A few peppers and eggplants - the garden on a soggy October afternoon

I’ve been working on this blog for weeks. It is not quite complete but I am going to publish it anyway. I will fill in missing bits over the coming week.

A few things remain in the garden, but most plants have been pulled and the strawbales and grow bags removed. We for the most part have our back yard again. I think Eli - and our dogs - miss the maze that sat out there spring and summer. It sure is easier to mow the lawn.

This is going to be one of those epic-sized blogs that captures my full 2026 garden experience (except for the Captain project, well covered in my last blog). Overall, the grade I would give my 2026 garden is a solid “A”. I harvested seeds from just about everything. Flavors were excellent, yields were sufficient, and surprises abundant. Rarely is one of my gardens so full of surprises, and seeds saved will lead to some exciting new tomato releases, given some selection work. I will need help going forward, for sure! My 2026 garden is likely the last of the really ambitious gardens in terms of number of varieties and plants. It will be a gentle, gradual slope downward after this.

I will to carry out my garden review crop by crop. As to pictures, that will be difficult for everything I grew, but I will do my best. Tomatoes are in the best shape for pictures to share. Let’s jump right in!

Garlic - The bulbs I planted were not as big as usual (they are all saved from my garden), and I put them into two of my raised beds in September. The squirrels created a bit of havoc with them, and it is clear that the weather created challenges. I harvested whatever scaped in June, and we are eating it now. I don’t expect to have any to plant for next year’s harvest. It may be time to take a year off from growing garlic.

Three types of Genovese basil in our elevated raised bed

Basil - my basil this year, grown in a raised bed and some in terra cotta pots, was a bit of a mish mash. I planted seeds of Emerald Towers and the mildew resistant recently bred Devotion and Prospera, and had some plants from a pot we purchased at Trader Joe. My seeds were not the freshest so I had spotty germination. But, given all of the above, we had a very nice stand of basil that found lots of use in our cooking, as well as a big recipe of pesto that is now in our freezer. I just noted that there are newer mildew resistant varieties, such as Obsession, Passion and Piedmont, so I will switch up my basils next year.

Perhaps our favorite of the various lettuces we grew

Lettuce - We had lots of lettuce and lots of salads, with two plantings. I used varieties sent to me by my friend Gail - Frank Morton bred varieties Zilla, Mix, Funky Purple and Wavy Green, as well as Tall Dark and Handsome. Germination remains great - we love the mix of colors. There is simply nothing like home grown lettuce.

Our super-crowded perennial garden in late September

Flowers - aside from the various perennials in our gardens that we’ve had for years, the main annuals I started from seeds are a number of different Zinnias, and Hyacinth Bean for our trellis (aka lablab). I really like the Oklahoma mix of Zinnias. They are all still going strong, and attracting lots of bees and butterflies. My friend John sent some plants of a tall orange Marigold, an ornamental grass, and a red strawflower. They are doing just fine, and I appreciate John’s generosity.

Snap Beans - These were not as successful because the seeds were a few years old - low initial germination led to some replantings. The three varieties I chose to grow were Goldilocks yellow snap bush, Marbel striped filet bush snap, and Jade, a long green snap bean. I will change things up for next year for the green snaps, but Goldilocks is a must every year.

Cucumbers - Weather and disease (probably spread by cuke beetles) got the best of our cuke plants and crop. I grew the wonderful hybrid Deli Star, seeds coming from my UK garden friend Sam. The plants never looked particularly happy and yield was way off. I think we are going to give cukes a break next year.

Zephyr hybrid yellow summer squash - our favorite

Summer Squash - I chose the yellow summer squash Zephyr, and green zucchini Green Machine. It is time for me to get some new Zephyr seeds. As usual, the yield of squash was more than adequate despite cutting way down on plant number (just two plants of each). I think Green Machine is now my zucchini of choice. Zephyr is a must in our gardens.

Corn - my new method of 2 pairs of 2 bales, rather than a block of 4, worked fine. The varieties grown were Jackpot and Sweetness, both enhanced sweetness bicolor hybrids. The yield of each was fine, but we preferred the longer ear of Jackpot. I think I will skip corn next year.

Peppers - I grew far less peppers this year, and none of them were hot. My attempt at Shishito ended up in a cross. More on that later. The peppers I chose were mostly from breeding projects - Chocolate Bell, two different lots of Fire Opal, Orange Bell, two new hybrids to me, Snackabelle and Minibelle, and plants from saved seeds for Corno di Toro and Shishito. The best yields are coming on now, in September. All of the bells are of the hoped for color. The one odd one is a Shishito that is long, elongated and sweet. I assume it is Shishito X Corno Di Toro! Seeds from everything are saved, and I am going to think long and hard about what next year will look like for peppers. Fire Opal - planted P22-4 (saved as P26-1) and P22-5 (saved as P26-2). Both plants gave bells whose color transitioned from cream to lavender to gold, as hoped for; Orange Bell - planted P25-8 (saved as P26-3). This very productive bell started medium light green and ended glowing orange - very sweet! Chocolate Bell planted P25-5 (saved as P26-4) - the large blocky green fruit ripened a rich chocolate brown, as hoped for. Shishito planted P25-4 (saved as P26-6) - as noted above, this seemed to be a cross between Shishito and Corno di Toro - the long medium green thin walled peppers were sweet, and ripened red. Corno di Toro planted P25-11 (saved as P26-5) grew as expected - long dark green peppers that ripened red.

Eggplants - I planted my usual set of my own selections - Midnight Lightning, Twilight Lightning, Skinny Twilight, and Mardi Gras. All are in 5 gallon grow bags and still thriving. seeds have already been saved. Midnight Lightning planted E25-4 (saved as E26-3) - the plants had dark green foliage with prominent purple in the young leaves, and produced slender long black purple fruit. Skinny Twilight planted E25-2 (saved as E26-4) - the dark green foliaged plants with some purple shading produced slender medium dark purple fruit. Twilight Lightning planted E23-2 and E22-2 and (saved as E26-2 and E26-5) - both produced shorter plants with lots of slender fruit that were white with lavender shading. Mardi Gras planted E25-3 (saved as E26-1) produced lots of tear drop shaped green fruit with lavender streaks.

Tomatoes - This is where the fun was in my 2026 garden. I will break it down by the various projects.

Old Favorites - these are the varieties I knew would be great to eat.

Captain Lucky far left, Cherokee Purple and Cherokee Chocolate upper center and right.

Captain Lucky - grew out seed T25-3. The potato leaf plants gave a good yield of medium to large oblate clear skinned green fleshed fruit with prominent purple blushing outside, and a red swirl in the center of the flesh. Flavor was typically superb. Seed saved as T26-2.

Cherokee Purple - grew out seed T16-102. This is only 3 generations removed from seed sent to me by J. D. Green in 1990. That was #287 - in 1993 that was grown and saved as T93-2, which was grown in 2008 and saved as T08-12 - this led to T16-102. This was my best Cherokee Purple performance in several years, with a minimum of blossom end rot. 8-12 ounce purple tomatoes were plentiful and delicious. Seed saved as T26-1.

Cherokee Chocolate - grew out seed T16-120. This is also only 3 generations removed from the year it was discovered, in 1995. T95-47 led to T03-21 - this was grown and saved as T16-120. Cherokee Chocolate was typically wonderful this year - even more productive than Cherokee Purple. Seed saved as T26-4.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom interior, showing the typical hint of pink.

Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom - grew out seed T25-8. Lillian had a very good year, with a heavy harvest of medium to large oblate pale yellow superbly flavored tomatoes. This variety always meets expectations - and it is always one of the last to ripen. Seed saved as T26-3.

Lucky Cross - grew out seed T23-185. The yield was adequate but I’ve had better seasons. The size, color and flavor were spot on, however - the large yellow fruit were amply swirled with red. Seed saved as T26-6.

Ferris Wheel - grew out seed T23-155. The plant was set to be very prolific, but showed signs of Fusarium Wilt. The plant did finally die, but not before producing lots of tasty tomatoes. The size was smaller than typical. Seed saved as T26-5.

Perfect specimen of Cancelmo Family Heirloom

Cancelmo Family Heirloom - grew out seed T16-98, which was the seed saved from the first time I grew the variety, receiving it from my friend Walt Swokla. The plant started quite fragile looking but, as typical with this variety, became vigorous, with heavy fruit set. The one pound average pink hearts were just delicious. This is my favorite pink heart shaped variety by far. Seed saved as T26-9.

World War 2 - grew out seed T23-6, which was the first seed saved from my initial trial of this wonderful variety. Like Ferris Wheel, fruit set was excellent, but onset of fusarium wilt curtailed what would have been an outrageous yield. I did harvest many perfect specimens, pink 12-16 ounce beefsteak type fruit with a wonderful full flavor. Seed saved as T26-26.

Potato Leaf Yellow - grew out seed T25-17. This was not the best year for Potato Leaf Yellow. Like a few others in this list, it appeared weakened by early onset Fusarium wilt. Despite that, fruit set was excellent, though the tomatoes were smaller than usual and were not quite as tasty. I noted that the flesh had small dark brown specks or shards in some of the fruit. Seed was saved as T26-24.

Green Giant - grew out seed T21-18. It has been a few years since growing Green Giant, and I am always happy to return to it in the garden. The large oblate green fleshed, clear skinned tomatoes were plentiful and delicious. One thing I always note is that Green Giant is relatively perishable when compared to many other heirlooms. Seed was saved as T26-21.

Earl - grew out seed T24-12. This is the last of the indeterminates that suffered from Fusarium wilt. Before succumbing, it produced a lot of delicious oblate pink tomatoes. I did note that the fruit were not quite as large, and flavor not quite as intense, as is typical. Seed was saved as T26-10.

Giant Syrian - grew out seed T21-16. I simply love this variety. It isn’t the highest yielding and is quite late, but the large to huge scarlet red blunt hearts are as stunning to see as to eat. It really is one of my favorite indeterminate heirloom varieties and it needs to be in my garden more often. Seeds are saved as T26-22.

Lucky Bling - grew out seed T25-10. This has become a favorite. The variegated potato leaf plants produce plenty of medium sized oblate bright yellow tomatoes with a blush and swirl of red. The flavor is supreme. Once this is released I expect it to be a well loved variety. Seeds were saved as T26-20.

Dwarf Liz’s Teardrop - search for tomatoes with seeds. This variety, which I named for Sue’s sister Liz, has been stubborn to finish off. Originating from a cross between Sun Gold F1 and Dwarf Pink Passion (the Steamy dwarf family), I quickly found what I was looking for with regard to shape and size. The main issue is that it is typically completely seedless. This year, I got a bit of luck, however.

Selection T20-100 grew into a compact bushy dwarf loaded with small to medium small smooth perfect “tops” - mini hearts, with a nice sweet flavor. Eventually, it provided a small amount of seeds from late set fruit, saved as T26-49.

Selection T20-101 grew pretty much exactly the same as T20-100. It likewise provided a small amount of seeds from late set fruit, saved as T26-50. The next step for this variety is to see if volunteers who grow either of these T26 lots wind up with tomatoes that have viable seeds. If they do, we can work toward release of the variety.

Not Lillian’s Yellow T25-47 was planted - this came from #8054, as grown by my friend Elijah. This came from a regular leaf seedling in T23-10. My goal was to confirm the clear skin green flesh coloration and very good flavor achieved in 2025. I am happy to report that it did indeed - this is a very high yielding medium sized clear skin green flesh tomato with excellent flavor. This result was achieved by all to whom I sent seeds. Seeds were saved as T26-33. This variety is now known as Lillian’s Envy.

Pale Perfect Purple - This variety came up as a topic in a tomato discussion forum between friends on Instagram. I did a bit of research and found that it was often shown as pink in photographs - even in Carolyn Male’s book. I grew it many years ago and it was definitely purple. I no longer had good saved seeds, so set off to search for the real thing. Four selections were planted, and two happily gave success.

Via Denise Salmon, from Solana Seeds, sample #8178 - this produced medium sized round pink tomatoes on an indeterminate potato leaf plant. The seed was saved as T26-48. This was not correct.

Via SSE - sample donated by Jeff Dawson, sample #8195. This produced the same result as the Solana seed sample, above. The seed was saved as T26-47. This was also incorrect.

Via Denise Salmon - from Ontario seed bank, sample #8196 - Bingo! This seed produced the desired result - lots of round medium purple fruit on an indeterminate potato leaf plant with delicious flavor. The seed was saved as T26-69. This is what Pale Perfect Purple should be!

Sample from the creator, Tad Smith, sample #8197. I managed to track Tad down and he sent me some seed that he had stored. I grew it and ended up with the same result as the one from the Canada seed bank - the seed was saved as T26-70. This is also the true Pale Perfect Purple.

Glory selections named by Marsha Eisenberg - these are advanced generations from my cross of Dester X Gloria’s Treat

L to R - Pleaser, Resistance, Avenue K Garden

Resistance - planted seed #8101, saved as T26-35

Faye Carrie - planted seed #8100, saved as T26-38

Marsha’s Favorite - planted seed #8103, saved as T26-37

Glinda’s Hat - planted seed #8105, saved as T26-36

Avenue K Garden - planted seed #8102, saved as T26-62

Pleaser - planted seed #8104, saved as T26-61

Lillian Rose - search for my initial selection type

selection #T23-133. Saved as T26-13

selection #T23-23. Saved as T26-14

selection #7975. Saved as T26-15

selection #7950. Saved as T26-16

selection #7974. Saved as T26-17

selection #7972. Saved as T26-18

selection #7971. Saved as T26-19

selection #T22-15. Saved as T26-27

Yurple F2 - search for an Uluru Ochre colored tomato from a cross done by Alex Moring - Cherokee Purple X Potato Leaf Yellow, given the family name Yurple by Alex. Planted seed #T25-4

Potato Leaf selection 1 - seeds saved as T26-11

Potato Leaf selection 2 - seeds saved as T26-28

Regular Leaf selection 1 - seeds saved as T26-8

Regular Leaf selection 2 - seeds saved as T26-12

Dwarf Eli’s Surprise - planted #T25-32.The chartreuse leaf, potato leaf, variegated leaf tall dwarf plant gave medium sized delicious ivory tomatoes. This tomato was named for our grandson Eli, and is a unique tomato for gardeners to try. The seed was saved as T26-7

New F1s - test grows

Dwarf Eli’s Surprise X Fuzzy Pink. Planted T25-89. Saved as T26-29.

Dwarf Eli’s Surprise X Fuzzy Purple. Planted T25-38. Saved as T26-32.

Dwarf Eli’s Surprise X undetermined. Planted T25-32. Saved as T26-64.

Potato Leaf Yellow X undetermined. Planted T25-17. Saved as T26-67.

OTV Brandywine X undetermined. Planted T25-15. Saved as T26-31.

Dwarf Sweet Sue X Fuzzy Pink. Planted T25-44. Saved as T26-30.

Off leaf type from Dwarf Sweet Sue X Fuzzy Pink. Planted T25-44. Saved as T26-34

Captain project - this was described in great detail in the prior blog - link is here.

Triply project F2 selections. Triply is my cross between the hybrid of Dwarf Choemato and Dwarf Walter’s Fancy with Cherokee Purple. I grew the hybrid last year - it was an indeterminate delicious prolific round medium large pink tomato. For this year’s selection work, I grew out T25-2 - the F2 generation seed. I ended up choosing all variegated specimens to plant, as described below. The results were truly exciting.

The regular Leaf variegated leaf indeterminate plant provided totally delicious, full flavored medium to medium large smooth, oblate yellow tomatoes with significant red swirling and streaking inside and out. It is still early days, but this is so promising it got a name - my name, in fact. The F3 seed was saved as T26-68 - and is named Craig’s Folly. It will need significant testing going forward prior to release.

Variegated potato leaf purple blossom end

The potato Leaf variegated leaf indeterminate plant was highly productive, affording medium to medium large purple tomatoes with a delicious flavor. The seed was saved as T26-25. Whether this merits naming and release depends upon how it compares to Polish Bling, another purple tomato with variegated potato leaf foliage. I tend to think that they are quite different in fruit size, shape and flavor.

Variegated potato leaf dwarf plant 1 fruit, blossom end

Variegated potato leaf dwarf plant 1, interior

The dwarf variegated leaf potato Leaf #1 was planted in a raised bed. I was delighted to find that the fruit were green fleshed when ripe. The exterior color was green with a faint punk blush at the very blossom end. The flavor was very good. The seed is saved as T26-72. This is very promising and will require some selection work.

Variegated potato leaf dwarf plant 2, blossom end

Variegated potato leaf dwarf plant 2, interior

The dwarf variegated leaf potato Leaf plant 2 provided a very different result. The plentiful oblate medium sized fruit were pink, with a well balanced pleasant flavor. The seed was saved as T26-73. This may not be as high a priority as potato leaf plant 1, but still provides an interesting little project going forward.

Variegated regular leaf dwarf fruit, blossom end

Variegated regular leaf dwarf fruit, interior

The dwarf variegated regular leaf plant provided another delightful surprise. The fruit appeared as Captain Lucky in exterior color, but had less red inside. The flavor was very pleasant. The seed was saved as T26-74. This is very promising and warrants further work.

Any other odds and ends - these don’t fit into any of the above categories

pink fruited Peppy selection chartreuse leaf dwarf - grew out T25-45. This grew as last year’s plant did - tall, chartreuse leaf dwarf with lots of medium sized, smooth, slightly oblate pink tomatoes with a delicious flavor. This is distinct from Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet in being more productive, smaller, smoother tomatoes with a slightly better flavor. This selection is probably worth naming and releasing - but this is for future work. Seed saved as T26-63.

Canada Italian heirloom - similar to the Opalka or Jersey Devil types

Italian heirloom via Canada friend Steven, who sent me a few seeds to try - grown out as #8170. The tall, slender indeterminate plant had the typical weak, floppy foliage. The tomatoes were large, very long and pointed but with some variation, and were very meaty and tasty, with few seeds. This tomato is of the Opalka/Jersey Giant type. Seed was saved as T26-23. Is it unique enough to warrant a name and new release? This is a question for the coming months.

Ivory fruit from Dwarf Irma’s Highland Cherry - grew out T25-57 in a raised bed. The very vigorous, prolific plant produced the same ivory colored cherry tomatoes as last year. The flavor was mild but nice. Seed saved as T26-71. The jury is out if this is worth of release; if so, it will need a name.

Cherokee Gecko - grew out T25-28. The vigorous potato leaf plant produced a good yield of medium small oblate green fleshed tomatoes that had mottled light and dark green skin. The flavor was good, but not up to last year’s result in either taste or size. More selection work is needed. Seed saved as T26-66

Dwarf Mocha’s Cherry - grew out #7574 - The plant was grown in a raised bed and provided a few trusses of cherry size and shape fruit with a black hue when exposed to the sun, and deep dusky crimson color otherwise - seeds saved as T26-75

Dwarf Green Goose Egg - grew out #7967 - The plant, which was grown in a raised bed, finally gave some medium sized green when ripe oval to plum shaped tomatoes - seeds saved as T26-78.

Dwarf Marlin’s Slicer - indoor mostly ripened, some insect damage. Note internal structure.

Dwarf Marlin’s Slicer - grew out #7579, a potato leaf dwarf. I put the plant into the bale that held the cucumbers. The plant grew well and yielded 3 good sized, oblate, smooth tomatoes that had some worm damage. They ripened indoors and were not tasted - just for seed saving. This is a promising addition to the Ivalde line. Saved as T26-76. Note - released Ivalde family varieties are potato leaf bicolor heart (Gloria’s Treat), potato leaf bicolor oblate (Choemato), regular leaf bicolor oblate (Awesome), potato leaf pink heart (Big Valentine), regular leaf pink oblate (Sonrojo Monster). Marlin’s Slicer fills the potato leaf oblate pink slot. Missing are regular leaf bicolor heart and regular leaf pink heart.

volunteer tomatoes around the yard - red cherry, size midway between Mexico Midget and Sun Gold (saved as T26-78), ivory - looks like Coyote (saved as T26-79), Mexico Midget (saved as T26-82)