Brrr.... it's cold. Brief update on the 2023 garden

Seedlings under lights in the safety of the garage

Waking up to temperatures in the low 20s is not much fun following the late spring-like temperature tease of earlier in March. All the plants - tender perennials, greens in addition to the tomatoes and peppers and eggplants seen in the above pic - have been in the garage for nearly a week.

However, it is only March 20, today is the first day of spring (at last), and if we get the forecasted warmth starting tomorrow, everything will head back outdoors, well hardened off. I could be a week from tomato, pepper and eggplant transplanting. My fingers are crossed!

What I am spending most time on at the moment is preparing for some local events (Veterans Healing Farm), and a Zoom with New York gardening groups on container and strawbale gardening.

For gardeners living near me, I don’t have a plant list or details on dates quite yet. I will be corresponding via email those those who are interested when I have a better idea on what’s to come.

I didn’t do an Instagram Live last week because there was really nothing new to report and it was too cold. Depending upon the weather, I may do one this coming Friday. This is the calm before the storm - things will be getting busy really soon.

Very young seedlings getting filtered sunlight before they went into the garage and under lights due to cold temps


Digging deeper into my 2023 tomato choices - focus on indeterminate X indeterminate F1 and beyond

Sun peeking through magnolia

In my last blog, I created my laundry list of seeds planted. Below is a deeper dive into some of the more interesting things destined for my 2023 garden. In my next blog, I will provide a germination update on all of my tomato flats planted to date, including the older seeds - which continue to slowly emerge and surprise.

Indeterminate X Indeterminate new hybrids

I am growing a few new hybrids created by a few of my garden buddies. I also managed to miss a few, so will grow those next year. My UK friend Lance Turner (owner of Tomato Revolution, web site here ) crossed Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom with Zena’s Gift. This is tomato 7622 in my collection. Lance also crossed Rosella Purple with Brandywine - tomato 7621, and Rosella Purple with Green Giant - tomato 7623 - which I forgot to grow this year. My friend Alex in Virginia crossed Earl with Cherokee Green and sent me the hybrid seed, which is tomato 7788. To summarize, I am growing tomatoes 7622 and 7788 this year, and will grow 7621 and 7623 next year.

Indeterminate X Indeterminate F2 generation from new hybrids

A few years ago I had a blast creating some new hybrids. I explored but a few of them last year - Little Lucky X Blue’s Bling, Polish X Blue’s Bling and Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom. This year I want to take a look at a few F2s from Ferris Wheel X Striped Sweetheart, Don’s Double Delight X Cancelmo Familly Heirloom, and Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe. In each case I will find 25% potato leaf and 75% regular leaf seedlings. I’ve not decided how many of each to grow. I thus planted T21-2, T21-8 and T21-11 in sufficient quantity to get a few potato leaf amongst the forest of regular leaf seedlings.

Indeterminate X Indeterminate F3 generation from new hybrids

Last year, me, and a few friends, started hunting through seeds saved from the hybrids to see what interesting new varieties appeared - and we all had some level of success. A few were named, a few will be named depending upon what we find this year. From Little Lucky X Blue’s Bling came two exciting finds in my garden - both variegated, one potato leaf, which produced large smooth tricolored tomatoes that were yellow mottled with red and green, and one regular leaf, more of a standard yellow/red swirled bicolor. Both were delicious, and I am growing them out this year. The Potato Leaf is tomato T22-16, the regular leaf T22-13. All should be variegated foliage; a few potato leaf will likely pop up in the regular leaf selection (it takes longer to breed that out). I also sent quite a few of this seed out to those expressing interest in this effort, so we will have quite a few results coming later in the season. I also found a nice purple from Blue’s Bling X Polish, with potato leaf variegated foliage - T22-17. Turning to Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Cherokee Purple. Quite a few F3 are being grown, one found by me, others sent to me by gardening friends. I named a selection Lillian Rose last year and am growing T22-15 this year - potato leaf, with large pink fruit with some yellow shading and outstanding flavor. My friend Justin sent me a large fruited potato leaf pink - tomato 7838. Lance Turner sent me 7808, a very large oblate yellow with some red. A friend Mary sent me 7785, which was for her regular leaf, large yellow with pink inside and delicious. I can’t wait to see what this set of tomato royalty offspring deliver this season! From Cherokee Chocolate X Stump of the World, my garden buddy Eddie sent me a slew of interesting finds - the one I chose to grow is 7795, large fruited regular leaf green flesh, yellow skin, with some red inside. Finally, my friend Alex sent me 7789, a selection from Green Giant X Cancelmo Family Heirloom - a large fruited delicious potato leaf purple.

The above represent the real R and D that will be in my 2003 garden. I will likely grow a few in my yard, and a lot in the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse. Anyone local to me here in Hendersonville will have an opportunity to dip in to these mysteries as well.

Marlin amongst the spring colors

2023 Garden Plan - the major tomato planting of March 7

Forsythia and Spirea

In the last few blogs I talked about my first plantings - greens, flowers (especially hibiscus), and older tomatoes - along with some peppers and eggplants.

On March 7, I did a marathon planting session - three flats of 50 cells, each containing a different variety. Today is day 3 and germination is happening. My older tomato seed flat is out sunning itself on the side deck. I just finished transplanting the hibiscus, and the greens are proceeding well.

Here is what got planted on March 7.

Flat 1 - all Dwarf Tomato Project released varieties from Victory Seeds unless otherwise noted. For the most part, 5 seeds of each were planted.

Adelaide Festival, Banksia Queen, BrandyFred, Chocolate Lightning, Coorong Pink, Dwarf Awesome, Dwarf Beauty King, Dwarf Big Valentine, Dwarf Black Angus, Dwarf Blazing Beauty, Dwarf Choemato, Dwarf Elsie’s Fancy, Dwarf Emerald Giant, Dwarf Firebird Sweet, Dwarf Gloria’s Treat, Dwarf Golden Tipsy, Dwarf Goldfinch, Dwarf Grinch, Dwarf Hannah’s Prize, Dwarf Idaho Gem, Dwarf Kodiak King, Dwarf Mahogany, Dwarf Mr. Snow, Dwarf Orange Cream, Dwarf Parfait, Dwarf Confetti, Dwarf Peppermint Stripes, Dwarf Perfect Harmony, Dwarf Pink Livija, Dwarf Purple Heart (from Fruition), Dwarf Purple Heart (Victory), Dwarf Russian Swirl, Dwarf Sarah’s Red, Dwarf Saucy Mary, Dwarf Sonrojo Monster, Dwarf Snakebite, Dwarf Suz’s Beauty, Dwarf Sweet Sue, Dwarf Tanager, Dwarf Walter’s Fancy, Dwarf Wild Fred, Dwarf Wild Spudleaf, Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet, Loxton Lad, Loxton Lass, Lucky Swirl (Fruition), Lucky Swirl (Victory), Maralinga, Rosella Crimson, Rosella Purple (Southern Exposure Seed XC).

So, what’s the story with all of these released dwarfs? I’ve been wanting to do a test plant of our releases to see what people are purchasing/growing, vs what we wanted to release as a project. It will also be great for seed saving and photodocumenting. I hope to grow these at the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse. Many of my favorite larger fruited dwarfs are in that list. Such fun!

Flat 2 - here are all indeterminate varieties. Many of these are more densely planted so I have extras for locally interested folks.

Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, Cherokee Green, Mexico Midget, Sun Gold, Casey’s Pure Yellow, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Lucky Cross, Large Lucky Red, Estler’s Mortgage Lifter, Captain Lucky, Purple Dog Creek, Price’s Purple, Potato Leaf Yellow, Big Sandy, Gallo Plum, Dorothy’s Green, World War II, Monticello Mystery, Polish, McCutcheon, Bisignano #2, Brandywine, Dester, Stump of the World, Ferris Wheel, Cancelmo Family Heirloom, Eva Purple Ball, Red Brandywine, Giant Syrian, Hege’s German Pink, Hugh’s, Indian Stripe, JD Special C-Tex, Yellow Brandywine, Pink Princess, Weber, Abraham Brown, Nepal, Green Giant, Tundra, Taiga, Fritsche Family, Stocky’s, Egg Yolk, Anna Russian, Coyote, TBT, Ruthje and Bing.

This is quite a grab bag. Some of my long-time-grown, real favorites are in this group. There are a few former favorites I am returning to for the first time in many years. I am also growing a slew that need fresh saved seed. There are also some that have been recently sent to me by friends. Some of these will be in my yard, and most will be at the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse.

Flat 3 - this is a real slew of all sorts of things, some indeterminate and some dwarf. This is also the third flat I planted, late at night, and there is an error somewhere with variety vs cell that I will have to solve once the seedlings emerge. Here goes…

Four F3 selections from Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom (one of which I named Lillian’s Rose), two F3 selections from Little Lucky X Blue’s Bling, one F3 selection from Polish X Blue’s Bling, a first look at F2 from crosses I made a few years ago - Ferris Wheel X Striped Sweetheart, Don’s Double Delight X Cancelmo Family Heirloom, and Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe; Earl, seven from the Fairy Tale series - Snack, Shine, Garnet, Elf, Fairy Tale, Gold and Angel; an F3 selection from Cherokee Chocolate X Stump of the World, Cherokee Green X Earl F1 hybrid, an F3 selection from Green Giant X Cancelmo Family Heirloom, Abraham Lincoln from the USDA seed stock, Lillian’s Yellow X Zena’s Gift F1, Kosovo, Marlowe Charleston, the Peregrine Farm selection of Cherokee Purple, Andrew Rahart’s Jumbo Red, Aker’s West Virginia, the chartreuse leaf version of Dwarf Jade Beauty, a pink fruited gold striped F3 selection from Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Speckled Heart, Dwarf Langston, another set of Victory released dwarfs - Uluru Ochre, Wherokowhai, Rosella Purple, Summertime Green, Summer Sunrise, Sweet Scarlet Dwarf, TastyWine, Willa’s Cariboo, Wilpena; Rosella Crimson, Dwarf Gloria’s Treat, Dwarf Emerald Giant, Dwarf Eagle Smiley, Dwarf Irma’s Highland, Dwarf Phyl’s Ivory Beauty, Dwarf Harmonic Convergence, Dwarf Shimmering Beauty, Dwarf Chilli Chick’s Wonder, Dwarf Sara’s Olalla Emerald, and Dwarf Swirly Heart.

I can’t even start to ponder where each of the above will go, but a fair number will be grown in my yard, particularly some of the more interesting mysteries. Once I confirm which varieties are growing where, and start to form plans on what I will be growing where, a future blog will lay it all out.



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.

SPONSORED BY Victory Seeds Company