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Introducing the Dwarf Tomato Project

Announcing the first tomato varieties from a unique, global all-volunteer breeding project!

Finally – an opportunity for space-challenged gardeners to experience the different colors and delicious flavors that were previously only available in tall growing (indeterminate) heirlooms!

First, a bit of history….back in 2005, Craig LeHoullier (aka nctomatoman) of Raleigh, NC, long time heirloom tomato enthusiast and SSE member, discussed an idea with Patrina Nuske-Small of Australia on the popular garden site Garden Web.  Craig and his wife, Susan, have been selling tomato seedlings at the local farmer’s market for years, and a frequent request was for delicious, unusual tomato varieties that would do well when grown on decks or patios, in reasonably sized containers.  Though his customers loved the big fruited, differently colored heirlooms, the tall vines proved to be quite a challenge for many of them. 

Craig, through his seed collecting, was aware of a very few so-called dwarf growing varieties, distinct from the determinate types (which were also relatively compact) in that the flavor seemed in general to be better in the dwarfs.  These dwarf types are very distinctive in having a thick central stem, stout compact growth, and dark green, crinkly looking (so-called rugose) foliage. 

Craig also collects old seed catalogs to satisfy his interest in the historical development of tomatoes in the United States, and noted in his collection a 1915 catalog from the Isbell Seed Company a listing for New Big Dwarf.  What caught Craig’s eye was that the creation of New Big Dwarf was clearly described.  This involved a cross of a known medium sized pink fruited dwarf, Dwarf Champion (well known from the late 1800s), with the largest tomato known at that time, Ponderosa.  Following the cross and a few generations of selection, a new variety was born – New Big Dwarf – which had the compact growth of Dwarf Champion, but the large fruit size of Ponderosa.

Realizing that through their Garden Web chats Patrina (also an avid heirloom tomato grower) was also skillful at carrying out crosses, Craig explained the Isbell Seed Company listing to Patrina.  It was clear that the approach Isbell used was successful, yet strangely never further explored to create a range of new dwarf growing varieties with large fruit, in different colors.  So Craig and Patrina described a project in which some strategic crosses would be made, the resulting new hybrids grown out, then seeds shared for work on selection of promising new varieties, followed by several generations to reach a stable new non-hybrid variety with the desired characteristics.

Around that same time, a new tomato chat website emerged, Tomatoville, which provided both a structure for tracking the project, as well as a magnet for the kind of extreme tomato enthusiasts who could make up a perfect volunteer team to take this new project forward.  Craig set about to gather volunteers in the US and Canada, and Patrina in Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand.  By working the project across hemispheres, two growing seasons could be achieved in one calendar year, thus reducing the new tomato variety development time by half.

So, armed with more than 100 willing volunteers, the project set off with the first crosses being grown out in 2006.  As of this time, over 40 interesting crosses have been made by Patrina and others, resulting in dozens and dozens of possible color, size and shape combinations.  Craig and Patrina are quite sure that this is the very first all volunteer world-wide tomato breeding project in documented gardening history.  None involved are botanists or horticulturists – just avid gardeners with a keen interest in learning about tomato genetics or discovering interesting new tomatoes. 

What you will find in this catalog are a few of the very first tomatoes made available from this project, which carries on very actively today (and will for the foreseeable future!).  Craig selected four seed companies (Tomato Growers Supply Company, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Sandhill Preservation, and Victory Seeds) to introduce small quantities of a few of the new dwarf varieties each. 

None of those involved with the project receive any payment for the development of these new varieties – it is just the fulfillment of a passion to create what will hopefully end up being considered heirloom tomato varieties many years from now – a donation to the tomato gene pool, and to those space-challenged gardeners the world over.  Full descriptions of the varieties used and volunteers involved in the development will be given for each new variety. 

A brief note about Dwarf varieties:

The vast majority of tomato varieties are Indeterminate in growth habit.  Think Cherokee Purple or Better Boy or Sungold to get a picture of how indeterminate varieties behave.  They are the varieties that need staking, caging, or plenty of room to sprawl.  If diseases don’t get to them first, indeterminate varieties grow and bear fruit from planting until they are killed by frost.  Though most of the true treasures of the tomato world are indeterminate in growth habit, including most heirloom types, they are a challenge to grow in terms of dealing with the rampant growth of the vines. 

Determinate varieties are familiar to tomato growers who have tried Roma, Sophie’s Choice or Taxi.  The foliage is indistinguishable from indeterminate types, but the plants (which should never be pruned) reach a particular height and spread, bear loads of fruit (which tend to ripen in a concentrated time period), then die off.  With a very high fruit to foliage ratio, determinates, while incredibly productive, for the most part lack the intense, complex flavors of indeterminate varieties.  In addition, the choice of colors, sizes and shapes is quite limited when compared with the indeterminate selections.

Dwarf varieties, prior to this project, are relatively rare, unknown and undeveloped as a group.  Appearing quite distinct in all growth phases – from seeding to mature plant – they behave as if they are very compact indeterminate varieties in the manner that they fruit, persevere until frost, and exhibit flavors that in many cases can approach the best of the indeterminate varieties, due to similar foliage to fruit ratios.  There is some variation in height throughout the new dwarf varieties – some appearing to be more “determinate” than others.  As young seedlings they are half the size of indeterminate or determinate seedlings right from the start.  The central growing stem is particularly stout, and the foliage, which can be either regular or potato leaf, tends to be a darker bluish green and have a puckered, wrinkled characteristic that is known as “rugose”.  Though the yields of dwarfs will never approach that of indeterminate varieties, the ability to plant them much more closely or grow in as little as 5 gallon pots are adequate compensation.  What we are producing in this project is a color, size and shape range that will allow those who are space constrained to experience the nature of many of the well known heirloom types, but in a growth habit that is much easier to manage.  We are excited about what we are creating, and are anxious, as well as finally ready, to share the very best of these with gardeners.  We invite feedback – there is always a chance that you will not get exactly what is described or expected, and all of these, while quite stable, are still in a way works in progress.  We hope to have created a set of non-hybrid varieties that will make gardening interesting for you, as well as provide what will be considered valuable heirloom varieties at some point in the distant future!

For a listing of the project members involved with each of the new varieties, please refer to the variety descriptions in the various catalogs. 

The companies that are introducing the new 2011 Dwarf project tomatoes are Victory Seed company , Sandhill Preservation, and Tomato Growers Supply Company.  We hope to involve additional companies for future releases.

The 2011 growing season is proving to be a productive one for the Northern Hemisphere growers.  Not only are we confirming the quality of those that have been released (they are actually exceeding expectations!), but those that we thought were close to stability do indeed seem to be....and some of the great finds of Patrina and her team are panning out to be really exciting (such as the unusually colored Uluru Ochre - a unique combination of orange with the green cast of the "black" tomatoes!).  In addition, I had the opportunity to reveal the project (we've really been flying under the radar!) at the Seed Savers Exchange annual camp out in July.  I was fortunate in having large audiences of highly engaged seed savers for both my keynote and workshop.....it is clear that there will be excitement around these new varieties as they become more widely available and grown....we can't wait to get even more wonderful new dwarf varieties into the hands of seed companies!

NOTE - special shout out and thanks to Bill Minkey (Wisconsin) and Reinhard Kraft (Germany), who provided the starting seed to the four companies, thus allowing us to finally get some of these dwarf varieties available to the companies' customers!

For much more information on the project, you can refer to the project website - http://dwarftomatoproject.net/

List of Dwarf Project participants/contributors as of mid February 2011 (150 volunteers and counting!!!).  Thanks to everyone below - this IS the project!

Brian Poplin Ohio USA 
Paul Pulley Idaho USA
Lee Newman North Carolina USA
Jennifer Hutson Ontario Canada
Nuria Sanchez Alberta Canada
Susan Anderson Texas USA
Craig Shea Massachusetts USA
Jeff Fleming Michigan USA
Carolyn Male New York USA
Darrel Jones Alabama USA
Regina Kreger Maryland USA
Julianna Griffin Ontario Canada
Amy Shores Rhode Island USA
Bruce Bradshaw California USA
Eric Ellison Arizona USA
Peter Gallant Prince Edward Island Canada
Tod Bevitt Kansas USA
Paul Buddenhagen California USA
John Beidler Connecticut USA
Ann Tanaka Hawaii USA
Richard Parker Mississippi USA
Tim McElroy North Carolina USA
Rena Abernathy Georgia USA
Sue Bailey Alaska USA
Barbara Morgenroth New York USA
Charlie Bowler Minnesota USA
Vince Lavallo California USA
Michael Volk Texas USA
Patty Brown Ohio USA
Rickey Bryant Tennesssee USA
Lisa Moore Ohio USA
Robbins Hail Missouri USA
John Mullins Florida USA
Jeanne Krenning Montana USA
Jeff Casey Alberta Canada
Tom Micholas New Jersey USA
Tim Warren North Carolina USA
Rob Herle California USA
Jim Markwood South Carolina USA
Robin Drake Virginia USA
Carole Shannon Massachusetts USA
Tony Schievelbein Texas USA
Lori Cox Kansas USA
Sherry Shiesl Alaska USA
Carole Wells Alabama USA
Linda Black California USA
Justin Morse Virginia USA
Ruth TenBrink Missouri USA
Jay Scott Texas USA
Frederick Denny Croyden UK
Morgan Marks Texas USA
Nancy Kirch New York USA
Marjorie Holloway Florida USA
Nancy Chin California USA
Jeffrey Bayes Ohio USA
Stephanie Gernert Pennsylvania USA
Kim Pembleton Ontario Canada
Paul Fish Nebraska USA
Cheryl Welch Florida USA
Amanda Davis North Carolina USA
Bob Fromm Michigan USA
James Hallman Ohio USA
Laurel Lampton Texas USA
Keith Mathews Washington USA
Greg Fee North Carolina USA
Ray Grimmer Georgia USA
Barbara Anderson California USA
Dee Sackett Minnesota USA
Duane Schiller Michigan USA
Denise Salmon Vancouver Canada
Carol Pronovost Vermont USA
Kevin Taylor Oklahoma USA
Doug Frank California USA
Paola Gelmetti Oregon USA
Steve Williams North Carolina USA
William Rositzke New York USA
Logan Garland California USA
Wendy Xu Texas USA
Melissa Fink New York USA
Margaret Chalmers South Carolina USA
Kasssandra Courtney Tennesssee USA
Sherry Long Alaska USA
Jerry Dickerson North Carolina USA
Edward Giebel Pennsylvania USA
Jen Hill Connecticut USA
Tommie Wade Tennesssee USA
K. Burnside Ontario Canada
Melissa Braudaway Arizona USA
Willa Osis British Columbia Canada
Carol Knapp Wisconsin USA
Dustin Stober California USA
Susan Oliverson Idaho USA
Evelyn Bishop California USA
Ted Maiden Tennesssee USA
Jon Schmuck Alabama USA
Soren Linnemann Norresunby Denmark
Susan Barber Ohio USA
Lyne Rancourt Quebec Canada
Bev Egan Alaska USA
Dana Ivey Texas USA
Matthew Winter California USA
Ray Newstead California USA
Dan Hardy Wisconsin USA
Denise Bath British Columbia Canada
Tanya Kucak California USA
Damon Huck California USA
Martha Hufford Virginia USA
Ginny Bishton California USA
Patrick Sullivan Minnesota USA
Susan Johnston Oklahoma USA
Billy Compton South Carolina USA
Lurley Hernandez Ohio USA
Daniel Kelly Hawaii USA
Bobby Whicker North Dakota USA
Stephanie McVeigh Virginia USA
Charlotte Burke California USA
Craig LeHoullier North Carolina USA
Neil Lockhart Illinois USA
Bill Minkey Wisconsin USA
Reinhard Kraft Germany
Patrina Nuske Small South Australia Australia
David Lockwood New South Wales Australia
Linda Reid Tasmania Australia
Richard Allen Victoria Australia
John Smarsz ACT Australia
Craig McTaggart Victoria Australia
Ross Hewitt North Island New Zealand
Dave Versteeg  South Africa
Doug McSee Victoria Australia
Tessa Millesse Western Australia Australia
Carlos Portu Florida USA
Richard Watson South Island New Zealand
Roger Humphreys South Australia Australia
Anna-Lena Piroth Queensland Australia
Keith Risk Northern Territory Australia
Ray South New South Wales Australia
Russell Pietsch South Australia Australia
Lawrence Andris  South Australia Australia
Quentin Nuske  South Australia Australia
Adam Small  ACT Australia
Helen Crawford  South Australia Australia
Bill Hankin South Australia Australia
Greg Kirby South Australia Australia
Amrao Singh  South Australia Australia
Bob Schimmig  South Australia Australia
Peter Higgins South Australia Australia
George Small  South Australia Australia
Joyce Small South Australia Australia
Rosemary Kieslinger South Australia Australia
Duck Flat Community Garden South Australia Australia
Aberfoyle Park Community Garden South Australia Australia 

 
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