Hummingbird still around on October 11, enjoying a salvia on our deck

It’s been quite awhile since my last 2023 garden update - but, better late than never! This blog entry will focus on the various dwarfs grown in proximity to the strawbales in 5 gallon grow bags, as well as cherry tomatoes grown in grow bags against our side fence. The next entry will focus on indeterminate tomatoes grown in the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse.

Please note that picture taking of the dwarf varieties was not particularly disciplined, so you will have to rely on my descriptions.

Also note that the dwarfs I grew in my yard and at the Veterans Healing Farm were mostly from Victory or Fruition Seed Company packets. I wanted to check out the varieties that are being sold to customers to compare with what the DTP sent the companies.

Grow Bag Dwarf Varieties

Dwarf Peppermint Stripes - Victory Seed Company packet source for seeds. I haven’t grown this since I found and named it some years ago. It was delightful - medium sized oblate green fruit with stripes of green and pink, with green flesh and a bit of pink on the interior. Flavor outstanding. Like all selections from the Beauty family, the flavor and colors are wonderful and this deserves to be much more widely grown. Saved as T23-48

Wherokowhai - Victory Seed Company packet source for seeds. It has been years since I grew this, and it was a favorite for quite a few years in my Raleigh gardens. Alas, it struggled with early onset of foliage fungal disease here. Fruit set was very good and I got a few medium sized oblate yellow/red bicolor tomatoes. I need to give it another chance - perhaps in a straw bale. Saved as T23-49

Dwarf Shimmering Beauty - #7758 seed source. This is a personal project I’ve worked on for years in the DTP. It is from the diverse Beauty family, and my goal was a very tasty tomato with light and dark green stripes on the outside, green flesh inside. It worked out well this year- the tomatoes had good size, excellent flavor, had the light/dark green stripes - the green interior flesh had a hint of pink, but that’s fine. This will be off to Victory Seeds for release in a year or so if all goes well. Seed saved as T23-50

Dwarf Mr. Snow - Victory Seed Company packet seed source. Always one of my favorite releases from our project, it was simply not a good season for it here. The plant struggled with disease - the few tomatoes I got were the correct shape and color and flavor, but not as large as typical. The Victory sample was accurate. When this variety grows well, it really is one of the very best. Seed saved as T23-51

Uluru Ochre - Victory Seed Company packet seed source. I simply love this tomato. The color is so surprising, being the first “black orange” ever observed. It was one of the very best flavored tomatoes of the season. I did note that it has a very tender texture, which some gardeners may find not quite to their liking. Productivity and health were great. The Victory seed sample grew perfectly to expectations. Seed saved as T23-52

Dwarf Sara’s Olalla Emerald - #7755 seed source. This will be released by Victory in a few months. The potato leaf plants produce lots of medium small, smooth, nearly round fruit that have green flesh when ripe and clear skin, making the color change when ripe a bit tricky to see. The flavor was well balanced and tasty. It is a worthy member of our DTP family - named after my daughter Sara. Seed saved as T23-53

Dwarf Choemato - Victory Seed Company packet source. I finally gave this one a try - a nice large oblate potato leaf red/yellow bicolor. It was simply wonderful (typical of the Ivalde family releases). It produced very well. This is one of our dwarfs that deserved to be known and grown much more widely - it is a superb variety. Seed saved as T23-54

Dwarf Awesome - Victory Seed Company packet source. This is another variety that I finally got around to trying, and my goodness, I am glad I did. It really is a regular leaf version of Dwarf Choemato (or maybe it is that Dwarf Choemato is a potato leaf version of Dwarf Awesome). Both are from the Ivalde family. It has the same type of wonderful flavor as Dwarf Gloria’s Treat. The fruit were produced prolifically, the plant was healthy throughout the season, with the oblate red/yellow swirled tomatoes growing as large as one pound. Seed saved as T23-55

Dwarf Swirly Heart - #7896 seed source. This one didn’t work out. The intent was that this would be a regular leaf version of Dwarf Gloria’s Treat - a large red/yellow heart on a regular leaf plant. It clearly is not yet stable, as it produced oblate pink tomatoes. Back to the drawing board for this one. Seed saved as T23-56

Dwarf Big Valentine - Victory Seed Company packet source. I finally grew out a variety that I actually selected and named some years ago. The potato leaf plants are on the tall side for dwarfs, and produced medium to large pink hearts with a simply delicious flavor. The Victory sample grew true to type. Seed saved as T23-57

Dwarf Sonrojo Monster - Victory Seed Company packet source. Essentially a regular leaf version of Dwarf Big Valentine, this regular leaf dwarf produced truly large heart shaped pink tomatoes that were absolutely delicious. I love this tomato! The Victory sample grew true to expectations. Seed is saved as T23-58

Dwarf Betts’ Beauty - #7898 seed source. My hopes for this were for a regular leaf dwarf tomato producing medium to large pink oblate fruit. The tomatoes suffered from blossom end rot and the size was not what I was looking for - so back to the drawing board for this. Seed seed saved as T23-59

Dwarf Gloria’s Treat - Victory Seed Company packet source. I love this variety - a potato leaf dwarf on the taller side, it was a prolific producer of delicious medium to large sized yellow hearts with red swirls. The Victory sample grew to expectations. Seed saved as T23-60

Dwarf Marlin’s Slicer - #7897 seed source. This one didn’t come out the right way - it is still a work in progress. My hope was for large oblate pink tomatoes on a potato leaf dwarf. What resulted was a heavy yield of pink hearts that were medium sized, but delicious. Back to the drawing board for this one too. Seed saved as T23-61

Dwarf Emerald Giant - Victory Seed Company packet source. Always one of my favorite dwarfs, it didn’t disappoint this year. Medium to large green when ripe tomatoes (with clear skin) have a full, delicious flavor. The Victory sample grew true to expectations. Seed saved as T23-62

Dwarf Confetti - Victory Seed Company packet source. Like Peppermint Stripes, this is one of the Beauty selections I found and named years ago, but haven’t grown since its release. I was really missing something - this is a wonderful tomato that belongs in every garden. The medium sized smooth oblate tomatoes are yellow with pink stripes outside, yellow flesh with pink swirls inside - prolific and delicious. Seed saved as T23-63

Dwarf Langston - #7592 seed source. Several years ago a DTP volunteer found and named this variety from the Sleazy B family (Carbon X Dwarf Champion). I finally got around to growing it out and was delighted to find medium sized oblate purple tomatoes that were delicious. It is quite similar to Dwarf Wild Fred which came out of the Sleazy A family (Carbon X New Big Dwarf). I will likely send some samples around to get a wider set of feedback. It is a named variety that is essentially ready for release. Seed saved as T23-82

Dwarf Sweet Sue - Victory Seed Company packet seed source. One of my very favorite dwarfs, the Vicrory sample gave two different varieties (I will discuss the one grown at the Veterans Farm in a future blog). The plant in my yard produced tomatoes that were too large and oblate for my expectations for this variety, though they were certainly delicious. I sent feedback to Victory that they may wish to do a reselection. Seed saved as T23-65

Dwarf Chilli Chick’s Wonder - T21-38 seed source. This has proven to be a challenge to get stabilized. It seems to want to be indeterminate - I planted lots of seeds saved from a dwarf plant, but only a few dwarf seedlings showed up. The medium sized tasty pink tomatoes didn’t impress me as much as when grown in 2021. Originally called Capri Show Stopper, we are not through with this one yet - so release could be a few years away. Seed saved as T23-66

Dwarf Phyl’s Ivory Beauty - #7759 seed source. This one will be soon released by Victory. It is a nice ivory colored variety that I named for my mom. The regular leaf plants are very productive, tomatoes are medium or mediums small, smooth and have a lovely flavor. Seed saved as T23-67

Dwarf Lilly Family Selection F4 - T22-26 seed source. I created the Lilly family by applying pollen from Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom to a flower on Dwarf Speckled Heart. I grew out the hybrid, and last year, a regular leaf dwarf seedling from the hybrid. That plant produced medium sized, round pink tomatoes with gold stripes. Seed from that tomato, T22-26, was grown this year, and I was delighted to find an avidly flowering dwarf regular leaf plant that produced medium to large pink hearts with gold stripes, with a nice meaty texture and excellent flavor. The tomato is shown above. This is clearly a very promising lead. I am going to call it Dwarf Lilly’s Heart - and will pass seed on to DTP participant Denise Salmon so that she can see what she gets. It is a promising future release, that’s for sure. Seed saved as T23-68

Dwarf Charisma (chartreuse leaf Dwarf Jade Beauty) - T22-70 seed source. My Growing Epic Tomatoes friend Kay Waters discovered a chartreuse leaf plant from Victory Seed Company Dwarf Jade Beauty. It was green fruited and tasty, and she sent me seeds to see if the unusual foliage characteristic persisted, as well as the fruit color - we are looking to confirm whether this is a mutation or a cross. T22-70 is seed saved from a plant I grew from seed she sent me last year. I found a plant that was clearly on the chartreuse side of foliage color as a young seedling, though perhaps not quite as distinctly as Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet. The plant was quite shaded by a nearby indeterminate variety. The more pale hued leaves did persist throughout the season. The tomatoes were in the 2-4 ounce range and tasty, with clear skin and green flesh. I consider this still a work in progress and a bit of a mystery, but thus far no one working on this selection has found any fruit color aside from green - indicative of a leaf color mutation. Seed saved as T23-69

Dwarf Harmonic Convergence - #7756 seed source. I finally got round to growing this recent DTP release. Early on it seemed to struggle with disease, but showed staying power - it was pretty heavily shaded by nearby indeterminate plants. The tomatoes ripened quite late, were oblate, scarlet red and in the 8-10 ounce range. Not surprisingly, they were quite tasty and similar to Sweet Scarlet Dwarf. I found it to be among our best scarlet fruited varieties from the DTP - I would need to grow it again to get a better sense of its potential. seed I used was from Bill Minkey. Seed saved as T23-70

Dwarf Mahogany - Victory Seed Company packet seed source. This is a rescue adventure - the original plant at the Veterans Healing Farm came down with collar rot. I cut the plant off above the damage area, rooted it in water, and planted it in a grow bag here. The plant thrived - and produced a good crop of medium sized oblate chocolate tomatoes with really nice well balanced flavor. I hadn’t tasted this since my friend Lee, the person who discovered the variety, brought his most advanced selection to a Tomatopalooza festival tasting. I like it much better than Tasmanian Chocolate in terms of flavor. The Victory seed produced what was hoped for. Seed saved as T23-71

Grow Bag Indeterminate Cherry Tomatoes

Coyote - T17-173 seed source. This is one of my cherished varieties - not so much because It is among the best flavored, but because of how I received it. I was given a wand of tomatoes on the vine by Maye Clement during my display at the PA Hort Harvest Festival event in Philadelphia in the late 1980s. I think of it as an ivory colored “version” of Mexico Midget - certainly a currant tomato, weedy and prolific. The flavor has a peculiar note resting under the predominant sweetness that is slightly off-putting to my wife and I, but many love the flavor. The plant was prolific, despite residing in a low sun location at the edge of my driveway along the fence. It has been too many years since growing it, so I am delighted to have fresh seed. Seed saved as T23-37

Pink Princess - #7865 seed source. Seed was sent to me by Growing Epic Tomatoes student Peter Schipelliti - he raved about the flavor. As a pink cherry tomato, that also made it a bit unique. The plant grew well, tended to produce a bit later than typical cherry tomatoes, but it was against the fence, hence a bit sun starved. I really liked the color - pink with just the slightest hint of a peach overtone. I thought the flavor was quite good - one of the better cherry tomatoes I’ve eaten, but alas, not up to the complexity of Sun Gold. Seed saved as T23-38

Sun Gold F1 - Johnny’s Selected Seeds packet seed source. Of course Sue and I loved this tomato - we have since first growing it in the late 1980s. Weirdly, this was one of the more diseased plants of 2023. It was in a sun starved location against the fence, but battled fusarium right from the start. It was stubborn, as despite the disease, it hung in there for the season, though with reduced production. I didn’t save seeds.

Coyote - T13-122 seed source. Refer to the entry for Coyote from T17 saved seed, above. I was thrilled to get 2013 saved seed to germinate well. The two Coyote plants performed identically. Seed saved as T23-40

Fairytale Fairy - #7893 seed source. This seems different from the catalog description on the Kleverhof seed site. For me, the tomato grew as chocolate colored cherry tomatoes with green stripes and very small seeds - flavor not particularly great and quite firm in texture. I can’t confirm that I kept all of the Kleverhof varieties straight - there could have been an identification mix up on my part. Seed saved as T23-41

Fairytale Gold - #7894 seed source. This is another of the Kleverhof company creations generously shared with me. It produced loads of elongated orange tomatoes - clearly a Roma type - that had dense flesh and very good keeping qualities. I found the flavor on the bland side, typical for tomatoes of this shape. The growth habit seemed to be determinate. Seed saved as T23-42

Fairytale Snack - #7878 seed source. Yet another Kleverhof variety, this prolific plant gave lots of flattened large cherry type fruit that were orange - the interiors were partially hollow. For me, the flavor and texture were not particularly pleasing. Seed saved as T23-44

Ruthje - #7718 seed source. This variety was shared with me from Jeannine Cabossel - a DTP participant. It is described on line as producing larger red cherry tomatoes, some with a point on the bottom. My plant got diseased quite early with what appeared to be fusarium wilt. I did get a few tomatoes prior to its demise, but it did not particularly impress. It seems to have been released for greenhouse growth. Seed saved as T23-45

Egg Yolk - T22-48 seed source. This is always a favorite - certainly not Sun Gold like in flavor intensity, but nice, balanced toward sweetness, with a nice meaty texture making it perfect for grilling or use in salsas. It was healthy all season and produced prolifically despite growing in a sun-poor location. Seed saved as T23-46

Mexico Midget - T21-67 seed source. This tomato - which I consider a delicious tomato-producing avidly volunteering weed - did its usual thing this year, providing delicious tiny red cherry tomatoes in a position with hardly any sun exposure. Seed saved as T23-47

Flower Garden Volunteer Red Cherry - appeared in our main flower garden. What a nice surprise! When I saw a volunteer tomato plant in our flower garden I assumed it would be Mexico Midget. The tomatoes it produced were more the size of Sweet Million - it was Susan who tried a few told me of their delicious flavor. I’ve no idea what it (I guess I can thank a bird, squirrel or rabbit for “planting” the seed there). I saved a small amount of seed as T23-177 for anyone who wishes to take a chance and give it a try.

Summary - the vast majority of Victory Seed Company seeds for the dwarfs grew to expectations, which delighted me to see. A few that I hadn’t grown in years, or at all, proved to be outstanding. I think all tomato lovers should give Dwarf Confetti, Dwarf Peppermint Stripes, Dwarf Choemato, Dwarf Awesome, and Dwarf Sonrojo Monster a try - they are among the best of the dwarfs, though they do not get nearly the attention they deserve.

I will now get on to the next blog, covering the indeterminate varieties grown at the Veterans Healing Farm. It may take a week or so to get to it.