The Seeds are all Planted. Greens are Transplanted. Here's what I am growing...

Cell of Bright Lights chard ready to separate into individual cells

A typical season (since I dove into heirlooms in 1987) would mean 5 or 6 plug flats, all 50 cells filled with seeds. This season is now so clearly different - 2 plug flats, one of which less than half full (the greens plantings). A few days ago I planted tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and basil. That’s it - my 2024 garden is now well underway, including varieties that will be in my back yard and the Veterans Healing Farm Flag Garden, with a few planted to bring to local events. I’ve also separated and transplanted the greens that were seeded a few weeks ago into individual cells in a plug flat. It is the last day of February - I’d call this progress.

Here is the list and seed lot number of what I planted:

• Abraham Brown T23-4 - for my garden

• Polish T23-5 - maybe my garden, maybe VHF garden

• Big Sandy T23-7 - for the VHF garden

• Lucky Cross T23-8 - for my garden, and perhaps the VHF garden

• Brandywine T23-13 - maybe my garden, maybe VHF garden. If T11-7, 11-49 and 11-60 germinates, one of them could be in my yard, the others at the VHF

• Cherokee Purple T22-3 - both gardens. If T11-51 germinates, that will be in my yard

• Cherokee Chocolate T22-2 - both gardens. If T11-13 germinates, that will be in my yard

• Cherokee Green T23-22 - backup

• Earl T21-5 - one or both gardens

• Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom T23-10 - my garden

• Cherokee Green T16-142 - my garden

• Lucky Bling T23-24 - not sure

• Mary’s Favorite Yellow T23-27 - not sure

• Captain Lucky T23-173 - both gardens

• Potato Leaf Yellow T23-36 - both gardens

• Sun Gold hybrid JSS packet - my garden

• Egg Yolk T23-46 - my garden

• Mexico Midget T21-70 - my garden

• Dwarf Choemato X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy F1 hybrid T23-123 - my garden

• Dwarf Blazing Beauty X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy F1 hybrid T23-124 - my garden

• Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy F1 hybrid T23-125 - my garden

• BrandyFred X Polish F1 hybrid T23-126 - just a check to see if the cross took.

• Fairytale Angel T23-132 - VHF garden

• Lillian Rose T23-133 - not sure

• Fairytale Fruit T23-131 - not sure

• Nepal T23-150 - VHF garden

• Red Brandywine T18-11 - VHF garden

• Sample sent to me to confirm whether dwarf

• Uluru Ochre T23-52 - to share

• Dwarf Gloria’s Treat T23-60 - to share

• Dwarf Eagle Smiley T23-199 - to share

• BrandyFred T23-88 - to share

• Dwarf Beauty King T23-97 - to share

• Dwarf Wild Spudleaf T23-111 - to share

• Dwarf Saucy Mary T23-110 - to share

• Sweet Scarlet Dwarf T23-117 - to share

• Dwarf Purple Heartthrob 7583 - to share

• Dwarf Chocolate Heartthrob 7577 - to share

• Shishito pepper T23-3 - my garden

• Pinata pepper T22-9 - my garden

• Midnight Lightning eggplant T23-3 - not sure

• Mardi Gras eggplant F23-1 - not sure

• Skinny Twilight eggplant T23-4 - not sure

• Twilight Lightning eggplant T23-2 - not sure (I will plant 2 of these 4 in my garden)

• Various basil - Devotion, Prospera, Genovese, Caramel Chianti, and saved from the WNC Arboretum - 6 cells, a pinch in each - I will have some in containers in my yard

Separated chard seedling all tucked in deep

Reiterating thoughts on both gardens: For the Veterans Healing Farm garden (VHF), there will be big changes from last season. The farm has to relocate, so there is no use of the greenhouse. We will have use of the flag garden on the other side of Shaw’s Creek for this growing season. Current plans are to put the plants into prepared straw bales, 2 plants per bale. We hope for 30 bales/60 plants, focusing on those varieties that combine flavor with productivity. The varieties I planted will cover our needs. We will also have a few bales ready for varieties for the farm volunteers. The main challenge will be providing adequate water. The tomato team will surely rise to the challenge!

2 of the three transplanted greens flats - spinach, kale, collards, lettuce, chard

For my garden, I plan to put one plant in each bale, with 12 bales for tomatoes. I may have a few driveway containers for experimental varieties. Anything I planted that won’t be grown out are extras to distribute at my events.

The above does indeed represent a significant change, and I look forward to have the ability to focus more on each plant and share techniques and care during the weekly Instagram Lives. It should also leave plenty of time for me to complete the book on the Dwarf Tomato Project.

While I am planting seeds, Sue is down in the cats’ downstairs room working on a quilt

It's Planting Time! Here are my choices. And - some milestones. And March events.

Greens planted on Feb 6, getting some filtered sun outdoors Feb 23

With just a week remaining in February, it is time to get my seed planting plans in place. I already have some things up and growing, which I will show and describe below.

Let’s start with some milestones.

• Epic Tomatoes was published in December 2014. It’s been 10 years since its release!

• My first significant garden was in 1981 - 43 years ago. That’s a lot of pounding stakes into the ground, dealing with dirty fingernails, feet with ground in clay soil, and tomato foliage-stained T shirts!

• I joined the Seed Savers Exchange in 1986 - 38 years ago. No wonder my heirloom seed collection grew to the size it now is.

• The SSE was formed in 1975. That means next year is its Golden Anniversary - 50 years for the great idea and incredibly relevant organization.

• I received, and first grew (and named) Cherokee Purple in 1990. That is 34 years ago.

• I’ve grown Cherokee Purple 52 times, Cherokee Chocolate (which appeared in my garden in 1995) 40 times, Cherokee Green (which appeared in my garden in 1997) 28 times, Brandywine (Sudduth strain which I received from Roger Wentling in 1987) 45 times, and Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom 30 times - these are the varieties I’ve grown the most often by a wide margin.

Time certainly flies when you’re having fun - the speed that the above transpired can only mean I am having a blast!

Now, on to seeds planted, or planned to be so soon.

My first 14 cells, planted on February 6, included spiderwort (a slow germinator, still waiting for it) Bright Lights chard, an heirloom Collard, a smooth leaf Kale, the spinach varieties Acadia, Space, Seaside, and Giant Nobel, and lettuces Magenta, Cherokee, Cimarron, Gabriella and Green Ice. The seeds germinated quickly and mostly well (a few varieties are a bit old and were no shows), and are getting their first taste of outdoors and sun today.

As for tomatoes, I always like to go back and germinate some really old seed of important varieties. Sadly, the list of potential candidates is much smaller this year. Today I planted Cherokee Chocolate from 2011 (T11-13), Cherokee Purple from 2011 (T11-51), and Brandywines from 2011 - T11-7, 49 and 60. These are the oldest vials, closest to originally sent seed, that could germinate. for Brandywine, 11-7 is 4 plantings removed from source seed, and 11-49 and 11-60 are 5 plantings removed. Cherokee Chocolate 11-13 is only 2 plantings removed from discovery, and Cherokee Purple 11-51 is 3 plantings removed.

At this point, it seems the 12 tomato plants destined for my main tomato strawbale garden, 1 plant per bale, are Abraham Brown, Polish, Lucky Cross, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate, Cherokee Green, Captain Lucky, Potato Leaf Yellow, Sun Gold F1 hybrid, and Egg Yolk - and either Earl, Mary’s Yellow or Rainbow Bling. I will have Mexico Midget in a container in a different location, and am pondering growing out 1 each of the new hybrids I made last year at the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse. For all of these plants, I will be going to most recently saved seed.

Varieties I will start for the Farm straw bales in addition to the above are Earl, Big Sandy, Nepal, Red Brandywine, and. Fairytale Angel. I did want to have a few plants at my home to donate or give to local gardens, so am also going to start Lillian Rose, Fairytale Fruit, Uluru Ochre, Gloria’s Treat, Eagle Smiley, BrandyFred, Beauty King, Wild Spudleaf, Saucy Mary, Sweet Scarlet Dwarf, Purple Heartthrob, and Chocolate Heartthrob. All of these will be from most recently saved seeds. Filling the 50 cell plug flat will be peppers Shishito and Pinata, eggplants Midnight Lightning and Twilight Lightning and some downy mildew resistant Basil, as well as some Genovese.

Events for March

• March 4 - Containers and Strawbales, Zoom for a PA library

• March 16 - Veterans Healing Farm, US Garden History, Johnson Farm on Rt 191 Hendersonville, 10 AM, free

• March 19 - Containers and Strawbales, Hendersonville Library 5:30 PM, free

• March 20 - Tomatoes, Sonoma CA garden group Zoom, details to follow

• March 27 - Containers and Strawbales, Sow True Seeds, Asheville, 5:30 - link to follow (fee event)

first flowers are crocus - we did not plant these (thanks birds or squirrels!)

Seed Sending Update, Gardening Thoughts, Latest Events Schedule and more...

Last time Sue and I were on cross country skis in a big snowstorm in Raleigh 24 years ago

January is done, all gone in the blink of an eye. That’s 8.3% of 2024 now behind us. The weather here has been pretty consistently cold and wet - no snow (sadly), but it certainly feels better to be snuggled indoors. Growing season is right around the corner, though - that is clear from the new growth on the hellebores and the emerging growing tips of tulips and daffodils, and swelling buds on the quince bushes.

Here’s a series of updates on topics noted in the blog header

1. Satisfying all seed requests. All done! My 2023 seed request folder is empty. My seed supply is now uniformly very low. I won’t be able to fill any seed requests until the coming fall - and it will be much, much smaller due to the low number of tomato plants I will be growing this year. For all those who got (or will soon be getting) seeds from me, any donations you would like to make are welcome - the donate button at this link goes to Paypal.

2. Gardening thoughts for the coming year: Our garden will be very different from nearly all other gardens. The goal is 12 tomato plants - 12 tomato varieties. I haven’t completely settled on the varieties, but Cherokee Purple, Captain Lucky and Sun Gold will be three of them. I think I will skip bell peppers and have just Shishito and a Jalapeno. There are likely to be two eggplants. There will be cucumbers, and lots of bush snap beans. I am pondering having ONE tomato plant per straw bale to maximize production. This would all add up to 20 straw bales total. To get things started, I hope to get some greens seeds started indoors soon. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants will be seeded on March 1, with a target plant out date of May 1. I hope to get straw bales conditioning in early April.

3. Gardening at the Veterans Healing Farm: Recent news is that the Farm has to relocate. We will not have access to the greenhouse, but will instead put the tomatoes in the flag garden on the other side of Shaw Creek. My tomato team is intact from last year, and I will be gathering them soon to plan things out. We will plant in straw bales, and my latest thoughts are 10 varieties, 6 plants each - about half of last year’s plant and variety number.

Digging in the garden with my dad Wilfred in West Chester, PA, 34 years ago. This was the garden that I first grew the unnamed purple heirloom sent to me that I named Cherokee Purple.

Finally, below is the latest event schedule - it has been growing over the last few weeks. I am not sure which of these may be open for registration beyond the organizing group, but will let you know as each approaches.

• January 16 - WI MG Zoom, topic Strawbale and container gardening, 7:30 PM eastern (closed event, no wider attendance possible) (completed)

• January 18 - The Growing Space podcast recording (my friend Erin Hostetler, The Patio Gardener’s new podcast) - I’ll let you know when this runs and how to listen (recorded - will air in the spring - more info to follow)

• February 3 - central IL MG Zoom on Tomatoes - time - 10 AM eastern - closed event, no wider attendance possible) (completed)

• February 10 - Greater Greenville (SC) MG SC symposium - giving two talks (tomatoes and containers/strawbales). Event requires registration - see the link. It is apparently sold out. (completed)

• February 21 - 56th Annual Winter Vegetable Conference, Asheville NC - Dwarf Tomato Breeding Project - Event requires registration - see the link. (completed)

• February 21 - Hardy Plant Society, mid Atlantic group Zoom, talking tomatoes, 6:30 PM. Not open for others to join (completed)

• March 4 - Peters Township Public Library, McMurray PA Zoom - straw bale and container gardening - 6 PM. Not sure if it is open for others to join.

• March 16 - Veterans Healing Farm, History of Gardening in America - 10 AM, Johnson Farm off of Haywood Road

• March 19 - Hendersonville Public Library - Gardening with Containers and Strawbales - 5:30 PM, free

• March 20 - Sonoma County CA MG Zoom - tomatoes - 8 PM eastern. Not sure if others can join.

• March 27 - Sow True Seeds - containers and straw bales - 5 PM - I will post registration link when available.

• April 5 - Veterans Healing Farm - Strawbales and containers, at the farm on Yale Road - more info to follow

• April 5 - Tomato Talk - live discussion at 7 PM eastern.

• April 6 - Central Oregon MG Zoom - tomatoes - 1 PM Oregon time, 4 PM eastern. Not sure if others can join.

• April 8 - VA Beach MG Zoom - tomatoes - time TBD. Not sure if others can join.

• April 20 - Morganton - containers and straw bales - much more info to come

• May 14 -Veterans Healing Farm - tomatoes - Yale Road location - more info to follow

• September 12 - Brevard train depot, strawbales and containers - more info to follow

• October 9 - WNC MG Symposium - Hendersonville - tomatoes; time TBD.

• I am also working on an article for The American Gardener on tomato staking and pruning that will run in the spring.

Possible participation in other podcasts, such as Joe Lamp’l, possible additional workshops at Sow True Seeds, and unforeseen requests are all possible - check back for updates.

As for the Dwarf Tomato Project book, now that seed requests are fulfilled, I hope to dive into that project very soon. I want to write it (I NEED to write it), and it will get done - eventually. I plan to self publish the book.

On into February we all go! Keep following my Instagram posts (@nctomatoman), and keep reading my blog. I should start Instagram Live sessions some time in March. Any questions - just shoot me an email - nctomatoman@gmail.com - and I do read and respond to comments on this blog.

Picture of my dad, Wilfred, in his scout uniform, age 10. Picture found when we were packing for our move from Raleigh to Hendersonville in 2019. My dad was a major influence on my love of gardening.

A very brief seed request fulfillment progress report, upcoming activities, and more "what's next"

Sue and Betts on our Blue Ridge Parkway walk last week

It’s a blustery, chilly Tuesday morning, and I am just back from the post office. The last padded envelopes that fulfill recent seed requests are on their way to gardeners here and there in the US. A few books tucked with seeds will be on their way as well. All that will remain are a few complex seed requests that are headed outside of the US, always a challenge! Hopefully those will be done by the end of this week and I can call this task complete.

My first Zoom, for a Wisconsin master gardener group this evening, is not open for wider attendance, unfortunately. I’ve updated my list with additional details - my current list of events is in this blog entry.

With seeds and books on their way to you, and events underway, the next topic on my to do list is planning my 2024 garden. Initial estimate is to get lettuce and spinach planted indoors on Feb 1. Tomatoes will follow on March 1. I will of course share my thoughts on this blog, and on Instagram.

Also on my list at a high priority is digging into the Dwarf Tomato Project book that I will write, then self publish.

One of our peaceful afternoons - still life with dogs and Sue

Seed Request Fulfillment Update as of morning January 9

The complex process of fulfilling seed requests

With another trip to the post office soon, I am moving at a slow but steady pace through all of the seed requests received last year. I don’t know the exact count, but from 120 emails in my 2023 seed request folder, I am at 38 emails to be processed. 2/3 done, 1/3 to go.

I use a bit of a triage method - some requests are easy - just 1 or 2 varieties. Those get done first. For whatever reason, there are quite a few “complex'“ requests looking for older seeds, or to play in the dwarf tomato breeding project, or heading outside of the US. These take more time and I leave them for last.

I am running out of quite a few varieties that I talked up, so don’t be alarmed when you find seed packets with but a few seeds - Abraham Brown in particular. I will save 5 for myself, but that will end up being the extent of that variety in my collection (I will grow it next year to bump up my seed supply a bit). Captain Lucky and Cherokee Purple are also running down fast. The lead selection for Lillian Rose is down to just a few seeds for me, so I will be sending F3 seeds to select from.

This represents my very last large scale seed distribution, an activity I’ve done each winter for many years. It is the end of an era! My seed stock will be appropriately depleted after this, so for those obtaining seeds from me, be a seed saver!

NOTE - I did a bit of work on the Dwarf Tomato Project release page on this website. I have to work on descriptions, but the releases via Victory per year should now be accurate and stands at 157 varieties. Though the project is officially done, a few remaining releases are working their way through the system - the eventual final number will be between 165-170!

View from the Blue Ridge Parkway on our walk yesterday

Goodbye 2023! I am ready to turn the page...

Christmas Eve 2023

I am sitting here listening to one of our two favorite radio stations, WXPN (Philadelphia - the other is WNCW, Spindale NC - our days are often spent moving back and forth between the 2). Sue is sitting in the sunny, corner chair knitting. Koda, Marlin and Betts are here and there on various dog beds or sofas. The Christmas tree is still taking a bit of water, but its days are numbered. It is Sunday, December 31 - a perfect time for reflecting upon a busy 2023, and look forward to a hopefully calmer 2024.

2023 saw a slew of local garden talks and remote Zoom events. It was a year of a lot of tomato growing and busy gardening, both in my back yard and at the nearby Veterans Healing Farm. It was a year of a lot of wonderful hikes, an unfortunate late fall broken wrist for Sue (she healed well and we are back at it). We did more kayaking than usual, discovering Jocassee and Keowee in South Carolina, as well as Santeetlah in western NC. We also finally got to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to do some hiking.

December walk on the Blue Ridge Parkway (which was closed)

It was a milestone year that finally saw the official end of the Dwarf Tomato Breeding project. Spanning 2005 until 2023, it has been a memorable, fun and impactful 18 years and continues to produce new varieties, with a slew showing up in the Victory Seeds catalog recently, and a few more to come next year. The book describing the project is still pending, but I hope to dive in very soon (it will be self published). It is a story that must be told.

It was a wonderful year filled with books, movies and music. We are wrapping up our 4th year in Hendersonville, which we only love more with each day. 2023 saw the 43rd wedding anniversary of Sue and I, and our special enduring friendship is always the best part of every single day.

I will follow this up very soon with a blog post that will look forward into 2024. All I will say about that is that the next week will (finally!) see a lot of seed packing and sending. I’ve been remiss - I’ve been lazy, but this year demanded a mental break from gardening. The calendar is about to flip, and I will be ready for 2024.

Sue and I at the lights festival at the WNC Arboretum in December

Garden Updates Completed - So, What's Next?

Thanksgiving cactus happily blooming for the first time in our 4 years living here - they’ve finally adjusted!

Since my last set of blogs - including the big ANNOUNCEMENT entry - I’ve really enjoyed the pace slowing down a bit. The leaves are mostly raked, gardens mostly cleaned out, and flowers we want to keep going were dug up, potted and are living in the garage.

For various reasons, I decided to delay my knee replacement surgery for a year. This ended up being timely - Sue fell on a hike a few weeks ago and broke her wrist. She had surgery the next day and is recovering well. I am enjoying serving as her nurse (something she would have had issues with if I kept my early Dec knee replacement date!)

Aside from that recent drama, I’ve really embarked upon the reorganization and simplification of my seed collection with gusto. All peppers and eggplant seeds aged 10 years or more were thrown away. All tomato seeds aged 15 years or more were likewise tossed. This was not an easy thing to do, but it felt necessary. With far smaller gardens and far less seed saving, the significant seed disposal makes this refocusing of my gardening efforts seem very real. The main exception is that for now, at least, I retained the entire set of seeds that comprise the Dwarf Tomato Breeding project - the oldest of which are from 2006, hence will soon be 18 years old. The seed pruning task will be complete in another few days. I will also have a neat office for the first time in months - just in time for gardening Zooms to begin again in December.

Lots of rearrangement of my seed collection - this is still a work in progress

Up next will be fulfilling of seed requests. My aim is to get all seeds sent out by Christmas - mid January the latest depending upon the size and complexity of the requests (they are all sitting in a folder in my Gmail account). I won’t accept any additional requests until next fall, and even then, I won’t have very much seed for any but a few requests.

Once seed requests are complete, I will turn to writing and self publishing a book on the Dwarf Tomato Breeding Project. That will be quite a task, with pictures being one of the main challenges. Beyond that…we shall see, but it will likely involve dealing with all of the garden materials I’ve amassed over the years - including letters and old seed catalogs. And, of course, some gardening and hiking and kayaking will help fill 2024. We also have our first trip back to Ocracoke Island planned for May; it is our very favorite place to kayak.

Sue very popular with the treat jar

2023 Post-Season Garden Summary - Part #5. Veterans Healing Farm Greenhouse Dwarf Tomato Project varieties

Portulaca still hanging in there on the deck

Finally! The garden may be long gone for 2023, but my summary blog posts took some time to complete. The following information closes the door on my tomato reports. Here is the final summary update, focusing upon the dwarf varieties from the Dwarf Tomato Project that were grown in the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse. As with my last update, pictures will be scarce - I took some videos, but not pictures of individual plants or tomatoes. I will be as descriptive as possible.

NOTE - all plants are from Victory Seed Company packet seeds unless otherwise noted.

Dwarf Sweet Sue - This is exactly what Dwarf Sweet Sue is supposed to be - loads of medium sized nearly round bright yellow tomatoes with a pink blush as they mature. Superb flavor. This is superior to the plant I grew in my back yard, and is a standard for the variety. Seed saved as T23-72.

Dwarf Irma's Highland - T22-31 - One of the true tomato machines in the greenhouse, it was a prolific producer of chocolate colored cherry tomatoes with a nice mild, balanced flavor. It is on the tall side for dwarfs, behaving nearly like an indeterminate, due to Mexico Midget in its blood. Seed saved as T23-73.

Dwarf Firebird Sweet - I just love this variety and it did very well in the greenhouse. The medium sized pink tomatoes were heavily striped with green and gold - the deep crimson flesh was delicious. The Beauty family just kept giving and giving to our project! Seed saved as T23-74.

Dwarf Elsie's Fancy - A sister tomato to Dwarf Walter’s Fancy (Walter and Elsie Gibbs are my maternal grandparents), the heavily variegated potato leaf plant produced a heavy yield of medium sized bright true yellow tomatoes (vs Walter’s ivory fruit). Flavor was excellent. Seed saved as T23-75.

Dwarf Purple Heart (Fruition Seeds packet) - It is a shame that both Dwarf Purple Heart plant (two sources) demonstrated a high susceptibility to foliage disease in the greenhouse. Before meeting its demise, it produced a heavy yield of medium to large strongly heart shaped purple fruit with delicious flavor. Seed saved as T23-76

Dwarf Choemato - The plant struggled. Some medium oblate yellow/red streaked tomatoes were produced, but I didn’t manage to get any for seed saving before the plant was pulled. The tomato seemed to have fusarium wilt. I did save seeds from this from the plant I had in my back yard.

Dwarf Eagle Smiley - T21-51 - Though this plant nearly took over the greenhouse with its sprawling nature and extreme productivity (and delicious flavor), the color was an unexpected ivory, rather than bright yellow. We may have a new selection to work on and release. Justin, my friend who did most of the work on Eagle Smiley, has some of the ivory fruited seed to work with. Seed saved as T23-78.

Dwarf Snakebite - This plant was not in a great location and struggled mightily with disease, but did manage to produce some decent medium sized pink tomatoes. It has been much better in different seasons and locations. Seed saved as T23-79.

Dwarf Parfait - The plant seemed like it would never catch on, but it eventually thrived, producing large green fruit of surprising size - when cut, showed an orange core - with superb flavor. This is definitely a unique tomato deserving to be more widely grown, with a color tending to Uluru Ochre, but with more green. The tomatoes are nearly heart shaped. Seed saved as T23-80.

Dwarf Russian Swirl - It has been years since I’ve grown this, and it really surprised me with its productivity, earliness and beauty - smooth medium sized or larger oblate yellow tomatoes with generous red swirling. I loved it - more people need to know how excellent this is. Seed saved as T23-81.

Lucky Swirl (Fruition Seeds packet) - This plant struggled mightily with fusarium, early blight and possibly collar rot. Though some large yellow/red swirled tomatoes were produced, I didn’t manage to harvest any prior to plant death - so didn’t save seeds. I did get saved seeds from the Victory seed source (reported later in this blog).

Dwarf Idaho Gem - What a surprise - this plant (a substitute for one that died due to collar rot) produced large pale green (clear skin, green flesh) tasty tomatoes, rather than the hoped for bright yellow. It needs some more selection work (Victory was notified of my surprising result). Seed saved as T23-83.

Dwarf Mahogany - I planted a replacement plant, as the original came down with collar rot - was rerooted and grew well in my back yard garden. The plant in the greenhouse produced some tomatoes, but I didn’t manage to harvest any for seed saving.

Dwarf Langston - #7592 - This was a late replacement for a pulled plant. Though it grew well and produced tomatoes, I didn’t manage to get any from the plant for seed saving prior to the end of the season. I did grow it successfully in my back yard garden, and have saved seeds from that.

Dwarf Shimmering Beauty - #7758 - This was a greenhouse replant, replacing one that died. The medium to medium large tomatoes were light and dark green striped, with green flesh and a swirl of pink inside - it seems like it is ready to be released as a new variety - joining its other colorful relatives from the Beauty family. Seed saved as T23-86.

Maralinga - This replant (replacing one that died of collar rot) did great - and produced an excellent yield of delicious oblate chocolate colored tomatoes. It is one of those many varieties from our project that deserve to be more widely known and grown. I like it far better than the more popular Tasmanian Chocolate, which has the same coloring. Seed saved as T23-87.

BrandyFred - I never really paid enough attention to this one, but wow - it was impressive! Heavy yield of medium to large oblate purple fruit that were delicious. Yet another DTP variety deserving more attention. Seed saved as T23-88.

Banksia Queen - I finally got around to growing this one - I was part of the development team on this early on. The plant is on the tall side - the yield is very good, tomatoes medium to large, oblate, often a bit irregular - bright yellow with nearly white interior, just delicious - a nice hint of tartness. Seed saved as T23-89.

Coorong Pink - This is simply a very nice, very good tomato - high yield of smooth, medium sized pink fruit with an excellent, balanced flavor. Certainly deserves more attention. Seed saved as T23-90.

Dwarf Sarah's Red - This is my first time growing it in some years. I expected slightly larger tomatoes, but for those looking for a scarlet red saladette type, this fits the bill - yield is heavy and flavor is pleasant. Seed saved as T23-91.

Chocolate Lightning - I love this variety but it can be cranky with productivity. I found it’s favorite home - in the ground in the greenhouse! It was a tomato machine, with lots of gorgeous chocolate medium sized tomatoes with greenish gold stripes, and a deep crimson interior. Flavor excellent. Bravo for Chocolate Lightning this year! Seed saved as T23-92.

Dwarf Hannah's Prize - This was one of the few misfires/surprises in the greenhouse. Rather than large red oblate fruit, the tomatoes were gorgeous - scarlet red with fine, jagged golden stripes - with excellent flavor. It resembled Dwarf Beauty King in color. I think it deserves to be stabilized and released - perhaps called Dwarf Hannah’s Stripes? Anyone want to work on it? Seed saved as T23-93.

Dwarf Pink Livijia - Though a bit overwhelmed in its location by the neighboring indeterminate plant, it did quite well and produced tasty oblate medium sized pink tomatoes. I suspect that this is an underrated variety with great promise. Seed saved as T23-94.

Adelaide Festival - This plant produced an abundant crop of medium to medium large oblate purple tomatoes with greenish stripes. The flavor was excellent. I didn’t manage to get a ripe fruit for seed saving before all were distributed, and the plant pulled.

Dwarf Goldfinch - This plant was heavily shaded. The few tomatoes that were produced were of an incorrect color (scarlet red). I didn’t save any seed, but wish to regrow this highly regarded variety soon.

Dwarf Beauty King - This variety, like Chocolate Lightning (same family) can be a bit skimpy with yield in some seasons. It clearly loved the greenhouse conditions, as it produced its medium to medium large, smooth, scarlet tomatoes with gold stripes and superb flavor prolifically! Seed saved as T23-97.

Dwarf Black Angus - This was one of the few disappointments in the greenhouse. Rather than the hoped for medium large purple tomatoes, the plant produced small to medium oval pink tomatoes with ho hum flavor. A bit more work is needed to cull out some misfires in the seed, and I alerted Victory to this. Seed saved as T23-98.

Dwarf Golden Tipsy - This tomato has been renamed - it was formerly known as Dwarf Golden Gypsy. It did great in the greenhouse, producing delicious medium sized bright yellow tomatoes with pale yellow flesh, full flavored with a hint of tartness. This is simply a superb variety. Seed saved as T23-99.

Loxton Lass - Similar to sister tomato Loxton Lad, this has the most interesting growth habit - very short, lots of blossoms, then fills out over time. Medium orange fruit were prolifically produced - flavor quite nice, on the sweet side. I hoped to see a clear distinction between Lass and Lad, but that was not clearly accomplished. Seed saved as T23-100.

Dwarf Purple Heart - This plant performed just as the Fruition sample - high yield, early production, medium to large purple hearts - and early demise due to extreme foliage disease issues. Seed saved as T23-101.

Lucky Swirl - I suspect that this variety doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves, but for those wanting a productive large fruited, sweet tasting yellow/red bicolor, this is excellent. I did quite well in the greenhouse. Seed saved as T23-102.

TastyWine - The plant did well - healthy, good yields good flavor - a medium sized oblate pink. I would have liked to see larger fruit size - perhaps it needs a bit more selection work. Victory was notified. Seed saved as T23-103.

Wilpena - My first experience growing this variety was a very positive one. The potato leaf plant produced a good yield of medium to large tasty oblate scarlet red tomatoes. Seed saved as T23-104.

Summer Sunrise - I love this variety! The potato leaf plant produced lots of medium or larger smooth, oblate bright yellow tomatoes with a hint of pink blossom end blush. Flavor is outstanding. Seed saved as T23-105.

Summertime Green - This is quite a distinct dwarf, with dense, heavy growth, late fruit set, with tomatoes well embedded into the plant. The tomatoes are quite large, green in and out, with superb flavor and excellent productivity. This was one of our first project releases, and still one of the best - it seems Dwarf Emerald Giant gets more attention, perhaps because it is potato leaf. Seed saved as T23-106.

Rosella Purple - One of the most popular dwarfs, Rosella Purple did quite well, with a good yield of medium sized purple tomatoes with great flavor - and the typical few misshapen fruit. Seed saved as T23-107.

Dwarf Blazing Beauty - Though this produced very well and tasted great, the color was a bit more pale orange than I recall when it was in development. A bit of selection may be necessary by Victory to bring this back to the original release form. The flavor has delightful tartness. Seed saved as T23-108.

Dwarf Grinch - I need to grow this tomato more often. Fruit size is medium to large, smooth and green (clear skin) with green flesh when ripe and a hint of pink in the center. The flavor is excellent. This is a sister tomato to Dwarf Goldfinch. Seed saved as T23-109.

Saucy Mary - This got my vote as tomato machine of the greenhouse. The healthy plant produced a profusion of medium sized or larger plum shaped (oval) smooth tomatoes that were striped in varying shades of green and gold, with green flesh. I don’t know how popular this is, but it is just a great variety. Sue’s Aunt Mary would be so proud of new namesake tomato! Seed saved as T23-110.

Dwarf Wild Spudleaf - This is one of my go-to varieties for productivity and flavor. The attractive potato leaf plant produced lots of medium sized smooth delicious purple tomatoes. Seed saved as T23-111.

Dwarf Perfect Harmony - This is a sister tomato to the scarlet Dwarf Harmonic Convergence. The smooth medium orange tomatoes are delicious with a hint of tartness. The variety did well in the greenhouse. Seed saved as T23-112.

Rosella Crimson - T20-58 - Though this plant produced a heavy yield of medium to medium large pink tomatoes, some of irregular shape, of excellent flavor, I didn’t manage to harvest a fruit for seed saving before the plant was pulled.

Dwarf Suz's Beauty - If there is a DTP variety deserving to be more widely grown and known, it is this one. The plant did extremely well in the greenhouse, producing a heavy yield of medium sized yellow tomatoes with heavy red swirling. The flavor is excellent. This is yet another winner from the diverse Beauty family. Seed saved as T23-114.

Rosella Crimson - This is one of our original releases, and one of the varieties that proved our concept of excellent tomatoes on short plants. I always thought that this variety, when happy, resembles Brandywine in flavor. It also can struggle a bit with foliage disease. It did reasonably well in the greenhouse. Seed saved as T23-115.

Kodiak King - This one is for those that like their tomatoes really big - the scarlet tomatoes can reach over one pound, with a nice balanced flavor. It did quite well in the greenhouse. Seed saved as T23-116.

Sweet Scarlet Dwarf - Always one of my favorites from our project, it is also on the late side. The medium to medium large oblate scarlet tomatoes have very full, rich flavor, with a refreshing hint of tartness. This is one of the stars of our project. Seed saved as T23-117.

Willa's Cariboo Rose - The productivity of this somewhat obscure release from our project just blew me away. The medium sized pink tomatoes formed in big clusters. Flavor is fine - balanced toward the sweet side. This is one impressive DTP variety. Seed saved as T23-118.

Dwarf Walter's Fancy - Gorgeous plant with dark green foliage with white variegation on the foliage and stems. It really loved growing in the greenhouse, producing a high yield of medium sized oblate ivory tomatoes of excellent taste. Seed saved as T23-119.

Dwarf Zoe's Sweet - It was interesting to see how the chartreuse leaf gene “stretches” the plant upward, making it behave like a short indeterminate type. The pale green leaves were lovely and distinct, and the tomatoes were oblate, medium to large and nice and sweet - very much like one of its parents, Mortgage Lifter. Seed saved as T23-120.

Loxton Lad - This variety really pushes out the blossom clusters early, when the plant is quite short - yet continues on throughout the season. The medium sized orange tomatoes are very tasty - this is an underrated variety. Seed saved as T23-121.

Dwarf Wild Fred - Grew as hoped for, producing medum to medium large oblate purple tomatoes with excellent flavor. Seed saved as T23-122.

Dwarf Choemato X Dwarf Walter's Fancy F1 - creation of the Chewy family - new cross - I did a few crossing demos for my VHF tomato team. For this one, I took pollen from Dwarf Walter’s Fancy and applied it to a flower from Dwarf Choemato. The cross appeared to take - a tomato formed, which was allowed to ripen, and seed was saved. We will call this the Chewy family. The best possible outcome would be a potato leaf, variegated leaf dwarf with yellow/red bicolored delicious tomatoes. When the hybrid seed is grown out, it will be a potato leaf, green leaf dwarf with solid yellow tomatoes - that’s my guess. I will be looking for volunteers to explore this new family. Seed saved as T23-123.

Dwarf Blazing Beauty X Dwarf Walter's Fancy F1 - creation of the Orangey family - new cross - My second demo cross hopefully created what I will call the Orangey family. The best possible outcome would be potato leaf, variegated leaf dwarfs with orange, tasty tomatoes. When the hybrid seed is grown out, it will be a potato leaf, green leaf dwarf with orange tomatoes - that’s my guess. I will be looking for volunteers to explore this new family. Seed saved as T23-124.

Dwarf Zoe's Sweet X Dwarf Walter's Fancy F1 - creation of the Zoe family - new cross - My third demo cross hopefully created what I will call the Zoe family. The best possible outcome would be variegated chartreuse leaf, variegated leaf, dwarfs with an array of possible colors - I expect pink, white and yellow at least - with good size and excellent flavor. When the hybrid is grown out, it will be a potato leaf, normal dark green leaf dwarf with pink tomatoes - that’s my guess. This will be the easiest to prove that the cross took. I will be looking for volunteers to explore this interesting new family. Seed saved as T23-125.

BrandyFred X Polish F1 - creation of the Brandy family - new cross - My fourth demo cross hopefully created what I will call the Brandy family. I am not certain that I harvested the fruit that contains the hybrid seeds, but it will be easy to find out. The best possible outcome would be a potato leaf dwarf with excellent yields of large pink or purple tomatoes with superb flavor. When the hybrid is grown out, if I chose the correct fruit, the result will be indeterminate potato leaf plants with pink tomatoes. I will be looking for volunteers to explore this new family - the focus on this will be flavor. Seed saved as T23-126.

And so - that’s it. All of my 2023 garden results summaries are published. As to what’s next - first, catalog in samples of seeds recently received. Then, start the process of fulfilling seed requests that are sitting in my Google seed request folder. A big job then follows that - organizing my seed collection, which will also involve tossing any seed samples that are older than 20 years (I may revisit this and move the date up to 15 years). Once all that is done - then the process of writing the Dwarf Tomato Project book begins!

Scene of the harvest - the 2023 garden, following removal of all plants and strawbales. The dogs no longer have their maze to play hike and seek in!

2023 Post-Season Garden Summary - Part 4. Veterans Healing Farm Greenhouse Indeterminate Varieties

August view of the VHF greenhouse plants

Moving right along with my updates, I will now discuss the indeterminate varieties that we grew in the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse. Alas, my picture taking was not good at all, so this and the next blog will be more about descriptions and my ratings and reviews.

Fairytale Fee - #7893 - Plant died with either collar rot or pith necrosis prior to bearing any fruit.

Fairytale Elf - #7881 - This was a tomato machine and one of the best of the Kleverhof varieties. The medium sized, slightly plum shaped fruit were light and dark green striped on the outside, and green fleshed on the inside, with a nice mildly sweet flavor. Seed saved as T23-128

Fairytale Snack - #7878 - I grew this in my home garden as well as in the greenhouse and performance was the same - lots of 1 ounce flattened, ribbed, partly hollow snacking tomatoes that ripened orange and had a pleasant sweet flavor. Seed saved as T23-129

Fairytale Glanz - #7879 - very prolific bearing large pink cherry tomatoes with gold stripes, quite firm, mild flavor. Pretty, but not really a flavor winner. Seed saved as T23-130

Fairytale Fruit - #7911 - prolific, healthy, and a real surprise! The fruits varied in size from 3 oz to hear one pound, and oblate to round to a few approaching heart shapes. Color was yellow with red swirls, flesh tender and pleasant in texture. The flavor was quite outstanding - certainly one of the best bicolors i’ve eaten. This one is highly recommended. For my palate, this is the best of the Kleverhof releases. Seed saved as T23-131.

Fairytale Angel - #7895 - certainly the most prolific of the Kleverhof varieties, as well as one of the most beautiful, the small plum shaped tomatoes ripen nearly pure white with a true light violet shading on the shoulder. The flavor is mild and on the sweet end of things. Seed saved as T23-132.

Lillian Rose - T22-15 - This is what I was hoping for in growing Lillian Rose. The one in my back yard was more pink, larger and oblate - this one was pink with some yellow, more round, and more delicious. I consider this a lead for the new variety. The potato leaf plant is indeterminate but on the more compact end of things, and the high yield was produced quite late in the season. Seed saved as T23-133

Big Sandy - T22-67 - This grew identical to the one in my back yard - medium to large scarlet red beefsteak type tomatoes with an excellent flavor, produced prolifically. Seed saved as T23-134

Monticello Mystery Tomato - T19-112 - The mystery of this is that it originated from a seed found in excavated soil near the kitchen location of Monticello and shared with me in 2013. The highly irregular, wrinkled, ribbed and ridged tomatoes can grow quite large, up to one pound. The flavor is quite good. This tomato gives us a peek into what tomatoes looked like growing in the mid 1800s as they made their way here from Europe. Seed saved as T23-135.

Polish - T22-7 - Reliably excellent, the potato leaf plant produced large pink tomatoes with outstanding flavor, just as expected. Seed saved as T23-136,

Cancelmo Family Heirloom - T20-15. The very tall, spindly plant produced medium to large meaty pink heart shaped tomatoes with an excellent flavor. Seed saved as T23-137.

Giant Syrian - T21-16 - The very tall, spindly plant produced medium to large scarlet red heart shaped tomatoes with excellent flavor. Seed saved as T23-138.

Monticello Mystery Tomato - #5125 - Growing identically to that from saved seed listed above, this was grown from seed given to me by the staff at Monticello back in 2014. Seed saved as T23-139.

Andrew Rahart’s Jumbo Red - T19-13. The plant grew fine, producing large scarlet red tomatoes. Alas, I wasn’t available to do a harvest when it was on the vine and ready to pick, so all of the tomatoes ended up being given away. I didn’t get a chance to save any seeds.

Fritsche Family - #7797 - This favorite from many years ago didn’t disappoint. The tall vigorous plant produced a heavy yield of medium sized nearly round pink tomatoes with an excellent flavor balanced to the sweet side. It is likely a family selection from one of the popular tomatoes of the time, such as Livingston’s Beauty. Seed saved as T23-141.

Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe F2 RL - T21-11 - I don’t have good records on this - “pink with gold stripes” and didn’t note size or flavor. It came to ripeness in the avalanche of so many others. Seed saved as T23-142.

Hugh's - T13-13 - This plant grew enormously and yielded heavily. The monstrous pale yellow tomatoes were oblate in shape and approached 2 pounds. The flavor is mild, sweet and pleasant. Seed saved as T23-143.

Giant Syrian - T13-138 - This was one of the first plants to suffer from disease, apparently pith necrosis, and the plant was pulled. I did snip a 6 inch growing tip that seemed healthy and rooted it at home. It grew in the strawbale in my yard that was used for snap bush beans, and ended up producing a heavy yield of medium to large scarlet red heart shaped tomatoes that came on too late to vine ripen. They were brought indoors, put into a bag with a ripe apple, and seed was saved as T23-140.

Stocky’s - #7747 - This rare variety was sent to me by a gardening friend in New Zealand. The spindly plant produced a good yield of large pink heart shaped fruits. I didn’t care for the flavor, which was too mild for my palate - the tomatoes were also very solid with few seeds. It would make a splendid sauce tomato. Seeds saved as T23-145

Marlowe Charleston - T22-68 - This variety is supposedly a potato leaf, pink fruited heirloom from West Virginia. My friend Adam gave me a fruit from the plant he grew in his 2022 garden. The seedlings were all regular leaf - the tomatoes medium sized, smooth, pink and very tasty. It has been clearly crossed along the way, but this regular leaf, smaller fruited version is a fine tomato. Seed saved as T23-146

TBT - #7780 - Here’s a fun mystery. A gardening friend sent me seeds of this variety - TBT stands for “The Best Tomato”. Curious, I decided to grow it and was amazed to see the size of the fruit. The large pink slightly heart shaped variety was the largest in the greenhouse, approaching 2 pounds. It was very meaty and firm, with few seeds, and a mild sweet flavor. It is supposedly a West Virginia heirloom and could be related to another huge variety growing in the greenhouse, McCutcheon, given to me by my friend Adam. He is working to untangle the history and relationship of the two varieties. Seed saved as T23-147

Kosovo - Tomato Growers Supply packet - Various friends have been suggesting I give this tomato a try for some years, so I finally got around to it. The plant didn’t produce as many tomatoes as I’d hoped, likely because it became shaded between other plants in the greenhouse. The tomatoes are heart shaped, medium sized or larger, pink and quite tasty, but I think it did not nearly show its best this year. Seed saved as T23-148

Hugh's - T21-30 - This magnificent tomato excelled in the greenhouse, providing huge pale yellow, sweet tomatoes approaching 2 pounds - and lots of them. Seed saved as T23-149

Nepal - T21-17 - This fairly ordinary scarlet red, nearly round medium sized tomato has been a favorite since I first grew it in 1987. It did very well growing in the greenhouse. Seed saved as T23-150

Abraham Lincoln from USDA - #7745 - My search for the Abraham Lincoln as described in the 1923 Buckbee catalog continues - this wasn’t it. The plants did not have a bronze tint, and the scarlet tomatoes were just medium in size. Seed saved as T23-151

Cherokee Purple Peregrine Farms selection - #6896 - I enjoyed growing out seeds from my friend Alex Hitt’s Peregrine Farms garden. He first received the seeds from me just after I named the variety and it has been a specialty of his ever since. I was curious to see if he selected for various traits that rendered it slightly different from the version I’ve been growing. I was delighted to find that it seemed quite identical to the ones from my saved seed. Production and flavor were excellent. Seed saved as T23-152

Eva Purple Ball - T16-75 - I wanted to regrow this favorite I first received as a seedling from Carolyn Male many years ago when I gardened in Raleigh. It produced very well, providing lots of medium sized smooth round pink tasty tomatoes. Seed saved as T23-153

Yellow Brandywine - T21-35 - I love Yellow Brandywine and it didn’t disappoint this year in the greenhouse - the oblate, 1 lb orange fruit were delicious with a nice tart tang. Seed saved as T23-154

Ferris Wheel - T21-25 - This long time favorite from the Salzer Seed Company (1894) has been a favorite ever since I rescued it from oblivion, from the USDA seed collection. It produced well in the greenhouse, providing lots of medium large to large oblate delicious pink tomatoes. Seed saved as T23-155

Aker's West Virginia - T21-27 - The plant grew well and produced large scarlet red tomatoes, but I didn’t get to harvest fruit for seed saving prior to harvest for giving the tomatoes away locally. No seed saved.

Andrew Rahart’s Jumbo Red - T21-20 - This large scarlet red beefsteak type that I’ve grown for many years did very well, providing medium large to large tasty tomatoes. Seed saved as T23-157

Casey's Pure Yellow - T20-14 - This favorite bright yellow excelled in the greenhouse, with an excellent yield of large, tasty tomatoes. It has been a favorite for quite a few years. Seed saved as T23-158

Lillian's Yellow Heirloom - T20-10 - This favorite of mine clearly enjoyed being grown in the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse. Yield of the large, oblate, super delicious bright yellow tomatoes was excellent. Seed saved as T23-159

Lucky Cross - T20-4 - Quite a few Lucky Cross selections were grown in the greenhouse and all did great. This plant from recently saved seed produced a lot of large yellow tomatoes with red swirls and an excellent flavor. Seed saved as T23-160

Stump of the World - T20-12 - This produced as expected - large oblate tasty pink tomatoes on a potato leaf plant. Seed saved as T23-161

Large Lucky Red - T21-39 - This scarlet red, large fruited variant that showed up in a Lucky Cross planting performed as hoped - the tomatoes are really tasty! Seed saved as T23-162

Anna Russian - T21-29 - This long time favorite did very well, producing lots of medium sized pink hearts with a delicious balanced flavor. Seed saved as T23-163

JD Special C Tex - T19-2 - This is one of my favorite purple varieties - quite similar to Cherokee Purple except a bit more oblate. This plant did very well. Seed saved as T23-164

Cherokee Chocolate - T22-2 - This grew as anticipated, producing lots of medium to medium large oblate chocolate colored, delicious tomatoes. Seed saved as T23-165

Estler's Mortgage Lifter - T22-8 - Though the size was not as large as I hoped for, productivity of this historic, sweet, pink fruited variety was just fine. Seed saved as T23-166

Indian Stripe - T19-9 - The plant produced a very good yield of medium large, oblate, delicious tomatoes. Seed saved as T23-167

Brandywine - T18-4 - This performed as hoped - very good yield of spectacularly flavored pink oblate tomatoes. Brandywine never disappoints in terms of flavor - only occasionally in terms of yield. Seed saved as T23-168

Cherokee Purple - T22-3 - The plant produced a good yield of medium to large purple tomatoes that were true to type. Unfortunately, I didn’t get fruit for seed saving prior to the team harvesting and donating the tomatoes. No seed saved.

Blue's Bling X Polish F3 - T22-17 - My lead selection from my recent cross, which I will call Polish Bling, produced lots of medium large purple oblate fruit on a potato leaf plant that had white variegation. Flavor was excellent. Seed saved as T23-170

Hege's German - T16-78 - The plant did not do very well and when I did harvest a tomato it appeared to be scarlet, rather than pink. I never did get back in time to double check this, so no seed was saved from this plant.

Don’s Double Delight X Cancelmo Family Heirloom F2 RL - T21-8 - I didn’t get to harvest any tomatoes from this plant and didn’t visit the farm in time to see what the tomatoes looked like. No seed was saved from this plant.

Captain Lucky - T22-9 - This is simply a superb, prolific variety - the plant in the greenhouse was the equal to the one in my back yard. The green tomatoes with a pinkish purple blush and swirl are among the best tasting tomatoes of my entire gardening experience. Yield was outstanding. Seed saved as T23-173

Cancelmo Family Heirloom - T17-13 - This spindly, wispy plant (as expected) produced quite early and was prolific. The medium to large pink hearts were delicious. Seed saved as T23-174

Lucky Cross - T11-8 - This represents one of three older selections of Lucky Cross, and I grew them out to see if I could have a way to bump up the flavor (the most recent selection I typically grow seems to have lost some of the flavor intensity). The reselection mini project was a success - all three were just delicious. Seed saved as T23-175

Lucky Cross - T11-50 - This is another of my reselection work - see above for details. This plant did just great with lots of delicious large yellow tomatoes with red swirls. Seed saved as T23-176

Dester - T12-19 - The plant produced large oblate delicious pink tomatoes, as expected. Sadly, I didn’t get to the farm to harvest fruit for seed saving at the time it was available - all tomatoes were harvested and donated, so no seed was saved.

Hugh's - T14-27 - See the entry a bit above - this performed equally - huge bright yellow delicious tomatoes balanced to the sweet side. Seed saved as T23-178

Big Sandy - T13-130 - High yield, nice size, and delicious scarlet red tomatoes - this West Virginia heirloom should be more widely known - and grown. Seed saved as T23-179

Giant Syrian - T12-20 - The spindly plant with wispy foliage produced lots of medium to large scarlet red, delicious hearts. It is good to have fresh seed from this plant produced from 11 year old seed. Seed saved as T23-180

Lillian's Yellow Heirloom - T12-15 - Having tomatoes from 11 year old seed of this favorite variety makes me happy - the plant produced lots of large pale yellow superb tomatoes. Seed saved as T23-181

Indian Stripe - T11-94 - I was delighted to get 12 year old seed to germinate - the plant produced tomatoes that are very similar to Cherokee Purple, as expected. The medium large purple fruit were delicious. Seed saved as T23-182

Cherokee Chocolate - T12-72 - I was pleased to get 11 year old seed to germinate, allowing me to get fresh seed - the tomatoes were as expected - medium large, delicious and chocolate brick colored. Seed saved as T23-183

McCutcheon - T22-20 - This tomato, which may be related to TBT (see above), produced huge pink nearly round tomatoes with excellent flavor. Could it be also related to Mortgage Lifter? Seed saved as T23-184

Lucky Cross - T11-14 -see above - this is the third of my reselection effort for this favorite variety. It did great - potato leaf plant with lots of large oblate yellow tomatoes with red swirls - and outstanding flavor. Seed saved as T23-185

Gallo Plum - #7749 - One of the tomatoes I got from West Virginia gardener Charlotte Mullens in 1990 (along with Big Sandy and the family’s Mortgage Lifter), I finally returned to growing this excellent scarlet red large fruited paste tomato. The lanky, wispy vines produced lots of tomatoes that resemble a frying pepper, similar to varieties such as Opalka. The flavor is excellent. Seed saved as T23-186

Dester - T18-2 - This variety, a favorite, grew as hoped for - good yield of large pink oblate tomatoes with superb flavor. Seed saved as T23-187

Cancelmo Family Heirloom - T16-98 - The tall spindly plant produced a heavy yield of large, pink heart shaped tomatoes, as expected. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to the greenhouse to harvest a few fruit for seed saving in time prior to the plant being completely harvested. No seed was saved.

JD Special C-Tex - T12-8 - This variety produced as expected, with a very good yield of medium to large, oblate, firm purple tomatoes with an excellent flavor. With the same color and very similar flavor to Cherokee Purple, this by comparison produces a more flattened, oblate tomato. Seed was saved as T23-189.

Little Lucky - T20-18 - this was a replacement plant and due to its highly shaded location (surrounded by more mature, taller plants), never did produce any tomatoes before going down to disease.

Dorothy's Green - #7746 - the greenhouse plant was equivalent to the one in my back yard garden. This former favorite produced a high yield of irregular, oblate, medium to large fruit with green flesh and a yellow skin. The flavor is very good. The propensity to produce irregular fruit is quite prominent in this colorful variety. Seed was saved as T23-191.

Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe F2 potato leaf - T21-11 - I was delighted to get a good sized oblate pink tomato with excellent flavor and no sign of stripes. It isn’t a high priority lead, but an excellent eating tomato. This Seed saved as T23-192.

Don’s Double Delight X Cancelmo Family Heart F2 potato leaf - T21-8 - My record keeping is not good for this one - all I have on my seed envelope is potato leaf heart, with no indication of color or striping. Seed saved as T23-193

Ferris Wheel X Striped Sweetheart F2 - T21-2 - I didn’t mark down leaf shape - the medium sized pink tomatoes were very good flavored at best, not excellent. Seed saved as T23-194

Don’s Double Delight X Cancelmo Family Heart F2 regular leaf - T21-8 - This ended up producing large red hearts, but I didn’t note the flavor. Seed saved as T23-195.

Summary - This was a LOT of work - and it generated a lot of information. What was best about the experience of growing in the Veterans Healing Farm greenhouse was working with a team - getting to share these wonderful varieties. The array of colors and sized and flavors, and richness of history, really opened the eyes of my volunteers.

It was also very valuable to get fresh seeds from some quite old seeds of many of my favorite varieties. Overall I was pleased with the results. The main issue was learning that different diseases can hit tomatoes grown in this way. The production was over a very concentrated period, and the plants needed to be pulled far sooner than we would have liked.

Me with some of my wonderful tomato team - Joanne, Phillip and Grace

2023 Post-season Garden Summary - part 3. Back Yard Garden Grow Bag Dwarfs and Indeterminate varieties

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

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

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

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

Grow Bag Dwarf Varieties

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

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

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

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

Uluru Ochre - upper right.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lilly F4 selection

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

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

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

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

Grow Bag Indeterminate Cherry Tomatoes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fall colors at the WNC arboretum late October