1992 Isn't Super Old But....(Craig take a look)

[remy]

So I went to the Rochester Cornell Cooperative Extension Garage Sale yesterday. I'm in NARGS and we sell plants in con★★★★★★★★ with the garage sale. I take a stroll over to the Cooperative's books and magazines for sale. They always have some interesting ones. They had old mags 10 for $1. I grab a bunch of them. Here's a very interesting one I found!
Remy

[nctomatoman]

Wow, I completely forgot about that article! Jack is an interesting fellow...he was hot on the trail of Burpee tomatoes, and obsessed with finding the real "Matchless" variety. The year that interview was done, my tomato harvest was outrageous.....if I could only come within 10% of the success I had in PA down here in Raleigh!

[remy]

How fun that you forgot about it! I'm glad I copied it.
Remy

[shlacm]

How cool! Thanks for sharing!!!

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by nctomatoman

Wow, I completely forgot about that article! Jack is an interesting fellow...he was hot on the trail of Burpee tomatoes, and obsessed with finding the real "Matchless" variety. The year that interview was done, my tomato harvest was outrageous.....if I could only come within 10% of the success I had in PA down here in Raleigh!

You called Jack an interesting fellow, so I'll say no more in terms of adding some adjectives.

In the article you said that your crop was outrageous that year, so it couldn't have been the year I sent you 80 # of tomatoes for the Horticultural Show b/c your tomatoes were over the hill.

Right?

[nctomatoman]

ah! could have been....they always hold those shows late, and my crop may have pooped out by then (certainly wasn't the Fusarium and other garbage that attacks my plants in Raleigh!!!)

[eyolf]

In 1992 I had been married a year (took my wife a few years to "run me to ground", LOL!) and we had just resumed residency here on the "farm". I had a vague awareness of the concept of Heirlooms, having read about them in magazines.

I think the first reference I know of was in articles about living history sites like Monticello and Sturbridge. The only outlets for most of us was to scan seed catalogs for old faves...by the mid 1980's mags like TMEN and OG were identifying a few older types and where to get them. Names like Craig's and Carolyn's were occasionally mentioned in those old articles, and when you have no contact with them, they begin to asume some sort of legendary status.

I had a garden at a home I shared with two other, er, young gentlemen (our furniture was old beer cases!) and grew some black radishes that a neighbor also grew "just because they kept coming up every year!". I joined SSE, listed them and got 13 requests...when I had enough seed for maybe 5. The neighbor alowed me to trudge around in the snow and harvest pods to fill a few more, but I was heartbroken and felt like a jerk for dissapointing some folks.

My life circumstances changed, I didn't have time or space to garden and dropped out of SSE.

Today, you can find the black radishes on seed racks all over,
and we have the internet where we can be in contact with others of like mind. Craig and carolyn aren't quite the giants I thought they were and probably someone I might like to have coffee with, after having "talked" with both via email.

I'd hazard a guess that almost every old variety (that still exists) has been found; what remains is to identify if indeed some have drifted away from their origins, or speculate if an old family heirloom is really this or that old commercial variety, perhaps unwittingly reselected for local conditions.

I found a packet of what was my favorite Hybrid tomatoe years ago (NK's Flavor King), got one of 8 to germinate, vegetatively propogated 3 more from it, and will compare it to John Baer, Pollock, and a couple of my experiments this year (none are ready as of yesterday). My hunch is that I won't find anything worth the trouble (as I think Pollock is my favorite in the 6-8oz, globose, midseason, indet class), but I might never have gotten the bug, or the tools to experiment without the encouragement of places like this one.

Thanks to all.

[remy]

Eyolf,
Thanks for reminiscing. I also got married in 91 and we bought a house. (I also lived in some not so well furnished places during college. Now that I've been a responsible adult for so long I can say that I actually got evicted for my parties at one place. I threw good parties!) The following spring, I planted tomatoes. It was just the natural thing to do. I bought plants, and I ended up very disappointed in the flavor. I had no clue about heirlooms and all that. I just knew they didn't taste like the tomatoes I remembered.
My mother-in-law who saw that I had an interest in gardening, gave me some garden mags, in particular OG. That's when I realized I need to get seeds. I ordered catalogs from a few ads I saw, and then I was off and running. I know of the first heirlooms I grew I had Prudens Purple and Amish Paste.
Funny thing is I never paid attention to the names of people in the articles. Now looking back it is "Hey I know that person!"
Remy

[bluelacedredhead]

Thanks to NC for sharing his knowledge and experience and to Remy for sharing this magazine article with everyone.

[remy]

Originally Posted by bluelacedredhead

Thanks to NC for sharing his knowledge and experience and to Remy for sharing this magazine article with everyone.

You're welcome,
Remy