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

2025 Garden Review - Part 4 (Final Part) - Everything Else

The garden in early September.

The last three blogs summarized all of my tomato growing efforts for 2025. But there is more to life than tomatoes for a gardener. This blog will report on everything else that I grew in 2025, in a bit less detail than for the tomato sections.

Beans! Goldilocks is obvious. Fowler are the fatter green beans, Maxibel the slender ones

Bush Snap Beans

• Goldilocks - We love this bright yellow slender yellow snap bean. It has replaced Roc d’Or as my favorite wax type. We get a heavy initial crop then pull the plants.

• Maxibell - I rotate my green bush beans, and it has been some time since I grew this variety. It was superb - long slender beans that are simply delicious. This is also a single cropper, and we pulled the plants once that first flush was finished. I alternate this with Jade and Marbel for our green slender beans.

• Fowler - This is more of a traditional green bean, rather than the slender filet types. Fowler is special to me in that it is the first variety I requested as a new Seed Savers Exchange member in 1986. The variety is not as lanky as the other two beans I grew this year, but yield very heavily. Once the first flush is picked, the plants tend to reflower heavily, providing a nice second crop. Insects such as bean beetles tend to ignore it as well. It is actually the perfect bush green snap bean!

Deli Star hybrid - is indeed a star!

Cucumbers

• Deli Star hybrid - We only grew this because it is absolutely wonderful. The medium length, somewhat slender cukes are pale green, with tender skin that needs no peeling. The texture is crisp but tender, and the best flavored cucumber I’ve tasted. It is mainly female flowered and yields very heavily, and seems to resist disease well. The main downside is that it is available only from UK seed companies. I have to thank my friend Sam for generously providing me with seeds.

Zephyr and Kefren

Summer Squash

• Zephyr - Hands down my favorite summer squash, this variety is just perfect. The yield is incredible. The flavor is unmatched, as is the texture, firmer than other summer squash. The only slight downside is that the plant runs a bit, and takes up quite a lot of real estate.

• Kefren - I still seek the idea zucchini - Kefren is very good, but not the “it” variety I seek. Though the dark green squash are well formed and delicious, the yield is not quite as generous as I would like. I enjoy the variety Dunja much more. I may go back to an old favorite - Spineless - next year.

Natural Sweet variety - first corn I’ve grown successfully since the late 1980s in West Chester, PA

Corn

• Natural Sweet - I did a full analysis of my straw bale - corn project. It was very successful and one of the best elements of my 2025 garden. All of the details can be found here.

Sweet Peppers

Red Corno di Toro left, ripe Orange Bell right

• Orange Bell - This was the best sweet pepper of our 2025 garden. The medium to pale green blocky bells ripen orange and are very sweet.

Unripe Chocolate Bell. I am waiting patiently!

• Chocolate Bell - I am still waiting to get a ripe fruit from my plant. I have one nice big blocky green fruit coming along.

• Shishito - This is a pepper machine. They are still going strong.

Carolina Amethyst, on the way to red

• Carolina Amethyst - Early fruit rotted before ripening, but later fruit are looking great. This pepper is a bell that goes cream to lavender to red.

Royal Purple on the way to deep red

Royal Purple - The light chartreuse bells go to black purple, then to deep red. Though it seemed to have collar rot early on, it held well and is now ripening lots of nice bells.

Fire Opal - The plant in the straw bale was grown from crossed seed - the peppers are like large Jalapenos and go from deep green to brownish purple to red. I have one growing in a raised bed that looks correct - it should be a cream colored bell that goes to lavender, then to golden yellow.

Super prolific White Gold - color is correct, but the peppers are quite small.

• White Gold - This is an interesting one. The color is correct - bells that go from cream to yellow - but they seem very small.

• Red Corno di Toro - Someone sent me seed for this a few years ago and I got exactly one to germinate. I have plenty of saved seeds now - the large dark green frying peppers go to red - and are very sweet.

Hot Peppers

Jalapeno - Nothing surprising here, a very tall plant, typical dark green peppers with corking go to red. They are milder than I expected.

Pinata is great this season

• Pinata - Wow - are these pepper machines! chartreuse to yellow to orange to red quite hot Jalapeno types. I have two plants - both are thriving.

Assortment of ornamental hot peppers in my elevated bed

• Mix of ornamentals - I grew out quite a few lots of peppers in the Gemstone/Bouquet selection project and have some good leads to move forward with. They are edible, and are a Thai type but very colorful. When red they dry well - we grind them for hot pepper flakes.

Skinny Twilight ready to harvest

Eggplants

• Mardi Gras - This is my own selection from a bee cross. The tear drop shaped light green fruit are lightly striped with lavender. It did well this year. The flesh is light green.

Green Ghost, producing heavily

• Green Ghost - A sister eggplant to Mardi Gras, it did great - pale green tear drop shaped fruit with light green flesh.

• Midnight Lightning - The dark green foliaged plant has a heavy purple cast. Slender dark purple eggplant have green flesh - very prolific - and the most like its parent, Orient Express hybrid, from which I selected this.

• Skinny Twilight - This is also from Orient Express hybrid. The foliage doesn’t have the purple cast quite as much, and the fruit are not as dark a black purple. This is also pale green fleshed.

• Twilight Lightning - I messed up my labeling, and didn’t grow this variety. It is also from the Orient Express selection project, has very slender white/light lavender fruit with white flesh. There’s always next year!

Native black eyed Susan in our perennial garden

The rest

I grew two basil varieties - Emerald Towers (a Greek Columnar, non flowering type), and Genovese. This was the best basil season experienced in Hendersonville so far, with very little downy mildew attacks.

As far as flowers from seeds, I grew two salvia coccinea - a scarlet, and a salmon pink (Coral Nymph), nice verbena and zinnia color mixes, and Petunia Red Save for a hanging basket. The perennial garden is always the star, so we use annuals as accent flowers in containers or the borders.

Basil (back row) and ornamental hot peppers (middle and front rows) from late June

2025 Garden Review - Part 3. Last tomatoes - new family heirlooms and attempted crosses

Valdichiana, normal (purplish) stem, stem end

Here we go, folks - the third - and last - part of the 2025 garden tomato update. This one will focus on everything not yet covered, including the various family heirlooms sent to me by other gardeners over the last few years. It was time to try them out and get some fresh seeds saved.

Test planting of seeds from fruit from purplish stems - all were purplish

Valdichiana - This tomato was collected in Italy and showcased on Joe Lamp’l’s Growing Epic Tomatoes discussion board by Candace Godwin. It proved to be quite an interesting little mini tomato project itself. When planting seeds, I noted that most had purplish, normal tinted stems. A very few had stems with no purple pigment. I grew a plant with purplish stems here, and one with pigment free stems at Caitlin’s house. The fruit from the purplish stems were as Candace showed at the Lamp’l group discussion - large, flat, chocolate colored, highly ribbed - quite unique! The flavor was very good, the flesh firm. The fruit from a plant with pigment free stems was very odd - very, very firm, less side, much darker green brown color, not at all as palatable. The purplish stem selection is much better. I will be chatting with Candace to see where we should go with this. The tomato is unique enough to warrant release.

Test planting of seeds from fruit from pigmentless seedlings - no pigment!

Valdichiana, normal stem, blossom end

Valdichiana, normal stem, sliced

Valdichiana, whitish stem, stem end

Valdichiana, whitish stem, sliced

German Heirloom, showing the yellow green shoulders

German Heirloom - Seeds of this variety were sent to me by Penny Roscoe of Missouri in 2023 and it is #7913 in my collection. I grew it in Caitlin’s garden. Wow - these green shouldered pink hearts were huge! It was nearly all flesh, with very few seeds. The flavor was mild and lightly sweet. I need to get back to Penny for more on this tomato’s history. It is impressive in size and beauty, if not flavor, but would make a superb sauce tomato with its meatiness.

German Heirloom, sliced

Curtis Cheek on the left, Bee F2 potato leaf from Caitlin’s garden on the right

Curtis Cheek - This variety was sent to me by Nadia Ako-Adjci of Maryland in 2023 - it is tomato #7921 in my collection. The plant was crowded and got diseased in my daughter’s garden, but ripe fruit was obtained from the regular leaf plant. It is reportedly heart shaped, but the fruit I harvested was compressed against the stem and shape wasn’t possible to ascertain. It was certainly a nice looking pink variety, but I didn’t get to taste it. Seeds were saved and it is worth another try.

Red and Yellow - I received seeds from Steve Kulik of New York in 2023, who noted it as a family heirloom. The regular leaf plant produced large typical red/yellow swirl bicolor tomatoes. It suffered from a challenging season, with lots of rain, which caused disease. I didn’t taste or photograph, but did save seeds.

Vine, stem end

Vine - This variety, sent to me by Kaye Cloninger of NC early this year, wasn’t grown under the best conditions (crowded into my daughter’s garden), but the potato leaf plants yielded nice medium sized, tasty pink tomatoes. I need to find out about its history. Seeds are saved - this is a very tasty tomato.

Vine sliced

Green/gold Purple, showing the ribbed shoulders

Green/Gold Purple - Here’s an oddity, sent to me by Ed Gray of NC. Ed claims he started growing in 2021 and doesn’t remember its source. It looks very much like a tomato that my friend Ralph grew, with large chocolate tomatoes and green stripes - that is the coloring of this one. Ralph’s tomato came as an off type of Vintage Wine (which is pink with gold stripes and potato leaf). It grows heart shapes for Ed, but mine were oblate - nearly blocky square shape, with ridged shoulders and very firm flavorful dark crimson flesh. It certainly is interesting - and grew well in Caitlin’s garden.

Green/gold Purple, sliced, showing its solidity

German Splash - This variety, sent to me by Ryan Swinney of Ohio this winter, is the only variety I grew that didn’t yield a tomato. It was in a very crowded part of Caitlin’s garden. It supposedly is one of the large yellow/red swirled bicolors. I will give it another try next year.

Limbaugh Potato Leaf - This was sent to me by Lorraine Sciulli in 2023. There is a lot of info about it on line - apparently it is the SSE variety Potato Top that was popularized by Fred Limbaugh. The potato leaf plant gives typical oblate pink beefsteaks. The plant grown in Caitlin’s garden provided one tomato that I didn’t taste, but was used for seed saving.

Heirloom from Lucas

Lucas Heirloom - This heirloom was sent to me by Lucas Carusi, and hails from Abruzzo, Italy. It is probably the variety Pera d’Abruzzo. The plant was grown in Caitlin’s garden and is typical of some Italian paste types, being quite hollow. It would make a great stuffing tomato!

Lucas heirloom sliced, showing the hollowness

Harts - This tomato was sent to me by Bonnie Swenson of Wisconsin this winter. It is a variety that supposedly was created by Carmen Alberti, and he passed seeds onto Bonnie. For me, it was regular leaf and produced medium sized oblate scarlet tomatoes. I didn’t get a photo, and the plant struggled with crowding in Caitlin’s garden, but seeds were saved. I tasted a bit and it was nice.

Big Barney - This was given to me by Steven Kulik of PA. It is a regular leaf plant that produced pink oblate tomatoes - the plant struggled with conditions, so I don’t have a clear opinion of the variety. I do have fresh seeds saved.

Boho - This variety was shared with me by Eric Dahle of Wisconsin in 2024. It is quite unique, in my experience - very firm scarlet hearts, with almost solid meat and very few seeds. Scarlet heart shaped tomatoes are quite rare. It would make a great sauce and paste tomato, due to its extreme meatiness.

Giant Crimson - This was sent to me by Mike Seitz of Virginia in 2024. I suspect it was supposed to be large and pink, but when grown in Caitlin’s garden, it was small/medium sized, round and scarlet. The taste was very good. I think it is a variety that became crossed somewhere along the line.

WV 23 - This is a famous tomato also called Mannon’s Majesty, an updated version of West Virginia ‘63. It was sent to me by Charles Hughes, Garner NC. The flavor was fine - it was a medium small, round scarlet tomato. It did not thrive in Caitlin’s garden.

Abraham Lincoln (not), stem end

Abraham Lincoln - What a stubborn variety this is! Sent to me by Bill Moffett of Asheboro, NC in 2024, we both hoped this was the authentic Abraham Lincoln. Alas, the regular leaf indeterminate plant with no bronze tinge produced huge oblate pink tomatoes - the flavor was fair at best, and it reminded me of German Johnson. Abraham Lincoln as released in 1923 was a more round tomato, large, and scarlet red. Back to the drawing board - I fear the real A. L. has gone extinct.

Abraham Lincoln, sliced

Finally, here is a report on attempted crosses carried out in 2025.

In all cases I list the pollen acceptor first, followed by the pollen donor.

Not successful

• Captain Lucky X Rufus Rainbow

• Captain Lucky X Captain F1

• Potato Leaf Yellow X Rufus Rainbow

• Brandywine X Rufus Rainbow

• Polish Bling X Cherokee Green

• Polish Bling X Fuzzy Pink

• Cherokee Sunburst X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum

• Lucky Cross X Carrot Like

• Carrot Like X Dwarf Eli’s Surprise

The following may have worked - I am still evaluating the results from test plantings.

• Lucky Bling X Cherokee Purple - regular leaf seedling showed up, will try to carry to next spring

• Fuzzy Pink X Dwarf Eli’s Surprise - non Fuzzy seedlings resulted, will try to carry to next spring

• Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Fuzzy Purple - regular leaf seedling showed up - will try to carry to next spring

• Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Eli’s Surprise - ditto

• Dwarf Sweet Sue X Fuzzy Pink - regular leaf, slightly fuzzy seedling showed, will try to carry to next spring

• OTV Brandywine X Honor Bright - regular leaf seedling showed up, will try to carry to next spring

• Dwarf Eli’s Surprise X Cherokee Green or Cherokee Chocolate - regular leaf non-dwarf seedling showed up, will try to carry through to next spring

• Fuzzy Purple X Dwarf Eli’s Surprise - awaiting true leaves to assess

Suspected cross between Lucky Bling and Cherokee Purple

2025 Garden Review - Part 2. Tomatoes - Old Favorites and New Favorites

Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Green and Cherokee Chocolate - favorites for decades

Moving on through the 2025 tomato efforts, it’s time to cover the tried and true - for many years, or for a few. These are the workhorse varieties, the ones we avidly look forward to slicing and eating. It was a great year for tomato flavors - we miss them already!

Cherokee Purple (top left), Cherokee Green (right), Cherokee Chocolate (bottom) showing the interiors

Let’s start with old favorites, heirlooms, stable newer OPs - but not results of my breeding projects.

Cherokee Purple - After last year’s blossom end rot disaster, things returned to normal this season and Cherokee Purple was totally up to par. It did have septoria disease issues and didn’t provide as high a yield as we would have liked. The pictures above show exactly what Cherokee Purple should do. I used seed vial T24-20, which was saved from plants grown at the Veterans Healing Farm last year. T24-20 came from T22-3, which was from T16-104, which was from T02-3, which was from T91-27, which was from the JD Green seeds #287. The fruit grown this year was 6 grow outs removed from receiving the seeds. Oh yes - the flavor was superb.

Cherokee Chocolate - Last year it grew red (which led to the Bee project); this year it was exactly as it was supposed to be. I used seed T24-21, saved from plants at the Veterans Healing Farm. T24-21 came from T22-2, which was from T16-119, which was from T11-13, which was from T96-3, which was from T95-47 - the plant that showed the mutation of skin color from Cherokee Purple. The fruit grown this year was 6 grow outs from discovering the variety. This is just one super delicious tomato.

Cherokee Green - I love this variety. I grew the highly productive plant from T23-22, which connects back through several seasons to seed from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in 2015. This tomato is gorgeous, and yummy, along with a tomato machine.

Captain Lucky blossom end

Captain Lucky - This tomato zoomed to the top of my list for flavor very recently. Grown from seed saved in 2024, it didn’t disappoint. Yield was fine, flavor was spectacular.

Captain Lucky sliced

Brandywine stem end

Brandywine - It was a very good, not great year for Brandywine yield-wise (grown from seed saved in 2024), but was certainly among the best flavored tomatoes in my garden. This is simply a very special tomato.

Brandywine sliced

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom blossom end

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom - It was late, but it was great! This may have been the best year yield-wise for this tomato since we moved to Hendersonville. Flavor was superb. I grew it from seed saved in 2019, our last garden in Raleigh.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom sliced

Lucky Cross - 2025 was a struggle for Lucky Cross, sadly. Bedeviled by an unruly plant, blossom end rot, and low fruit set, the few tomatoes I got from the plant were great. Alas, there was just not enough of them. I grew the plant from seed saved in 2024. The fruit were large, oblate, yellow with red swirls, as expected. I didn’t get a good picture of it.

Sun Gold - 2025 was certainly better than 2024 for my favorite cherry tomato. You can see pictures of it in the prior blog (next to tomatoes from the Captain project). It did battle septoria leaf spot, but produced well enough before it went down. It shared a straw bale with Rosella Cherry.

Rosella Cherry - My friend Justin implored me to try this productive, purple cherry tomato and sent me seeds. He was correct - this is a fine cherry tomato, perhaps my second favorite after Sun Gold. You can find pictures in the previous blog next to Captain project tomatoes.

OTV Brandywine blossom end

OTV Brandywine - I finally returned to this tomato that I really enjoy, but don’t grow often enough. It is really my favorite red heirloom, after Nepal, with superior flavor to Andrew Rahart and Aker’s WV. I grew it from seed saved in 2018. It is a potato leaf variety with large smooth scarlet tomatoes, named by Carolyn Male for our defunct newsletter. It went down earlier than I would have liked to what looked like pith necrosis.

OTV Brandywine sliced

Potato Leaf Yellow unsliced

Potato Leaf Yellow - This wonderful tomato is now available from Victory Seeds. It is a pale orange, not yellow, but prolific and delicious. The plant for the 2025 garden was from seeds saved in 2024.

Potato Leaf Yellow sliced

Dester stem end

Dester - Though not a great year for this favorite variety, it was the best since my Raleigh driveway gardens. I grew it from seed saved in 2023. The large oblate pink fruit have everything one would want in tomato flavor. I received seed from the Seed Savers Exchange in 2013, after attending the tomato tasting in which this was clearly the best tomato there.

Dester, sliced

Tomato volunteers in my driveway - Mexico Midget, Egg Yolk and Coyote

Mexico Midget - There is no surprise here - the tiny scarlet fruit were plentiful and delicious. It is actually still growing in my garden, in a 5 gallon container, doing successful battle with septoria all year long.

Surprise - This was my biggest challenge to grow, as seed lot T16-113 germinated very poorly. I grew it to get fresh seed, as well as to simply observe its weirdness. I didn’t get a picture, unfortunately. The plant has the same yellow leaf characteristic as Honor Bright, and the tomatoes go through the same type of color transformation- pale green to snow white to orange to red. It is a good sized tomato - approaching 8 ounces - and has good flavor. I would love some of you to give it a try.

Brandywine left, Mullens Mortgage Lifter right

Mullens Mortgage Lifter - My T22-58 seed was of poor quality, but one seedling did eventually emerge. I also got a few seeds from my friend Adam. I grew one plant here, and one in my daughter’s garden. The very large oblate, ribbed pink fruit were characteristic as can be seen in the pics. The flavor was very good, with more sweetness than I enjoy, but was very typical for Mortgage Lifter. I believe this to be the Estler strain and was shared with me by Charlotte Mullens of WV back in 1990.

Brandywine left, Mullens Mortgage Lifter, right, sliced

Nepal - Grown from seed lot T24-18, this was grown in my daughter’s garden. The round, 8 ounce, smooth scarlet tomatoes were delicious.

Halladay’s Mortgage Lifter - Grown from seed T22-57 in Caitlin’s garden, it performed as expected - large pink tomatoes that are similar to the Mullens strain. This is likely the M. C Byles (Radiator Charlie) version.

Earl - grown in Caitlin’s garden from seed T24-12, Earl was typically productive and delicious. The potato leaf plant produced medium to large pink tomatoes.

Dwarf Sweet Sue, blossom end

Dwarf Sweet Sue - This has shown some variability with respect to seed source. The plant in my garden is from seed T23-72, from the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse, which looked just right. The medium sized bright yellow tomatoes were delicious. The pink blossom end blush didn’t show as much, as I took the tomatoes from the plant prior to full ripeness.

Dwarf Sweet Sue, sliced

Rosella Purple, blossom end

Rosella Purple - It’s been some years since I grew this favorite dwarf. It didn’t disappoint. The tomatoes were not as large as I’ve experienced in past gardens, but the yield and flavor were just fine. I planted seed lot T23-107, which was grown in the greenhouse at the Veterans Healing Farm.

Rosella Purple, sliced

Moving on, we now get to newly created/named varieties that will be or should soon be released - consider them tomorrow’s heirlooms

Lucky Bling, blossom end

Lucky Bling - I love this tomato! The starting point was my cross between Blue’s Bling (essentially a variegated leaf version of Cherokee Purple) with Little Lucky, made in 2021. I grew out 2 plants in 2002 and hit the jackpot with both. Lucky Bling was selected for potato leaf variegated leaves. The tomatoes that resulted were yellow with red swirls and even some lingering green - a tricolor - with superb flavor and great production. That is exactly what I got this year from the plant from seed T24-31. This has quickly become one of my favorite tomatoes. I will confirm that Victory has seeds so that they can release it soon.

Lucky Bling, sliced

Polish Bling, stem end

Polish Bling - I hit the jackpot again with my 2021 cross between Blue’s Bling and Polish. My single plant grown in the F2, selected for potato leaf variegated foliage, was a winner with its large tasty purple fruit. This year my plant was from seed T22-17. Behind Triply F1, Polish Bling was the most productive plant in the garden, with medium large, smooth, nearly round purple tomatoes with outstanding flavor. This is also a priority for Victory Seeds for a release by them soon.

Polish Bling, sliced

Mary’s Favorite, sliced

Mary’s Favorite - This lovely large bright yellow variety was discovered as a regular leaf selection from seeds saved from my cross between Cherokee Purple and Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, by Mary Revelle. She suggested the name, as it was a new favorite for her. The variety struggled a bit with blossom end rot, but the tomatoes were as hoped - good sized, lovely color, and wonderful flavor. This is another destined for Victory Seeds.

Rufus Rainbow, blossom end

Rufus Rainbow - This variety gives Lucky Bling a run for its money. The year it was selected it was very good, but this year it was truly outstanding. Along with Polish Bling, it was just behind Triply F1 for yield champion for my 2025 garden. This is a sister tomato to Lucky Bling; it originated from the same cross (Blue’s Bling X Little Lucky); in this case, the variegated foliage is regular leaf and there is a bit less red coloring in the flesh. The flavor was outstanding. The plant I grew this year was from seed 8068, shared with me by tomato friend Reece Kim. This is yet another destined for Victory Seeds in hopes of a release within the next few years.

Rufus Rainbow, sliced

Don’s Delightful Heart, blossom end

Don’s Delightful Heart - I’ve really experienced a lot of luck in the varieties I’ve chosen to cross, and the selections I’ve made when growing out seeds. This variety originated when I crossed Don’s Double Delight with Cancelmo Family Heirloom in 2021. The hybrid itself was not great in terms of texture or flavor. I had a feeling something good was hiding in the genetic material, and this potato leaf selection turned out to be a star. The plentiful tomatoes are medium sized, heart shaped, and pink with gold stripes. The flavor is delicious - in line with the excellence of the two parents. Yet again, this will be sent to Victory for near term release. My 2025 plant was from seed T23-28.

Don’s Delightful Heart, sliced

Sullivan Rose, stem end

Sullivan Rose - My cross between Cherokee Purple and Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom made in 2021 gave one of the best flavored tomatoes of my experience. F2 generation selections from saved seed have proven to be a real treasure chest. Much work needs to be done on one of my favorite selections, Lillian Rose, which has proven to be stubborn to stabilize. Tomato friend Mike Stigler selected this gem, a lovely potato leaf pink (reminiscent of the hybrid in quality), and named it Sullivan Rose. You guessed it - this will go to Victory so that it can get in line for a future release.

Sullivan Rose, sliced

Rufus Red Stripe, stem end

Rufus Red Stripe - This tomato appeared in a grow-out of Dwarf Hannah’s Prize in 2023. Rather than medium sized scarlet tomatoes, the plant I grew produced scarlet tomatoes with gold stripes - attractive and delicious. Seed T23-93 produced plants grown in my garden, as well as Caitlin’s. The stripes showed up and a new tomato, which I named Rufus Red Stripe, joins the Dwarf Tomato Project list of successes. It is on its way to Victory in hopes for future release.

Rufus Red Stripe, sliced

Finally, are the odds and ends growing my garden - unstabilized or new crosses, varieties grown to do breeding work - things that don’t fit into any specific category.

Cherokee Purple X Potato Leaf Yellow F1, ugly multilobe fruit

Cherokee Purple X Potato Leaf Yellow F1 - my friend Alex decided to make this cross so that we could search for indeterminate tomatoes of the color of Uluru Ochre. It was a tomato machine in my garden, with medium to huge and ugly pink tomatoes with a delicious, full flavor. I saved lots of seeds - next year the fun will begin.

Cherokee Sunburst, stem end

Cherokee Sunburst - Alex crossed Cherokee Green with Earl (two wonderfully flavored varieties) a few years ago. One of his selections was a potato leaf, large yellow/red bicolor tomato with delicious flavor that he named Cherokee Sunburst. He shared seeds with me. What I got was potato leaf, prolific, but bright yellow with very little red swirling. The flavor had an unusual tart, nearly piney note that caught my attention. It clearly needs a bit more selection work, which will be up to Alex.

Cherokee Sunburst, sliced

Honor Bright - Some varieties in my 2025 garden were grown for use as pollen for new crosses. Honor Bright is a very odd historic variety from the Livingston Seed Company in the late 1800s. The flowers are nearly white, the foliage goes from green to yellow, and the medium to medium small tomatoes go from pale green to white, then to orange and finally red. I saved seeds, and ended up using the pollen in a few cross attempts. I didn’t get a good photo of the plant or fruit and didn’t taste it either.

Blazey selection - Similar to Honor Bright, which is a parent of the Blazey family (crossed with Dwarf Blazing Beauty), I grew this dwarf potato leaf selection for its green changing to yellow foliage. I ended up not using it in crosses. The tomatoes were medium sized and went through the pale green to white to orange to red color changes. I didn’t take pics or taste.

Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe, from potato leaf plant at home

Cherokee Green X Caitlin Lucky Stripe F4, two selections - I made 8 crosses in 2021. This one didn’t get the attention that some of the others did. (Ferris Wheel X Striped Sweetheart is the cross with the least attention so far). A few years ago I got a really good result with the ChG X CLS F2 selection. The potato leaf plant produced delicious green fleshed tomatoes that were green skinned with light striping. I planted seed T23-26 and grew two plants - one in each garden. The plant at Caitlin’s house gave round, medium sized green fleshed tomatoes that ripened with a yellow skin. The one at my house was the real winner - 4 ounce oblate distinctly patterned striped light and dark green tomatoes with a nice, balanced flavor. It is worth refining and pursuing with a possible future release. I should start to ponder a name for it.

Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe, potato leaf, from plant at Caitlin’s House

Carrot Like - I grew this odd ball variety for its pollen for crosses only. The determinate plant has fine, nearly carrot like leaves. Productivity is high - small to medium scarlet tomatoes of no great flavor. It also got diseased quite early in the season - something not at all new for this variety in my experience.

Agatha, stem end

Agatha - This was probably the most fun mini project in my garden. In late winter, I was reading a Hendersonville library acquired Agatha Christie book called “Peril at End House” to Sue. On 2 pages of the book were dried tomato seeds. I scraped them off the page and kept them until spring, when I would see if they would germinate. Both seeds did germinate, much to my delight. I grew one plant in my garden. My friend Elijah took the other, but it was a rough season for him, so the plant in my garden is the only specimen. I expected it to be a cherry tomato. Imagine my surprise when the lovely smooth medium large globes started to ripen. The plant was productive, and lots of seeds were saved. The flavor was very good. I named the tomato Agatha’s Mystery and hope to share seeds for others to test. If I were to guess which variety this is, possibilities are Rutgers, Marglobe, Break O’Day, or offspring of Big Boy or Better Boy. Gardening is even more fun when one gets to have adventures like this - pure serendipity!

Agatha, sliced

Fuzzy Pink Fruit - This begins three varieties grown just for pollen donating or receiving. Grown from T21-96, this proved to be a productive determinate, very fuzzy plant with small to medium pink tomatoes. I didn’t take a pic of the fruit.

Fuzzy Purple Fruit - Grown from T21-95, this very fuzzy plant produced medium purple tomatoes. No pics were taken.

Dwarf Mocha’s Plum - Grown from #7572 (from Bill Minkey), this dwarf produced lots of 3 ounce long paste shape purple tomatoes with a dark blue black shoulder (an antho variety). I didn’t take pictures.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom regular leaf, cross, blossom end

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom regular leaf selection - I will end with a real head scratcher. The plant that produced this unexpected, but excellent green when ripe tomato is 8054 - which came from T23-10 - a regular leaf seedling from saved Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom. I grew one plant of the regular leaf from T23-10 last year, and it produced a very unusual oblate, medium sized yellow tomato with some solid patches of red on the skin. I can’t really confirm what is happening here. It is going to take growing out of seeds saved from this green tomato to see if this is stable. If it is, it is worth pursuing - the clear skinned green fleshed fruit are delicious, and the plant was very productive (grown in Caitlin’s garden).

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, regular leaf off type, sliced

Pale Perfect Purple - I grew this years ago, from a plant mailed to me by Carolyn Male - it is a variety created by Tad Smith. My own saved seeds were too old to germinate. A tomato friend named Christy got seeds from Dale Thurber and shared a few with me. Germination was very slow - I grew a plant in Caitlin’s garden, and my friend Adam grew one as well. The variety did not come true to type - the small to medium round tomatoes were pink instead of purple.

Here ends my 2025 Tomato Update Part 2. Part 3 will soon follow, and focus on family heirlooms recently sent to me but yet to be grown out, as well as other odds and ends, and my 2025 attempted crosses.

2025 Garden Review - Part 1. Tomato Breeding Projects

Captain Family results - second from left Sun Gold hybrid, then Captain F1, and two F2 selections - potato leaf, and regular leaf

It is time to begin my review of my 2025 season. I will start with tomatoes, divided into a number of parts. This first part will be quite complex, as it will detail work done on a number of breeding projects - some new, some ongoing. I hope you enjoy reading these blogs. I will include as many pictures as possible.

Tomatoes in the first pic above sliced - Rosella Cherry is on the left (not part of my 2025 garden projects, but grown on recommendation of a friend)

The Captain project - In 2024, I crossed pollen from Sun Gold F1 hybrid onto a flower of Captain Lucky - this created what I call the Captain project. I did a test planting in 2024 to confirm that the cross took (regular leaf seedlings). Though I grew out one plant late in 2024, the large cherry tomatoes were ripened indoors. This at least gave me some seeds to send out for growing by project volunteers this year.

This year I grew Captain (Sun Gold F1 X Captain Lucky) F1 again so that I could get an accurate evaluation, as well as save lots of seeds. The center pictures above shows the comparison between the male parent, Sun Gold F1, and the hybrid. The large pale orange cherry tomatoes were quite tasty, best when very ripe. The rosy center flesh was very attractive. The quality of the hybrid really isn’t important, as it is what happens when the save seeds were grown that leads to new, promising, interesting varieties. As to the size, I was not surprised; the small size of Sun Gold F1 is quite dominant, even when crossed with a 1 lb beefsteak (Captain Lucky). The orange color was interesting, as I was half expecting a red tomato (if Sun Gold F1 is a cross between orange and red parents).

Now the fun began -planting some of the F2 seeds collected last year to see what I would end up with. Germination wasn’t great (as I found out from feedback from some gardeners I sent seed to), but I managed to get a few regular and a few potato leaf seedings, as expected. I grew one potato leaf F2, and one regular leaf F2.

Captain PL F2 on the left, RL on the right

The potato leaf selection was a monster of a plant, very productive, resulting in slightly oval medium sized cherry tomatoes (larger than Sun Gold, as you can see in the pictures - the potato leaf selection is fruit #4, going left to right). The fruit color is a nice combo of yellow orange with a pink swirl, more prominent as the fruit ripens. The internal color is pale orange with a greenish tint. The flavor was delicious. However, this is only the F2 generation. What happens next with saved seeds will likely offer variability and surprises.

Cut pictures of PL F2 on the left, RL on the right

The regular leaf selection fooled me. The initial blossoms looked quite large, but the fruit produced were cherry sized; a bit larger than Sun Gold F1, but smaller than the potato leaf F2. The color was a nice surprise. It is a green fleshed when ripe variety with very few seeds. Very ripe fruit took on a reddish tinge in and out, and the color was much like the Captain Lucky parent. Flavor was, again, delicious. Again, being only the F2, high variability is guaranteed, including some regular leaf seedlings.

In summary, there is fun to be had exploring the tomatoes that arise in this project. I saved lots of seed from the hybrid and the potato leaf selection, and enough of the regular leaf to provide lots of folks who want to play in this project seeds to grow.

Three gorgeous Triply hybrids

The Triply project - This lower profile project actually shows great potential. Last year I crossed pollen from Cherokee Purple onto a grow-out of the hybrid between Dwarf Choemato and Dwarf Walter’s Fancy (the Matey family). I late planted on seedling last year and did achieve a few tomatoes from which I saved F2 seeds. This year I wanted to start fresh, so grew one plant of the hybrid. Saved seed from the hybrid last year led to a few dwarf seedlings I also grew this year - one potato leaf, one regular leaf.

Triply hybrid sliced. This is one delicious, prolific tomato

Triply hybrid itself was pretty spectacular. It was the healthiest, highest yielding tomato in the garden, producing uniform, smooth nearly round pink tomatoes in the 8-12 range, and was absolutely delicious.

Triply F2 dwarf regular leaf.

The Triply F2 with regular leaf foliage was really pretty - 4-5 ounce tomatoes that were yellow and pink outside, mostly pink inside, with balanced, mild flavor.

Triply F2 regular leaf dwarf, cut to show it is mostly pink flesh, but yellow gel around the seeds.

Triply F2 potato leaf dwarf, which needed just another day or so.

The Triply 2 potato leaf dwarf was quite different. Much later than the regular leaf, the color was ivory with a greenish tint. The flavor was fine. Because it came so late, I really didn’t fully ponder the implications of this color.

The very pale color of Triply F2 potato leaf dwarf

My current thoughts on the Triply Family are as follows. Being a three way cross, incorporating indeterminate, dwarf, potato leaf, regular leaf, variegated leaves, and fruit colors of white, yellow/red bicolor and purple. There is a lot here to find. My planting in the spring didn’t result in any variegated seedlings. I have lots of seeds saved from the hybrid and both F2s - and hope to find some interested volunteers to help me work on this to see what we can find.

Bee F2 regular leaf scarlet red

The Bee project - In 2024, Cherokee Chocolate grown from 2022 saved seed produced large red, rather than chocolate, tomatoes. The red tomato was an F1 hybrid between Cherokee Chocolate and one of the potato leaf varieties growing in my 2022 garden nearby. I did a test planting using seeds from the red fruit and noted a mix of regular and potato leaf seedlings. The bees are responsible for this cross, which I call the Bee project.

I decided to grow 2 of each leaf type, with a set here and a set in my daughter’s garden. My regular leaf plant, grown in a 5 gallon grow bag, produced medium size, smooth, oblate chocolate colored tomatoes. My regular leaf plant was heavily shaded and did not produce any tomatoes. My daughter’s potato leaf plant produced 8 ounce chocolate colored tomatoes. Her regular leaf plant produced 8-16 ounce flavorful red tomatoes.

Bee F2 PL chocolate

Given these results, my guess is that the potato leaf parent is Polish. I don’t feel that there is enough interest or uniqueness in this project to pursue anything further, but I have seeds saved of the red hybrid as well as the three F2s. All of the tomatoes are excellent, and purple and pink tomatoes are possible, if indeed the parent is Polish.

Vary F2 variegated fruit

The Vary project - In 2023 I crossed Dwarf Blazing Beauty and Dwarf Walter’s Fancy, which I named the Vary family. Dwarf Blazing Beauty is a medium sized potato leaf dwarf with orange fruit, and Dwarf Walter’s Fancy is a medium sized potato leaf dwarf with ivory colored fruit - the foliage is variegated. The hybrid, grown last year, was a potato leaf dwarf, no variegation, with medium or larger pink tomatoes with great flavor. The color was definitely a surprise. I saved lots of seeds.

Vary F2 sliced

Many gardening friends have seeds saved from the hybrid to experiment with this year. I germinated quite a few seeds, seeking variegated seedlings. I planted one of them, and later on, a few others, but my labeling became messed up so I can only confirm one variegated plant from the Vary F2 seeds. It produced a good yield of medium sized yellow/pink swirled tomatoes with very good flavor. I am not sure that it is worth taking further, and am awaiting results from other volunteers.

Matey F2 variegated selection fruit

The Matey project - In 2023 I crossed Dwarf Choemato and Dwarf Walter’s Fancy, which I named the Matey family. The story here is very similar to the one above, except Dwarf Choemato, a medium to large yellow/red bicolor, was used instead of Dwarf Blazing Beauty. The hybrid, which I grew last year, produced loads of red/yellow bicolor fruits with delicious flavor on a potato leaf dwarf with no variegation, as was expected. I saved loads of seeds.

Matey variegated F2 sliced

I planted one variegated seedling in my garden. It produced a good quantity of bright yellow medium sized tomatoes with very good flavor. Again, I am not sure if this one is worth pursuing, and prefer to wait to see what other gardeners who received seeds found.

Peppy selection - chartreuse, variegated, ivory tomatoes - meet Dwarf Eli’s Surprise

The Peppy project - In 2023, I crossed Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet with Dwarf Walter’s Fancy, which I named the Peppy family. Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet is a unique dwarf from our project in that it has chartreuse foliage and medium to large pink tomatoes. The intent is to find variegated chartreuse dwarfs, which would be something completely new. The hybrid of the above cross produced a potato leaf, normal leaf color dwarf with lots of pink tomatoes from which a lot of seed was saved.

Last year I did a test planting and managed to find a single chartreuse variegated plant. It was too late to grow it for tomatoes, so I kept it alive in the garage. When planted out this year, it thrived, and ended up producing medium to large ivory colored delicious tomatoes. I named it Dwarf Eli’s Surprise in honor of our grandson, who was born on December 27.

I also kept a chartreuse selection growing indoors all winter, and it was a really find variety, producing a heavy crop of medium sized, delicious pink tomatoes, quite different from Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet (which was larger, more ribbed shoulders, flatter). It may be worth working on and releasing.

Finally, from my planting of so many Matey, Vary and Peppy seeds additional variegated seedlings were found, but my poor labeling mean I don’t know which is which. I planted 8 of these in one of my raised beds midseason, and at least 3 of them will produce ripe tomatoes. We shall see what they produce!

That does it for my 2025 Garden Update - Tomatoes, part 1. You will see part 2 soon, focusing on some other ongoing tomato projects.