From The Vine
Grow Something Out of the Ordinary in your garden
this year….
From The Vine
is
a hobby of Craig and Susan LeHoullier of
By the way, I offer seminars
to garden clubs or organizations, on topics from general gardening to whatever
level of tomato, pepper or eggplant knowledge is desired. Please email/call me for my speaking fee.
We are pleased to note that
our seedlings are growing in a new Leesville Road Elementary School teaching garden,
and in various new gardens created by the Interfaith Food Shuttle (link here). We are
also about to make a major plant donation to the SEEDS garden (link here).
We are delighted to have been able to make these plant donations, and
look forward to providing some educational sessions to describe the histories
and unique characteristics of the plants.
Also, we are delighted that
Coon Rock Farm (link here), which
grows much of the produce used at the wonderful Raleigh restaurant Zely and Ritz (link here),
feature our tomato, eggplant and pepper plants.
A few recommendations we
would like to make – if you love flower gardens, be sure to go to the Daniel Stowe Garden in Belmont, NC
(Sue and I just returned – it was great!).
(My wife, an avid quilter, also works in a stop at her favorite fabric
store, Mary Jo’s, in Gastonia. Our favorite place to stay for the night is Robin’s Nest B&B in Mt. Holly. The Hostess, Robin Williams, is just delightful!
Updated Thursday, May 21, 2009
· We have
a very limited quantity of seedlings remaining, obtainable at 1.00 per plant –
email or call to set up a time to get some if you wish. Thanks to everyone who decided to grow our
seedlings this year – now on to watching them grow and eagerly anticipate the
harvest!
· For those
who are trying a few of the new Dwarf varieties please email me progress
reports as the season progresses.
· If you
really want something that was not on my list, let me know so I can include it
next year (Stump of the World, Marianna’s Peace and Tommy Toe are three of my
requests thus far!).
· A few
other thoughts about next year: rethink
my hot peppers/sweet peppers/eggplant strategy.
They are clearly less popular than tomatoes, so I may either
significantly reduce the number of varieties and/or the number of plants. I also need to rethink how to get larger
plants earlier – the cold spring didn’t seem to bother the tomatoes, but really
held back my other seedlings. Any
ideas/thoughts/feedback is welcomed.
· Tomatopalooza 7, which
will take place on Saturday, July 25, will relocate to Raleigh for this year –
Shelter 7 at Lake Wheeler Park, from 1-4 PM.
Lee and I want to thank our hosts for the past two years, Jimmy and
Fred, for helping to create two absolutely memorable, wonderful days. With the economy the way it is, we thought
make it less of a drive for people. We
may actually alternate the Efland site with Raleigh in the future, but let’s
not look too far ahead – we need to have this year’s event first! Additional information and directions can be
found on http://tomatopalooza.org/. Thanks to Lee Newman for reserving the spot
and getting the ball rolling on this year’s event. Here’s to a better tomato season than we had
last year!
· For 2010
- where we will be specifically at the NC State
Farmer’s Market, Lake Wheeler Road, Raleigh is never certain until we get
there to set up, so check this website early on Saturday mornings our specific
spot will be listed (updated each weekend)
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About Our Seedlings
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My guestbook has been disabled due to the constant spamming…please just email me with any comments!
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The variety descriptions
below can be found here by category, so you can print them out.
2009 Tomato List
2009 Pepper List
2009 Eggplant List
Variety List for
2009
Tomatoes (71
varieties)
NOTE: The lists below are retained for information
only
Red Fruited (21 choices):
Aker’s West Virginia – very large fruit,
great flavor, from my friend Carl Aker in Pennsylvania, named by me.
Amish Paste – elongated, not a paste, all uses, delicious,
seemed to have come from Wisconsin or Ohio.
Andrew Rahart’s Jumbo Red – another
great large fruited red, named by John Rahart of the
Seed Savers Exchange.
Box Car Willie – uniform, medium round fruit,
productive, delicious, sent to Carolyn Male by Joe Bratka
of New York.
Cuostralee – huge red fruit, one of the largest,
tasty, very tall vigorous plant, sent to me by a French gardener
Druzba – reliable medium sized, perfect
fruit, very tasty and productive.
Gallo Plum – another wonderful long red
paste type on an indeterminate plant; sent to me via a seed swap by Charlotte Mullens, WV in 1990.
Kimberly – best flavored early red – potato leaf, medium
small fruit, produces all season long.
Martino’s Roma – a great Roma type, prolific, Determinate plant.
Mexico Midget – pea sized fruit, wildly productive plant,
full flavor – sent to me by Barney Laman of CA in
1990, his brother collected it in Mexico. They are making progress, finally!
Mule Team – similar
to Box Car Willie – medium sized, round, productive, tasty, also a Joe Bratka variety via Carolyn Male.
Nepal – one of my favorite tomatoes, medium round red fruit,
very flavorful, first non hybrid I ever grew in 1986, from Johnny’s Selected
Seeds
Neves Azorean Red – another huge oblate red
tomato with great flavor, sent to Carolyn Male by Tony Neves.
Opalka – very long red
paste type fruit, tall plant, flavor superior to Roma types, Polish heirloom
given to Carolyn Male by the Opalka family.
Ozark Cherry – nice old fashioned large red cherry tomato,
obtained at a Baker Creek event and sent to me by a Garden Web member.
Rasp Red – another fine medium sized productive red, great
flavor, old time SSE variety, from Tom Rasp of New York.
Red Brandywine – very productive medium sized, slightly oblate
red, delicious, reliable, I got it from the Landis Seed Co, in Pennsylvania
years ago.
Red Robin – incredibly dwarf plant (less than 1 foot!) with
nice red cherry tomatoes, perfect for a small pot! Good supply this year.
Shannon’s – new this year, family heirloom, large plum
shaped red for eating as well as sauce, family heirloom of Greg Fee of NC.
Sophie’s Choice – nice compact plant, but big tasty red
tomatoes, great in a pot, introduced by Carolyn Male, first offered by Southern
Exposure Seed Co.
Sweet Million F1 – the classic red cherry tomato, produces
like crazy, yes it’s a hybrid, but one of the best red cherry tomatoes.
Veeroma – another good compact growing red
Roma type, prolific, has good disease tolerance.
Pink Fruited (13 choices):
Anna Russian – medium to large tasty pink heart shaped
fruit, a favorite, sent to me by Brenda Hillenius of
Oregon in 1989. Russian
heirloom.
Arkansas Traveler – medium sized round pink, prolific, mild
sweet flavor, from the 1970s (not as old as it sounds!)
Brandywine – large pink, potato leaf plants, many people’s
favorite tomato, made famous by Ben Quisenberry – he
got it from the Sudduth family.
Burgundy Traveler – medium round wonderful deep pink fruit,
delicious, a friend shared the seed with me.
Dr. Carolyn Pink – delicious pink cherry tomato, was
selected out of a white cherry tomato.
Eva Purple Ball – perfect medium smooth pink globes, very
tasty, German heirloom sent to Carolyn Male by Joe Bratka.
Ferris Wheel – from 1894, delicious large pink – Salzer Seed Company release we rescued from the USDA. One of the true old time
varieties.
German Johnson – familiar large pink tomato, NC heirloom, no
one seems to know its history!
Mortgage Lifter, Estler’s – huge
pink sweet fruit on a huge plant, developed in 1925 by M. C. Byles of West Virginia.
Has a great story.
New Big Dwarf – surprisingly large oblate pink fruit on a
very compact plant perfect for pots, delicious, bred by the Isbell Seed Company
in 1915. Rescued by me!
Rose Quartz – super productive small pink cherry tomato,
amazing number of flowers in a cluster, selected from a hybrid.
Stokes County Pink – loves to grow here, delicious pink
fruit, recommended by my friend Lee.
Winsall – famous tomato from 1924, Henderson
Seed Co, their improvement on Ponderosa, large pink sweet fruit, does very here
in this climate
Purple/Brown Fruited (so-called “black”
tomatoes) (8 choices):
Black Cherry – true purple cherry tomato, absolutely
delicious, developed by Vince Sapp of the Tomato Growers Supply Company.
Black Krim – large oblate purplish
fruit, on the tart side, productive and early, a Swedish seed saver first
offered it through the SSE in 1990.
Black from Tula – another good medium large early purple,
delicious, true Russian variety introduced by the SSE.
Cherokee Chocolate – brownish large fruit, tall plant,
wonderful flavor, mutation of Cherokee Purple found and named by me in 1995.
Cherokee Purple – my favorite tomato – named by me in 1990 –
large delicious purple fruit, thrives in NC, sent to me by J. D. Green of
Sevierville, TN.
JD Special C-Tex – very similar to Cherokee Purple (a
relative), large flat purple firm delicious fruit, a
friend shared this with me.
Paul Robeson – medium oblate brown tasty tomatoes on a
vigorous plant, quite early, first offered by the Southern Exposure Seed
Exchange, Russian variety.
Purple Russian – delicious purple long fruited paste type, plant
is wispy looking, prolific, first offered by the SSE.
Green Fruited (flesh stays green when
ripe and sweet, skin color can vary) (7 choices):
Aunt Ruby’s German Green – large smooth oblate green fruit,
delicious, fruit barely changes color when ripe, Ruby Arnold’s family heirloom
via a Missouri seed saver. (8 left)
Cherokee Green – descended from Cherokee Chocolate, amber
skin, green flesh when ripe, superb flavor, found and named by me in 1997.
Green Giant – very unusual large green fruit on a potato
leaf plant, winner of taste contests, superb, I obtained it from a German
tomato enthusiast.
Green Grape – small bushy plant, loads of large grape sized
green fleshed fruit with an amber skin, snappy flavor, developed by Tom Wagner
in the 1970s.
Green Zebra – well known variety – medium, green with gold
stripes, green flesh – tart, snappy flavor, another Tom Wagner variety.
Lime Green Salad – very compact plant, great for pots, loads
of tasty medium small green fleshed fruits – and yet another Tom Wagner
variety.
Spears Tennessee Green – new this year,
big success at Tomatopalooza – luscious large green,
amber skin, family heirloom first offered by Baker Creek.
Yellow/Orange/White Fruited (16
choices):
Anna Banana Russian – brand new this year, bright yellow
version of Anna Russian – heart shaped, delicious, from a Washington seed
saver, out of Anna Russian.
Coyote – tiny, pea sized, ivory fruit, rampant plant, nice
flavor, produces tons, given to me by Maye Clement of
Philadephia, wild Mexican tomato.
Dr. Wyche’s Yellow – very nice,
pale orange, oblate fruit, green shoulders, large size, tasty, sent to me by J.
D. Green in 1990.
Galina – wonderful potato leaf bright yellow cherry tomato –
just delicious, meatier than most cherries, very poor germination – just a
few! From Russia.
Great White – large oblate ivory fruit, smooth, tasty –
probably the best of the white tomatoes, first offered by Gleckler
Seed Company.
Hugh’s – immense pale yellow fruit on a very tall plant,
superb flavor, one of the best yellow tomatoes, from Archie Hook, Indiana.
Jaune Flamme –
large cherry size, pale orange, flesh is pink in the center, on the tart side,
prolific, from a French tomato collector.
Kellogg’s Breakfast – very large orange beefsteak type
fruit, mild delicious flavor, productive, impressive, from Darrell Kellogg,
seed saver.
KBX Cross – a potato leaf, golden fruited selection from
Kellogg’s Breakfast that many people like even better, similar to Yellow
Brandywine.
Lemon Boy F1 – prolific bright yellow medium sized tomatoes,
delicious, a long time favorite
Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom – best flavored bright yellow
fruit, large, potato leaf, late, one of my favorite tomatoes
Malschor Isura –
immense yields of small, grape shaped bright yellow fruit, mild and sweet, sent
to me by a German seed saver.
Orange Heirloom – similar to Kellogg’s Breakfast, very large
orange fruit, delicious, western NC heirloom obtained by a friend and shared
with me.
Sungold F1 – hands down best cherry to my
taste, prolific, orange fruit, indescribable flavor! A Japanese hybrid that has
yet to be excelled in its unique flavor.
Yellow Brandywine – large potato leaf
plant, very large pale orange oblate fruit, absolutely delicious, probably
similar to the old Henderson variety Shah.
Yellow Pear – old timer, plum shaped bright yellow fruit and
lots of them, mild flavor, this one has been around for a few hundred years!
Striped or Streaked
(6 choices):
Hillbilly – an old heirloom, large
sweet yellow/red bicolor fruit, just beautiful.
Little Lucky – potato leaf, small to
medium red/yellow bicolor, superb flavor, my own creation, originated in
crossed Brandywine seed.
Lucky Cross – large fruited sister tomato to Little Lucky – tastes like a bicolored
Brandywine! Thanks to Larry Bohs of NC for help in this one.
Regina’s Yellow – another large fruited yellow/red bicolor,
nice fruity, sweet flavor, sent to me by Carolyn Male.
Striped Sweetheart – a striped heart shaped fruit, flavor of
Brandywine, thanks to Lee for help with this…out of the Lucky Cross line.
Tiger Tom – very prolific, small golf ball shaped tart
fruit, red with gold stripes, a favorite, one that Ben
Quisenberry liked to grow.
Sweet Peppers (27 varieties)
Aconcagua – huge pale green frying pepper that ripen orange,
great yield and flavor
Blue Jay F1 –lavender purple bell shaped fruit ripen through
orange to red – striking!
Chocolate Beauty F1 – blocky dark green bell ripens
chocolate brown, sweet.
Corno di Toro –
large, long deep green peppers ripen red, very productive
Corno di Toro
Yellow – same as above, but ripen a deep golden yellow
Cubanelle – also prolific, pale, lime green
frying peppers ripen orange
Early Sunsation F1 – blocky green
bell ripens a rich yellow, productive, sweet
Garden Sunshine – pale yellow fruit ripen orange red, long
bell, sweet
Golden Marconi – similar to Corno di Toro, but ripens from green to bright yellow
Gypsy F1 – appears to be a hybrid version of the Cubanelle type – yellow, ripens to orange red, prolific
Hershey F1 – large blocky green bell that ripens chocolate
brown.
Islander F1 – similar to Blue Jay – amazing color changes as
it ripens from lavender to red!
Italia – classic long Italian frying pepper, dark green
ripening to red, very sweet
Jimmy Nardello – insane
yields! Tall plant yields dozens of
long, slender, twisty green fruit that ripen red
Jupiter – large blocky green bell ripens red, very popular
variety from the 1950s
Kalman Hungarian – tomato shaped dark green
ripens deep red, pimento type, thick walled
Lipstick – compact plant, loads of elongated dark green
fruit ripen deep red, very sweet
Marconi Red – similar to Corno di Toro – similarly flavorful, productive – green to red
Orange Bell – blocky green fruit ripens deep orange,
incredible flavor, my favorite bell
Orange Sun – similar to Orange Bell, perhaps not quite as
large or as sweet, but higher yield
Purple Beauty – blocky dark green fruit ripen to nearly
black purple, then deep red, very prolific
Red Belgium – very early and compact, pale yellow long bells
ripen red orange
Sarga Czeresdyne –
very unusual; small top shaped green fruit ripen to deep orange, spicy, sweet,
peppery
Super Shepherd – a great long frying type pepper, ripens
deep green to deep red
Super Stuff – new this year, pale yellow long bell type
ripens red orange, great flavor
Sweet Hungarian – the classic long pale yellow sweet banana
pepper, ripens orange to pale red
Yellow Belle II – also new this year, green bell ripens
yellow, tasty
Hot Peppers (31
varieties)
Ancho – (aka Poblano)
– heart shaped deep green fruit ripen brown to deep red, mildly hot
Billy Goat – deep green, top shaped, Habanero
relative, incredible heat, ripen red
Bird – tiny, pea shaped lime green fruit, blush purple in
the sun, ripen gold, Habanero
heat!
Bolivian Rainbow – small flame shaped peppers, purplish
foliage, peppers go yellow, purple, orange, to red
Bulgarian Carrot – new this year, medium long green fruit
ripen rich orange, rich but spicy flavor
Centennial Rainbow – green leaf, white flowers, bullet fruit
pale yellow to lavender to orange to red, very hot!
Datil – a Hab
relative, long yellow orange fruit that are blistering hot – legendary!
Festival – purple/green foliage, purple flowers, multicolored bullet shaped fruit
Fish
–
foliage green and white; Jalapeno shaped peppers green/white striped, ripen red
Five Color - tall plant, purplish
foliage, very hot, purple to ivory to yellow to orange to red!
Gemstone – small compact plant, purple foliage, five colored fruit, lovely
Golden Cayenne – longer than the red Cayenne – deep green
ripens to bright yellow
Gumdrop – green leaf, white flowers, round yellow fruit
ripen lavender through red, very hot!
Hot Paper Lantern – really nice red Habanero
type, incredibly productive
Jalapeno M – just a good productive strain of the
classic
Jamaican Hot Chocolate – deep, chocolate brown version of Habanero
Kung Pao – big bushy plant
provides loads of slender green chiles that ripen red
Leslie’s Anaheim – very nice version of the long chile pepper, mild, green ripening red, prolific
Little Nubian – great plant – purple foliage and flowers,
mini black bells ripen red, very hot
Malu Miris – from
a friend from Sri Lanka – long pale green, ripen orange, delicious
Pearl – green foliage that is a bit fuzzy, short slender
green peppers blush purple and ripen red, family heirloom
Peter – wrinkled, somewhat obscene shaped green fruit ripen
red, extra hot
Pretty Purple – plant is all purple
– foliage, flowers, fruit black purple ripening deep red. Great ornamental.
Purple Robe – similar color to Pretty Purple, but plant is
taller, peppers smaller cones.
Scotch Bonnet – wrinkled green top shaped fruit ripen golden
yellow orange. Fiery hot
Skinny – very small plants with tiny upright green peppers
ripen red, plant is loaded – great for containers
Spectral – deeper foliaged version of Five Color – lovely plant.
Trifetti – small, spreading variegated foliage
plant with small dark purple peppers, ripen red, very ornamental
Variegata – darkest purple foliage of all,
especially in full sun, small black cones ripen red.
Vietnamese Multicolor – dark foliage, multicolored fruit,
lovely plant, very hot
Yellow Peter Pepper – same obscene shape, dark green
ripening to yellow
Eggplant/Other (19
varieties)
Antiguan – lovely slender fruit that are white with purple
stripes and streaks - spectacular
Batu – from a friend from Sri Lanka,
prolific, long white fruit blushed with pale violet, similar to Bride
Casper – smooth oval pure white fruit, productive, sweet
mild flesh
Early Green Giant – large oval medium green fruit, prolific
and delicious
Ichiban F1 – well known slender black purple hybrid, Asian
type, an eggplant machine
Lavendar Touch F1 – very beautiful white oval
fruit blushed with pale lavender
Listada di Gandia – perhaps the most beautiful of all, nearly round
white with dark purple stripes
Louisiana Long Green – long, slender green skinned fruit are
tender and sweet
Machiaw F1 – an improved Asian type, very long
and slender, medium purple fruit
Mauve Sword – my own selection from Ichiban, long lavender
fruit
Neon F1 – bright, intense lavender fruit, oval shape,
productive
New York Improved – the classic bell shaped black eggplant,
grows quite large, tall plant, superb for slicing
Ping Tung Long – slender medium purple Asian type, prolific
and tasty (plenty
left)
Prosperosa – old Italian variety, round, large
purple fruit, tall vigorous plant, large leaves
Ripples - oval white fruit are striped with dark purple,
lovely variety, very productive
Rosa Bianca – large nearly round white/lavender shaded
fruit, make great slices
Snow Globe – my own selection from Cloud 9 – nearly round
snow white fruit
Zebra F1 – one of the most beautiful, lavender with white
marbling, oval shape, all purpose, prolific
Other
Cossack Pineapple ground cherry – large spreading plant
loaded with fruits that form in husks that dry to brown and fall off, fruits
are small and pale orange, unique fruity flavor – many uses.
Purple Tomatillo
Toma Verde Tomatillo
Lettuce
For at least the first weekend, we will have
limited quantities of a selection of unusual and colorful lettuce, 3 or 4
plants to a 4 inch pot. Amongst the
varieties we may have: Cherokee,
Magenta, St. Anne, Yugoslavian Red, Red Leprechaun, Laitue
Grosse, Flame, Chinese Sword Leaf, Webb’s Wonderful, Sonata, Landis Winter, Dalgali, Venezianer, Bolzano,
Dapple, Lattaghino, Krolowa,
Speckled, Mottistone, Black Jack, and Red Russian
Kale (only a few pots of each)
NOTE – if there are things you would like us
to carry (heirloom watermelon or muskmelon or cucumber plants, unusual basils),
please let us know!
Information Resources on the Web:
A good
resource for pictures of varieties that we carry, but have yet to photograph:
Is the link to the web
site for the Tomato Growers Supply Company. They have
pictures of most of the varieties we carry. They are also a superb source for
seeds.
Other seed companies that I highly recommend
Johnny’s Selected Seeds – http://www.johnnyseeds.com/welcome.html
Victory Seeds – http://www.victoryseeds.com/
Sandhill Preservation - http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/
Seed Savers Exchange - http://www.seedsavers.org/Home.asp
Heirloom Seeds – http://www.heirloomseeds.com/
Marianna’s Heirloom Seeds - http://www.mariseeds.com/
A source for tomato seedlings in
My friend, Jeff Fleming –
click here
for the link.
And, a source for tomato
seedlings in
Here is a great resource for tomato pictures
http://mitglied.lycos.de/rkraft/Tomatenfotos/galerie.htm
For great gardening chat, try out the
following:
Tomatoville: http://tomatoville.com
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Craig’s Top Twenty Varieties for Flavor (list circa 2006/7,
need to rethink this sometime!)
10 Lesser
Known Varieties that should be tried by tomato enthusiasts:
Varieties that seem to
laugh at our poor soil and various diseases – those with staying power in Raleigh!
Perhaps others – each year
is a different experiment!!!
Saving Tomato Seed:
1. Use
tomatoes that are edible ripe – NOT overripe or rotting.
2. Label a
Dixie cup with the name of the tomato
3. Cut the
fruit in half and squeeze the contents into the cup- seeds, juice, pulp and all
4. Place the
cup in the shade in a covered area outside or in a garage or shed – it will
really smell bad and attract fruit flies!
5. After
about 3 days, once a white fungus layer forms, add water to fill the cup –
carefully remove the fungus layer and discard.
Pour the contents into a fine mesh sieve and, with water running over
the seed mass, press with a spoon so that everything but the seeds passes
through the mesh.
6. Scrape
out the cleaned seed, spread onto a labeled unglazed paper plate and let air
dry in the house for about 2 weeks.
7.
Tomato seeds, if stored in glass or plastic
vials, will last 10 years or more, stored at room temperature.
