Lots of seeds are now planted. Let's start walking through my slowly forming plans for 2023 gardening

We’ll consider this major spring garden update Part 1.

On one hand, the pace of my gardening season seems slower. Then I look at the flats germinating in my office, or already transplanted sitting in my driveway, sizing up and getting ready for planting into our raised beds. This is our 4th season gardening here. We are (mostly) beyond the bizarre of COVID. I worked hard on the Growing Epic Tomatoes course with Joe Lamp’l, which was a key “busy” feature of the last two seasons. Already, this year feels different.

On January 31, I made my first planting - some flowers, some greens and other cool weather crops. It is they that have been transplanted. For flowers, I planted yellow and pink canna sent to me by my friend John. Germination was slow and spotty and I may go back when it gets warmer and repeat. Older packets of Echinacea and Balcony Petunia and Blue Wood Aster didn’t germinate. Pansies and Snapdragons did, and they are progressing well.

I planted Golden Beet, Crosby Beet (both of which germinated well), and an older packet of Detroit Red Beet, which did not. I have lots of plants of rhubarb and Bright Lights chard, and a few plants of a mustard, collard and kale. I’ve got plenty for my needs.

Seaside, Space and Nobel spinach germinated great; Acadia did not. All the lettuce - Gabriella, Green Ice, Rouxai, Magenta and Cherokee - are doing wonderfully. All of this will represent our cool weather garden that will reside in containers and our raised beds.

transplanted spinach, lettuce, etc - living outdoors

On February 20, I planted a flat with a few different flowers, a basil and lots of saved Hibiscus - the main reason being I wanted to explore how hibiscus seed maintains viability with age. The flowers planted were Thunbergia, Salvia Coral Nymph, a few saved Baptisia, and Carmel Chianti basil (saved seed). I am waiting on the baptisia, but all else germinated quickly and well.

As for the hibiscus, most were swamp mallow of various colors,, two are coccinea, the other being Hibiscus manihot, tall with yellow flowers and very spiny seed pods. Of 2014 saved seeds, so far 5 of 7 types germinated. 2015, 3 of 7; 2016, 6 of 7; 2017, 5 of 8, and 2022, 3 of 4 - in total, 21 of the 33 types I planted germinated. I have at least one plant of each color - white with dark red eye, pink with dark red eye, pink with pale eye, one maroon, and both coccinea red and white (Texas Star). I have no idea where these will all go, but I do want to get one plant of each for fresh seed saving. In general, they seem to be perennial here as well.

The hibiscus flat - thunbergia is lower left

Also on February 20 I undertook a planting of older tomato seeds that are quite close to those I obtained. The intent of this planting was to check on germination of older saved seed. Germination continues, even today on day 16, so the results are incomplete. No shows to date are Anna Russian (2012 and 2013 seeds), Bisignano #2 (2011 and 2013 seed), Eva Purple Ball (2011), Hege German Pink (2012), Rasp Red (2008), Red Brandywine (2006), and Yellow Brandywine (2011 and 2013). I do have seedlings up and growing from Big Sandy, Brandywine, Lucky Cross, Cancelmo Family Heirloom, Cherokee Chocolate, Cherokee Purple, Coyote, Dester, Gallo Plum, Giant Syrian, Hugh’s, Indian Stripe, JD Special C Tex, and Monticello Mystery. The oldest germinating seeds are from 2009 and 2011 - 12 and 14 years old. At that age, germination is slower and erratic - 14 days or more.

In addition, in that flat I planted some peppers and eggplants - all 7 peppers (seed saved 2022) and all four eggplant (seed saved 2022). Fresh pepper or eggplant seeds, thus take 6 to 8 days to germinate, compared with fresh tomato seeds, that take between 3 and 5 days.

old tomato seed and fresh pepper and eggplant flat - getting some filtered sun

I will discuss last night’s marathon planting of 3 flats, 150 cells, of tomatoes - and also discuss possibilities of where they will be grown. With the nearby Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse, my options will be flexible and interesting.

Progress on what's been planted - thoughts on what comes next

Every year, a new spiral notebook.

Let’s get caught up on what’s going on with the 2023 garden, which is of course mostly seed starting, but, in addition, some transplanting too. Rather than visualize the season, this year will be a bit different. I am sorting it out in pieces by making rather quick decisions when certain types of seeds need planting. The last part, the main batch of tomatoes, is targeted for planting tomorrow, but I won’t decide on which until tonight!

Our backyard magnolia in bloom a full month sooner than our last three springs here in Hendersonville.

I planted the first seeds on January 31. I planted 7 cells of flowers, 1 of rhubarb, 3 of beets, 2 of chard, 1 each a mustard, kale and collards, three with spinach and 5 with lettuce. Of the flowers, Echinacea, Balcony Petunia, and Blue Wood Aster are yet to germinate (seeds are a few years old). One each seed of yellow canna and pink canna, 2 rhubarb, and some pansies in snapdragons are up and growing well. Golden and Crosby Beet are in good shape, but Detroit Beet was older seed and didn’t germinate. I’ve got plenty of chard, mustard, kale, collards, Seaside, Space and Nobel spinach, and Gabriella, Green Ice, Rouxai, Magenta and Cherokee lettuce. I’ve already separated out and transplanted all of the above into 3.5 inch pots or (for the beets and snapdragons), 1 inch cell plug flats. The greens are in 3.5 inch pots with up to 6 plants in each. They’ve been spending most of the time outdoors, being cool weather plants, and will come into the garage if a frost is likely.

Here come the greens described in the above section

On February 20, I planted 49 cells - a few random flowers and herbs (Thunbergia, Coral Nymph salvia, a few baptisia, a purple leaf basil and a celosia), but mostly wanted to test germination on a slew of hibiscus that were collected in the wild and grown out since 2014. I had no idea how these (mostly Swamp Mallows) kept their viability. As of today, 5 of 7 varieties saved in 2014 (9 year old seed), 3 of 7 saved in 2015 (8 year old seed), 6 of 7 saved in 2016 (7 year old seed), 5 of 8 saved in 2017 (6 year old seed), and 3 saved in 2022 (1 year old seed) popped out of the planting mix. I have at least one plant of each of the types that I want to grow out this year.

Here’s my messy hibiscus planting page

Finally came a major planting of older tomato seeds, and fresh pepper and eggplant seeds, on February 20. I wanted to use my tomato family trees tracking genealogy and see how older seed as close to the received seed as possible for each variety would germinate. This flat is still on a heating mat, so this is work in progress.

So far, Big Sandy saved in 2012 and 2013 is up and growing. Lucky Cross from 2011, Cancelmo Family Heirloom from 2016 and 2017, Cherokee Chocolate from 2011 and 2012, Cherokee Purple from 2011, Gallo Plum from 2009 (the oldest seed that is up - 14 years old), Giant Syrian from 2012 and 2013, Hugh’s from 2013 and 2014, JD Special C Tex from 2012, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom from 2015, Monticello Mystery Tomato from 2013, and Yellow Brandywine from 2011 are up.

I’ve no growth yet from Anna Russian (2012, 2013), Bisignano #2 (2011, 2013), Brandywine (two from 2011), Coyote (from 2011 and 2013), Dester (from 2012 and 2013), Eva Purple Ball from 2011, Hege German Pink (two from 2012), Indian Stripe from 2011, Rasp Red from 2008 and Red Brandywine from 2006. All of the peppers and eggplant are up and growing. As far as days to germination, peppers ranged from 6-7 days, eggplant 6-7 days, and tomatoes 6 days for 2016 and 2017 saved up to 11 days for seeds saved in 2011. I will keep hope that more will appear and provide an update in a few weeks.

That’s it for the update. As far as what I will plant tomorrow, the parameters I am using - a set of standard indeterminate varieties that are favorites (choosing from most colors), a set of works in progress or newly sent indeterminates - and ditto for the dwarfs (some favorites, some works in progress). My other decision will be which to grow at the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse (I can probably fit 80 indeterminate and 40 dwarf there), and which to grow here in our back yard in straw bales (probably 20 -30 varieties).

Magnolia close up


...And now February as vanished - time to get this blog going again! Notice on a Zoom you can attend tonight

Magnonia in bloom in our back yard, a full month earlier than the last three years

I will do some edits and build onto this blog entry later today, but just wanted to get this news out there. I am going to be speaking to the Hays Public Library in Kansas tonight, 8 PM eastern time, delivering a one hour workshop on tomatoes. It is open to all to join - the link can be found here.

Garden-wise, I’ve transplanted greens, planted old tomato seeds and newer peppers and eggplants, planted lots of flowers - mainly saved hibiscus seeds - and am planning my main tomato plantings, which should happen in the next few days. There is a lot to show and discuss. Check out this blog later on, as it will grow and contain lots more info.

Oconee Bells way too early, spotted at the Arboretum in Asheville

As January vanishes, it's been a month...

Daffodils showing themselves on January 29

As I sit here, rain gently falling and three dogs in various states of taking naps, the speed at which January went by astounds me. A month marked by a very quiet New Year’s day, both my and Sue’s birthdays, COVID infections for both of us (and a rebound case for Sue), the shockingly unexpected death of a dear Raleigh gardening friend, a tomato themed Zoom with a Wisconsin master gardener’s group, a podcast recording, lots of rain and chilly weather (meaning very few hikes), receiving and sending lots of seeds and getting ready to plan this year’s garden and get some seeds planted all made for quite a month. I am tired even typing all of that!

Sue and I are well on the mend but are yet to find our pre-COVID energy. We know that warmer, more hiking-appropriate weather is on the way. We can see the buds swelling on many plants in our yard, and spring bulbs are poking through.

The worst day of the month was that on which I received an email notifying me of the death of my long time gardening buddy Ralph Whisnant. I knew Ralph had some health struggles over the last year, but each was overcome. I exchanged a text with him just a few days prior to the devastating news in which he told me he was home from the hospital after a successful procedure, and was looking forward to the gardening season.

I met Ralph in 2015 during my Epic Tomatoes book launch at Quail Ridge bookstore in Raleigh. Our shared love of gardening was evident, and seeds of a cherished friendship were planted. We exchanged plants and seeds, met at gardens or for lunch or at my or his house, and spoke on the phone to discuss this or that flower or veggie seed or plant. We also talked about life in general, which may be the part I enjoyed the most, Ralph being a kind, deep, thoughtful, empathetic person. Moving from Raleigh in 2020 meant the end of our get togethers, but not our friendship. Here is a little bit more about Ralph.

With February on the horizon, I am turning to garden planning and preparing for some seed planting. If all goes well, some tiny seed or slow growing flowers, and some greens and beets will be sitting on a heat mat in my office within the next few days. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, as well as faster germinating flowers and herbs, will be planted on or about March 1. Deciding what to grow is never easy, but I will post the list when it is settled. There are simply too many options, and I strive for a smaller, simpler garden this year.

Over the coming months, there will be more gardening Zooms. I still have a folder of emails from those requesting seeds, and I will be getting those requests fulfilled over the next few weeks. I hope to trial some dwarfs at a friend’s farm (he and his wife are vendors at the Hendersonville Farmers Market); he and I will meet next week to discuss. I am also very fortunate to have greenhouse space at the nearby Veterans Healing Farm, in which will go tomatoes of my choice - some dwarfs, most indeterminate. That means more decisions coming prior to my seed planting date.

For those in the Raleigh area that seek interesting tomato plants, my friends Chris and Gerald will be making plants available. You can check the hotlinks on each of their names - Gerald has a website, Chris an email address. I will not be starting plants in quantity this year for local plant sales. I am quite ready to say farewell to that part of my annual gardening experience, though it was such fun and it provided a chance to meet wonderful folks - for which I am so grateful.

I hope to do a few Instagram Live sessions very soon. The first will be a discussion of how to decide what to grow - I will share my thoughts and ask those who join about their own plans. Later on, when I am planting my tomato seeds, I will do another IG live when we discuss seed starting and the gardens to come. By that point I will know exactly what I will be growing.

The swelling bud of a future flower on our orange flame azalea (a native variety to this area)

Happy New Year, 2023! Let's get this thing going again...

Holiday light display at the NC Arboretum, seen in a mid December visit

Last year was a busy one for my blog, with my periodic seed collection review and the entire republishing of Off The Vine. It will be impossible to match that, so I am pondering what this blog will be for the coming year. It has been a bit of a rocky start to the new year, with me, then Sue, coming down with COVID. We are both on the mend, thanks to having had all of our vaccines and boosters, and prescriptions of Paxlovid.

I spent lots of December fulfilling seed requests, but that job is not yet complete. Next week I will finish the job, and lots of gardeners will have interesting (and in some cases, important) things to grow in their gardens this year and beyond. I’ve also been working on updating the genealogies of some of the more important varieties in my tomato collection - tracking each seed lot from when I received it to the most recent grow out. It is certainly the super-geeky side of my heirloom seed and gardening passion, but I find it fun and relaxing - as well as a real data management challenge.

Requests for gardening workshops are coming in, and there are already a number of Zooms, and two close by in-person talks, sitting in my calendar. I plan to resume live Instagram sessions from my back yard, probably starting in March, when I start planting seeds. I won’t be selling seedlings on any sort of scale this year - that phase of my gardening life has now passed. For those that are local to me here in Hendersonville, a good friend plans to sell heirloom tomato seedlings - I will provide information when it becomes certain.

The Dwarf Tomato Project is, if not grinding to a halt, now moving at a much slower rate, which is appropriate for where we are, with so many successful releases. Given that, it is going to be a different type of garden for me this year - but more on that later on.

In closing, it will be another, interesting, fun gardening season - I look forward to sharing my findings with you as always. On we go, into 2023!

More of the remarkable display

Off The Vine Volume 4, Number 1. "The 1997 Tomato Crop - mmm, Good!" by Craig (this article was never published - and here ends Off The Vine!)

We’ve been married 42 years - and had 42 real Christmas trees! This year’s is among the shorter ones, but we like its shape

Here’s a little holiday gift for you all - this is it !!! - the last installment of Off The Vine, and one more article never published. It is a report on my 1997 tomato efforts, and these types of articles always bring back fond memories. I hope you all enjoyed seeing Off The Vine in its entirety, article by article. It was a joy to spend 2022 doing this!

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The 1997 Tomato Crop......MMMM Good!

by Craig

As we head into early August, I must confess that once again, the unpredictability of gardening and the effect of weather has played its hand. In the final week of June 1997, I had never seen such healthy tomato plants growing in my Raleigh garden. It was a remarkably cool spring, but without excessive rainfall; this, coupled with careful early mulching meant that foliage diseases were virtually nonexistent. The late spring was on the dry side, and the cool comfortable temperatures of May turned into a string of mid 90 degree days in June and July. Hot temperatures and extensive watering resulted in tomato plants with thick stems and numerous blossoms that set fruit very well. Unfortunately, the extreme and unforgiving heat led to an uninvited and unwanted guest in the garden, Fusarium wilt disease. I have never pulled out so many tomato plants so early. The list of casualties is long, and includes Dorothy’s Green, Buckbee’s New Fifty Day, D’Amato, Golden Beauty, Geswein’s Purple Bonny Best, Success, Tappy’s Finest, Middle Tennessee Low Acid, Azoychka, Favorite, Sandul Moldovan, Orange, Reif’s Italian Red, Ukrainian Heart, and one of my Cherokee Chocolate plants. Despite the disease, I managed to get at least one ripe fruit from all of the plants except Ukrainian Heart. Of the sick bed tomatoes listed here, Azoychka, Buckbee, and Orange tasted great; D’Amato, Success, and Favorite did not, and the others were either unmemorable, or had so many problems (blossom end rot, etc.) that they were not tasted.

Here is a sampling of interesting observations. I find that the more tomato plant I grow, the more I notice how variable the varieties are with respect to flower color and shape, leaf color and shape, floppiness of the branches, and other details that really make each tomato variety unique. A number of the plants have distinctly darker foliage color, nearing a deep blue green. Amongst this group are King Humbert, Dr. Carolyn, Tappy’s Finest, Taps, and Regina’s Yellow. At the other end of the spectrum are some plants with relatively light green foliage. In this category are Wins All, Simpson’s Big Yellow, and Garvey’s Orange. There is one true weird tomato in the bunch, Potato Leaf Turkey Chomp, which has yellow potato leaf foliage and large oblate fruits that are pure white when unripe. I am still waiting for it to ripen. It looks like a potato leaf, large-fruited version of Honor Bright. The following tomato plants are very wispy and need frequent tying to keep them upright:  Niemeyer, Lillian’s Red, Maria Dondero Early, Bisignano #2, Simpson’s Big Yellow, Dinner Plate B, Anna Russian, Reif Red, and Ukrainian Heart. Bronze Leaf Abraham Lincoln is not bronze-leafed. D’Amato started setting fruit before any other, and looks to be very heavy yielding. Success and Livingston’s Favorite have nearly identical growth habits. Middle Tennessee Low Acid is horribly weak as a seedling, but was the strongest and tallest plant in my garden until it went south with wilt. Azoychka and Orange, both from Russian, seem to like to set lots of fruit when it is still cool, and both seem extremely susceptible to wilt when the weather gets hot. And, Selwin Yellow has the largest regular shaped leaves of any tomato I have seen (very similar to a tomato I grew last year, Bridge Mike’s).

So, then. How do these tomatoes taste? Among the red tomatoes, I am very pleased with the following:  Turkey Chomp, Niemeyer, Maria Dondero Early, Red Brandywine, Bisignano #2,  and Rasp Large Red. The pink tomatoes that are outstanding this year are Taps, Eva Purple Ball, and Brandywine, which are growing huge this year. Other tomatoes that are yummy are a strange bicolored tomato growing on a regular leaf plant that resulted in a growout of 1993 Brandywine seed, Cherokee Chocolate, Cherokee Purple, and, of course, Sun Gold. Tomatoes that I have not cared for this year include Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Carolyn (though very good when very ripe), D’Amato, and Garvey’s Orange.

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Here’s my final response to my final article. 1997 had some fine varieties growing in my garden. It was quite shocking to read of the amount of disease that took so many of my plants, including some real favorites. Potato Leaf Turkey Chomp ended up being named Surprise, and I not only grow it on occasion, but used it to do a cross in the Dwarf Tomato Project. Cherokee Chocolate has become a staple in my gardens. Finally, the beginnings of the varieties Lucky Cross and Little Lucky were in the garden as the strange striped tomato from 1993 saved Brandywine.

Thanks, all, for reading these articles. It was a blast - and meaningful - to make them available.

Sue and I have a Christmas tradition (it’s about 10 years running now) of making Zentangle cards in the weeks leading up. Here is one of my latest efforts.

Off The Vine Volume 4, Number 1. "Why Don't More People Grow These" by Craig (this was never published)

Marlin the Christmas dog (so he thinks)

Two more articles to go, and ones no one has ever seen. I guess I was doing my typical writing for Off The Vine Volume 4, but for whatever reason, Carolyn and I decided it was time to stop. For this first one, I focused on tomatoes that I really enjoyed growing and eating but seemed way too obscure and relatively unknown.

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Why Don’t More People Grow These?

by Craig

Maybe I did not write a catchy enough description in the SSE yearbook. Or, perhaps the name of the tomato isn’t memorable. Whatever the reason, there are many tomatoes that have performed splendidly in my gardens, yet remain consistently unpopular. Not only do very few seed savers request the seed, but even fewer reoffer it in following years. So, here is my list of the Rodney Dangerfields of the tomato world, at least in my opinion. They don’t get much respect. But they deserve it...at least I think so! It must be remembered that I have grown only a fraction of the tomatoes in the SSE collection, so my experience is relatively limited. But after reading this, will you decide that one or several of them are actually the next Brandywine, Riesentraub, or Aunt Ruby’s Green? They might be, but only if gardeners try them and find them to be as good as I do.

When I think about growing great red tomatoes, a few that wind up in my garden more often than not are Adelia, Aker’s West Virginia, Buckbee’s New Fifty Day, Gallo Plum, Giant Syrian, Livingston’s Favorite, Lillian’s Red, Old Virginia, Rasp Large Red, Reif Italian Red Heart, and Maule’s Success. Some of them are not huge or flashy, but are what I consider to be “old reliable”, tomatoes that yield well and taste good year after year. In this category are Adelia, Buckbee’s New Fifty Day, Livingston’s Favorite, and Maule’s Success.  They all set fruit quickly and reliably.  They all run from 6 to 8 ounces, and all are relatively smooth and crack-free. They are probably a good indication of what was exciting at the turn of the century with respect to progress in tomato breeding. Up until that time, tomatoes were generally large and very rough in shape. Favorite and Success, among others, were very smooth and consistent in shape and quality. They also have a snappy, “old time” tomato flavor, with more seeds and pulp and less sugary sweetness than the larger beefsteak types. Rasp Large Red is nearly globe shaped and closer to a pound in weight, and also very tasty. Two of my red list are truly huge; Old Virginia and Aker’s West Virginia.  I know nothing of their history, but both came to me as family heirlooms.  Both can exceed 2 pounds in weight, but are very fine flavored. Old Virginia was a light yielder, but Aker was very productive. Giant Syrian and Reif Italian are both very large heart-shaped tomatoes that grow on wispy but vigorous vines. Both are more juicy and seedy, and more tart, than the very popular German Red Strawberry. Finally, Lillian’s Red is a medium sized tomato of variable shape, running from nearly globe to elongated. The flavor is outstandingly rich, amongst the best flavored of tomatoes. Unfortunately, the plant is extremely spindly and weak as a seedling, though it really gains steam and vigor as the season progresses. Gallo Plum is another of the pepper shaped sauce tomatoes, of which Opalka may be the best known. Gallo is its equal in productivity and flavor, though. I received it along with many other family heirlooms from a West Virginia person named Charlotte Mullens nearly 10 years ago.

The stars of the pink tomato family of low respect are Alpha Pink, Belgian Beauty, Fritsche, Livingston’s Beauty, Gregori’s Altai, Livingston’s Magnus, Mikarda Sweet, Nicky Crain, Polish, Tappy’s Finest, and Wins All. Like the reds, they fit into different categories. Alpha Pink is probably very similar to Acme, the first of the smooth pink tomatoes, from the 1870’s. It is very early, amongst the first tomatoes to ripen, but is productive and possessing a nice sweet flavor. Fritsche is similar in size, but is a remarkably prolific yielder of smooth 6 ounce slightly flattened globes, with a delightful flavor and juicy texture. Livingston’s Beauty and Magnus are similar in size and flavor, but Magnus is potato leaved. Gregori’s Altai is slightly larger and rounder, and a bit crack prone, but may be the sweetest tomato I have grown. Belgian Beauty, Wins All, Polish and Tappy’s Finest are all large pink beefsteak types that are very sweet and delicious. Polish differs in being potato leaved, and perhaps of superior flavor. Mikarda is a unique pink pepper shaped tomato on a very wispy plant, but is very sweet and delicious, as well as prolific. Nicky Crain is very large and heart shaped, and of the very best of flavor.

Other great different colored but unrespected tomatoes are Big Yellow, Galina’s, Czech’s Excellent Yellow, Golden Queen, Golden Monarch, Yellow White, Lillian’s Yellow, Madara, Potato Leaf Yellow, Yellow Bell, Coyote, and Dorothy’s Green. Big Yellow and Potato Leaf Yellow are both very large gold, slightly oblate beefsteak types that differ in leaf shape, and sweetness (Big Yellow is clearly on the sweet mild side, Potato Leaf Yellow very tart and rich). Galina’s, Madara, and Coyote are cherry tomatoes, with Galina’s being potato leaved and firm, Madara very juicy, and Coyote nearly white in color and much smaller. In fact it grows wild in Mexico. Czech’s Excellent Yellow is about golf ball sized and very tasty. Golden Queen and Golden Monarch are very similar; both are medium sized, smooth, slightly oblate bright yellow tomatoes with a pink blush on the bottom of some of the larger fruit. This is the real Golden Queen as developed and described by Livingston in the late 1800’s, not the recent determinate orange introduction that is usually offered under that name. Lillian’s Yellow is a superbly flavored but tricky to grow canary yellow, large beefsteak on a potato leaved plant, making it truly unique. What makes it tricky in my hands is that it is very variable in yield and quite crack-prone. The flavor and beauty are worth the effort, however. Yellow Bell is a bright yellow Roma shaped tomato of superb flavor and productivity. It tastes great in salads, not just as sauce. Yellow White, which also has the name of Viva Lindsey’s Kentucky Heirloom, is a large nearly globe shaped tomato that is just on the yellow side of ivory. It is not ravingly delicious, but is mild, sweet, and beautiful. Taking up the rear is a tomato I called Dorothy’s Green, but it was sent to me as simply “Green”. I think that it is just as good a tomato as Aunt Ruby’s Green to eat, though it is slightly more irregular in shape. It yields like crazy, though, and those who taste it are blown away!

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In looking through the above list…which ones have risen in popularity? Aker’s West Virginia, Giant Syrian, Livingston’s Beauty, Magnus, Polish, Winsall, Galina, Golden Queen, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom and Coyote are better known now than they were when I wrote this in 1997. There are quite a few on the list that remain obscure, and I must get fresh seed to give them a try here in Hendersonville!

Sue with Santa at the Hendersonville farmers market in early December

December 6 is a big day! Happy Anniversary to us - 42 years and counting!

Our wedding day - December 6, 1980 - in Rollins Chapel, Hanover NH

No words can describe the joy that I’ve experienced over the past 42 years - and it only gets better with time.

Enjoying a moment at Ocracoke Island some thanksgiving along the way

We started out laughing, hiking, gardening, listening to music, having nice meals. We still do!

At DuPont last month.

Dinner last night at West First in Hendersonville…a new favorite

Off The Vine Volume 3, Number 3. "The Most Popular Heirlooms, SSE Style" by Craig

One of my favorite pics of Sue with Sara and Caitlin - not exactly sure when this was taken - while we were living in Raleigh

Here’s the last article of Volume 3, Number 3. All that remains are two unpublished articles that I wrote for the unfinished Volume 4, Number 1 - Off The Vine ended prior to completion of Volume 4, and Carolyn didn’t submit any articles for it.

The Most Popular Heirlooms, SSE Style

by Craig

For Seed Saver Exchange members, the highlight of the year is probably receiving the annual Yearbook each January or February. That is when they find out if any new, interesting heirloom vegetables become available for ordering and growing the following summer. It is also the time that we find out how many of the seeds that we sent out the previous year are being reoffered by other members. By reading the descriptions, we can tell if other gardeners feel the same way about a variety that we do. It is also a good way to get a handle on what is popular in the heirloom hit parade.

I thought that it would be interesting to the OTV readers to give a list of the most popular varieties of heirloom tomatoes. By popular, the statistic that I used is the number of SSE members that are reoffering the seed. Though the SSE Yearbook lists literally thousands of varieties of tomatoes, many, if not most, are being offered by only one person. For some reason, more heirloom tomatoes have not yet caught on with other gardeners. Sometimes the description that the grower gives does not do the variety justice, but usually, it is because there is just not much to get excited about. At the other end of the spectrum lie those varieties that have truly reached legendary status with seed savers. Again, there are a variety of reasons for this, such as historical significance, inherent quality, or curiosity value.

For this article, I used 16 as the cut off number for number of seed savers offering a variety. Among the red tomatoes, Amish Paste takes top prize with 39 gardeners offering seed for it. This is followed by the various strains of Abraham Lincoln (25), Red Brandywine (25), Reisentraube (24), Stupice (19), Silvery Fir Tree (18), Druzba (16), and Old Brooks (16). The pink tomatoes hold the SSE champion, Brandywine (50 offering seed savers), followed by  Eva Purple Ball (23) and Prudens Purple (16). The yellow and orange tomatoes are led by Yellow Pear (26), Yellow Brandywine (20), Persimmon (18), and Golden Queen (17). Finally, the odd and unusual tomatoes are represented by Green Zebra (30), Cherokee Purple (27), Black Krim (24), Pineapple (24), Green Grape (22), Black Prince (19), Purple Calabash (16), Banana Legs (16), and Evergreen (16). It is both humbling and exciting to see that Carolyn or I are the ones who brought several of the above to the attention of seed savers. In this category are Reisentraube, Druzba, Eva Purple Ball, Yellow Brandywine, and Cherokee Purple. One reason may be that we managed to get these varieties into one or several commercial seed catalogs. Another is that we tend to write very detailed descriptions in the SSE yearbook, which may tempt more people to sample the variety for themselves. It is also important to note that all of the varieties listed above are now available to gardeners through one or more commercial seed sources. This is a tremendous change that is fairly recent. Even as recently as 5 years ago, this statement would not be true at all.

What an interesting collection of tomatoes! With respect to flavor, it is clear why Amish Paste, Red Brandywine, Reisentraube, Druzba, Brandywine, Eva Purple Ball, Prudens Purple, Yellow Brandywine, Persimmon, Cherokee Purple, Pineapple, Green Grape, and Evergreen make the list. All are wonderful tomatoes, and several are very productive and well adapted to many growing areas. Curiosity is the prime motivator for growing Silvery Fir Tree (which, frankly, is much more valuable for its foliage than its fruit), Green Zebra, Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Green Grape, Black Prince, Banana Legs (which has its supporters, but I find to be tough skinned and relatively bland), Evergreen, and, especially, Purple Calabash. I have never grown the last mentioned tomato, but most describe it as a tomato of poor or at least highly unusual and strong flavor. After seeing it growing at the Monticello gardens, it is certainly an interesting specimen, however, with its dusky pink-purple coloration and its creases and folds. Unfulfilled promise is represented by Abraham Lincoln, which appears to be much less than the tomato it used to be when released by Buckbee in 1923. Once described as bronze foliaged and weighing over one pound each, most if not all of the Abraham Lincoln being offered produce medium round fruit on semi determinate green foliaged plants. Clearly, some crossing has led to the demise of the variety as originally developed. The strain that was obtained by Carolyn and me from the USDA has large fruit, but not the bronze foliage. Finally, it is certainly strange to me why Old Brooks, Yellow Pear or Golden Queen are so popular. Speaking of confusion, we have written previously about the troubles of Golden Queen. One of the original Livingston developments from the late 1800’s, it was originally described as a medium to large bright yellow tomato with a pink blush on the bottom. The strain we received from the USDA lives up to this description. Unfortunately, most if not all of the Golden Queen listed in seed catalogs is probably a selection from Jubilee, which is a medium sized orange tomato that was bred by Burpee and released in the 1940’s. So far, neither Carolyn nor I have had any luck getting a seed company to sell the real thing. In future articles, Carolyn and I will each be writing on varieties that we feel are overrated, as well as some that clearly need to be grown and enjoyed by more tomato enthusiasts.

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That’s pretty brief. It was fun to go through the SSE yearbook to find out what was most listed that year. I am sure things look very different now - but I am not going to take the time to go through the latest yearbook and do that analysis (sorry!).

Sue and I cross country skiing during a huge snowstorm that happened not long after we moved into Raleigh!

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