If she wrote a 2nd book, what hundred tomatoes would Carolyn....

[MrsTwigg]

I finally did pull the trigger on ordering Carolyn's book--I had had to re-add it to my cart a couple of times in the last week alone because the used copies I would periodically add to my cart kept being sold from their individual vendors. Figured there was no time like the present.

And I like the idea proposed above by IronPete. I'd add my voice to those asking for a second, updated installment of the book written by an experienced tomato grower. To me, it's not so much an interest in knowing specifically the top varieties any particular person has grown that attracts me to a book featuring a list like this (we all have our preferences) as it is learning the "story" behind each (in terms of a particular grower's experience of it, its garden performance, as well as its history/genealogy as an open-pollenated variety). So, I would heartily urge Carolyn to write that tomato varietal history book, if she is ever inclined to do so. These things get lost so easily with the passage of time...and anyway, who doesn't love a good story, especially on those cold early spring nights when tomato season seems so far away?

I'm sorry to hear of Tatiana's health setbacks. Her website is an amazing resource, and I can only imagine what I could learn from her in person, or in book form (which is the next best thing).

[Andrey_BY]

I believe we should double an amount of varieties in the second edition, because as it said above there are so many color groups and very good old and newly discovered varieties from over the world, including Siberia which is in Russia itself, Mark.

To write a really good competent powerful book is very hard thing which requires much time and passion.
It's quite difficult to do that being 30-50 y.o., having family, growing children, official job, business trips, serving your garden, managing seed trades or ruling a seed company like Tanya. You have just no free time even to think about that. And of course, we all should be heathy to live and follow our hobbies.
I wish Tanya and Carolyn a very good or at least a better health. Growing our babies (tomato) makes our life much more positive and joyful.

[Worth1]

I am not a fanatic about all of the varieties of tomatoes there are but I am shocked no one has mentioned Neves Azorean Red.
Heirloom or not it is a fantastic tomato.

On a side note almost all of my favorite tomatoes I grow Carolyn has had something to do with.
Either in the book or elsewhere.
All of them were selected before I ever knew they were in the book.
Or I knew she had anything to do with them.


Worth

[IronPete]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Pete, I have known Tania from shortly after she and her husband and two boys,now adults, came to the US and settled in Canada.

She very quickly became aware of SSE and had and had and has many back issues of the Yearbooks.

When she started her database website as the years passed she asked for others to describe what they had grown and added their descriptions and asked for pictures if they would give their permission,and the original of those pictures is always noted..She also consulted her SSE Yearbooks for descriptions she used and if you look at a listing for many of her variety descriptions you'll see two names almost always reporting back, one is Jeff Fleming and the second is Neil L from Il,who is one if my now 7 seed producers. And of course she asked if they would do that.

She has also sourced seeds for many varieties from seed Co in Russia,and also her own mother in Russia.


But has she grown all that she describes from others?No can do. If you look at her listing for any variety she lists the Co that have it,and then to the right of that those that she is selling seeds for.

In the front of the 2017 SSE Yearbook there is a note from her offering her regrets that she can list nothing in the 2017 , usually it's several hundreds,due to a move to a new place.

What she doesn't mention is that she has some serious medical issues,but perseveres and never gives up. This is NOT confidential info that I'm sharing.

If you go to the Seed and Plant forum here at Tville and check out her website posts you'll see that many,from time to time are asking her how she's doing,and she answers when she can, and often it's when she's in the hospital.

I agree it would be great if she could list her own 100 faves over time,but I'd also love to see the following do the same.

Glenn Drowns at Sandhill Preservation
Neil L in IL
Bill M in Wisconsin
Al Anderson in OH.
Dale Thurber,now in Utah

The first 4 are long time SSE members, still living and active,ahem,whom I have known since about 1990 and I'm very impressed with what Dale is doing with his website since moving to Utah. Dale is a more recent SSE member, and I just checked and in the 2017 Yearbook is listing 456 tomato varieties along with many other kinds of crops.

I hope the above helps in some way,

Carolyn

Hi Carolyn;

Thanks for the thorough and (as usual) well thought out response. Perhaps we could challenge the folks you mentioned to do a 'top 100' list? It would be neat to compare what they suggest and, if we could get them to add a sentence or two, why. If we made it a separate thread then it could also be open to any of the other serious growers on here to try their hand at.

The thing about a top 100 list is that is would almost require the results to be like a statistical assessment in that it would have to be stratified. Rather than all being beefsteaks for instance, you might have the following categories... cherries (<2oz), salads (2-4 oz), round slicers (>4oz), Hearts, Beefsteaks and Pastes. I am leaving Dwarves out because they exist in all categories (thank you dwarf tomato project!). As 100 can't be divided by 6 it would have to be their top 120 which leaves 20 for each category. Additionally, I would make it OP and not heirloom as we don't have 50 years to wait for the list to be completed. ;-)

What do you think? It would be kind of fun I think and informative at the same time. It would also be neat to see how they differ by geographic region as we know the different climates and soil make ups affect taste. We also know each individual's tastes are different. But it would still make for a neat comparison.

Thanks;

Pete

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by IronPete

Hi Carolyn;

Thanks for the thorough and (as usual) well thought out response. Perhaps we could challenge the folks you mentioned to do a 'top 100' list? It would be neat to compare what they suggest and, if we could get them to add a sentence or two, why. If we made it a separate thread then it could also be open to any of the other serious growers on here to try their hand at.

The thing about a top 100 list is that is would almost require the results to be like a statistical assessment in that it would have to be stratified. Rather than all being beefsteaks for instance, you might have the following categories... cherries (<2oz), salads (2-4 oz), round slicers (>4oz), Hearts, Beefsteaks and Pastes. I am leaving Dwarves out because they exist in all categories (thank you dwarf tomato project!). As 100 can't be divided by 6 it would have to be their top 120 which leaves 20 for each category. Additionally, I would make it OP and not heirloom as we don't have 50 years to wait for the list to be completed. ;-)

What do you think? It would be kind of fun I think and informative at the same time. It would also be neat to see how they differ by geographic region as we know the different climates and soil make ups affect taste. We also know each individual's tastes are different. But it would still make for a neat comparison.

Thanks;

Pete

Pete, knowing very well all the folks I mentioned above I know they would not answer,just too much for them to do all the time in terms of managing websites and up dating them,some take requests year round, and while doing that are at the appropriate time of the year doing huge growouts for seeds to sell, and some of them also taking lots of pictures, such as Dale Thurber..

The same kinds of questions have been asked here at TVille and spending some time doing searches, I know that MANY can be found.

The difference being those that are commercial,mainly,and those that are not.

Carolyn

[korney19]

Andrey, sorry, I haven't looked at a map in a long time, I thought Siberia was like Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, or Crimea....

[Andrey_BY]

Mark I'm not so much into politics and I don't like politians, because they are telling lies all the times. It's their job. They have to learn how to concede when they come off a loser in a big FAIR battle.

Russia is a huge and multicultural country as well as Siberia region in it. Siberia is a geographical place, but not kind of a Republic like Crimea which has been a part of Russia for more than 300 years. And Georgia or Belarus or Ukraine are different countries right now which used to be Soviet Republics in Soviet Union times along with Russia.
That is where a lot of forest, animals, excellent ecology and there are not so many people living there in Siberia. And people there usually don't care about Hillary or Donald or any other foreigners, because they are too distant from all these politians and countries

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by korney19

Andrey, sorry, I haven't looked at a map in a long time, I thought Siberia was like Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, or Crimea.... Is that where Hillary's 33,000 emails are stashed?

Cool it Mark for you know very well that no posts here are allowed to even mention ANYTHING related to religion OR partisan politics as yours just did re politics.

And no,I have not yet sent you the seeds for the multiflora one from Ilex.

My list of to do things is now prioritized, and just looking at it has almost convinced me to go back to bed right now,perchance to dream and escape the net.

Carolyn

[imp]

BTW, Carolyn, how are your deer that had been visiting?

[korney19]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

I am not sure I like this post at all.

I fixed it...

[Worth1]

Now everyone go back and remove their quotes.
Worth

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by korney19

I fixed it...

I appreciate that, thank you. I just deleted mine.

[korney19]

Originally Posted by Andrey_BY

Mark I'm not so much into politics and I don't like politians, because they are telling lies all the times. It's their job. They have to learn how to concede when they come off a loser in a big FAIR battle.

Russia is a huge and multicultural country as well as Siberia region in it. Siberia is a geographical place, but not kind of a Republic like Crimea which has been a part of Russia for more than 300 years. And Georgia or Belarus or Ukraine are different countries right now which used to be Soviet Republics in Soviet Union times along with Russia.
That is where a lot of forest, animals, excellent ecology and there are not so many people living there in Siberia. And people there usually don't care about Hillary or Donald or any other foreigners, because they are too distant from all these politians and countries

So that would be like the Grand Canyon is a region in Arizona. OK, got it. Do they all have their own hockey teams now? I remember playing against "CCCP." How difficult it must be growing tomatoes in Siberia... like Galina's and Gregori's Altai, and others...

[Worth1]

I love the region of the former USER so many wonderful people I have met over the years.
Worth

[Andrey_BY]

So that would be more like you imagine 77% of US area as one georgaphical region as Siberia in Russia
There are a lot of big rivers and mountains, Trans-Siberian Railway, one and only Baikal lake, 8 Time Zones and many climate zones there - from dry steppes to tundra and polar deserts with short summers and long cold winters. West and South are warmer than the Central, North and East-North part.
Most of tomato varieties we grow are from Western Siberia (Barnaul, Kurgan, Tyumen, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Gorno-Altaysk).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberia

All Russian regions have their own ice hockey, football (soccer) and bandy teams.

And people - a very kind and hospitable people like everywhere in Russia and almost all former Soviet Union...

P.S. I've been traveled 2 times by Trans-Siberian Railways - a halfway 5 days from Moscow to Ulan-Bator (Mongolia) via Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude.
But that's all not about tomatoes and Carolyn's new book

Originally Posted by korney19

So that would be like the Grand Canyon is a region in Arizona. OK, got it. Do they all have their own hockey teams now? I remember playing against "CCCP." How difficult it must be growing tomatoes in Siberia... like Galina's and Gregori's Altai, and others...