From picking a leek to a perfectly timed thunderstorm - what a day

The garden is planted (well, nearly - I've got a few more bales in preparation that will be planted mid next week). What a relief...I will feel better on our short upcoming trip knowing that a huge piece of work is behind me. The transition will now be from planting to maintaining and observing, which is a favorite part of the season.

The day started with me noticing that the leeks in our front half whiskey barrel are starting to produce a flower bud, so I picked one. It was gorgeous (and had a long life - mid summer planted seed, seedling planted in the fall, wintered over and picked this morning). It is ending with a nice thunderstorm (no hail), another lopsided Red Sox victory, and if all goes well and I can keep my eyes open, another look at the slides I will be using in the tomato course at Longwood Gardens on Sunday.

Progress - the driveway garden after the mass planting

Once we get back from our trip, I will set to rearranging the grow bags into clusters, in rows. Also remaining are a few major plant donations, which will free up all of the space I need....then turning to placing the supporting stakes behind the bales and in the center containers (which is more work to be done - filling large pots with used potting mix and placing them in the driveway).

As far as the last piece of my planting puzzle, the following were planted today:  Eggplant Listada di Gandia, Rosa Bianca, New York Improved and Prosperosa....peppers Brazilian Starfish, Bianca F1, Corbacai, Fish, Cornito, Sweet Banana, Shishoto, Campadre, Bulgarian Carrot, Chinese Five Color, Sweet Chocolate, Royal Purple and Purple Beauty.

Tomatoes planted were Teensy F3 dwarf cherries in colors purple, yellow, green and red, new F1 crosses that I made last year Addy, Fishy, Artsy, Sandy, Acey, Emmy, Sissy, Roddy, Sorry, Arcky, Leafy, Betty, Speckly, Worry, Scary, Burly, Teensy, Tiggy, Dummy, and Priddy. Then from dwarf hunting, the following F2: Burly regular leaf, Betty chartreuse leaf, Roddy, Scary regular leaf, Reddy, Speckly, Chocky regular leaf, Ruggy, Dummy regular leaf, Tiggy potato leaf, Worry regular leaf, Tiggy regular leaf, Teensy, Ruggy F3 from last year's chocolate fruit, and Sissy. Awaiting planting when the bales are ready are Sun Gold (two plants) Mexico Midget, Egg Yolk, four F2 dwarfs from Steamy, and a selection from Morty and Chocky and other F2s from dwarf hunting in last year's new hybrids - probably a total of 14 more plants to be planted.

I also planted 5 burgundy Okra seedlings in two large pots...we fell in love with Okra last year, but it was a typical green type.

I'd like to do a final count but I am too tired - I keep making mistakes, and need to redo my gardening log..it is a mess, and will be put into Excel once I rearrange the driveway. I suspect there will be around 220 or so total plants. That will keep us busy - and hopefully end up being quite delicious, and have a few great surprises. One thing I just did estimate - there are 130 plants, and that number will increase, that are part of the Dwarf tomato project....Wow!

Returning to planting - the garden is nearly in

Tuesday was busy with a plant sale at The Flower Shuttle on Ridge Road at the Moravian Church (such nice people doing such important work) and lunch with a friend. That's fine, since my Monday planting marathon left me a bit sore and in need of a day off.

To finish the list of what I did plant on Monday - the following went into 5 gallon black plastic grow bags:  Stick, Rose Quartz Multiflora, two different Variegated plants (one from a gardening friend, and one I've had for some years), two different Honor Bright (one from Victory, one from the USDA collection), Surprise, Carrot-Like, Blue P20, Everglades, High Antho pink cherry given to me by a gardening friend while at the NWFGS, two from an odd green cherry sized tomato that volunteered behind my driveway (one regular leaf, one potato leaf), an orange cherry that volunteered near my side garden composter, a tomato I call Jenny that is very likely Kimberly (she found it mixed into a commercial sample of Lillian's Yellow Heirloom), Caitlin's Lucky Stripe, Large Lucky Red, three plants from two different dwarfs out of Ferris Wheel (one last year had regular leaf foliage and white fruit, the other potato leaf foliage and yellow/red bicolor fruit - both tasty).

The next grouping planted Monday are from my great tomato genealogy work - going back to check on how the following varieties are faring after growing them out so many different times - three different Little Lucky, five different Lucky Cross, three different Cherokee Purple, four different Cherokee Chocolate, two different Cherokee Green and three different Brandywine. In some cases I went back to selections very close to when they were sent to me or discovered - there will be a LOT of good eating out of these.

Finally, my Monday planting finished with some familiar names and new family heirlooms: Andrew Rahart Jumbo Red, Aker's West Virginia, Lillian's Yellow Heirloom, Dester, Opalka, Eva Purple Ball, Gallo Plum, Uncle Joe, Aunt Edna, Maris Family, Abraham Lincoln, Yusopov, Hege German Pink, Abraham Brown, Walt Swolka, Springston Heirloom, Czech (from a local friend), Boronia selection from a cross discovered last year (two plants), and Banksia Queen.

That takes me to today - and I decided to focus on peppers and eggplant. Planted in 5 gallon black plastic grow bags were peppers Chocolate Bell (my own from a hybrid - two different ones), Amethyst, Fire Opal, an unusually shaped pepper from my friend Bob M, Brazilian Orchid from a fruit given to me at the Mother Earth News FAIR in Seven Springs last year, Bulgarian Carrot, Gusto, Royal Purple, three plants from saved seeds of the Bianca hybrid, three Billy Goat (SSE asked me to work on this and save lots of seed of the most typical one), Datil, Lemon Drop, Peter, and eggplant Midnight Lightning (three different ones), Twilight Lightning (three different ones), Skinny Twilight, Green Ghost, Mardi Gras (three different ones), a purple and a white from Greece sent to me by a gardening friend, and the weird Rio Market, from a fruit collected on a visit to SSE in Iowa last year.

Driveway at the end of work on Wednesday

All that remains to be planted (all?!) are last year's new F1 dwarfs I created (if I can fit them), F2 dwarf selections from the new hybrids (probably totaling up to 50 plants), and 18 more peppers, including those I am growing for my Canada garden writer friend Niki.

A few things: the plants are not in a final location or arrangement - I just wanted to get everything into larger containers before my Pennsylvania trip. Next week I will be putting them into rows of clusters of four grow bags, using a center pot of last year's planting mix to hold the stakes.

I also have a layer of mulch (grass clippings) in eat grow bag, and around each bale tomato. I strive to keep splashing medium off of lower foliage to slow the onset of early blight. Finally, though they are 5 gallon grow bags, I only fill them to half to two thirds, because the planting medium can get costly, and the idea is not to maximize yields so much as get ripe fruit for observations, photography, tasting and seed saving. It really is a research and development garden, and I just love doing it this way.

mulched grow bag tomatoes

Please check out the Upcoming Events page - there are some new things appearing, including a tomato dinner at Acme in Carrboro, tomato day at the Carrboro Farmers Market, and a Southern Season cooking school with Kevin, chef from Carrboro. What is not yet listed is a likely tomato dinner at The Bridge Club by Ashley Christensen - last year this event was spectacular, and I am so excited that it could be happening again.

bale-grown Dwarf tomatoes adjusting quickly

There's no day like tomato planting day!

Wow, am I sore. Lugging 50 lb bags of composted cow manure, filling my most wonderful new Gardeners Supply Company garden cart with Super Sod compost (this is a first for me - I was generously donated a Big Yellow Bag full last fall and seemed like really nice planting material) and then mixing with the manure, soreness is a given (I am certainly over my winter time out-of-shape condition!). But is a really "good sore" - evidence of lots of progress.

Today was the end of straw bale preparation, meaning that they were ready to host Dwarf tomato plants. Everything was therefore in place - bales, planting mix, and 5 gallon black plastic grow bags from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply. 

This morning, I woke up with the garden consisting of last fall-planted garlic in straw bales and pots of greens and beets in the back yard. As I finish this brief blog, added to this and ready to grow are 36 Dwarf tomatoes in straw bales and 72 tomatoes in the grow bags - 108 plants. That represents roughly the half way point....so there is much to be done!

One view of today's progress

No planting is on tap for tomorrow - I will be bringing a selection of plants available for sale for The Flower Shuttle members, then lunch with my wife and a friend, ending the day as a guest on a radio show. I really want to finish planting on Wednesday and Thursday, because I need to get ready for my tomato course at Longwood Gardens on Sunday. 

So - what did I plant today?  

In the straw bales are newly released dwarf varieties Kangaroo Paw Yellow, Kangaroo Paw Green, Kangaroo Paw Brown, Loxton Lad, Loxton Lass, Dwarf Mahogany, Tanunda Red, Waratah, Kookaburra Cackle, Sturt Desert Pea, Dwarf Orange Cream, BrandyFred, Tennessee Suited, Dwarf Golden Gypsy, Dwarf Crimson Sockeye, Dwarf Wild Spudleaf, Lucky Swirl, TastyWine, Maralinga, Dwarf Russian Swirl, Dwarf Lemon Ice, and Dwarf Scarlet Heart. Joining those new releases are a few that are close but still in development - Dwarf Beauty King, Dwarf Caitydid, Dwarf Firebird Sweet, and Saucy Mary. Then there are those that didn't do well, or my plant was crossed, last year - these are therefore released varieties that I want to take another look at...Chocolate Lightning - two different striping patterns that emerged on my single plant last year (could be a mutation - so confirming if these are different), Wilpena (looking for a red tomato - still could be some pinks mixed in), Sweet Adelaide, Boronia striped cross from last year (I suspect it was Boronia X Sarandipity), Rosella Crimson, Dwarf Blazing Beauty, Dwarf Pink Passion, and Sweet Scarlet Dwarf.  That should total 36 plants, 2 per bale.

That's enough for now - tomorrow I will blog about what I planted in the grow bags today. 

This was a great day - feet and hands stubbornly stained with planting mix, and persistent sound of the birds still echoing in my ears, the warmth and humidity of a typical early May day in Raleigh....the promise of the harvest to come.

Well, I was right - it IS really busy. But it is also planting time....

I know, I know...it's been two weeks since I last blogged. Maybe that's why I woke at 5 AM today with a buzzing brain. It's time to share not only some recent highlights, but my immediate plans to get things planted ASAP. Looking at last year's garden log, I am a bit behind.

Two weeks ago we just returned from a great time speaking in Charlottesville and veggie seedlings began finding their way from our driveway to long time gardening friends. Plenty remain...if you are nearby and need to fill spots in your garden, be sure to email me for information. Between greeting annual tomato friends, sharing gardening stories with youngsters on Earth Day in a Durham library, a morning workshop at the Well Fed Garden in Raleigh, hosting Joe Lamp'l and his film crew (he of Growing a Greener World - more on that below), and yesterday's workshop at Atlantic Ave Orchid and Garden....planting time has been scarce. But there is now a two week window before our trip to Pennsylvania to provide a course at Longwood Gardens.  I better get to work - there is much to do.

I am thrilled that Joe Lamp'l wants to feature my tomatoes and book on an upcoming episode of his show. He and his film crew arrived last Tuesday just in time for the completion of a large chipper/shredder activity in our neighborhood. We found a way to work around the noise and dust and had a really productive day. 

Wednesday morning - 6:30 AM - gorgeous, perfect conditions, a brown thrasher providing the soundtrack - all wired up and ready to be interviewed - and the chipping and shredding started anew. We found a way, thanks to a neighborhood friend jogging by, to bribe the crew into a few hours of silence - and we got through the morning, into early afternoon. It was all such fun, so wonderful to get to spend some time with Joe (we first met in Seattle at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show a few years ago, then last year at the Seed Savers Exchange Campout). It is such an honor and privilege to have the opportunity to be on his show. There will be two more filming sessions....capturing the entire process, seeding to tasting and seed saving.

 Yesterday was such fun at Atlantic Avenue Orchid and Gardens, as I provided two workshops  on growing vegetables in containers. And I am about to receive a call from my Nova Scotia gardening pal Niki Jabbour to chat spring gardening on her show The Weekend Gardener. 

OK - enough book, workshop and talk stuff.  As far as gardening - I've got more varieties to grow than I can reasonably fit into the driveway....but has my gardening strategy ever been reasonable? I've begun treating straw bales, into which will go all of our new Dwarf Project releases and some works in progress. I've got pots to fill with last year's potting medium for lettuce, kale, and beets - those are destined for the back yard. The garlic planted in spent straw bales planted in the fall are looking great. Then there are the indeterminate tomatoes, the peppers, the eggplant. It is going to be a really packed two weeks.  But you will hear about it as I make progress.

Filming day - setting up and pondering the chipper shredder situation....then Joe Lamp'l and I on day 2 with things progressing well.

It's about to get really busy....

Sue and I are just back from a quick but really fun trip to Charlottesville VA. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to bring my tomato tales to the Piedmont Master Gardener group there on Thursday night. But now we are home, and here we will stay - at least until my next trip, to Longwood Gardens in PA, in mid-May.

But between now and then - yikes. This may be one of the most challenging springs ever for me in terms of ending up with handsome, healthy seedlings. The whole year since starting seed has been a bit out of synch for me, impacted by speaking events that, timing- and duration-wise, didn't mesh well with the critical steps of seed starting, transplanting and hardening off. The unusual temperatures - too high early, too low later on - and windy, cold rain took their toll as well. 2016 will not go down as a banner year for my seed starting and seedling creating activities.

I spent hours today working through my seedlings, noting varieties that really didn't fare well at all. The week that they spent in the garage, combined with the heavy dose of windy, cold rain the day they went back outside shows in the foliage, and in the number of seedlings that didn't make it. I actually wonder if a bit of sub 32 temps crept into the garage, looking at some of the damage.

Enough seedling sob stories - the sun is back out, we should (finally!) get some mild to warm evenings, and all will be well. I have more transplanting to do, bales to order, place and treat, greens and beets to plant, and events to prepare for. The next month will certainly be a blur....but if all goes well, once mid May is reached, all will be planted and Sue and I can anticipate the harvest to come.

It turns out that the decision to say "goodbye" to the From The Vine seedling sales was well-timed, coinciding with such a challenging start. I like change, and it felt like it was time to simplify things a bit (though nothing feels particularly simple right now). I do think that this garden will be smaller, less complex, less ambitious than recent efforts...and that may end up being a good thing. I do worry about the increased squirrel population in our yard, and there are a few rabbits about. 

I am still trying to figure out how we can be moving into late April - when it feels like we just flipped the page into the year 2016. 

Where to begin? On workshops, waterfalls, and wet unhappy seedlings!

One week ago today - actually, at this very time - I was just beginning my tomato workshop at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont NC. It is so odd - and somewhat disorienting - to reflect back on all that Sue and I experienced between then...and now. It was a truly enjoyable week with so many chapters. 

About Belmont

Speaking at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens

We've enjoyed our visits to DSBG for years, always fitting it in to my tomato talking invites to Gastonia and/or Mt. Holly. It was such a pleasure to share my tomato stories with a wonderful audience, so well supported by my host, Jim Hoffman. After the talk, Sue and I perused the garden, with the orchid house a particular highlight. 

Susan and epiphytes in the Stowe Orchid House

After that, we lunched at a superb Belmont eatery, The String Bean, checked into our favorite Mt. Holly B and B, Robin's Nest, and were treated to a nice dinner with some former neighbors.

About Hendersonville - and Ella - and cats!

We had a few days set aside for exploration between my Belmont and Asheville (Mother Earth news Fair) events, and chose a wonderful airbnb, Ella's, in Hendersonville. Ella was quite remarkable in so many ways - we had great chats about movies, life - and cats (of which she had 8). We loved our dinner at West First pizza (superb), and waterfall walks at DuPont Forest and the Pisgah National Forest - and a glass of my favorite beer at Oskar Blues in Brevard. So many waterfalls....and tiny wildflowers beginning to emerge!

Top of a waterfall in DuPont Forest

Looking Glass Falls in the Pisgah National Forest

Susan surrounded by empties (not hers!) at Oskar Blues in Brevard

About Asheville and the Fair

This was my third Mother Earth News Fair - second in Asheville (last fall took place in Seven Springs PA). I had the GRIT stage on Saturday, and was so impressed at all of those who braved the cold (42 degrees) and wind (30 mph plus gusts) to hear me talk primarily about our Dwarf Tomato breeding project. Dinner, at close by Sierra Nevada, was really good - and really needed!

On the way to Asheville, on Friday, we stopped for lunch at the Well Bred bakery in Weaverville.  All I can say is, "wow!" That evening we were treated to a wonderful dinner at Salsas by my Storey editor, Carleen.

Goodies - an understatements! - at the Well Bred bakery in Weaverville

On Sunday, the weather warmed and calmed, and we took a nice walk through the NC Arboretum near by. It was just so incredibly therapeutic - we walked next to a gently flowing stream, saw more wildflowers, and enjoyed the beautiful gardens. Returning to the fair, I was delighted with a full tent for my late afternoon talk on tomato culture and stories. 

Tulips and more at the NC Arboretum in Asheville

My wonderful Sunday afternoon audience beginning to gather

Home again

We stopped on our Monday drive home in Black Mountain (Sue is addicted to the yarn shop there), and arrived home with sufficient light for me to move all of my veggie seedlings back out into the driveway. They looked quite unhappy from their week in the chilly darkness - but at least they are alive....if left outdoors, it would have been curtains for them with the frosts experienced here in our absence.

We had a nice surprise awaiting us - Sue's brother in law, Ed (whose wonderful dog Merry we've been enjoying for over two months), made a superb dinner...with an authentic, Florida made, Key Lime Pie for dessert. It is so nice to be welcomed home by kindness, and family.

And so - I wonder if my plants will look happier once the rain ends, the sun returns, and the weather warms again. Every year it is something....yet, every year things work out. 

Up next is a trip to Charlottesville to speak to the Master Gardeners group on Thursday evening. Soon to be on the road again! Just a short trip, though - on Friday, and over the weekend, my thoughts will turn to getting my garden planted.  At last!

Pre-trip odds and ends - and The Big Decision part 4. Dwarf Project tomatoes for 2016

Oh no! I look at the local (WRAL) website weather page. Then go to Accuweather. Then The Weather Channel. There is no escaping two nights either slightly above, at or below the magic (dreaded) temperature of 32 degrees F. Since we are on the cusp of a week long trip (speaking at Stowe in Belmont on Tuesday, then in Asheville at the Mother Earth News fair on Saturday and Sunday), I am flipping a mental coin.  Floating row cover....or the big relocation into the garage? Tomorrow the decision must be made. Fingers crossed for increasing low temps in the forecast.

If I haven't bored you to tears yet with lists (and note to folks local to me - there will be some opportunities to try out some of the varieties I am describing in this series of blogs - I always over-plant), here is another. This at last is the list of the varieties I hope to squeeze in to further the Dwarf Tomato Breeding project.

Some of you will recall that I went a bit off the rails and attempted loads of crosses last year, with over 20 succeeding. Though I got a rough idea of what some of the new hybrids looked like, they came in either very late, or were picked green and ripened indoors to give some F2 generation seed to start with this season.

Well, I decided to get all of the new hybrids going again - at least to grow them part season, check out the fruit characteristics in the prime of the summer, and harvest lots of seed. For a bit of background - I used various dwarf plants as the female, removing the anthers from blossoms prior to fully opening. I collected pollen from some interesting indeterminate varieties and applied it to the style of the dwarf plant flowers. If a tomato developed, I marked it, since there was a good chance it was a successful cross - an F1 hybrid between the indeterminate and dwarf. I chose the dwarf as the female because proof of the success of the cross is easy - if the seed saved from the tomato that formed grew indeterminate (the dominant trait), success could be claimed.

Here are the new hybrids I hope to grow out this year - I will list the dwarf female, followed by the indeterminate pollen donor.  Yes, I gave them each names in the spirit of our project.

• Addy - Sweet Adelaide X Yellow White
• Fishy - Iditarod Red X Variegated
• Artsy - Perth Pride X Variegated
• Sandy - Sarandipity X either Egg Yolk or Variegated (I lost track of which flower was hit with which pollen)
• Acey - Dwarf Mr. Snow X Variegated
• Emmy - Dwarf Emerald Giant X either Sun Gold F1 or Mexico Midget (lost track on this one too)
• Sissy - Iditarod Red X Russo Sicilian
• Roddy - Iditarod Red X Brandywine
• Arcky - Dwarf Arctic Rose X Mullens Mortgage Lifter, pale chartreuse leaf mutation
• Leafy - Dwarf Jade Beauty X Mullens Mortgage Lifter, pale chartreuse leaf mutation
• Betty - Dwarf Jade Beauty X Yellow White
• Speckly - Dwarf Golden Heart X Speckled Roman
• Worry - Wherokowhai X Speckled Roman
• Scary - Dwarf Golden Gypsy X Sun Gold F1
• Burly - Dwarf Beryl Beauty X Sun Gold F1
• Teensy - Summertime Green X Mexico Midget
• Tiggy - Dwarf Mr. Snow X Tiger Tom
• Dummy - Bundaberg Rumball X Dester
• Priddy - Perth Pride X Mullens Mortgage Lifter, pale chartreuse leaf mutation
• Reddy - Iditarod Red X Egg Yolk

My goal in these crosses was to expand our dwarf lines to include cherry and paste tomatoes. Of course, flavor is important, as well as uniqueness. We will have fun with these going forward.

For those that I did manage to save F2 generation seed from, we can start the process of hunting for interesting dwarfs. It is just simple genetics that dictate that 25% of the F2 seed will produce dwarf offspring, and they are easy to spot pretty early on. So I will be growing dwarf plants from the following crosses done last year:

Morty (this is from two years ago - it is Summer Sunrise X Mullens Mortgage Lifter), Chocky (also from two years ago - Dwarf Mr. Snow X Cherokee Chocolate), Ruggy (from a cross done from a gardening friend Carson - Dwarf Kelly Green X Rutgers), as well as Teensy, Speckly, Scarey, Tiggy, Dummy, Priddy, Worry, Burly, Betty, Reddy, Roddy, and Sissy. I also have dwarfs from another new cross - Steamy - Dwarf Pink Passion X Sun Gold F1 - I sent a plant to a California friend - she grew out the hybrid and sent me saved seeds. I can only fit one each from the above, so will be looking for help on exploring some of these.

I did get a chocolate colored dwarf from Ruggy last year, and I have some plants of the F3 generation growing. My friend Linda also grew out four dwarfs from the Teensy line, and found cherry sized dwarfs in red, yellow, purple and green; I have a few of each up and growing.

(taking a deep breath) - I also want to grow out all of the new Dwarf tomato releases since last summer, as well as regrowing a few that didn't perform as expected last year. This category includes Sweet Adelaide, Sweet Scarlet Dwarf, Rosella Crimson, Banksia Queen, Boronia, Chocolate Lightning, Dwarf Blazing Beauty, Dwarf Pink Passion, and Sean's Yellow Dwarf (all previous releases), and the new ones - Adelaide Festival, Dwarf Mahogany, Maralinga, Dwarf Russian Swirl, Kangaroo Paw Green, Kangaroo Paw Yellow, Kangaroo Paw Brown, Dwarf Orange Cream, Dwarf Golden Gypsy, Waratah, Sturt Desert Pea, BrandyFred, Tennessee Suited, Lucky Swirl, Tanunda Red, TastyWine, Kookaburra Cackle, Dwarf Wild Spudleaf, Loxton Lad, Loxton Lass, and Dwarf Crimson Sockeye.

Finally (really!) - are some that I want to check out since they are either nearing completion, or are early on but I want to put my two cents worth in on how they are doing.  In this category are Dwarf Caitydid, Wilpena, Dwarf Firebird Sweet, Dwarf Beauty King, Desert Start, Galen's Yellow, Bendigo Dawn, Bendigo Moon, Bendigo Rose, Bendigo Blush, Bendigo Drop, Mandurang Moon, Moliagul Moon, Marong Moon, Dwarf Velvet Night, and Saucy Mary.  Many of these are cherry types.

Pretty cool names, hey?  

So what's left? A few odds and ends, some things I am trying to work out (like a weird greenish cherry tomato that volunteered near my driveway garden but gave both potato and regular leaf plants, a Sun Gold looking tomato that volunteered at the back of my big side garden, dwarfs that appeared in Ferris Wheel seed - that sort of thing).

And I've not even gotten to the peppers and eggplant yet!

Happy Spring - hope to see some of you in Belmont, or Asheville!

My 2016 squeeze-the-plants-in challenge - part 3. More tomatoes....warning - this is a wonky blog post.

This seems to be a form of garden therapy - "yes, I know I start too many varieties and things go out of control.  Maybe if I tell you a bit about those tomatoes, you will understand...." Well, not really - only similarly obsessed tomato growers and gardeners could possibly understand the annual challenge of finding spaces for all aspirations.

In the first two parts of this 2016 garden-to-be series, I discussed the family heirlooms and the weirdo varieties to be used for breeding new varieties.  In this part, I will talk about the varieties I hope to fit in for saving fresh seed, or just their incredible deliciousness.

Something I like to do is to "test" varieties that I consider special for various reasons. I go back as far as I can to find seeds that germinate so that I can get a sense of the continued stability of those varieties.

For Cherokee Purple, I've started seed saved in 2002 (code 02-3), 2008 (08-12) and 2011 (11-51). When I received Cherokee Purple, it sent into vial 287, which is all gone. I grew that seed in 1991 - that was saved as 91-27. The 14 year old seed that is 02-3 was grown from 91-27. So, I will get to check out seed that is only two years removed from what J. D. Green sent to me. I grew some of the original - vial 287 - in 1993 - that seed, 93-2, was grown on 2008 - that, saved as 08-12 and destined for my garden this year, gives me another that is only twice removed from the original. Finally, the first time I grew Cherokee Purple (vial 287) was in 1990, saved as 90-10. I grew it in 1994 - saved as 94-108 - and that led to 11-51, which I am growing this year, and is three grow outs removed from the original. 

Cherokee Chocolate originated from one plant from 91-27 - saved as 95-47. I grew a plant from 95-47 in 2003 - that 13 year old seed, saved as 03-21, is up and growing and will be in my garden this year. I grew two plants from 95-47 in 1996, saved as 96-3 and 96-9. From 96-3 I grew a plant in 2011 - seed is in vial 11-13, and I've got that up and growing.  From 96-9 I grew a plant in 2011 - the seed, in 11-18, was germinated this year and will be in my garden. I will therefore have a chance to check out Cherokee Chocolate in three lines very near its origin.

Cherokee Green showed up in my garden in 1997 (seed of which was saved as 97-10) out of a sample of Cherokee Chocolate returned to me from a friend - I likely sent him 95-47 seed. I grew it quite often in 1998 and 1999, but sadly, none of those samples germinated. I did get one seeding from 16 year old seed - vial 00-51 (which came from 99-47, which came from 98-71, which came from 97-10 - so I will at least get to sample something three "generations" removed from when it first appeared. I also have one plant of 06-104, which is two removed from 00-51. 

Brandywine - how I love this variety when the weather suits it. I received it in 1987, and still find it to be one of the most delicious tomatoes I've experienced. I have three sample of Brandywine to squeeze in this year - two are 5 years removed from that original sample, and one is 6 years removed.

Lucky Cross is another favorite, because it is the only yellow/red swirled bicolor type that I find absolutely delicious - in fact, very much like it's "daddy", Brandywine. I really like to go back and explore the uniformity of the selection, and I have 5 different "lines" growing - four of them are F9 generation and one if F10 (years removed from when I discovered the accidental cross).

Aside from the above, I hope to grow the following for fresh seed and/or great eating - Lillian's Yellow Heirloom, Mexico Midget, Sun Gold, Egg Yolk, Aker's West Virginia, Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red, Opalka, Dester, Eva Purple Ball and Gallo Plum.

I will not be using large containers for all of these indeterminate varieties. Last year, I found that 5 gallon grow bags and use of topping and extreme pruning work just fine to get a few clusters of fruit - certainly enough to examine, taste and use for seed saving.

Below are a few plants of Mullens Mortgage Lifter, which always show a few of the chartreuse leaf mutation.

Let's continue...more 2016 garden candidates - my Rubik's cube part 2

THIS - this - is the time of year that I love the best. Wherever I look there is a garden task to be done - planting, transplanting, labeling, planning, mowing (well, I don't love mowing) - but you get the idea. I can dabble. My wife Susan is really disciplined - that is why she is such a good quilter and knitter. I like to work on something for half an hour, the move on to something different, eventually accomplishing what I need, but in a rather scattered way.

Yesterday I listed the family heirloom tomatoes that I will be fortunate to try this year. Now comes the list of varieties that will be used as pollen to cross with some of the dwarf varieties to introduce some unique and interesting characteristics. I did lots of crosses last year and had a success rate of about 25% - but that also meant 25 new hybrids (that list will come next).

Here are the true garden oddities, and some perhaps not so odd but carrying something interesting and valuable, that are up and growing, soon to donate their pollen to my own particular brand of garden science.

• Stick - this is the true weirdo of the tomato world, with foliage that is like bunched kale along the stem. aka the "poodle" tomato. The tomatoes are medium small, round and red.
• Rose Quartz - this pink cherry has multiflora characteristics - sprays of hundreds of blossoms, not all of which, but many, set fruit.
• Variegated (both my accession, and one from a gardening friend Belinda) - the foliage is variegated green and white, the tomatoes medium small, round and red.
• Honor Bright (aka Lutescent, one from Victory, one from the USDA). This 1890s Livingston variety appeared as a mutation; the foliage is a yellowish color, the unripe fruit go green to white, to orange to red. It lasted in catalogs for a surprisingly long time.
• Surprise - this appeared in a variety from a seed saver named Turkey Chomp some years ago. It has potato leaf foliage that turns yellowish, just like Honor Bright - the fruit, which are large and oblate, go from green to white, then orange, then red.  
• Carrot Like (aka Silvery Fir Tree) - this Russian variety that I got to see growing at the Seed Savers garden my first visit there in the early 1990s, is a determinate variety with small to medium red fruit and finely divided, "carrot-like" foliage.
• Blue P20 (the original high anthocynanin variety) - though the fruit don't taste very good, where exposed to the sun the tomato is blackish blue.
• Red Robin - this is the first of the micro dwarfs, growing a foot tall and producing red cherry tomatoes.
• Everglades (from a friend Melissa in Florida) - supposedly very successful in hot, humid Florida, it seems perfect to cross with dwarfs to see if we can get some that survive well there.

Once these get some size to them, I will post some pictures of their unusual growth characteristics.

I've not completely thought through what I will be doing as far as crosses. But pondering dwarf varieties with variegated foliage, the weird poodle type leaf shape of Stick, the ferny foliage of Carrot Like, the yellow foliage of Honor Bright and Surprise, the blue tinted fruit from the P20, and multiflora fruiting characteristics for higher yield are all of interest to me. I suspect some of these are in progress by other amateur plant breeders; that's OK - I love to follow my own path and see things for myself.

Once we have dwarfs with some of these peculiar traits, we can then combine them - for example, a ferny potato leaf dwarf with yellowish foliage that has multiflora characteristics, and striped fruit - and let's throw in variegated foliage...why not!  Of course, we are talking years of crosses and research. That's fine - I want to be playing with this type of project for as long as I can garden.

Just a few pics to show what things look like in the driveway, and in the garage.

The Rubik's cube that will become my 2016 garden - part 1. Family Heirloom tomatoes

I've got a real problem. My garden area is shrinking, and my wish-to-grow list is..well, growing. The side yard plot that I hand dug the summer that we moved in - 30 X 50 feet of rocky red clay, circa 1992 - doesn't work so well any longer. The trees on our property are growing, meaning the sun exposure is decreasing. The front part still works fairly well for greens and beets, perhaps beans and squash - but potential success is scuttled by some stubborn critters. 

We are also finally in need of replacing our deck, so the days of big containers of Sun Gold and Egg Yolk and Mexico Midget are likely over. 

This leaves me with the edge garden of the back yard (our male chocolate lab Buddy did a number on our perennial flowers, but the sun is ample enough, so grow bags and straw bales will reside there this summer. Of course, there is that driveway that is no longer a driveway - at least during growing season.

Still, though normal people would find it plenty large enough, crazy me finds it wanting (though I am thankful for it!). This means looking at what I want to grow, what I germinated, and what can reasonably fit. I've not figured it out yet, and there will be squeezing and staggering and some too-close planting in too-small containers.

I've actually got categories for my growing targets. These are: Dwarf Tomato project plants, family heirloom tomatoes given to me over the past years, flavor favorites, the need for fresh seed, and tomatoes for pollen for more breeding. Oh yes - also some tomato mysteries - and I've not even gotten to eggplant and peppers yet.

It's a long season, so there will be plenty of time to cover each of these (especially if I get my act together and start to blog regularly again). I wanted to start on the family heirlooms, since this is the vector that first seduced me into my many years dabbling in heirloom tomatoes.

Here are the varieties in the family heirloom category that I will be sure to fit into my garden (seedlings of all of these are up and growing):  Uncle Joe, Aunt Edna, Maris family, Yusopov, Abraham Brown (which is potato leaf), Walt Swokla heirloom, Springston Heirloom, and Mama's Huge Orange. I will be sure to report on all of these over the summer - and deeply appreciate being given these cherished seeds through the mail or at events this year.