Chuck Wyatt Site 1999 - Fifteen Years Gone By

[PNW_D]

was searching wayback machine looking for "Chuck's"; didn't find what I was looking for, but I thought this may be of interest to some .........

Chuck's favs from 1999 - how far have we come? have we lost any "gems"

here's the link if anyone would like to browse further

http://web.archive.org/web/199904271...mtomatoes.net/

[remy]

Very interesting. Most are still well known and loved, but there's a few I've never heard of.

[PaulF]

Boy does that bring back memories. Chuck's was the first site I used to buy heirloom tomato seeds. I think it was 1997 and the only place I went for several years until Chuck's health got so bad he couldn't handle it anymore. His descriptions were bible-like for me, a low tech Tania.

[carolyn137]

Chuck died in June of 2002 and I see the date on that was 2000.

He's one of two folks who asked me to send him seeds for all the varieties in my book he didn't have, the other one being Glenn Drowns at Sandhill.

I met Chuck in person when he came up with, and now I can[t remember his name, when I was giving a weekend program at Organic Gardening in PA. I can't remember the date, but even then he looked poorly, and he died before they could make a definitive diagnosis.

Carolyn

[troad]

Some of the tomatoes listed in the way back above are still listed here: http://www.heirloomtomatoes.net

Also some additions. i have purchased seeds here in the past but not recently. Never had any complaints.
Len

Formerly Chuck Wyatt's site.

[Sodak]

Here is one I would like to try. An Abe Lincoln from Earl May Garden Center last year was okay, but one from seed this year (do not recall source right now) was disappointing in both production and taste...

Abe Lincoln (Don Podillia's strain)

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Sodak

Here is one I would like to try. An Abe Lincoln from Earl May Garden Center last year was okay, but one from seed this year (do not recall source right now) was disappointing in both production and taste...

Abe Lincoln (Don Podillia's strain)

Some bells went off when I saw Don Podolia's name and in fact Chuck never knew Don, but I did. Don was a coal miner from WV and I got many wonderful varieties from him.

So I pulled out my 1995 SSE Yearbook, and found that I had listed the Abe Lincoln I got from Don and I was the source to Chuck for this variety.

My blurb reads:

HAS, 75 -80 days, large indet, regular foliage, ( not bronze), with exc set of 12-14 oz fruit, very good taste, from Don Podolia.

I was also offering at that same time, NSL ( National Seed Lab, (aka USDA, CJM) #26875.

And a few comments.

The original Abe Lincoln ( Buckbees) was said to have bronze foliage and at that time folks were looking for that, and Howard Estler said he saw a glint of it one morning, but never saw it again. Lots of discussions about minerals in soil, etc., being responsible for that.

Note I said very good taste. Not the same as if I'd said excellent taste or superb taste for I used a range of adjectives to describe taste.

Do I still have seeds for it? Probably, since I've never thrown out any of my saved seeds since 1991. probably still in one of the scintillation vials I "liberated" from where I was teaching at that time when they got a new counter.

From time to time my brother asks if I've made a new will, ahem, and I know I should, and maybe indicate who would be the best person to leave ALL of my seeds to as well as ALL of my SSE Yearbooks which go back to the first one in 1975, except for the 1982 one which had Glenn Drowns on the cover.

I didn't join SSE until 1989 but Craig LeHoullier and I had offered to try and get all the wrong info we could could out of the tomato section, so both of us were sent those back Yearbooks. it never happened b'c at the Board meeting where it was to be discussed they didn't get to it b'c Kent Whealey walked in and said that he and Diane were getting divorced, and that had large implications, so getting the errors out was never discussed.

But we both still have all those Yearbooks.

Carolyn

[patty_b]

Carolyn, any chance you might know where in WV he (Don) might be from and what were some of his other varieties?

[Mark$]

I grew tomatoes with Chuck in 1999. I was pleasantly surprisedwhen I was gardening my one acre plot in Baltimore to meet Chuck who lived just down the street from my house. We grew tomatoes together for several years. He supplied the plants, cages and care for the first 5 or 6 tomatoes on the plant. I got the rest. Needless to say I saved a lot of seed back then. The one that I am trying to find again is Sojourner South America. I found a lead on one, but it would help to have another seed source.

Mark

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by patty_b

Carolyn, any chance you might know where in WV he (Don) might be from and what were some of his other varieties?

Don had no computer so we communicated strictly by mail and it's very possible that I might still have one of his letters somewhere in the back room, but I don't know where. and then I could tell you exactly where he was from.

I just did a zaba search and there are two places that come up and I'll PM them to you, but the listing must still be his wife, since Don died many years ago.

Coal mines were shutting down right and left so he got a job elsewhere, I don't remember where, but out of state.

He was sitting in a chair under a tree and looked like he was asleep when his wife came home. He wasn't asleep. he had died in the chair. His wife wrote to me and told me what happened.

Off hand the only variety I can remember that he sent me was Lithuanian, but there were quite a few more.

No sense my Pming you, you aren't going to try and contact his wife,who knew nothing about tomatoes, as Don oft said ,so I can say that I think the correct place was Wheeling WV.

Carolyn

[Fred Hempel]

Chuck's site is still up -- and it looks just about how I remember it.

http://www.heirloomtomatoes.net/

Has anyone ordered recently?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Fred Hempel

Chuck's site is still up -- and it looks just about how I remember it.

http://www.heirloomtomatoes.net/

Has anyone ordered recently?

Yes, it's still up Fred, but here's the problem as I see it.

When Chuck died, Donna M,who used to pack seeds for him wanted to take over the site and Joyce, Chuck's wife, said OK, But Donna had never grown a tomato in her life and knew nada about tomatoes. So Joyce asked if I would help her.

I tried, and she forwarded to me all the questions that folks asked since she couldn't answer them. I did that for a while and just couldn't continue which is when she put up the comment about not asking questions.

I tried to help her find commercial sources for seeds, but that didn't work out very well. And in the wrong varieties list I used to do at GW there were many complaints about low germination, varieties not correct, etc.

And that goes back to Chuck who was ill for several years before he died, didn't label seed jars correctly, and when he was out of a variety told Donna to sub a similar one.

I have no idea how old those seeds are that are currently listed. If more recent I don't know which ones, nor do I know if she's subcontracting to anyone, I doubt it, and I haven't seen anyone lately who has purchased seeds .

When Chuck was in his prime his site was great and he was SSE listing many varieties as well. And he was a good friend as well as was his wife Joyce.

Carolyn

[Fusion_power]

Many of the tomatoes I grow today are from seed I purchased from Chuck years ago. Interesting varieties include Black From Tula PL aka Spudatula that came from a pack of obviously crossed BFT seed I got from Chuck back in 2002. I still grow Borgo Celano from time to time just because it is an excellent drying tomato.

DarJones

[Tormato]

Dar,

There's also Tastiheart and Heshpole, from a Large Pink Bulgarian seed pack, if I remember correctly. I've also had a few mysteries from Chuck, from LPB and Sojourner South America seed packs.

Gary

[MrsJustice]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Yes, it's still up Fred, but here's the problem as I see it.

When Chuck died, Donna M,who used to pack seeds for him wanted to take over the site and Joyce, Chuck's wife, said OK, But Donna had never grown a tomato in her life and knew nada about tomatoes. So Joyce asked if I would help her.

I tried, and she forwarded to me all the questions that folks asked since she couldn't answer them. I did that for a while and just couldn't continue which is when she put up the comment about not asking questions.

I tried to help her find commercial sources for seeds, but that didn't work out very well. And in the wrong varieties list I used to do at GW there were many complaints about low germination, varieties not correct, etc.

And that goes back to Chuck who was ill for several years before he died, didn't label seed jars correctly, and when he was out of a variety told Donna to sub a similar one.

I have no idea how old those seeds are that are currently listed. If more recent I don't know which ones, nor do I know if she's subcontracting to anyone, I doubt it, and I haven't seen anyone lately who has purchased seeds .

When Chuck was in his prime his site was great and he was SSE listing many varieties as well. And he was a good friend as well as was his wife Joyce.

Carolyn

Hello Carolyn

Can you tell me what you know about Glaziers Giants: It is a large tomato, but I need to know more information.