New SSE Yearbook arrived

[vermiit]

I've had mine, although I tend to order for the following year! I think I'm a slow reader...or just overwhelmed by the amount! Very cool to see a number of Brad's toms in there.

SO Carolyn only has room for a few tomatoes. Immediately I thought, 'Which ones does she choose??"

Please tell. Inquiring minds want to know!!

[carolyn137]

SO Carolyn only has room for a few tomatoes. Immediately I thought, 'Which ones does she choose??"

Please tell. Inquiring minds want to know!!

******

The summer of 2004 was the last summer I grew my normal several hundreds of plants and then I fell at the local HS that Dec, and since then my life has been TD, which is Tomato Diminished. LOL

I tried starting my own seedlings in the Spring of 2005, and did, but it was just too hard trying to lift flats, carry water to my light setup, etc., while using a walker.

So in the Spring of 2006 Martha ( gardenmama) offered to grow whatever plants I wanted, and she did, with me having to send her seeds for just one variety and she sent 13 superb plants that actually Mischka planted for me in the raised bed and in pots and he brought a few more when he drove over from MA.

So I can tell you what I grew this past summer if you wish, but I haven't made up my mind as to what I'd like Martha to grow for me for this summer and we are already in contact with each other about that.

And you read in that SSE blurb next to my name that bcday and Shoe grew some varieties for me for seed production.

Recognizing my current physical limitations I'm converting most of the raised bed to a perennial garden and it's been exciting to once again select all of those plus roses and new shrubs and whatever.

Fragrant perennials have always been my first love and I've hybridized both miniature roses and daylilys in the past. Before I moved to this new location in 1999 I had about 150 different miniature roses and about the same of daylilies and my main flower bed was about 150 ft loing and 8 ft wide and there were several more similar beds, and trhis was all at the time I was growing 500-1000 tomato plants each summer as well as all other kinds of veggies. Ah, memories.

Gardening is simply my life and my love, or has been, and I'm trying my best to deal with this current situation and realizing that even after the new right hip goes in on May 9th, I still may not be able to walk with just one cane, so only time will tell what's up. But never again will I be able to grow what I once did in the past.

I say I'll do this and I'll do that but all this new planting and
maintenance of same will have to be done by someone else.

[Tania]

Originally Posted by grungy

We're still waiting too. Only about 3 more weeks if they arrive on their usual time. LOL

G./V.

I got my SSE Yearbook today ... and oh boy... I am overwhelmed, as usual... how to I choose what to request this year...

I am curious how other members pick and choose the varieties from SSE Yearbook... Is it more of an 'impulse' thing or does someone has a method/criterion...?

For instance, last year I was picking large heart-shaped pink or red varieties that only had 1 listing, and a history attached.

[Andrey_BY]

Mine is also still on its way to Belarus.

I hope someday they will start to send out Yearbooks right after January 1.

But I understand that SSE is firstly an American organization and usually there are only about 10-20 members from an Old World listed and I think not more than a hundred of non-listed such members. So it's not too much in general amount of members...

[cdntomato]

Tania, I go line by line looking for Canucks. I still don't have my Yearbook, but then I renewed my membership late. I generally buy from members I know, SSE or listings on first offer. Hearts for me too this year.

So I looked at the SSE tomato listings shared/linked recently at TV (thanks to whoever posted the e-file!!). Nothing from me is listed, and there are a pile of obviously renamed Canucks. This is not SSE's fault, but I will get to the bottom of it. And correct where I can.

Jennifer, hot under the collar.... no, steaming already

[amideutch]

Received my yearbook yesterday. Didn't get much sleep last night. So they have finally reached Europe. Ami

[Andrey_BY]

Ami, lucky you. Reinhard have got his copy yesterday...
Eastern Europe is the next to be happy I believe...

[Rena]

I pick on inpulse and thought I write EVERYTHING down I want then cull it down.......or I order some now and then some later. (When I dont have Spring Fever and want to dig up the neighbor's yard)

[Andrey_BY]

Wow, I've just got this fat envelope. A week of good reading are expected

[robbins]

I got mine yesterday too - gee, it took as long as those going to Europe, etc. We are probably 6 hours from Heritage Farm.
Actually I called Joanne last week and she priority mailed a new one - it arrived the day before the regular mail one finally came. So very nice of her!
Requests are in the mail.

[peispud]

If anyone has an old SSE yearbook/catalog
they want to part with, please email or pm
me. The year doesn't matter, the older the
better. I just want to read one and see if
they are as people describe in regards to
the amount of content. Seeing how many
Canadians have entries would interest me.

Peter

[carolyn137]

If anyone has an old SSE yearbook/catalog
they want to part with, please email or pm
me. The year doesn't matter, the older the
better. I just want to read one and see if
they are as people describe in regards to
the amount of content. Seeing how many
Canadians have entries would interest me.

*****

Peter I know this request stems from your very anti-SSE statements made in the thread about histories of tomatoes, viz, I will NEVER join SSE.

To answer one of your questions directly, in the 2007 SSE Yearbook there are 25 listed Canadian members. I have no idea and no one would, how many unlisted members b'c that info is not public as are the listed members in the Yearbook, which of course is needed if requests are going to be made.

You also said there that I said that histories were not being carried forward. I had said earlier that SOME histories are not being carried forward. I did not make a blanket statement saying that histories were not being carried forward.

You also said that older Yearbooks are in the hands of older members. I know of only two "older" members who have all the Yearbooks, and that's Craig and myself. Glenn Drowns has all of them as well b'c he joined right after SSE was formed. And some like Neil Lockhart and Bill Minkey joined sometime in the early 90's and so have them back to then.

As an SSE member you can purchase certain back issues of the Yearbook of those that they still have, but as I recall they didn't go back much beyond 2002.

I am going to edit your other post b'c I see no need for anyone to say that SSE pi**mps folks for money as you said in that other post.

I think it's fine if an SSE member wishes to offer positive suggestions about the organization, but to be as strong as you were in that other post I do feel is a bit dicey.

And when I have time I'l'l simply cut and paste this post to that other site.

[Tania]

Peter,

I am a SSE member for the 2nd year, being a listed member this year, and I enjoy it tremendously.

I do agree that there are always things that can be improved in both the way the Yearbook is formatted and how the SSE membership works, but nevertheless, I like the fact that this organization exists and it has quite a few great members, and I am glad I got to know them .

As Carolyn mentioned, we have 25 Canadian members this year, and it is not enough (me think ). It would be great if you consider joining and list some varieties from your great tomato seed collection.

So far, I received 22 SSE requests, and most of them were from US members, both listed (16) and non-listed (6). I didn't expect that many requests, since I was thinking that US members would likely order from US folks, so it was a nice surprise for me. I also sent 10 requests, and already received 3 of them, and one member kindly wrote a long letter providing background information for two of the varieties I ordered, it was really a real pleasure to read, I re-read that letter a few times, and saved it along with the seeds, as a bit of 'history'. 2 members included a free seed pack or two along with the order (some were rare varieties I didn't have in my collection), which was another nice surprise for me, so I quickly started following the example (I hope there is no big harm in doing that...)

It was fun to get a request, and then look up the listed member and see their listed varieties. In some case I did order a few of them from the same member right away, including my order along with the seeds, and pretty much 'returning' all the money back .

[carolyn137]

2 members included a free seed pack or two along with the order (some were rare varieties I didn't have in my collection), which was another nice surprise for me, so I quickly started following the example (I hope there is no big harm in doing that...)

*****

And I'm laughing here a bit b'c I'm one of the folks who sent a pack of free seeds with her request, something I do for all requests and told Tania if she already had it to let me know and I'd send something else.

She did PM me and tell me shje already what I'd sent, which I think was Milka's Red Bulgarian, and we settled on some Heidi seeds she wanted that someone had sent me back from seeds I'd sent out b'c I was totally out of Heidi seeds.

I like the idea of sending out a free pack of about 10 seeds as a freebie and have done it since I first started listing varieties at SSE in about 1990.

Hmmm, so what do I really send to Tania besides Heidi, since I have no idea of what's in her collection.

Lots of choices, that's for sure, but not fresh seeds.