It is hard to believe that our unique Dwarf Tomato breeding project has been around for 8 years. But what an 8 years it has been - around 300 volunteers, world-wide (including over 250 for the Northern Hemisphere part of the team), nearly 60 crosses made and named as leads for our work.....and, as of a few weeks ago, 25 new, stable, open pollinated Dwarf-growing tomatoes listed among the listings of a handful of small and medium sized seed companies!  

This year saw a change in how we are running the project, as seed import rules dictate a split of the team; each side is following through and developing the leads and materials that they have in hand. I just finished sending hundreds of samples of seed to over 50 participants for the 2014 effort, and we've got some great things coming (stripes and hearts, with cherries and pastes on the horizon).

Here is the list of releases, along with the company who did the initial offering.  For full descriptions, see the Dwarf page and scroll to the bottom.

NOTE that I will have seedlings of all of the following Dwarf releases this spring (local availability only).

2010 Releases (9)

Dwarf Jade Beauty - first offered to the public in 2010 by Sandhill Preservation. 
Dwarf Beryl Beauty - first offered to the public in 2010 by Victory Seeds. 
Dwarf Emerald Giant - first offered to the public in 2010 by Victory Seeds. 
Summertime Green - First offered to the public in 2010 by Tomato Growers Supply. 
Rosella Purple - first offered to the public in 2010 by Victory Seeds. 
Tasmanian Chocolate - First offered to the public in 2010 by Victory Seeds. 
Summertime Gold - First offered to the public in 2010 by Sandhill Preservation.  We are reselecting this variety, as the released stock is too similar to Dwarf Mr. Snow and does not match our expectations. (if you are growing it, don't worry - it is still a great tomato...but do watch for the re-release, probably next year)
Dwarf Mr. Snow - First offered to the public in 2010 by Victory Seeds. 
Dwarf Wild Fred - First offered to the public in 2010 by Tomato Growers Supply. 

2011 Releases (4)

Perth Pride first offered to the public in 2011 by Tania's Tomatobase. 
Iditarod Red first offered to the public in 2011 by Tania's Tomatobase. 
Yukon Quest first offered to the public in 2011 by Tania's Tomatobase. 
Sleeping Lady first offered to the public in 2011 by Tania's Tomatobase. 

2012 Releases (4) 

Dwarf Kelly Green - First offered to the public in 2012 by Remy's Sample Seed Shop. 
Dwarf Arctic Rose - first offered to the public in 2012 by Casey's Heirloom Seeds.
Dwarf Sweet Sue - First offered to the public in 2012 by Heritage Tomato Seeds.
Summer Sunrise - First offered to the public in 2012 by Gleckler Seedsmen.

2014 releases (8) - I am giving full descriptions, as they are new.

Rosella Crimson - now available from Heritage Tomato Seeds and The Sample Seed Shop (dual release) - early to midseason regular leaf Dwarf, producing medium to medium large oblate fruit that have clear skin and red flesh, hence are a pink variety. Vigorous and productive, the flavor is excellent to outstanding, in some seasons approaching Brandywine in quality. A member of the Sleep family (Budai X Stump of the World), Rosella Crimson is the collaborative work of primarily Patrina Nuske Small (who named it), Craig LeHoullier, Linda Black, Denise Sackett, Justin Morse, Bill Minkey, with input from many others.

Chocolate Champion - now available from Jeff Casey's Heirloom Seeds company and The Sample Seed Shop (dual release) - midseason regular dwarf Dwarf producing medium to medium large oblate chocolate brown fruit and lots of them. The flavor is nicely balanced and very tasty, and both appearance and flavor resemble Cherokee Chocolate. A member of the Cheeky Dwarf family (Golden Dwarf Champion X Cherokee Chocolate), Chocolate Champion is the collaborative work of Patrina Nuske Small, Ray South (who named it), David Lockwood, Denise Bath, Bill Yoder, Mark Gladney, Ruth TenBrink, Craig LeHoullier and Bill Minkey.

Big Green Dwarf - now available from Heritage Tomato Seeds and Tatiana's TOMATObase (dual release) - midseason regular leaf Dwarf, producing medium to medium large oblate fruit that retain green flesh when ripe but develop an amber skin like Cherokee Green; nice, well balanced, medium intensity flavor. A member of the Cheeky Dwarf family (Golden Dwarf Champion X Cherokee Chocolate), Big Green Dwarf is the collaborative work of Patrina Nuske Small, Marjorie Holloway (who named it), Craig LeHoullier and Bill Minkey.

Wherokowhai - now available from Heritage Tomato Seeds and Tatiana's TOMATObase (dual release) - midseason potato leaf Dwarf and our first bicolored offering, name pronounced "fer-dow-co-fi", a native New Zealand Maori word (the variety was named by New Zealand project member Richard Watson). The medium to medium large, oblate fruit are yellow with red swirls with an outstanding flavor, and can be considered a dwarf version of one of its parents, Lucky Cross. A member of the Dizzy family (Dwarf Russian Swirl, out of the Dopey family, X Lucky Cross), Wherokowhai is the collaborative work of Ray South, Richard Watson (who named it), Craig LeHoullier, Martha Hufford, Soren Linnemann, Lyn Rancourt, Patrina Nuske Small, Michael Volk, Bill Yoder, Doug Frank, Bill Minkey and Willa Osis.

Dwarf Blazing Beauty - now available from Heritage Tomato Seeds and Tatiana's TOMATObase (dual release)  - mid to late midseason; our first orange dwarf project release, produced on a vigorous potato leaf Dwarf plant. The fruit are medium to medium large, smooth oblate and a deep orange in and out. The flavor sparkles with an ample tart bite and is quite intense, resembling very much one of its parents, Elbe. A member of the Tipsy family (Golden Dwarf Champion X Elbe), Dwarf Blazing Beauty is the collaborative work of Patrina Nuske Small, Craig LeHoullier (who named it), John Schmuch, Amanda Fischer, Bill Yoder, Dee Sackett, Doug Frank, and Susan Oliverson

Boronia - now available from Heritage Tomato Seeds, Knapp's Vegetable Seeds and Tatiana's TOMATObase (tri-launch) - early midseason to midseason, regular leaf Dwarf producing lots of medium to medium large, oblate purple fruit with a delicious, intense flavor that in some seasons approaches Cherokee Purple in quality. A member of the Happy family (New Big Dwarf X Paul Robeson), Boronia is the collaborative work of Patrina Nuske Small (who named it), Gina McDermott, Tanya Kucak, David Lockwood, Craig LeHoullier, Sherry Shiesl, Carol Knapp, Michael Volk and Bill Minkey.

Sean's Yellow Dwarf - now available from Tatians's TOMATObase  - early-mid season regular leaf Dwarf producing lots of smooth medium sized oblate bright yellow fruit with a very pale yellow interior, with a refreshing, bright delicious flavor. A member of the Witty family (Budai X Cherokee Green), Sean's Yellow Dwarf is the collaborative work of Patrina Nuske Small, Lee Newman (who named it after his friend, Sean, in whose garden it first appeared), Linda Stormes, Ginny Bishton, Ruth TenBrink and Craig LeHoullier.

Sweet Adelaide - now available from Jeff Casey's Heirloom Seeds company and The Sample Seed Shop (dual release) - midseason regular leaf Dwarf, producing medium to medium large oblate pink fruit with a balanced, delicious flavor. It is a vigorous and productive variety that makes a wonderful slicing tomato. A member of the Happy family (New Big Dwarf X Paul Robeson), Sweet Adelaide is the collaborative work of Patrina Nuske Small (who named it), Jeff Casey, Craig LeHoullier, David Lockwood, Lurley Hernandez, Ted Maiden, Doug Frank, Damon Huck,Tanya Kucak, and Bill Minkey, with input from many others.

Here are four flats of seedlings in front of a south facing window in my office; greens (right rear), one planted with peppers/eggplant, and two planted with tomatoes.  Most of the greens (beets, basil, chard, lettuce, arugula, mustard, collards) are up and growing, and it is day 5 since planting. I don't expect to see anything happening in the others until the weekend.  Below are some closeups of the action. The greens flat is no longer receiving bottom heat; the sheet of Saran Wrap loosely covered the emerging seedlings to conserve moisture and heat.

One of the big challenges to planting is finding the seeds I need....this is one of the places where seed is stored. Some are in covered glass or plastic vials, some in coin envelopes, some in small poly bags.  In other areas, they are ordered by the time received; all seeds get a number when purchased or received from other gardeners. They are also numbered when saved (so there are two different numbering conventions used).  Below are a few other pics of seed storage and my tomato information library.

The to-do list now turns to getting the garage ready for the greens flat (clearing off the workbench and positioning the lights for close proximity to the flat), planting the final tomato flat, and one more look through the options to see what other things I wish to start for this season.

When December rolls around, a new gardening book will reside on the shelves of bookstores and appear on Amazon; currently with a working title of Epic Tomatoes, it is my first (and a long time coming!), but hopefully there will be more to follow. 

My interest in tomatoes really started taking off in the mid 1980s after I turned my focus to growing heirlooms, joined the Seed Savers Exchange and started amassing the way-too-large collection of varieties that now sits in my office (well, seeds, not tomatoes - they are a few months away). I was first approached by a publisher to write a book on tomatoes a long time ago -  in the early 1990s -  but it didn't feel like the right time to tackle such a project. Our children were young, I was in the midst of my professional career, and it seemed that there was still so much for me to learn. In the years since, the tomato hobby hasn't waned in the least - it has morphed, evolved, and grown. The desire to write it down persisted, though, and thanks to my Nova Scotia gardening pal and garden writer Niki Jabbour (who planted a bug in her editor's ear), Storey publishing contacted me a few years ago to gauge my interest in finally writing that tomato book. 

The summer of 2012 was about getting the front work done, such as the proposal, draft table of contents, and finalizing the contract. On our annual autumn escape to Ocracoke Island, in October of that year, I opened up my laptop and dove in. Somehow, between then and the end of June last year, the first draft was completed, and I emailed to my editor Carleen a 210 page, 90K word file. Last year also saw various photo-shoots, and from fall last year and continuing now, it is about editing and finalizing the text. I found out a few things along the way; being able to touch type (at near 100 words per minute - that 7th grade typing class was the best!), combined with being really ready to let the information just flow out, allowed me to work in nice bursts with ample breaks in between. Some parts came easy, others required quite a bit of research - so I ended up learning a lot along the way as well.

It has been a very interesting experience. Over the years I've given many lectures and workshops on tomatoes, and in a way, the book is a large scale expansion of many of those talks. Though my passion and greatest knowledge concentration is in heirloom varieties and the history of the various tomato varieties developed in the US from the 1870s until the hybrid boom that started in the late 1940s with the release of Burpee's Big Boy, the book will cover pretty much all things tomato - history, culture, disease and pest, varieties, and a few of my favorite ways to use and preserve them. If all goes well, it will come across as a book that is reflective of my own adventures and journeys through all of my gardens over the last 33 years. 

This is the beginning of the part of the year for gardeners when time flies and there rarely seems to be enough hours in the day. Whether planning, planting, or preparations, time simply slips through the fingers. I am already enjoying my decision to simplify and reduce (hey, that sounds like algebra...) my garden activities. A few days ago I felt desperately behind, but today all things seem to be on track.

I've updated my welcome page - scroll to the news items at the bottom, where you will find a list of the various gardening talks already populating my calendar - as they approach, I will add links and further info if you wish to attend any of them.

I've also finished a tentative update of my 2014 seedlings list on the From The Vine page.

As for what is now being gently warmed in front of my office windows on heat mats....A flat of greens, lettuce, beets and herbs (planted two days ago) is already showing signs of life. Occupying a neighboring heat mat is a flat of eggplant, ground cherries, hot and sweet peppers. If all goes well, tomorrow will be tomato seed planting day.

.....and then I wait and observe and report.....leading up to transplant time in about a month!

And so it begins. today is the day that the first seeds get planted - and looking back at my annual gardening diaries, I am running about two weeks behind on greens, beets and herbs.  Thankfully, I am roughly on schedule - IF - I can get the peppers, eggplants and tomatoes into potting mix by the coming weekend.

It's not that I've been wasting time....I am very pleased with progress on editing of my upcoming book, and just finished distributing seeds for the 2014 Dwarf project. I've pretty much finished a first draft of my planting plan, and the garage workbench is cleaned off and ready to go. This will be a very short blog, because it is 70 degrees outside, the sun is shining....and the seeds need to be planted!

Before I head off to the garage, a few things about how the season is shaping up. I've got some garden talks already on the calendar - Eno and Atlantic Springs Nursery, and the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello are confirmed, and I am working on the Cape Fear Botanical Garden and Southern Season dates.  I've got to replant the tomato varieties that the book will feature (some photos need retaking), and that will be the focus of my own gardening efforts; it is going to be a MUCH smaller effort - less peppers, eggplant, dwarf tomatoes, a less crowded driveway, a significantly reduced side garden. 

As far as seedlings, my current thinking is that I will not be taking plants to the Farmers Market for all sorts of reasons. As the plants reach readiness, we can work out ways that you can get the seedlings....but that's getting ahead of things. I've pretty much settled on varieties, and will be updating the From The Vine seedling variety page soon.  A highlight is that I will have seedlings from all 25 of the Dwarfs that our project has released to date!

OK - off to plant our future salads!

I really loved my job at the grocery store - worked there from the age of 16 until I headed off to graduate school, age 22. I worked part time, but it was unionized - produce dept, later the deli - and for the last few years there, made 5.00 per hour, probably in 1976 or so. It seemed like a good pay, went pretty far, and coming from a low income family, it allowed me to pay most of my way to college. 

I remember a few things back then - bananas were 18 cents per pound. Bologna - from my deli days - 99 cents per pound...ham often on sale for 1.99 per pound. I went to a pretty good local college - I commuted, but worked hard at it - got a double major (chemistry and biology) - for the bargain price of less than 300.00 per semester. So my double major BS (not counting books) was less than 2400.00! 

My daughter is a great young woman who works her butt off - she finally got a grocery store job at full time. She is going to be starting at just over 9.00 per hour. She also works at a deli - and that bologna is typically 6 dollars per pound, the ham 10 dollars per pound... 

Where am I going with this? if she is making less than twice what I was making 40 years ago.....compare that with prices of such common items as lunch meat, which has gone up 5, 6, 7 times in price....gasoline? Tuition? Rent? 

She is going to end up making less than 20K per year...gross - and out of that will come taxes, health costs. After she drives to work, pays her insurance, buys groceries - I don't have to explain it much more, and suspect many here are in the same boat or worse. What will she be able to save during her working years? 401K plan? Hah! I just Googled that for a single person, poverty level is 11,500.00. It totally boggles the mind, trying to understand how that is even remotely a liveable amount of money. 

It makes no sense at all to me, comparing what incomes were 40 years ago as I worked through school and costs to what is going on today. One of our daughters has so much college debt that it appears to be endless; the other gets so little to show for how hard she works and how committed and professional that she is. 

How has this happened - how has the country gotten to such a state as this? It is shameful.