Feedback: My 2010 Seed Offer

[carolyn137]

There are already two threads here, one about Big Sungold Select ( currently on the 2nd page), as well as Medovaya Kaplya currently on this first page.

But in terms of what I might be able to offer in my annual free seed offer for 2011 I really need to have some feedback from you folks who participated. There were about 80 of you and I packed up about 400 seed packs and paid the postage for everyone outside the USA, with one exception and he knows who he is. The postage money is trivial and didn't dent my chocolate budget, so all is well.

First, I'd like to know if the seeds you got were true. One person got a red fruited Burning Spear, the rest were orange as expected, but I hadn't intended to offer that one again anyway. And I won't be offering the GD Frosted ones again either, but you already know that Jeff Casey lists it and GD at his website and the GD Frosted ones he sent me to distribute to you grew true this summer. Neil also lists GD Frosted in the SSE Yearbook and Neil also provided the GD Frosted ones I sent to you, and I know that Adam Gleckler will also be offering both GD as well as GD Frosted for 2011 at his website. And I think Sandhill will be adding GD Frosted as well although I haven't talked to Glenn lately to confirm that.

As things stand now I intend to offer most of the varieties I listed for 2010 from 2007, 2008 and 2009, if I have enough seeds which I haven't yet checked. And I don't know which ones from 2010 I might list b'c seed production for many of them was either no go or in many cases low, and not the fault of those who were doing the seed production for me this year; weather and diseases were the problem.

So, please let me know about the 2007, 8 and 9 ones and then I really want to know about the many pre- 2007 ones that many of you requested b'c if you folks who got them didn't have good luck with germination or for some other reason, I won't offer those varieties again.

Thanks in advance.

[PaulF]

While I did not participate in the 2010 offer, I have participated in the past and every seed germinated and came true. Thank you for your labor and for assisting those of us who have become tomato growers. I appreciate your efforts. I am looking forward to the 2011 offering.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by PaulF

While I did not participate in the 2010 offer, I have participated in the past and every seed germinated and came true. Thank you for your labor and for assisting those of us who have become tomato growers. I appreciate your efforts. I am looking forward to the 2011 offering.

Paul, I'm really glad all worked out well for you, but as I again posted in the 2010 seed offer in the Wanted Forum of the Seed Exchange, all 2007 seeds were from bagged blossoms, most but not all 2008 ones were also bagged blossoms, and same for the 2009 ones.

I do remember one person who got one wrong plant from Serdste Buivola seeds but that's about it. As well as the one person who told me privately that he got a red fruited Burning Spear plant but as I said above, I won't be offering those seeds for 2011 b'c to be honest I have no seeds left.

So knowing that some seeds sent out were NOT from bagged blossoms, I need to know if and with which varieties that might have happened and it's best if folks say how many plants they put out as well. It isn't really helpful to say the seeds for X weren't true if only one plant was used although I do want to know about that.

In the 2010 seed offer I said how many seeds should be used for each of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 ones and I suggested NOT trying to sandbag seeds at all and I usually sent 5-6 seeds/variety, knowing that some folks have more luck and/or more expertise at germinating seeds.

And for the pre-2007 ones I was very clear on how many seeds to use based on the age of the seeds and of course sent more seeds for the pre-2007 varieties, based on seed age.

[DanishGardener]

Green Doctors Frosted: Grew true to type (and had clear epidermis).

Cherokee Green: Sowed 4, none germinated - will try again next year.

NAR: 2 germinated, I kept one and gave one to a friend. Mine grew true to type, but the one i gave away produced cherries. (no chance of mix-up, or mislabeling as I sowed NAR much later than the rest (for reasons I can't remember)

Big Sungold Select: Grew true to type.


Thats it for me! Now I will continue to wait for the
Wozniacki vs. Sharapova match. (guess who I am rooting for ). Im not a hardcore tennis fan like yourself, but that is a match I won't miss.

/Søren

[SunnyK]

I grew the :
Ludmilla's Red Plum - 3 of 6 germinated and made the garden. And True to type

Orange Minsk- 4 of 6 germinated(only 2 made the garden and that was my fault entirely) True to type.

The Ludmilla's Red Plum is one of my new favorites. It grew lush and loaded with fruits even though the tomato garden was in a new area this year, and in less than prime condition. It did better in this garden than any of my other tomatoes did. I love the taste as well. It is a definite keeper and all round tomato as far as use goes...(I wanted to e-mail you to thank you for turning me on to this tomato gem...but time got away from me )

The Orange Minsk hasn't done as well, but I attribute that to the garden itself, and the overly hot and humid and rain free summer we had.

Thank You again for sharing

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by DanishGardener

Green Doctors Frosted: Grew true to type (and had clear epidermis).

Cherokee Green: Sowed 4, none germinated - will try again next year.

NAR: 2 germinated, I kept one and gave one to a friend. Mine grew true to type, but the one i gave away produced cherries. (no chance of mix-up, or mislabeling as I sowed NAR much later than the rest (for reasons I can't remember)

Big Sungold Select: Grew true to type.


Thats it for me! Now I will continue to wait for the
Wozniacki vs. Sharapova match. (guess who I am rooting for ). Im not a hardcore tennis fan like yourself, but that is a match I won't miss.

/Søren

First, I have to share with you that I have a boatload of NAR and not only listed those same seeds in the YEarbook but have offered them here as well forseveral years and that's the very first time with maybe close to a thousand or so seeds distibuted that someone got anything other than NAR. So congratulations.

I'll see what others report for the Cherokee Green and if germination is none or too low I'll delete that one from the list.

And yes, I know who you're rooting for and their match is next and right now I hear the match from the front room between Djokovic and Fish being played.

And I know how upset Andrey must have felt when Victoria Azarenka from Belarus collapsed on the court and is out of the whole Open and she was one of the top seeded players.

I know Caroline and her family moved to Denmark many years ago but whenever her father coaches her, it is allowed by the WTA but not the ATP, between matches, her father speaks in rapid Polish with his arms waving mightily.

[Sherry_AK]

I'm growing 4 Green Zebra Cherry plants. As I recall, germination was 100% (I think I reported that on an earlier thread and have since forgotten!). All 4 are true to type (far as I can tell, since I'd never seen a picture of one before!). They're really a bit bigger than most cherries for me though, especially on 1 of the 4 plants. We really like the taste and they look beautiful on the plate.



Sherry

[Bama mater]

Carolyn, You know this is odd cause the Big Sungold Select variation was simuilar to the Burning Spear variation. Both varietys I grew red and orange colors.

[DanishGardener]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

that's the very first time with maybe close to a thousand or so seeds distibuted that someone got anything other than NAR. So congratulations.

Thanks

I will double check with my friend, maybe he messed up the labeling after I gave it to him.

Carolines parents are polish, but she is born and raised in Denmark. However they now have a address in Monaco,
to avoid the danish income tax (up to 59%).
And yes, that father Piotr certainly have his own "style". Caroline speaks Danish fluently (and I'm sure her father does too), but maybe he can speak faster in polish?

[ssi912]

i sowed all the Orange Minsk seed. i believe 4 germinated. kept the strongest two and planted out. produced huge orange beefsteaks. one produced better than the other. the fruit was really misshapen, but good. shut down soon as it got hot. wish i would have saved seed. i am a sucker for orange "beefeaters" as my grandmother calls them.


I still have kazachstan and sungold select for next spring, along with early girl parent. i will pay more attention to germination and growing details of these varieties next time.

[Farmette]

Hi Carolyn!
I reported on my germination results earlier. If you do not have them, I can look them up.
Big Sungold Select: 1 plant in ground had large red cherries, matched the size of my Stupice. 1 plant in container had regular sized orange cherries. Not sure if method of growing (ground versus container) had anything to do with size.

Green Doctors Frosted: 2 plants in the ground, true to expected type. This one earned a place in my garden next year.

Ludmilla's Yellow Giant: 2 plants in the ground, true to expected type.

Neves Azorean Red: 3 plants in ground, true to expected type. Great taste, will be another repeat for next year. Very healthy plant.

Rose D'Eauze: 2 plants in ground, true to expected type, also earns a spot next year.

I was very pleased with the seeds and the resulting plants from your very generous offer. Thanks again, Carolyn!
Chris

[dokutaaguriin]

HI Carolyn,
Just finished the Sharpova and Wozniaki match. I was hoping for a three match set!
Big Sun Gold Select grew true to form. I liked the nice refreshing taste, sweet but not overly so like the original.
Green Zebra Cherry grew true to form. I was very surprised by how sweet this cherry tasted. Hopefully other will not think of it as a mini Green Zebra.
Medovaya Kaplya grew true to form. Another sweet tasting cherry, loved it!

Jeff

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by dokutaaguriin

HI Carolyn,
Just finished the Sharpova and Wozniaki match. I was hoping for a three match set!
Big Sun Gold Select grew true to form. I liked the nice refreshing taste, sweet but not overly so like the original.
Green Zebra Cherry grew true to form. I was very surprised by how sweet this cherry tasted. Hopefully other will not think of it as a mini Green Zebra.
Medovaya Kaplya grew true to form. Another sweet tasting cherry, loved it!

Jeff

Jeff, just to note that I think GZ cherry was named b'c it looked like GZ b/c it is a completely different taste from GZ and one that I prefer, and yes. quite sweet. It was found in a small container of mixed cherries by Manfred Hahm in Germany and all that ls known about it is that those cherries were sent from the Netherlands.

Glad you liked Medovaya Kaplya as did I and a couple of folks who posted in that thread.

And yes, I would have loved to see that match go to three sets, it was a good one, but it didn't. Actually I was more intrigued by the earlier match between Monfils and Gasquet.

May the best man and woman win, meaning the ones who play the best in high winds. Just half kidding.

[troad]

Caroline,

From earlier post:
Giannini (2008) 2 germinated 4 planted
Rouge D' Amagu (2009) 3 germinated 4 planted
Tony's Italian (2003) 2 germinated 4 planted--- ( 3/20 new total 2/4)
Sarnowski Polish (2003) 0 germinated 4 planted

The Giannini true to type and excellent
Rouge D' Amagu still none ripe to try. RL plant-medium sized fruit
Tony,s true also

Did not use all of the Sarnowski seed (like I should have) will try again in 2011.

Thank you for your generous contributions.

Len

[sprtsguy76]

BSS- Blood red cherries, not sure if true or not because I've heard you say redish-orange, but yes these were blood red and very sweet when dead ripe.

Ludmilla's Pink Heart ( I think I got these from you in 2009)- grew true, a little on the firm side, but very good!

Green Doctors F.- soon but still waiting, got a late start

Jeans Prize- soon but still waiting, got a late start

Damon