My goodness it has been a long time between blogs. Here's a big one - a report on the Captain project

Mix of ripe Captain project tomatoes

I am so, so sorry for the huge delay in blogging this summer. Once the garden got planted, life took over - caring for Eli, activities with Sue, maintaining the garden, and reporting progress on Instagram in a flurry of pictures and weekly Instagram Lives (all of which are viewable and are very informative on garden progress).

This seems a good time to fire up the blog again, since I now have the first set of results on my Captain family project work of 2026. Recall that this project began when I crossed pollen from Sun Gold F1 hybrid onto the large, green fleshed, delicious beefsteak type Captain Lucky. I grew out the hybrid, collected lots of F2 seeds (the hybrid was a large fruited tasty regular leaf orange cherry tomato), and sent some around to those interested in joining this project. Some of you grew F2 seeds, and returned F3 generation seeds to me - I grew a selection of them this year, and they make the basis of the report that follows.

The numberings that follow are those applied when they came into my collection. There are two types of numbers - simple 4 digit numbers (a running system since I started gardening), and a TXX-YY type of number, which are my own saved seeds, where XX is the year the seeds were saved, and YY the running numbering from that year).

All of the following are from F3 seeds sent to me - so the seeds I am saving from each will be F4 generation. NOTE - I just added my 2026 seed identification number. If you want to pursue any of the following, you can use that number.

#8155 - these are seeds sent by garden friend Jen Fox. The tomato she saved these seeds from is described as a large flat orange cherry on a regular leaf plant. I grew one plant - which was also regular leaf. The tomatoes are very colorful - a mix of yellow, green and orange. The flavor was variable but mostly only fair - in the 5-6 range - but the plant was the one most seriously hit with herbicide issues from contaminated potting mix. Saved at T26-39.

The attractive tomatoes from Captain #8155 regular leaf.

#8148 - These are seeds sent to me by my friend Heide Dolan. The tomatoes that produced these seeds were regular leaf orange cherry tomatoes. The plant I grew was also regular leaf - the resulting orange cherry tomatoes were very flavorful, at a rating of 7.5. The seeds had green gel, and the flesh was rosy colored in the center. They are a larger cherry very close to Sun Gold in color. Saved as T26-40.

Tomatoes from #8148 regular leaf.

Next, we come to #8149, also sent to me by Heide as a potato leaf red cherry tomato. I ended up with both leaf shapes The regular leaf plant is producing large scarlet red cherry tomatoes that have a very nice balanced flavor - I rated 7.5. Saved as T26-41.

This and the pic above are #8149 regular leaf.

The potato leaf plant that came from #8149 was last to ripen of the Captains. It is an oval cherry tomato that is a light scarlet red (yellow skin). The flavor is quite good - rated 7-7.5. It does not produce very much seed at all! Will be saved as T26-42.

Captain 8149 potato leaf, scarlet red oval cherry

#8144 is a sample of seeds sent to me by garden friend Eva-Lena. She described it as a potato leaf purple cherry tomato. I got both potato and regular leaf seedings from her seeds. The potato leaf plant is producing lots of large chocolate cherry tomatoes that are delicious, rating from 7.5-8 in flavor. Saved as T26-43.

Chocolate colored, tasty tomatoes from #8144 potato leaf.

The regular leaf plant from #8144 is producing one of the most unique tomatoes of this project. The picture will depict the colors better than my description, but it looks like a saladette version of Captain Lucky itself. The flavor is very good, at 7.5. This will be an interesting selection to pursue. Saved as T26-45.

These three pics show #8144 regular leaf.

Moving on, we get to #8113, sent to me by my garden friend Karen P. She did not note the leaf shape, but described it as a green cherry tomato. I got both potato and regular leaf plants from her seeds. The regular leaf plant is producing large cherry tomatoes that have elements of yellow, orange and green in color. Upon cutting it open, I was delighted to find the Uluru Ochre coloration. The flavor is also outstanding. This is one fortunate find. Stabilizing this color in a good size will be fun - and a bit of work! Saved as T26-46.

All views of this remarkable selection

The potato leaf plant or #8113 threw a curve ball, producing larger oblate fruit that are scarlet red in color. The flavor sits in the 6-7 range. Saved as T26-47.

These three pics show #8113 potato leaf. Note how meaty the tomato is.

Now I move on to the two F2 plants I grew last year. I sent a lot of each of these out to garden friends, so I hope to hear of what you got from them. Both of my F3 plants gave me surprises. Starting with T25-13, which was a potato leaf plant with very tasty oval large cherries with shades of orange, yellow and pink, I got both leaf shapes in growing out saved seeds. The regular leaf plant is yielding tasty large red cherry tomatoes. Saved as T26-48.

Fruit from T25-13 regular leaf - nothing like last year’s result

Interestingly, the potato leaf plant from T25-13 is providing fruit that are similar to last year’s result, but with less flavor. Saved as T26-51.

Fruit from T25-13 potato leaf.

My most interesting F2 selection last year was T25-36, a regular leaf plant which produced mottled green and purple very tasty cherry tomatoes. Saved seed gave me both leaf shapes this year, and both are delicious! The regular leaf plant is super productive, yielding small orange cherry tomatoes with green seed gel and a flavor very close to Sun Gold hybrid! This is saved as T26-54.

Fruit from T25-36 regular leaf

Just as exciting, in a way, is what the potato leaf plant from T25-36 is producing. The copious yield of round large chocolate cherry tomatoes rate at least an 8 in flavor. Seed is saved as T26-53.

T25-36 potato leaf fruit - delicious chocolate cherries

We are still going here! Next comes a regular leaf plant from #8169, the number I assigned to F2 seeds saved by Alex Moring from a hybrid plant I mailed him. (oddly, his hybrid had red fruit). I grew one of the F2, and the smooth oblate 3 oz tomatoes are pink - the interior is shown below, with green gel seeds. It is just delicious! . Seed will be saved as T26-55.

#8169 on the way to ripeness

Next comes one of the very best flavored of all (along with my T25-36 regular leaf Sun Gold taste-alike), from #8092 sent to me by my friend John Cook. I had only regular leaf plants from his seeds and grew one out. The plant is producing large green/yellow cherry tomatoes with a flavor rating of 9! Seed will be saved as T26-56

All views of the lovely, delicious and surprising #8092.

#8154 was also sent to me by Jen Fox. She described it as a potato leaf plant with bicolor mini beefsteaks. This is one of the largest of the Captain selections, and the ripening color is intriguing. There are hints of bicoloring - the interior is quite solid, mainly pink, with some shades of yellow. It is a very tasty tomato - approaching an 8. Seed will be saved as T26-59.

Views of nearly ripe #8154

We are nearly done.#8095 was sent to me by my garden friend Janet Felber as a regular leaf orange cherry tomato. I got both regular and potato leaf plants from her seeds. The regular leaf plant is providing lovely yellow larger cherry to oblate tomatoes with an excellent flavor - rated at least an 8. Seed is saved as T26-58.

The gorgeous tomatoes from #8095 regular leaf. Note the green gel!

#8095 potato leaf is also gorgeous - orange cherry tomatoes with a pink blush, flavor 8 or above. Seed is saved as T26-57.

The full views of #8095 potato leaf

Now we are at the end - the 18th and final from my 2026 Captain project. Tomato # 8096 was also sent to me by Janet Felber. She had a potato leaf red from her F2 seeds. I also had only potato leaf seedlings, and the plant that I am growing is giving large red cherry tomatoes that are very tasty - at least 7.5 in flavor. Seed is saved as T26-60.

All views of #8096 potato leaf.

I eagerly anticipated carrying out this project. I so appreciate those of you who grew out Captain F2 and sent me samples of your discoveries. I hope you grew some of these yourself - and expect you got things very different from what I did. There are some very promising leads here for future named varieties. As I hoped, the color and size range would be broad, but the flavors generally excellent. Mission accomplished. But we are not nearly done. I am saving seeds from all 18 tomatoes shown above. Samples will be sent to any of you who show an interest to pursue those leads that look best to you.

The 2026 Garden is fully planted. Here’s Part 2 of the Variety List. There are so many mysteries!

Marlin patrolling the completed garden

Lots of bags of potting mix and filling and positioning and planting grow bags later, we have a completed garden. On May 8, I mapped out the locations of the various varieties. The following were planted on May 5 and May 8 (all captured in my log so that days to maturity can be calculated).

Here is the list of indeterminate varieties in 5 gallon grow bags. In most cases, the bags are only half full of planting mix - I am going for a few clusters of ripe fruit, not maximizing yield.

The following are from the Captain family that I created by crossing Captain Lucky with Sun Gold hybrid.

Captain F3 - 17 plants. Many of the plants are from seeds sent to me by gardeners who are playing along in the Captain project. What raised the plant number was the presence of both potato leaf and regular leaf in many of the samples (not unexpected). Planted are #8155 (from Jen Fox, she had a regular leaf large flat orange cherry, I got regular leaf only), 8148 (from Heide Dolan, she got a regular leaf orange cherry, I got only regular leaf), 8149 (from Heide Dolan, she got a red cherry on a potato leaf plant, I got one of each leaf shape), 8144 (from Eva-Lena, she had a potato leaf purple cherry, I got one of each leaf shape), 8113 (from Karen Pedelliviano who got a green cherry tomato, I got one of each leaf shape), 25-13 I got a potato leaf oval yellow/orange/pink swirl cherry, but this year I got one of each leaf shape from saved seeds), 25-36 (I got a regular leaf green and purplish round cherry, but from saved seeds this year I got one of each leaf shape), 8092 (from John Cook, he had large orange cherries, I got just regular leaf), 8095 (from Janet Felber who sent seeds from a regular leaf orange - I got one of each leaf shape), 8154 (from Jen Fox who has a potato leaf bicolor mini beefsteak - also got just potato leaf), and 8096 (from Janet Felber who has a red cherry, I had just potato leaf). What will be fascinating is to see if the colors follow through or are different - as well as size. The flavor of each will be of utmost importance to see which get taken forward.

An example of the Captain F3s - in this case, regular leaf from T25-36

Captain F2 - 1 plant of #8196 (The F1 plant I sent Alex Moring gave red fruit, from which he sent seed - I got only regular leaf).

Next - suspected crosses that I made (these hopefully are all F1 generation hybrids). Two plants of seed from Fuzzy Pink crossed with pollen from Dwarf Eli’s Surprise (very different foliage shape, but neither fuzzy - hence seem to be successful hybrids), Sweet Sue crossed with pollen from Fuzzy Pink (regular leaf seedling, hence likely successful cross), two plants of regular leaf seedlings from OTV Brandywine crossed with Honor Bright, a non fuzzy seedling from Fuzzy purple which was crossed with Dwarf Eli’s Surprise, Potato Leaf Yellow crossed with Lucky Bling., and Dwarf Eli’s Surprise crossed with either Fuzzy Purple, Cherokee Green or Cherokee Chocolate. All of these will be complex. Seeing what the fruit shape and color result will help confirm the success of the cross.

Two of the grow bags hold plants of Pale Perfect Purple from Solana seeds and the SSE. Two future grow bags will hold plants from seeds from the creator of the variety, Tad Smith, as well as Denise Salmon. The goal here is reestablishing authentic Pale Perfect Purple seeds.

Other indeterminates planted are the green fleshed Not Lillian’s Yellow and Cherokee Gecko latest selection (from Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe), a regular leaf variegated indeterminate Triply F2.

Here are the dwarf tomatoes in 5 gallon grow bags.

I am growing the six new named varieties selected and named by Marsh Eisenberg - Pleaser, Resistance, Avenue K, Faye Carrie, Marsha’s Favorite and Gilda’s Hat. I am also growing two sources of a variety I hope to get released - Dwarf Liz’s Teardrop. Both samples are from 2020. Finally, I am growing the delicious medium sized pink fruited Peppy Chartreuse leaf selection.

Finishing off the 5 gallon grow bags are peppers Snackabelle, Mini Belle, two selections of Fire Opal, Chocolate Bell, Orange Bell, a ground cherry from my friend Adam, and eggplants Midnight Lightning, Twilight Lightning, Mardi Gras and Skinny Twilight

Finally, an update on all that was planted prior to the grow bags. The straw bale indeterminate tomatoes and sweet peppers are growing very well, and I will have to ponder guide stakes within the next few weeks.

Both varieties of corn germinated very well; I filled in only a few blanks. Both summer squash are up. Cucumbers have proven to be stubborn, probably because of the cool nights, but I finally see life. Lastly, the three types of snap beans have varying germination success. Marbel is excellent and I planted only a few fill ins. I planted many more fill ins for Goldilocks and Jade.

Sue blowing bubbles for Eli

The first plants and seeds are in the strawbales. Here is part 1 of my 2026 variety list

Finally! Some much needed rain - view of the garden on May 6, 2026

April 27 saw the first planting of seeds into the strawbales. April 30 followed with tomato, and a few pepper, seedlings, I did my first batch of grow bag plants on May 5, but I will cover those varieties in the next blog.

Potato Leaf yellow, planted in the strawbale on April 30.

Here are the varieties that were direct seeded on April 27:

Cucumber Deli Star hybrid (thanks to Sam Austin of the UK for the seeds) - 2 hills in one bale, 2 seeds in each hill. Yet to appear on May 6,

Summer Squash Green Machine hybrid, and Zephyr hybrid, one bale for each - 2 seeds planted but I plan on thinning to only 1 plant per hill - 1 hill in each bale. Germination for both varieties is a success.

Sweet Corn - 2 bales with a double row of Jackpot hybrid, 2 bales with a double row of Sweetness hybrid. This is a different arrangement than last year’s block of 4 bales, which created too much crowing of the inner rows. Germination noted for both types today.

Snap Beans - 4 bales pushed together, 3 rows of beans. Varieties are Marbel, Jade and Goldilocks. Germination is just starting.

Here are the 2 summer squash bales with the hills marked by a 2-3 inch deep topping of potting mix.

Finally, here are the seedlings that were planted into strawbales on April 30.

Indeterminate Tomatoes - heirloom varieties - Cherokee Purple, Captain Lucky, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Cherokee Chocolate, Lucky Cross, Ferris Wheel, Cancelmo Family Heirloom, Potato leaf Yellow, Earl, Green Giant, Giant Syrian, World War 2, Italian heirloom sent to me by a Canada garden friend, and Lucky Bling.

Indeterminate Tomatoes - Research varieties - 4 plants of the F2 generation of Potato Leaf Yellow crossed with Cherokee Purple (carried out by my friend Alex) - 2 regular leaf and 2 potato leaf. One indeterminate potato leaf variegated F2 selection from the Triply three way cross (Cherokee Purple x (Dwarf Choemato X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy)). Eight different selections grown to find the desired traits for Lillian Rose, which is a selection out of Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom I found and named in 2022.

Dwarf Tomato - Dwarf Eli’s Surprise, my name for a variegated, chartreuse potato leaf selection from the Peppy family (Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy).

Sweet Peppers - one bale was planted with single seedlings of Shishito and Corno di Toro red.

Side view of the bales with added grow bags with plants, taken on May 5

In addition to the above we are now eating lettuce and awaiting garlic, collard, kale and chard. Despite having less time to garden, I seem to be right where I hoped to be date and progress-wise.

In the next blog I will provide information on the many grow bag tomatoes, peppers and eggplants that were planted yesterday, and will be finished on Friday May 8. After that, it will be regular care and providing support - and updates!

Spring Flowers are Blooming - and Seeds have Germinated.

Our backyard saucer magnolia in full bloom on March 10

This is THE time of year for us - it isn’t just having a love of gardening, but the whole process of observing nature wake up. The weather has been wild - and that shows no sign of letting up. A week of 70s and 80s brought a whole array of blossoms - forsythia, magnolia (shown above), spirea (shown below), quince and daffodils. Then we had a night in the mid 20s, which the magnolia clearly hated - many of the blossoms turned brown. Next week we are in the low 20s for a few nights. Fortunately, some of the spring blossoms don’t seem to mind - next up will be our redbud, dogwood, Lady Banks rose and lilacs. I hope that they don’t get bitten.

Seed planting and germination is going very well, but is not without unfortunate (as in dumb) incident. I was moving flats of tomato seeds carelessly and I dumped my second full tray, with lots of experiments. Fortunately I had enough seeds of each to do a full replant, and they’ve popped up and joined their companions outdoors (see below). Of course, these are all headed in later today, as the strong windy rain, followed by the low 20s, is not at all compatible with happy tomato seedlings!

Seedling flats all off the heat mats and spending most of the time outdoors

Of all of the seeds planted - 176 cells in the 50 cells flats - the following are the only no-shows: Lettuce Green Ice, Aunt Ruby’s German Green from 2012 (that makes me sad), Ferris Wheel from 2013 and 2014, Cancelmo Family from 2017, Giant Syrian from 2014, two different Fire Opal sweet peppers and one eggplant (Skinny Twilight). The jury is still out on seeds in 11 cells. But that means, that only 20 of 176 cells are currently no shows - a really great result.

I was pleased to see germination from 7 different 2016 saved Cherokee Purple or Cherokee Chocolate. The oldest seeds I got to germinate were Green Giant saved in 2014 - 12 year old seed. There will be lots of decisions to be made, and lots of findings await, particularly in leaf shapes of the various Captain F2 and F3 seeds I started. All of the Lillian Rose samples are up and growing. It is going to be a fascinating garden.

The only news items - I am back doing weekly Instagram Live sessions, on Fridays at 4 PM eastern (follow me at @nctomatoman and you will be notified when they begin) - I will be in Shelby speaking at the Cleveland County Master Gardeners event this coming Saturday - and I am looking to schedule my right knee replacement for mid May!

Eli looking wise at 14 months old

About that new knee - and about the first planted seeds...

Spring is anxious to arrive! Volunteer crocus in our front beds

On February 3 at 10 AM I was wheeled into surgery to get my new left knee. A few hours later I woke up in the recovery room, had a nice chat with the nurse (little of which I remember), then it was off to my room to be greeted by Sue. They got me out of bed to use the bathroom at 2 PM, meaning the leap of faith to put some weight on that knee using a walker and strong arm of a nurse/PT person. What an odd experience - but - success. Sue sat with me until after dinner, I spent the night (being checked regularly by nurses - vitals and all) - and the next day at 11 PM had my trip to the PT room, got dressed and headed home.

The unveiling - 24 hours after surgery

What followed was figuring out how to get in and out of bed, using the walker to get around the house, starting with home PT - then after a week moving on to a cane - then a week after that tossing the cane too. Today (one day short of 3 weeks post surgery), I drove myself to my first off site PT. I did a bit of grocery shopping, stopped at a coffee shop - and look forward to a few months more rehab and daily exercises.

I am pretty amazed at a few things. The whole process has been pretty much pain free. I used just Tylenol a few times daily after my first day home. Strength in the knee has built up quickly - I am a 0 degree angle when extended, and 112 degrees when bent. Full speed ahead - and I now eagerly anticipate getting the right knee done in October. All of this went so well because of the skilled doctor and support team at the hospital, and great home care at home by Sue and Caitlin. I also have to thank hiking and gardening - it is clear that having strong leg muscles really helped the whole process.

The knee today - much improved, much healed

That out of the way, let’s talk gardening.

Initial seed starting took place on February 20. One partial flat was seeded with various greens - 3 cells of chard, 1 of collards, 1 of kale, 1 of spinach, and 7 types of lettuce. First growth was noted this morning - February 23 - one of the chard cells showed life, 3 days from planting. The flats are on constant temp, inexpensive heat mats in Eli’s bedroom (my office) on the top shelf of the bookcase, loosely covered with Saran wrap.

Also on February 20 was planted various types of tomato, pepper and eggplant seeds that I deemed would be stubborn or erratic due to seed age, or questionable status of the fruit when the seed was harvested. Among these seeds are Aunt Ruby’s German Green saved in 2012, Ferris Wheel saved in 2013, Giant Syrian, Green Giant and Ferris Wheel saved in 2014, Green Giant saved in 2015, three lots of Cherokee Purple and four lots of Cherokee Chocolate and one of Cancelmo Family Heirloom saved in 2016, two lots of Cherokee Purple and two lots of Cherokee Chocolate and one of Cancelmo from 2017, stubborn World War 2 from 2023, and Chocolate Bell, Fire Opal peppers and Skinny Twilight eggplant saved in 2025 from fruit that may not have been sufficiently ripe. I don’t expect to see much happening in this flat for several days or longer.

On March 1 I will plant 2 flats of tomatoes from recently saved seeds for back ups, main plants, projects, and local plant sales. I will probably plant 1 final flat with some flowers, herbs and tomatoes that had germination issues.

My next speaking engagement is March 21 in Shelby for the Cleveland County Master Gardener event. I’ve also tentatively started regular weekly Instagram Live shows, most likely Friday afternoons. My latest one (from last week) can be found on the reels page at my Instagram account, @nctomatoman ,.

Blogging on a cold, snow covered, winter day. More about Seeds I will start in a month

Walking in the snow with Sue yesterday, overlooking the field, and, beyond, Ecusta trail at the end of our street

Many of our neighbors would not agree with this statement, but we love snow. Growing up in Rhode Island, grad school in New Hampshire, living in the western Philadelphia suburbs - even a few surprise whoppers while we were in Raleigh - there is something magical about a snowstorm. With 6 inches of very light powder on the ground, a 10 degree morning with 20 mph winds, but snug and warm in the corner sunshine of our living room, this seems the perfect time to dig a little deeper into my 2026 garden plans.

Robins were everywhere yesterday, focusing on the ripe Holly berries on a few of our trees.

Seed starting, for me, is as complicated as fulfilling seed requests - so many choices, so many seed lots spanning so many years. Some local folks have been in contact about my spring seedling supply possibility. I thought I would use this blog to go detailed on a few varieties I will be growing, talk about the progress on some breeding projects, and provide a high level overview of what I may be seed starting in early March.

First thoughts on seedlings that I will have in the spring. I always overplant, so some of these will be available as seedlings for those local to me who are interested. My goal is to start seed March 1, start to transplant late March, and have plants ready mid to late April through mid May - depending upon weather/temperatures.

Indeterminate varieties Cherokee Green, Brandywine, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Sun Gold F1, Rosella Cherry, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, OTV Brandywine, Dester, Polish Bling, Mary’s Favorite, Rufus Rainbow, Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, Captain Lucky, Lucky Cross, Potato Leaf Yellow, Lucky Bling, Ferris Wheel, World War 2, Green Giant, Earl, Giant Syrian, Cancelmo Family Heirloom, Egg Yolk, Mexico Midget, Sullivan Rose, Mullens Mortgage Lifter, Halladay’s Mortgage Lifter, and Earl.

Dwarf varieties still to be determined, but will include Dwarf Sweet Sue, Rosella Purple, Dwarf Gloria’s Treat, Uluru Ochre, and Dwarf Eli’s Surprise. What I have will depend upon my seed supply, but I will aim for a good color blend. Expect a few dozen varieties total of Dwarf Tomato Project offspring.

Digging a little deeper - which seeds to plant on a few selected varetiies

It is always fun to decide which seeds to plant for those favorite varieties that have been in my collection for many years. Here we go - I am just going to do Cherokee Purple in this blog. Future blogs will discuss my strategy for Cherokee Chocolate, Lucky Cross, Ferris Wheel, Green Giant and Cancelmo Family Heirloom.

Cherokee Purple - I have roughly 60 seed samples of saved Cherokee Purple since first growing it in 1990. There are three main branches of saved seeds, all from seed sent to me by J. D. Green. They are T90-10 (the 10th variety I saved in 1990 - my introduction to the still unnamed variety), T91-27, and T93-2. All of these were grown from seed #287 - now long gone (all that remains is the letter that came with the seeds).

The most recent grow out of the T90-10 line is T16-103 - now 10 years old. Of the T91-27 line, the most recent is T21-33. The T93-2 line is most recently represented in T25-5. But I want to ensure I have the oldest possibly germinating seeds from each of the 3 lines tested.

Therefore, my grow out strategy will likely be T25-5 for seedlings in number, and choose one of the following to grow in my garden - from the T90-10 line T16-103 (noted above), from the T91-27 line T6-104,and from the T93-2 line T16-102. I will wait to see germination before I decide which to grow myself.

Project work - the Captain Family (Sun Gold F1 X Captain Lucky)

Growout of the F1 seed of my cross provided me, and all others to whom I sent seed, a large orange cherry tomato - except for my friend Alex. I sent him an F1 seedling and he ended up with a large red cherry! That is sed #8169 in my collection, and I will grow out a few, hoping to choose a regular leaf and a potato leaf F2 for my garden. I won’t grow any more of my own F2 seed from the large orange, since I sent seed to many others to do so, and there are plenty of F2 selections to explore in 2026.

I hope to grow one each of the following F2 selections found by me, or sent to me by others. T25-13 was a potato leaf oval yellow/orange/pink cherry, T25-36 was a regular leaf mostly round green ripening to purplish cherry. 8092 was described as orange, no leaf shape specified. 8095 is a regular leaf orange. 8096 is a red cherry, leaf shape not specified. 8143 is a potato leaf purple cherry. 8148 is a potato leaf red cherry, 8149 is a regular leaf orange cherry. 8154 is a potato leaf bicolor mini beefsteak. 8155 is a larger, flat orange regular leaf cherry. What fun this will be - all will be grown in containers; it is not about yield so much as seeing what color, shape, size and flavor of tomatoes emerge.

In summary - I will have 2 F2 plants from Alex’s red fruited hybrid, and 10 F3 selections. There will be so much to learn from this project!

Project work from the Vary, Matey and Peppy families

Most of this work will be done by others this year, as it won’t be a focus. I did want to do a report on where we are, since it is quite interesting, and promising.. They are all crosses I made with Dwarf Walter’s Fancy, in effort to expand the tomato types with variegated and/or chartreuse (or both) leaves. Vary used Dwarf Blazing Beauty, Matey used Dwarf Choemato, and Peppy used Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet as breeding partners for Walter’s Fancy.

I will do a more extensive report on findings to date, but to summarize what I’ve been sent or saved -

Vary family - 12 different F3s, of which all are potato leaf (as expected) and 6 are variegated. There are fruit colors of ivory, red/yellow bicolor, yellow, red and light and dark shades of orange.

Matey family - 11 different F3s, of which all are potato leaf (as expected), and 4 are variegated. There are fruit colors of yellow, red, ivory, and red/yellow bicolor.

Peppy family - 10 different F3 selections, of which all are potato leaf (as expected). 3 are chartreuse leaf, 2 are chartreuse and variegated, 4 are variegated and 1 is normal green color. Fruit colors tend to be ivory or pink, with one yellow. Some of these have been named. Dwarf Eli’s Surprise, found and named by me, is chartreuse variegated potato leaf with medium to large ivory fruit.

There are also 5 F2 selections that are from any of the above 3 families - a labeling error by me caused the mix up. They are all potato leaf and variegated, with fruit colors of orange, pink, ivory or yellow/red bicolor.

We therefore have a project that has gotten large fast. I’ve sent out lots of seeds from the above - and some will still be exploring the F2 seeds I sent them to find more “good stuff”. But we already have 38 different F2 selections to work on!

Let’s leave it there; the above represents a lot to chew on. Clearly, the Dwarf Tomato Breeding Project is not finished. And I didn’t even touch upon other families of indeterminate heirlooms X indeterminate heirlooms, such as the Epic family (Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom). We will cover that in a future blog.

Our 6 inch snowfall, view from the deck last evening at the end of the significant precipitation.

Some thoughts on turning 70.

Devils Food cake with vanilla bean frosting - made by Sue today to enjoy tonight

Well, that was fast. 70 years old - it is only a number, but that number is becoming substantial! It was a perfect day - blueberry muffins for breakfast, a sandwich from Hendersonville’s Mountain Deli for lunch, and crab cakes, roasted potatoes, and broccoli for dinner - and that cake! - thanks to Sue. In between the meals (I did do more than just eat today) was fun with Eli, a nice call from Sara, and watching Caitlin and Eli enjoy each other once she got home from work. I worked on the Dwarf Tomato Project book a bit, answered emails, took a nap and ran some errands. In other words - it was a day like many others, and that is a most excellent thing.

The candle multiplier is 10!

What sort of thoughts did I have today? Pleasant ones for sure. On holidays and birthdays I tend to get a bit nostalgic. I am a very lucky guy - 45 years and counting with my best friend Sue, two wonderful daughters and an amazing grandson - with a bonus that I get to spend most days caring for and playing with him, observing the magic of a human being growing and learning. I had loving parents that stressed kindness, humor and education. I took on a hobby, gardening, that has lasted for decades and shows no signs of slowing down; the opportunities to write 2 books (and energy, I suspect, to write the third). I’ve met countless nice people at my events (in person and Zoom). I’ve had the capability and opportunity to hike and kayak, and after I get my new left knee in a couple of weeks, hope for many more years to do so.

As for my hopes for the future - just more days, weeks, months and years like the ones I’ve experienced. I hope for good health for my wife and I, and for my daughters and grandson. I like to say that I will be gardening when I am 100. We will see how that goes, and it will be on me to eat a bit better and keep moving. After my February knee replacement, the right one will have to be done within a year or so. Gardens will continue becoming a little bit smaller, but I will have Caitlin to give me a hand, which will be a big help. After the dwarf book, there may be more - though I am a wicked procrastinator, I love to write - I’ve kept a daily written journal for years. I will keep blogging, keep doing Instagram Lives, keep playing with tomatoes - making crosses, finding treasures, sharing and talking about the good stuff. I will keep listening to music, watching worthwhile movies, reading books, doing crosswords. Sue and I will get out on our bikes more, get into our kayaks more - and hike our favorite trails listening for the birds and seeking wildflowers.

No big trips, no big purchases - exciting to me is just the ordinary passing of a day with those I love, sharing things I learn in the hobby I love.

Eli peeking at me from his playpen this morning

More Planning - What to Grow in 2026 - part 2 - and an Upcoming Event

Eli reading with his gramma

First - on March 21, I will be in Shelby for the Cleveland County Extension Master Gardener Symposium. Link to my event page is here.

OK - back to garden planning. This is fun! Visioning ahead as tomorrow’s forecast temp is 15 degrees warms one’s soul. In my last blog, I discussed what will return, what will leave, and what will arrive as to the straw bale indeterminate tomatoes. Even with those decisions, I already have a few second thoughts - particularly with regard to the ultra delicious Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom. We shall see. I will have seedlings - but will I end up planting one?

Before returning to tomatoes, here are current thoughts on other crops.

Corn - last year, 4 strawbales were pushed together for 4 rows of Natural Sweet hybrid. The 2 internal rows had some issues with full pollination, so I am thinking of having 2 strawbales end to end - one bale with Natural sweet, the other with a variety ordered from Pine Tree a week ago - Sweetness hybrid.

Summer Squash - last year, 2 bales with with 2 plants in each - one bale Zephyr, the other Kephren. This year, Zephyr will return, and I am replacing Kefren with Green Machine zucchini, from Pine Tree. I will have only 1 plant in each bale to eliminate the squash overabundance we experienced last year.

Peppers - last year, I had 2 bales with 4 pepper plants total - Pinata, Shishito, Amethyst and Fire Opal. For 2026, I will stay with 2 strawbales, growing Shishito and red Corno di Toro in one, Snackabelle hybrid and Mini bell pepper blend in the other - both this year’s purchase from Pine Tree. I am going to give my sweet pepper project a break this coming year, as well as hot peppers.

Eggplants - last year I had 2 straw bales, 2 plants in each. This year I will have 2 strawbales, and will decide upon the varieties at planting time - most likely Twilight Lightning and Green Ghost.

Cucumbers - last year I had 1 strawbale with 2 hills of Deli Star hybrid. I will do the same in 2026.

Bush Snap Beans - I will repeat the block of strawbales, and 3 rows of beans. Goldilocks returns, with Jade replacing Fowler, and Marbel replacing Maxibel.

The above represents a total 13 strawbales. Add to 11 for tomatoes and I will be at 24 strawbales for 2026.

The situation with the grow bags is a very different matter. I use the smaller containers for my research projects - so am not concerned so much with yield. So let’s return to tomato planning, focusing on those that will be in 5 gallon grow bags.

The list of tomatoes that will not be back in containers is a long one. Here it is - two selections of the Bee family, 2 selections of the Triply family, Honor Bright, a Blazey selection, three Peppy and one each Matey and Varey selections, Mexico Midget, Honor Bright, Carrot Like, Agatha’s Mystery, Fuzzy Pink, Fuzzy Purple, Dwarf Mocha’s Plum, Sullivan Rose, Rufus Red Stripe, a striped green selection from Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe (sent to Victory for release), Dwarf Sweet Sue, Rosella Purple, Surprise and Mullens Mortgage Lifter. Wow - that will free up 25 grow bags.

As far as what will return - only Dwarf Eli’s Surprise. For the Captains, I hope to test 9 F3 selections and 4 F2 (2 each potato and regular leaf) - that is 13 plants in the Captain (Sun Gold X Captain Lucky) family. Add Dwarf Eli’s Surprise, 6 new named dwarfs by Marsha Eisenberg from the Glory family (Dester X Gloria’s Treat) and I am at 20. The last 5 slots could be taken up by Triply seedlings (especially if I get some variegated seedlings), or other varieties sent to me by friends from various R and D families.

This and the last blog are best guesses at what will be in the garden. The final selections will depend on germination results and any changes of heart that I have between now and then.

Welcome to 2026! Let's start zooming in on the garden to come. Part 1.

Part of the gorgeous display at the NC Arboretum annual garden lighting event - mid December 2025

Hello fellow gardeners - happy New Year to you all. 2025 was a year - and 2026 is starting out to be just as busy and unpredictable. A few news items - Sue has recovered wonderfully from her October right knee replacement. We celebrated Eli’s birthday on December 27. And my own trip to the operating room will happen on February 2, when I will get a new left knee.

Eli opening one of his birthday gifts

As of today (just after lunch on Sunday, January 11), I am caught up on filling seed requests (and am now done responding to requests at this time - the next chance will be after the 2026 garden is put to bed). I am caught up on responding to emails. The dwarf tomato project book is my next undertaking - along side 2026 garden planning. With timing of my surgery, and help from Caitlin and Sue, there will indeed be a garden this year.

The main purpose of this blog is to lay out my initial plans for the garden to come. For comparison sake, I am going to list out the components of the 2025 garden and indicate what will be different.

2025 garden

22 strawbales, 35 containers

22 indeterminate tomatoes in strawbales

4 bales for corn (1 variety, 4 rows)

27 tomatoes in grow bags

Peppers - 4 plants in 2 straw bale, 7 in containers

Eggplants - 4 plants in 2 bales, 1 in a grow bag

Snap beans - 3 types in 4 straw bales (3 rows)

Cucumber - 1 type, 2 hills in 1 bale

Summer Squash - one type each in 2 bales, 2 plants of each

Total of 49 tomatoes, 11 peppers, 5 eggplants

Changes in the 2026 garden based on 2025 performance

Modifications to orientation, density, design of the bales - particularly with corn

Less peppers

Less eggplants

More tomatoes (taking the place of the pepper and eggplant spaces)

Same number of straw bales, perhaps container

Tomato type focus

Triply, Captain, and Cherokee Purple X Potato Leaf Yellow F2 selection work

Deep dive to find the desired Lillian Rose from the Epic family

Examine possible successful crosses from last year

Selection of our flavor favorites

Latest in the dwarf tomato project

Indeterminate Tomatoes in Strawbales

Grown in 2025 but not returning in 2026 - Cherokee Green, Brandywine, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom (maybe - I may change my mind and grow it in 2026), Sun Gold F1, Rosella Cherry, OTV Brandywine, Dester, Polish Bling (I may decide to grow this too), Mary’s Favorite, Rufus Rainbow, Cherokee Sunburst, Valdichiana, Triply F1, Captain F1, Captain F2 potato leaf (16 or 18)

Grown in 2025 and returning in 2026 - Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, Captain Lucky, Lucky Cross, Potato Leaf Yellow, Lucky Bling (6)

New in 2025 - Ferris Wheel, World War 2, Green Giant, Earl, Giant Syrian, Cancelmo Family Heirloom, 4 plants from grow out of saved seed from hybrid Cherokee Purple X Potato Leaf Yellow (2 regular, 2 potato leaf), 8 different seed lots of Lillian Rose - either my saved seed, or sent to me by garden friend volunteers (18).

Of the New in 2025 list, there are some flavor favorites that I want to get fresh seed from, and some project plants (which are obvious).

That will do for now. The next category - tomato plants in grow bags - is more complicated and I’ve not finished deciding yet. I will made my decisions and post the next blog within a week or so.

Good luck with your own choices. The more tomato types you grow, and more seeds you save, the harder the decision each year!

My Ongoing Tomato Breeding Projects - Seeds Available for Your Participation!

Fall flower garden

It’s been over a month since my last blog. With a few frosts over the last few weeks and a deep freeze coming in the next few days, our garden is now completely removed. As you hopefully read in my last group of blogs 2025 was fun and interesting - as well as delicious.

By the way, my own knee surgery was delayed for a year. Sue took my spot - on October 14 she got a new right knee. As week 4 post surgery approaches, Sue is doing great, walking well without a walker or cane and hitting her post surgery physical therapy hard. I am so proud of her - she was a real trooper. I now know more of what to expect when it is my turn next year.

With a bit of time passed, I’ve come up with a list of available seeds that you can request (via email, in small quantities) so that you can roll up your gardening sleeves and lend a hand. I always start more projects than I can complete alone, so your help is welcomed, and important. All I ask in return are a few regular updates, and small seed samples returned to me. Anything really promising could end up being released by a seed company. In all cases, you will have things to share with your garden friends.

Captain Family seeds (related to my cross of Sun Gold hybrid with Captain Lucky)

Captain F2 PL and RL

Captain F2 generation 2025-F2RL (seeds saved from the regular leaf, large delicious orange cherry when growing out the hybrid) - seed lot T25-12

Captain F3 generation selection 2025-PL1 (seeds saved from the delicious oval cherry tomato from a potato leaf plant that was yellow with a rosy swirl) - seed lot T25-13

Captain F3 generation selection 2025-RL1 (seeds saved from a delicious green and purple swirl cherry tomato from a regular leaf plant - essentially a cherry version of Captain Lucky type fruit) - seed lot T25-36

Triply F2 selection regular leaf dwarf

Triply Family seeds (related to my cross between Cherokee Purple and the hybrid between Dwarf Walter’s Fancy and Dwarf Choemato).

Triply F2 generation 2025-F2RL (seeds saved from the regular leaf, medium large delicious pink fruit from growing out the hybrid) - seed lot T25-2

Triply F3 generation 2025-F3DwRL (seeds saved from the regular leaf, non variegated dwarf, prolific, with good flavored, 3-4 ounce oblate fruit, yellow/pink bicolor) - seed lot T25-23

Triply F3 generation 2025-F3DwPL (seeds saved from the potato leaf, non variegated dwarf, prolific, with good flavored, 3-4 ounce oblate ivory colored fruit) - seed lot T25-25

Matey Family seeds (related to my cross between Dwarf Walter’s Fancy and Dwarf Choemato)

Matey F3 generation 2025-F3DwPL (seeds saved from a potato leaf variegated dwarf, prolific, good flavored 4-5 oz yellow fruit) - seed lot T25-31

Vary Family seeds (related to my cross between Dwarf Walter’s Fancy and Dwarf Blazing Beauty)

Vary F3 generation 2025 F3DwPL (seeds saved from a potato leaf variegated dwarf, prolific, bicolor yellow/pink fruit with good flavor) - seed lot T25-30

Delicious pink from Chartreuse leaf Peppy

Peppy Family seeds (related to my cross between Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet and Dwarf Walter’s Fancy).

Peppy F3 generation 2025 F3DwPL1 (seeds saved from a potato leaf chartreuse dwarf, prolific, medium sized nearly round pink, delicious) - seed lot T25-45

Peppy F3 generation 2025 F3DwPL2 (seeds saved from a potato leaf variegated chartreuse colored leaf dwarf with ivory fruit up to 12 ounces, delicious) - working name Dwarf Eli’s Surprise - seed lot T25-32

Orange from variegated dwarf mix - likely a Vary selection

Variegated dwarf mix - Matey, Vart or Peppy - tags mix ups led to this

Variegated F3 generation 2025 DwPL1 (seeds saved from potato leaf variegated dwarf, fruit 8 ounces oblate, pink or pink/yellow bicolor) - seed lot T25-75

Variegated F3 generation 2025 DwPL2 (seeds saved from potato leaf variegated dwarf, fruit 8 ounces oblate pink) - seed lot T25-29

Variegated F3 generation 2025 DwPL3 (seeds saved from potato leaf variegated dwarf, fruit 6 ounces oblate, pink/yellow bicolor, very tasty) - seed lot T25-24

Variegated F3 generation 2025 DwPL4 (seeds saved from potato leaf variegated dwarf, fruit 4-5 ounce oblate, orange, very good flavor) - seed lot T25-50

Variegated F3 generation 2025 DwPL5 (seeds saved from potato leaf variegated dwarf, fruit 8 ounces oblate, ivory) - seed lot T25-76

Agatha’s Mystery - This is the result of growing out a dried seed stuck to a page in a Hendersonville library book of an Agatha Christie mystery. It produced a very good yield of flavorful smooth round scarlet tomatoes to 8 ounces. Seed lot T25-35.

Lillian’s Mystery Green sliced

Lillian’s Mystery Green - This true mystery began with trying to grow out Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom saved in 2023. I got regular leaf seedlings. I grew one out and it resulted in an oblate yellow tomato with an odd scarlet patch - good, somewhat unusual flavor. I saved seeds and grew one out in Caitlin’s garden last year, The regular leaf plant produced an amazing yield of smooth, nearly round clear skinned, green fleshed tomatoes up to 12 ounces with a superb flavor. Seed lot T25-47

Dwarf Eagle Smiley, ivory variant - The plant was grown from seed returned to me by Bill Minkey (seed lot #7754). Caitlin grew a plant and rather than yellow, the fruit were ivory in color. I have limited seed for anyone that wants to give it a try to see what they get. Seed lot T25-57

That’s the list - 18 different saved seed samples of various projects that you can request from - you can use the bolded seed lot number I used above. Please send an email to nctomatoman@gmail.com for a list of which you wish to try. I hope to get seed requests fulfilled by Christmas.

Ornamental hot peppers drying in the sun - future red pepper flakes