the name. Hazel said that she acquired seed from an 84 year old man who had it for 20 years. It is a large pink beefsteak type, regular leaf, with some ridges and green shoulders, but superb flavor.

Tomato #275 - Syrian Globe - I received this tomato from PA WH R in 1990. It was unusual in being determinate in growth habit, with medium sized round red tomatoes. The flavor was nothing to write home about, and the texture quite firm. It seems to have passed on into obscurity.

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I actually only grew out 12 of these 25 tomatoes. The best by far is No Name, which I decided to call Pink Sweet. Aztec and Dinner Plate A and B were quite good also, but in general, this was not a stellar set of tomatoes.

High Falls, DuPont Forest, captured on an early Sept 2022 hike with Sue

Off The Vine Volume 2, Number 3. "Growing 600 Types of Tomatoes in Ethel, Missouri; population 100" - interview of Calvin Wait by Craig

A favorite bicolored portulaca on our deck as August comes to a close

I was excited to interview Calvin Wait, a fellow SSE member with a very large collection of varieties. He and I are still somewhat in touch (especially when I was on Facebook), and he gardens still.

By the way - this article brings Volume 2 to a close. The next post will bring us into Volume 3 - those three issues, then an abbreviated Volume 4 Number 1, should take us to the end of the year, and all of Off The Vine will have seen the light of day at last!

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Growing 600 Types of Tomatoes in Ethel, Missouri; Population 100 - about tomato enthusiast Calvin Wait

by Craig

We tomato enthusiasts who are avid Seed Saver Exchange members sometimes use our name codes as a kind of shorthand when referring to each other. It is easiest when the letter code is pronounceable, such as when I lived in Pennsylvania and was “PALEC”, or the co-editor of OTV, who is “NYMAC”. While there are many, many members of the SSE who offer a variety of tomato seeds each year, “MOWAC” is one of the most ambitious, with over 600 listings in the 1995 Yearbook. Carolyn and I felt it was high time to find out more about him. Oh, yes, his name is Calvin Wait, and he lives in the “city” of Ethel, Missouri, population about 100 according to the sign in town!

Calvin, like many gardeners, has to squeeze his passion for growing tomatoes and many other crops around a job. He runs a two color press for a publishing company, often working the midnight shift. I am always reminded of this when trying to telephone him, only to find that he is either asleep, or about to go to work. By the way, I did find out a little bit about Ethel. It is in the north central part of the state. The nearest place with lots of people is Columbia, which is about 90 miles away. Calvin is not much of a traveler, and has never ventured further east than Illinois. His main hobby is indeed gardening, and he also likes to listen to music, particularly rock and roll. I did not ask him if this kind of music is good for his tomato plants, however.

Last year was a gardening disaster in Ethel because of the nearly constant rain from June on. When it is not raining, Ethel seems like a good place to raise tomatoes. Calvin plants them out in nice sandy loam soil in mid-April, typically. He likes to use Wall-O’-Water devices on a few early varieties to get a jump on things, getting those in the ground in mid March. Calvin has gardened all of his life. He probably caught the gardening bug from his mother, who raised “the usual things” and canned the fruits of her labor. He recalls seeing red, orange, and yellow tomatoes as a boy, and remembers his mother growing Rutgers in her garden. Rutgers was introduced in the 1930’s and is still commonly grown. As you  can imagine, tomatoes are his favorite vegetable. He became interested in growing heirloom vegetables in the mid-1980’s. This interest started from an ad in the local newspaper for the first edition of the Seed Savers Exchange Garden Seed Inventory book. After obtaining a copy of the book, Calvin joined the SSE and decided to switch to mainly heirlooms. His first experience with really out of the ordinary seeds was with those of Glecklers seed company. They have always specialized in the unusual and unique. He bought from them tomatoes such as Giant Belgium, a large pink fruited variety. After joining the SSE and starting to acquire varieties from other seed savers, his participation in offering seeds grew with each passing year. Calvin claims that he is very open minded about the hybrid versus heirloom dilemma, and has successfully grown both in his garden. He did say that he focuses on open-pollinated tomatoes because the hybrids he has tried, except for Sun Gold orange cherry, have been very disappointing in performance and flavor. They are easily surpassed by the heirloom varieties he grows.

Calvin maintains 5 small garden plots that together total about half an acre. He plants and maintains the gardens himself. He practices as much crop rotation as he can manage. He claims that things grow with little disease problems except in summers like last year, when the excessive rain really made a mess of things. He does not own or use a greenhouse, but starts his seeds in his house on a light stand. He aims for about 80-100 different varieties of tomatoes each year. He grows more than one plant of his favorites, so that he cares for about 150 plants each summer. Calvin uses a rototiller to add granular fertilizer in the fall, and mulches with straw during the growing season. He once had a hog farm, and observes that the tomatoes grow best in the area where the hogs were kept. He uses 5 feet tall home made tomato cages, constructed from concrete reinforcing wire, to support his plants. He does not prune suckers, but sometimes thins the fruit clusters if too many tomatoes have set. This seems to keep the size of the fruit larger than if he lets all of the tomatoes on a cluster develop. Sometimes he uses a copper spray to lessen the foliage diseases if the weather is wet. Aside from tomatoes, he grows many other crops on a more limited basis. He does grow a fair number of heirloom Sweet Potatoes as well.

Of course I asked him what his favorite and not-so-favorite tomatoes were. He really did not have many on his “never grow again” list, except for some hybrids such as Supersteak (I agree!). His favorites were another matter, and we discussed them by color starting with pink tomatoes. Calvin really likes a tomato that he named Pink Italian Beefsteak. It is a selection from the hybrid Beefmaster, and he has been growing it for the past 5 years. He also really loves Honey, Stump of the World, Rose, Louisiana Pink and Purple Potato Leaf. When I asked him about many seed savers’ favorite tomato, Brandywine, he said that he likes it fine, but he does not find it better than the pink varieties described above. He also likes some of the pink heart shaped tomatoes, such as Anna Russian, but finds them tricky to grow. They are slow to get going and are weak seedlings, though they really grow and produce well once they are established. As far as the red tomatoes, Calvin mentioned Red Italian Beefsteak, which he also selected from the hybrid Beefmaster, Berwick German, Egyptian, Reisentraube, Healani, and Costoluto Genovese. Of the true bright yellow tomatoes, Calvin really enjoys growing and eating Hugh’s, Mirabell, and Transparent. He likes the orange varieties Mandarin Cross (though listed as a hybrid he finds that it grows true from saved seed) and Sunray. He is not a great fan of the flavor of the large red/yellow bicolored tomatoes, describing them as too mild or bland. He thinks that Northern Lights and Pink & Lemon are the best of that type he has grown. The only white tomato that got his vote is Great White, and the greens are represented by Garden Lime and Green Zebra. He also said that as soon as we hung up the phone he would probably either think of other favorites, or change the ones he told me about. Carolyn and I can sympathize with this! It really depends upon the day if someone asks any tomato enthusiast about their favorite tomato. Their lists change from year to year.

Calvin does not believe that he has experienced much crossing, either in seed he has saved or seed he has received from others. He does think that mix ups have occurred, and told me about the mice that often scatter seed he is drying in his house. He wondered if similar things happen when someone sends him a yellow tomato, and it comes out red. When I asked where his heirloom tomato passion is heading, he mentioned starting his own seed company. The intentions are there, but it hasn’t happened yet! As he said, ”I won’t quit my day job! If I can get to it, and it works out, great.  But if it does not, it won’t be the end of the world”. Sounds like a good philosophy to me!

Carolyn and I have been getting tomato seeds from “MOWAC” for many years now. He writes great descriptions in the SSE yearbook. The tomato enthusiasts in the SSE should order seeds from Calvin. They will receive seeds that germinate well, grow true to the description, and taste great! We wish him many, many years of seed saving and sharing. 

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I enjoyed my various phone calls with Calvin, and am pleased that he continues to garden and enjoy growing tomatoes. No longer being connected with him on Facebook, it seems a good time for a phone call - it is long overdue. Reading what I wrote above reinforces how many of us who caught the heirloom tomato bug have parallel stories. We also end up with way too many varieties on our hands!

View of the late August garden - mostly peppers and eggplant, with a few dwarf tomatoes

Off The Vine Volume 2, Number 3. "Taking Your Tomatoes to Market" by Jeff Dawson

silver spotted skipper resting on my knee on our deck

I had completely forgotten that Jeff Dawson wrote an article for our newsletter - he delved into the world of heirlooms right around the time that Carolyn and I were. He currently is on the board of the SSE, does some tomato breeding, and is a consultant to some biodynamic California vineyards. Jeff is responsible for the following tomatoes: Black Zebra, Copia, Orange Russian 117, and Dawson’s Russian Oxheart.

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Taking Your Tomatoes to Market

Jeff Dawson

Growing heirloom tomatoes for the restaurant market is a wonderful way to support a tomato enthusiast’s habit.  The dramatic colors, unique shapes and heavenly flavors which inspire us to grow these exotic varieties of tomato also appeal to the restaurant chefs who recognize these qualities, not found in commercially available tomatoes.

I started Grandview Farms on the half-acre plot of land in Sonoma County, California, located one hour north of San Francisco.  In 1988 I planted a variety of crops as a shot-gun effort to test the market for organically grown produce. 

After the first season, vine ripened tomatoes were obviously a product in demand.  Marketing to local restaurants and markets in the county proved to be a financially successful venture.

During a large produce tasting which involved many farmers from the San Francisco Bay area, I had the opportunity to taste the Green Zebra and Marvel Stripe tomatoes.  These two varieties opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities.  They were visually appealing with flavors that were completely new and exciting.  This was the beginning of my search for varieties that were not available on the commercial market.

As my farm grew to five acres in size, its production far exceeded the local demand.  I was forced to look to San Francisco restaurants, an hour drive south, as an outlet for the produce I was growing.  This market is very competitive, as there are many small to medium sized growers such as myself selling in this area.  To compete in this market, I realized I had to come up with something no one else had.

With the discovery of the Seed Savers Exchange, I found a wealth of varieties that were old, but not yet tested in the commercial market.  Over the next six years, I tested over 200 varieties of tomatoes, looking for something new and different.

Varieties to be put into production had to perform not only to my standards, but also to the standards of the chefs who would be using them.  These chefs expect a very high level of quality which forced me to work on improving my own farming techniques and the quality of my own product.  The restaurants that I worked with were a valuable resource for finding o ut which varieties could be incorporated into the many different styles of cuisine.

An early success story was when selling salad mix to Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant, Postrio, I had a bumper crop of roma tomatoes which I tried for weeks to get them to purchase, knowing they used them on a weekly basis.  Finally, when they agreed to a small order as a sample, the chef checking the order claimed that they were a little smaller than what they were used to.  He seemed doubtful that there would be another order.  The next morning I received a call from the same chef wanting to order 500 pounds of the same roma tomatoes twice a week for the rest of the season!  The taste and freshness of the product so impressed the chef that he needed to look no further for his supply.

The next year I tested 15 different paste varieties and discovered Amish paste, Rocky, Chinese and Jumbo Roma.  These varieties then became a part of the menu at Postrio and other restaurants.

The seasonal tomato salad is a staple on most restaurant menus during summer.  This creates a unique opportunity to supply colored slicing tomatoes.  My tests began to include the green varieties such as Evergreen, Garden Lime, Green Zebra, Green Pineapple and Aunt Ruby’s German Green; the white varieties such as Great White, Potato leaf White and Big White, Pink Stripes; and the so-called black varieties such as Black Krim, Cherokee Purple and Black Prince.  I worked with yellows, oranges, bicolors and pinks, trying to find fruit which performed well in the garden and had the color and taste qualities the restaurants were seeking.

Many restaurants also used a fair quantity of red slicing tomatoes.  It is always best to plan on planting up to 10 percent of your total tomato crop to red or pink slicers.  Russian 117, Pink Sweet and hybrids such as Whopper or Celebrity have worked well for me.  These varieties can be the bread and butter for any tomato growing operation.

Different colored cherry tomatoes, picked separately or mixed together in flats, sell very well.  My favorites are Galina, Riesentraube, Green Grape and Sungold.  These flats are very colorful and are called Toy Box cherries.  It is very easy to get a chef’s attention by walking into the back of a restaurant kitchen with a case of multicolored heirloom tomatoes.  The real challenge is to maintain their attention by developing a relationship that benefits both the grower and the chef.  By planning with chefs during the offseason, desired varieties can be identified, menus can be planned, and verbal or written contracts can be made.

Retail grocery stores are also a potential market for the small tomato grower.  First, I suggest trying to sell the red slicing tomatoes and paste varieties that a produce buyer is most familiar with.  These buyers can be easily won over with a taste of a vine ripened, red heirloom tomato.   Once a grower has proven that he/she has the ability to provide a consistent supply of quality fruit, buyers become more than willing to try more unusual tomato varieties.  Care must be taken not to sell dead ripe tomatoes to a retail market as the grower must allow for some shelf time.

When calling on potential markets, restaurants or grocery stores, be sure to provide a sample which is large enough to be used or sold.  A three or four tomato sample is not adequate, this small amount is easily misplaced or forgotten.  A full case sample is enough to sell in a market and get the public’s response, or for a restaurant to prepare a dish on its menu. 

Farmers markets are also a possible outlet for the small tomato grower.  These markets have sprung up locally throughout the US.  Many growers use these markets to sell all of their production.  I know some farmers who will sell at seven different markets a week during their peak season.  This is another area where growers can receive opinions about their varieties from regular customers.

Growers should look at all their potential markets before planting tomatoes on a commercial level.  Diversity is the key to success, both in the varieties you grow and the market to which you sell.  Consider selling to a combination of restaurants, local grocery stores, and farmers markets as a means of supporting the desire to enjoy and grow more heirloom tomatoes.

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Jeff’s thinking was ahead of its time, as much of what he wrote has come true - heirloom tomatoes at farmers markets and even grocery stores and great popularity of them with creative chefs. He makes many useful points in this interesting article. It is interesting to note some of the varieties that he mentions - some continue to be my favorites even now, decades later.

One of the coleus on our flower garden

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