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.

Sweet corn grown in strawbales? Sure thing! Here's how I did it...

June 30 - 2 weeks from harvest. Mission accomplished!

We love great sweet corn, but it has been a long time since we’ve grown it ourselves. It was in our very first garden, in West Lebanon NH in 1981. We grew it in Villanova PA in 1984, and in West Chester PA from 1989-1991. Deer and lack of sufficient sun meant no corn in our Raleigh gardens.

Since strawbales are working so well in our Hendersonville gardens, I decided it was time to take the plunge and give corn a try. Sue and I are so glad that I did, as it has proven to work wonderfully. We’ve been harvesting 4 ears each day for a week, and there is lots more to come.

Corn seedlings emerging within a week of direct seeding

Here is what I did - step by step.

I purchased wheat straw bales in early April, deciding on four in which to grow the corn. I pushed them together to form a big square, positioning them strings down.

They underwent the typical treatment - alternating days of 1/2 cup high nitrogen granular (I use a 29-0-5 lawn starter) and deep watering, followed by 1 cup of 10-10-10 granular.

Throughout the 2 week prep, there is heavy daily watering. The bale treatment was done by mid April, but I decided to wait until early May to direct seed the corn into the bales. This also helped to get through the heavy mushrooming of the bales just after prep completion.

I decided on the corn variety Natural Sweet hybrid and ordered a packet from Pine Tree seeds. There are countless corn varieties, but this one sounded worth trying. We like the yellow/white bicolored corn, and 75 days to maturity sounded about right.

On May 5, the day I chose for planting, I spread a 2-3 inch layer of soil less planting mix over the entire 4 bale block. Whether it was wise or not, I recall seeing how thickly corn is planted in fields, so decided to just go for it. I planted four rows - two in each set of bales. The seeds were spaced 3 inches apart, with rows about 6 inches apart - the corn rows were about 6 inches from the edge. The seeds were pushed into the top layer of soil less mix to the depth of an inch.

After planting, I watered the planted strawbale block thoroughly. In about a week, seedlings emerged, and germination approached 100%.

Corn plants about 2 weeks after planting the seeds.

Realizing that corn gets tall and we get gusty thunderstorms, I felt that driving 6 foot takes into each corner of the block, and twine spanning the stakes at the heights of 1, 3 and 5 feet above the strawbale surface would provide the necessary support.

Since corn is a heavy feeder as well as a thirsty plant, I watered daily and fed weekly with applications of 10-10-10 granular. This is the extent of the care throughout the growing season - feeding and watering. The corner stakes and twine held things up perfectly.

Corn on June 11, about 5 weeks after planting. It has grown beyond the 3 foot twine.

It was so thrilling to see the plants tassel, and not long after that, silks began to show up where the ears were forming. The corn reached about a foot taller than the top twine support, making it a perfect fit.

My main concern was that the close planting would make for poor pollination, which would result in ears with kernel gaps. Once the tassels started to release pollen, I helped things by gently shaking the plants. each silk needs to have a pollen grain touch the end. We get frequent breezes here, and that is the natural pollination method.

Corn clearly tasseling at the end of June

As the calendar turned to early July the tips of the silks started turning a bit brown and ears started to feel like they were filling out nicely.

Corn stalks with silks showing.

The first ears seemed about ripe for the picking on July 11. A few were a bit less mature than ideal, but I was delighted to find that the ears were perfectly filled out. Pollination was complete even with the dense planting.

First 4 ears, harvested July 11

We are now at 17 ears harvested and they only get better and better - probably the best corn we’ve ever eaten. For the cost of 4 straw bales and a packet of seeds - about 30 dollars - I expect a minimum of 40 ears of corn.

I will wait for the final yield to decide on any needed tweaks to the process. If the inner two rows had issues maturing ears, I will aim for more plant separation next year. I will also try out some old favorite heirloom types, such as Hooker’s Indian or Country Gentleman.

Wrapping up this blog, for our 2025 garden, we are loving our string beans, summer squash, cucumbers, eggplants and peppers, and tomatoes are just beginning. But this will always be for me the garden in which corn finally made its triumphant reappearance!

ADDED ON JULY 21

Our current yield is 47 delicious ears of sweet corn - above my self set threshold for success. There may be a few more ears to come that are in the second rows, or from later emerging seeds. However, I have a pretty good idea now about the potential of this method - and a few tweaks I would make next year to make it even more successful.

Planting so much of one variety leads to a concentrated, somewhat overwhelming harvest. More gradual would be better. A reduction in size of the last dozen or so ears also indicates my spacing was too tight.

I am mulling a few changes. Selecting two different varieties of corn with distinctly different days to maturity would spread out the harvest, as well as afford a chance to try 2 additional varieties next year. A different orientation of the bales - using two rows of two bales each, rather than a block of 4 - would reduce the inner plants. Spacing the seeds to 6 inches apart would help ensure each plant got the water and nutrients needed. Here I am, not even 2 weeks into harvesting and eating the corn, and I am already excited about fiddling with the procedure next year with an eye for even more success.

Our first ears

Mid June Garden Update - So Far, So Good!

View of the garden from the deck on June 17

It’s happening! It’s time! Rampant growth, good looking plants, a few crop harvests imminent. This is my 44th garden (the first being in 1981 - and only 1992 was skipped as we were making our way from Pennsylvania to North Carolina). Here is a brief overview of progress on each crop type. By the way, I am continuing to do my daily garden minute, as well as weekly Instagram Lives - be sure to check them out at @nctomatoman.

All three bean varieties had excellent germination and all are covered with blossoms.

Bush Beans - Maxibell, Goldilocks and Fowler are primed for heavy production starting within a week.

Zephyr and Kefren with blooms and harvestable fruit already.

The growth of summer squash Zephyr and Kefren (2 plants each) is astounding. I will be harvesting the first from each today. Direct seeding of beans, squash, corn and cukes was a few days after planting tomatoes (which happened on May 1).

Cucumber plants growing up inside of tomato cages

With cucumbers it is only one type - Deli Star F1, from my friend Sam Austin in the UK. I have 2 hills of 2 plants each, using 4 foot tall cone shaped tomato cages as a trellis. All pants are blossoming and show small cukes - we will be harvesting within the week.

Sweet Peppers - 2 in the strewbale, 2 in flanking grow bags.

Now that warm weather is here (mid 80s most days), the peppers are taking off. I described the varieties in my last blog. At this point, things look great, with open flowers on all the bale plants, and fruit set on Fire Opal (which sadly doesn’t look correct - the immature fruit color looks more like Royal Purple).

Happy Eggplant basking in the finally warmer weather - their favorite!

Things are looking good on the eggplant front. Both straw bales plus one grow bag hold healthy plants just starting to show tiny buds. It won’t be long.

The tomatoes are looking just fine

The main attraction, the tomatoes, are thriving so far. Fruit have set on 20 or so, with another 10 due any day. As usual, the first ripe will be small fruited - probably Mexico Midget, Sun Gold or Rosella Cherry. There is no serious disease to speak of at this point, and no critters munching the plants. Of course it is early and things may look quite different in a few weeks. It has been excellent tomato weather - days mid 70s to mid 80s, with the odd shower here and there.

Sweet Corn up to the top twine “fence” already.

My sweet corn experiment is looking just fine so far - the plants are beginning to pop out the central tassels. I’ve been pondering if I will have to protect the ears from some crows that are always hanging around our area.

Finally, I’ve attempted 10 crosses already. I won’t talk about them now; it will be best to wait to see which ones took.

Scarlet monarda are making hummingbirds - and us - happy!

One month has passed, the garden is planted. Big update time!

The garden in late May

Time just slips through my fingers these days. Part of it is watching Eli - an utterly delightful task. The other is playing catch up in the garden and yard. As those who watch my new Instagram Daily Garden Minute - or my weekly Instagram Live shows know, the garden is planted and thriving.

The layout this year is three columns of straw bales with adjacent flanking grow bags. Below is the full list of what I am growing this year.

Right hand column, working back to front

Bale 1: Tomatoes Valdichiana and Triply F1 in the bale, flanked by Bee F2 regular leaf and Triply F2 regular leaf in the bags

Bale 2: Captain Lucky and Cherokee Purple X Potato Leaf Yellow F1, flanked by Bee F2 potato leaf and Triply F2 potato leaf in the bags.

Bale 3: Cherokee Purple and Cherokee Green, flanked by Honor Bright and Blazey F3 potato leaf in the bags

Bale 4: Brandywine and Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, flanked by Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe F3 potato leaf and Peppy F2 variegated in the bags.

Bale 5: Lucky Cross and Lucky Bling, flanked by Vary F2 variegated and Matey F2 variegated in the bags.

Bale 6: eggplants Twilight Lightning and Skinny Twilight, flanked by Peppy F2 chartreuse variegated and Chocolate Bell pepper in the bags.

Bale 7: sweet bell peppers Carolina Amethyst and Fire Opal, flanked by peppers White Gold and Royal Purple in the bags.

Bale group 8: bush beans Fowler, Goldilocks and Maxibell, one row of each.

A tomato plant in late May showing the happy bright green color of central new growth

Center column, working back to front.

Bale 1: Sun Gold F1 and Rosella Cherry, flanked by Mexico Midget and Carrot Like in bags.

Bale 2: Captain F1 and Captain F2 potato leaf, flanked by Agatha and Captain F2 regular leaf in bags.

Bale 3: Cherokee Sunburst and OTV Brandywine, flanked by Fuzzy Pink and Fuzzy Purple in bags.

Bale 4: Cherokee Chocolate and Potato Leaf Yellow, flanked by Don’s Delightful Heart and Dwarf Mocha’s Plum in bags.

Bale 5: Dester and Mary’s Favorite, flanked by Sullivan Rose and Rufus Red Stripe in bags.

Bale 6: Rufus Rainbow and Polish Bling, flanked by Rosella Purple and Dwarf Sweet Sue in bags.

Bale 7: cucumber Deli Star F1, 2 hills, 2 plants each.

Bale 8: summer squash Kefren zucchini and Zephyr, 2 hills, 2 plants in each.

Left hand column, working back to front

Bale group 1: Sweet corn Natural Sweet, 4 rows, flanked by Peppy F2 chartreuse and Peppy F2 variegated in bags.

Bale 2: eggplants Mardi Gras and Midnight Lightning, flanked by eggplant Green Ghost and sweet bell pepper Orange Bell in bags.

Bale 3: hot pepper Pinata and tapas pepper Shishito, flanked by Pinata and Jalapeno in bags.

Three seedlings remain to be planted - tomatoes Surprise and Mullens Mortgage Lifter, and sweet pepper Marconi, placements to be determined - they will end up in grow bags.

Buds on Captain F1, showing long sepals and structure typical of a round cherry type tomato

It's been awhile - again! Short blog listing available seedlings for those who love close by

Eli chilling out in late April during one of his days with Sue and I

Hi all - Sue and I are deep into week day Eli care, which is utterly delightful. It has scattered by focus on gardening a bit, so I find myself behind on responding to emails, on transplanting, on yardwork. The strawbales are treated and ready, and lettuce and other greens reside, along with scallions, in our raised beds. It’s all good - things will get done when they need to. I do promise to get emails answered by the coming weekend. Those of you who watch my weekly Instagram Live also know what I’ve been up to (they can all be found on my Instagram Reels tab - @nctomatoman).

Strawbales in full mushrooming glory

There has been interest from area gardeners on which seedlings I will have this spring - as in quite soon. Numbers of any given variety are quite limited (I will note the exceptions). If you are drivable distance to us here in Hendersonville, and have interest in any of the following, please drop me an email - nctomatoman@gmail.com - to set up a time to come and get some.

Tomato seedlings finally making progress in late April

Dwarf Tomato Project varieties:

Gloria’s Treat, Sweet Sue, Irma’s Highland, Firebird Sweet, Eagle Smiley (I have lots of these), Elsie’s Fancy, Purple Heart, Parfait, Maralinga, Chocolate Lightning, BrandyFred, Banksia Queen, Beauty King, Golden Tipsy, Rosella Purple, Suz’s Beauty, and Uluru Ochre - 17 varieties

Indeterminate tomato varieties:

Captain Lucky, Cherokee Purple , Cherokee Chocolate, Cherokee Green, Potato Leaf Yellow, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Nepal, OTV Brandywine, Brandywine, Dester, Polish, Sun Gold, Mexico Midget, Lucky Cross, Earl, Mary’s Favorite, Lucky Bling, Polish Bling.

There are a few assorted this and that varieties, as well as some sweet and hot peppers and eggplants, and some greens - particularly lettuce.

...and now for the details - the full list of what is germinating and being transplanted

Tomato seedlings up and growing - planted March 1, view on March 7.

It is that time of year - germination is well under way. Most everything that I wanted to grow from seed has been planted (I always forget a few things and will likely plant a few more). I have quite a few varieties, but less plants, just as planned. I am starting juggling flats - which to start easing outside for hardening off, which stay on the heat mats. Transplanting is even well underway for the first planting - greens and scallions. Gardening is such fun!

Greens flat (50 cell plug flat), planted February 10, transplanted between March 2 and March 6.

Swiss Chard Bright Lights from Pine Tree and Fedco, several years old - both germinated well, in 2-3 days. They are now in 3.5 inch pots, 4 plants per pot.

Swiss Chard Perpetual, older seed - fair germination.

Swiss Chard Rhubarb, older seed - fair germination

Swiss Chard Lucullus - older seed - poor germination

Spinach Nobel - older seed - no germination

Spinach Space from JSS - fair germination - all spinach is now in 3.5 inch pots, 4 plants per pot

Spinach Seaside from Pine Tree - excellent germination

Spinach Space from Pine Tree - very good germination

Spinach Acadia, older seed - no germination

Smooth Kale sent by a gardening friend - excellent germination - it is now in 3.5 inch pots, 4 plants per pot

Lettuce Green Ice, older seed - no germination

Lettuce Cimarron -older seed - no germination

Lettuce Gabriella - excellent germination - all lettuce is now in 3.5 inch pots, 6 plants per pot

Lettuce Red Salad Bowl, older seed - no germination

Lettuce Magenta, older seed - no germination

Lettuce Cherokee, older seed - not germination

The next four lettuces are Frank Morton varieties shared by gardening friend Gail Felton, and all germinated great and are in 3.5 inch pots, 6 plants per pot

Zilla, Mix, Funky Purple and Wavy Green. I look forward to seeing what these do! Thanks, Gail!

Scallion Red Beard from Sow True - excellent germination - separated into one plant per cell in a 50 cell plug flat

Scallion Tokyo Long - excellent germination - separated into one plant per cell in a 50 cell plug flat

Velvet Red Wave Petunia - 5 seeds planted, 5 seedlings, too small to transplant

Lavender - pinch of seeds planted, slow - just emerging.

Verbena annual color mix - excellent germination, in 6-cell plugs, 1 plant per cell

Overall I am pleased with the above and will have plenty of spinach, chard, kale, scallions and lettuce for our raised beds. Chard germinated in 2-4 days, spinach in 2-3 days, lettuce in 2-4 days, scallions in 2-3 days, petunia in 5 days, verbena in 4 days, lavender in approx. 20 days.

Separated, transplanted lettuce on May 6

Flat 2 - Old and new hybrid tomato flat - planted Feb 19. Not transplanted yet, but soon.

Triply F1 - 2 of 6 germinated, Feb 22 (3 days)

Triply F2 - 10 of 10 germinated, Feb 22 (3 days)

Captain F1 - 3 of 3 germinated - Feb 22 (3 days)

Captain F2 - 9 of 10 germinated, Feb 22 (3 days)

Bee F2 - 10 of 10 germinated, Feb 22 (3 days)

Bee F3 - none of 5 germinated

Old tomatoes - no germination yet (today is day 15) for Brandywine 11-61, 11-7, 11-60, 11-71, 11-49; Cherokee Chocolate 10-6, 11-13, 11-62, 11-18, 12-72; Cherokee Purple 11-51, 11-11; Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom 11-47, 12-15, 13-18; Anna Russian 12-7; 13-3, 13-157, 14-2; Mortgage Lifter Mullens 11-12, 13-25; Mortgage Lifter Halladay 14-16.

Mortgage Lifter Halladay 13-23 - a few germinated on March 3 (12 days)

Anna Russian 12-31 - a few germinated on March 5 (14 days)

Brandywine 12-38 - a few germinated on March 2 (11 days).

What this indicates to me is that seed at 10 years old or more is very iffy - this will guide me as to what to toss next. It can take 20 days or more for old seed to germinate, from my experience, so I am not giving up yet on those that haven’t showed.

Tomato seedlings - planted March 1, view March 7

Flat 3 - Assorted tomatoes, eggplants, peppers - planted March 1. Today is day 5 - all but 6 tomatoes are up. Eggplants and peppers take longer, but a few are appearing.

Family heirlooms and the like, typically only a few seeds of each - these are destined to be grown in Caitlin and Jason’s garden.

Pale Perfect Purple (no show yet), Valdicciana, Hart’s, Vine, Green-Gold-Purple, Abraham Lincoln, German Splash, Big Barney’s, WV 23, Boho (no show yet), Giant Crimson, Limbaugh’s, Red/Yellow (no show yet), German Heirloom, Curtis Cheek, Agatha Christie dry seed found in a library book a few weeks ago, Mortgage Lifter Mullens 22-58 (no show yet), Mortgage Lifter Halladay 22-57.

Varieties planted for breeding projects - often lots of seeds to see the variations for selection. I have fuzzy, carrot leaf, yellow leaf and ferny leaf among these - time to play with dwarf breeding again.

Fuzzy Purple 21-95, Fuzzy Pink 21-96, Zoe’s Sweet X Walter’s Fancy F2 24-13 (5 cells of 15 seeds), Blazing Beauty X Walter’s Fancy 24-14, Choemato X Walter’s Fancy 24-15, Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe green fruit find 23-26, Don’s Double Delight X Cancelmo pink/gold striped heart find 23-28 (Don’s Delightful Heart), Dwarf Mocha’s Plum, Potato Leaf Yellow X Cherokee Purple F1 8069, Earl X Cherokee Green yellow/red selection from Alex 8070, Lillian’s Yellow regular leaf 8054 (seeking PL to confirm an accidental cross), Surprise 16-113 (no show yet), Carrot Like 21-60, Honor Bright 16-110.

Advanced selections from breeding projects - these are now named and will be offered by Victory eventually if all goes well

Sullivan Rose (pink from Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow) 8011, Mary’s Favorite (yellow from ChP X LYH) 24-28, Lucky Bling (variegated PL bicolor from Blue’s Bling X Little Lucky) 24-31, Rufus Rainbow (variegated RL bicolor from Blue’s Bling X Little Lucky) 8068, Polish Bling (variegated PL purple from Polish X Blues’s Bling) 22-17

Peppers and eggplants

Shishito 24-1, Jalapeno 661, Pinata 652 (no show so far), Carolina Amethyst 21-33 (no show yet), Fire Opal 21-6 (no show yet, Twilight Lightning (no show yet), Skinny Twilight, Midnight Lightning (no show yet), Mardi Gras.

Flat 4.. Main favorite heirlooms, and a selection of released dwarfs - planted March 1. Today is day 5. All but one germinated. There are a few odds and ends in this flat too.

Indeterminate heirlooms - Captain Lucky 24-32, Cherokee Purple (2 cells) 24-20, Cherokee Chocolate (2 cells) 24-21, Cherokee Green24-22, Potato Leaf yellow 24-23, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom 19-1, Nepal 24-18, OTV Brandywine 18-13, Brandywine 24-23, Dester 23-187, Polish 24-24, Sun Gold JSS packet, Mexico Midget 24-5, Lucky Cross 24-26, Earl 24-12, Rosella Cherry 7328. I planted between 10-15 seeds of each - enough to share with some local gardeners as well as my garden.

Released Dwarf Tomato Project tomatoes - Gloria’s Treat 23-60, Rufus Red Stripe (found in Hannah’s Prize - scarlet with gold stripes) 23-93, Sweet Sue 23-72, Irma’s Highland 23-73, Firebird Sweet 23-74, Eagle Smiley 7754, Elsie’s Fancy 23-75, Purple Heart 23-76, Parfait 23-80, Maralinga 23-87, Chocolate Lightning 23-92, BrandyFred 23-88, Banksia Queen 23-89, Beauty King 23-97, Golden Tipsy 23-99, Rosella Purple 23-107, Suz’s Beauty 23-114, Uluru Ochre 24-39.

Miscellaneous - Potato Clancy seeds for the heck of it - rack packet; Chinese Broccoli packet from a rack, Emerald Tower Basil, Prospera Basil (not yet up), Devotion Basil (not yet up), Zinnias Oklahome, California Giant, Tidepool, Firestarter and Zinderella - half a dozen or so seeds of each for the Zinnias. The basil seed that isn’t germinating is 4-5 years old.

Finally - of the above, it remains to be definitively determined which will be in my garden, which in my daughter’s garden, and which are for local plant sharing.

Eli with Sue - March 6 babysittihg

First germination results to share - and just back from the wonderful Joy of Gardening symposium in Richburg SC

Audience gathering for my Epic Tomatoes workshop at the Feb 22 Joy of Gardening symposium.

Sue and I are back from a wonderful short trip to Richburg SC, a roughly 2 hour drive east, to speak at the Joy of Gardening symposium hosted by the York County SC Master Gardeners. Extra thanks go to Dan, who organized the event and invited me to speak, and Karen, who was there for AV support. I last spoke at this event in 2012 - so much has happened since then, but the enthusiasm and warm hospitality remains the same.

Ah, home sweet home! Despite being gone only a little over 24 hours, we missed our dogs and cats and own bed (and my home roasted coffee), and our status as home bodies is always reinforced. There’s no place like home!

Before the trip, I made the initial planting of tomato seeds. Half a dozen varieties were from my recent crosses, and lots of these were sent out to those who requested seeds. Another 25 were quite old saved seed of favorite varieties, and will serve as a germination vs seed age test.

Here are day 4 germination results - these will be helpful for those who received seeds from me in terms of guiding expectations for your results when you plant them.

Triply (Cherokee Purple X (Dwarf Choemato X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy F1) F1 - planted 6 seeds, 2 are up so far (33%)

Triply F2 - planted 10 seeds, 9 are up (90%) - Quite a few of you got some of these seeds.

Captain (Captain Lucky X Sun Gold F1) F1 - 3 seeds planted, 3 seedlings (100%) - again, quite a few of you received 1 or 2 seeds, so it is good to see high germination.

Captain F2 - I was most worried about these, as the tomatoes too a long time indoors to ripen and the seeds were very small. I planted 10 seeds and 5 are up (50%) - I am very relieved to see this. Lots of you received some of these, so you should be in luck with getting at least a few plants to grow out.

No surprisingly, nothing has germinated yet from seeds that range from 11 to 14 years old. These are various savings of Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Anna Russian, Halladay’s and Mullens Mortgage Lifters.

I hope to make a planting of more recent saved seeds, as well as recently received family heirlooms, today. I also plan to do my second Instagram Live of the 2025 season this upcoming week.

I really appreciate all of the new gardening friends Sue and I made at the South Carolina event. Many of you have already found me on Instagram. Like I always say - gardeners are going to be a big help in saving this world!

Eli and Marlin - good buddies!

Many of you are receiving seeds from me. Here's some info on what to expect and how to proceed.

finishing up the huge job of seed request fulfillment

By Sunday, all seed requests will be fulfilled and on their way (the Sunday packed will be in the Monday mail). It is a very wide array of seeds being sent out, which really depletes my stores (which is absolutely fine - I will be doing more seed saving this coming garden season).

Quite a few requests involved a first look at some of my recent crosses. Rather than answer everyone’s emails individually with how to proceed, this blog will be a general guide to the material I’ve sent out.

Sun Gold F1 X Captain Lucky F1 hybrid - Captain family - I made this cross last summer - pollen of Sun Gold onto a flower of Captain Lucky. I don’t have many seeds - people are receiving 1 or 2 seeds - that will be enough to take a look at the hybrid and save lots of seeds. Only one plant is needed of this hybrid. I grew the hybrid late last summer and it produced large pale orange cherry tomatoes, most of which I had to ripen indoors. I am going to regrow the hybrid this year for lots of seed saving. I didn’t taste this last year. The hybrid plant should be regular leaf.

Sun Gold F1 X Captain Lucky F2 - Captain family - my seeds are from the late planted hybrid from last year - the indoor ripened seeds from about 8 tomatoes are quite small - I am sending out around 5 seeds to each person who requested - that’s all I can supply. I have no idea what germination will be like. 25% of the seedlings will be potato leaf. Interesting results could be on either regular or potato leaf plants. I look forward to hearing what people find - I hope to grow a few plants myself.

Cherokee Purple X (Dwarf Choemato X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy F1) F1 hybrid - Triply family - I applied pollen from Cherokee Purple to a blossom on the dwarf hybrid plant. I grew one plant late - it produced a few larger oblate tomatoes that were ripened indoors and seemed red or pink. A few people are getting a few hybrid seeds. They should grow regular leaf and indeterminate. Save lots of seeds for the interesting part of the project - treasure hunting in the F2 generation.

Triply family F2 seeds - A few people are getting 10 or so seeds that were saved from the indoor ripened fruit. This is going to be a complex cross to work with - there will be indeterminate, dwarf, potato leaf, regular leaf, variegated leaf and normal leaf color - and the three colors - purple, yellow/red bicolor, and white - should provide many different combinations. Grow what you can - I didn’t test germinate these, so will hope for the best from what I sent.

Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy F2 - I took pollen from Dwarf Walter’s Fancy and applied it to a flower on Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet. I saved seed from the fruit that formed and planted it last year. It provided a potato leaf, normal colored dwarf that yielded medium sized pink tomatoes. Lots of seeds were saved, which is what I am sending some of you - at least 15-20 seeds each. This will be a fun one - all seeds will yield dwarf potato leaf plants, with some showing chartreuse leaves, some normal green, some normal green variegated and a few few chartreuse variegated. It can take a few weeks of warm weather for the variegation to show in the young seedlings. This is a pink X white cross - we will see what sorts of colors show themselves. Grow what you can and have fun!

Dwarf Blazing Beauty X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy F2 - I took pollen from Dwarf Walter’s Fancy and applied it to a flower on Dwarf Blazing Beauty. I saved seeds from the fruit that formed and planted it last year - it provided a potato leaf, non-variegated dwarf that yielded lots of medium sized pink, delicious tomatoes. This is already a surprise - white X orange giving a pink hybrid. I have lots of seeds and am sending good sized supplies to some of you. All seedlings will be dwarf and potato leaf - 25% or so will be variegated. As for fruit colors - let’s see!

Dwarf Choemato X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy F2 - I took pollen from Dwarf Walter’s Fancy and applied it to a flower on Dwarf Choemato. I saved seeds from the fruit that formed and planted it last year - it provided a potato leaf, non-variegated dwarf that had a heavy yield of medium sized yellow tomatoes with a red blush and delicious flavor. I have loads of seeds, so am sending out large quantities to some of you to play with. All seedlings will be dwarf and potato leaf - 25% or so will show variegation. The fruit colors you get will be interesting to see.

First seeds planted for the 2025 garden - chard, lettuce, kale, spinach, a few flowers. More info to come in a future blog.

The Goal of all of the above work is early generation discovery of promising new things to follow up on. Information I would love to get from all who get seeds is overall germination, number of each type of plant (indeterminate, dwarf, normal leaf, variegated, chartreuse leaf), and what you decide to plant out to maturity. After that, if you find anything really great - please save seeds - send me a small sample. If it is something unusual and unique, you can think of a name for it. It will take several generations to stabilize anything worth pursuing and releasing to the public.

Eli on February 9 - age 6 weeks. Sue and I are totally captivated by this fellow.