A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

The 'Zacapitan' is done! These are the last of the fruits, I saved the others and a few perished on the plant. It was indeed a strange and unusual tomato, similar to other wild or even 'ancient' tomatoes I've grown. These must be very close to what a strain of the original tomatoes were like, though I realize the Galapagos tomato is often credited with that. But I've grown a similar tomato, 'Korrogo de Senegal' and it was very close to this but flatter and in red. 'Bali' is another tomato that has the ruffled gene, and is an old traditional type. Not the most practical fruits being so utterly ruffled, but they do yield well and handle limited water impressively. They were in the driest spot in the garden. I have never seem a tomato so unwilling to come off a plant!

The seeds for this tomato originates with an SSE member, who collected them in the Nahua village of Zacatipan, Mexico.

 

[digitS']

When you pass through your tomato patch just about daily, you can even anticipate that "breaker" stage. The dark green begins to lighten.

However, I was usually growing about 7 varieties and maybe only 1 was new. This was in the larger gardens and, sometimes, even with as many as 60+ plants. Production success was always important. After all, I had a market for produce. So this meant that I had several years experience with each variety. They were familiar and, if not, there were only 1 or 2 . Your abundance of the new would drive me crazy!

Yes, Thessaloniki would become red ripe during its time on the kitchen counter.

 

[Alasgun]

@digitS', this statement struck me as an important element of gardening that many miss now days “I had several years experience with each variety”!

 

[flowerbug]

@digitS', this statement struck me as an important element of gardening that many miss now days “I had several years experience with each variety”!

and then there are also your garden soils and microclimates.

when you consider the time scale of geology and the nature of soil formation and nutrient cycles the results of erosion can happen so gradually that the living people on the land might not notice the difference but it can happen and be a problem to contend with for the longer term. as a species and society we're still not really coping with sustainable issues like this much at all, but future generations are going to be up to their necks in it all.

 

[heirloomgal]

My carrot experiment of 2025 & observations thus far.

To my surprise, for the most part I have not detected major differences in most of the carrot varieties I'm growing. I can't recall now how many I planted, but probably around 15. I bought almost every one available on the retail shelves, and ordered a few online. That said, where there actually are differences it is quite dramatic. A small few really stand out. We've had only very limited amount of frosts, so really giving any flavor rating is somewhat premature. Post cold weather is the real test, and I'll leave that for later in October.

'Kuroda' has been my favorite carrot so far. Both for the sweet taste and the remarkable size it can achieve in a short period. Of all of them, that would be the overall winner. It's not too long or too short either, easy to pick. It's a great carrot and a standout.

'Kyoto Red' had a remarkably sweet flavor by August, superlative flavor. The color is intriguing as well, they're pink. Very juicy and succulent carrot, with a fresh snappy flavor. Absolutely no bitterness like some carrots can have in hot weather. I didn't like that some of the plants bolted though. But it was in the hottest part of the carrot bed.

'Manpukuji' - now this carrot you can spot just from the foliage. I'm actually really sad that I can't save carrot seed and will be dependent on others to have seed for this one from now on. I'll never be without it. I might try the odds someday and see what happens if I do save the seeds. The thickness of the main stems of the leaf tops is really huge, you can tell by looking at them that this is an unusual carrot. Sort of like a carrot for giants. And I purposely planted these in the sandiest soil I have and it worked. These carrots can grow to 6 feet long, though they'd probably need a longer season that what I have for that. I'm waiting until mid to late October to measure them, but they're long that's for sure. At least for my garden. Taste is off the charts.

All the Nantes (Touchon, Coreless, Half Long etc.) taste more or less the same, sweet and good. And all fairly quick to grow which I like too. Blunt ends.

'Black Nebula' had quite poor germ rates, & I was surprised to see how big the few survivors got given that they were crowded and shaded by Shirley poppies which I planted over them. The taste is barely passable, watery and insipid. It's surprisingly poor for a carrot, but the health benefits are probably significant. I do find its looks utterly ravashing.

The Manpukuji carrot was long enough that it had to be dug out with a tool. This one was overcrowded so is possibly smaller than some of the others. I'm sooo curious to dig them all up.

 

[heirloomgal]

Little spotlight on the 'Kyoto Red' carrot. It really is such a unique & lovely shade of pink, almost a flesh tone. I sampled the carrots again today and they are still quite juicy and tender. There isn't many in the row as I've eaten a fair share, and the seed packet wasn't generous either, so I'm going to sit on the last of them until late fall.

Out of curiosity I checked what Baker Creek had to say about them, and they too really praised the sweet flavor and juiciness. They compared them to watermelons in flavor, which is somewhat of a stretch I think. But it is a very fine carrot for sure. Interestingly they say the Kyoto won't do well planted in the spring! OK, that explains why some of them bolted. They're a winter carrot, and they only get dark red when temperatures get cold. I'm glad I looked that up. They did seem to me to have darkened a little since the last time I picked a few. The flavor now seems a little more zesty than before too. Might be worth experimenting planting them in late April, early May and see how it goes. I would replant these is a slightly shaded spot next time. One of the top 5 carrots this year for sure.

For comparison to a Nantes -

I said goodbye to the last of my 'Irish Liqueur' tomatoes, and squeezed them yesterday. Such a fabulous tomato! It was a really good producer too, which can't be said for every green tomato variety. It was nearly the perfect tomato, buttery smooth and perfect balance. Never thought any other green variety could compete with 'Aunt Ruby's German Green' but I think this one might actually beat it.

 

[Dahlia]

Little spotlight on the 'Kyoto Red' carrot. It really is such a unique & lovely shade of pink, almost a flesh tone. I sampled the carrots again today and they are still quite juicy and tender. There isn't many in the row as I've eaten a fair share, and the seed packet wasn't generous either, so I'm going to sit on the last of them until late fall.

Out of curiosity I checked what Baker Creek had to say about them, and they too really praised the sweet flavor and juiciness. They compared them to watermelons in flavor, which is somewhat of a stretch I think. But it is a very fine carrot for sure. Interestingly they say the Kyoto won't do well planted in the spring! OK, that explains why some of them bolted. They're a winter carrot, and they only get dark red when temperatures get cold. I'm glad I looked that up. They did seem to me to have darkened a little since the last time I picked a few. The flavor now seems a little more zesty than before too. Might be worth experimenting planting them in late April, early May and see how it goes. I would replant these is a slightly shaded spot next time. One of the top 5 carrots this year for sure.
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For comparison to a Nantes -
View attachment 78046

I said goodbye to the last of my 'Irish Liqueur' tomatoes, and squeezed them yesterday. Such a fabulous tomato! It was a really good producer too, which can't be said for every green tomato variety. It was nearly the perfect tomato, buttery smooth and perfect balance. Never thought any other green variety could compete with 'Aunt Ruby's German Green' but I think this one might actually beat it.
View attachment 78048
View attachment 78047

Does the red carrot have a different taste than an orange one?

 

[heirloomgal]

Does the red carrot have a different taste than an orange one?

Yes, you can tell them apart by taste. As the year goes along though the difference is shrinking, earlier in the summer the pink carrots were very juicy, a bit of a fruit taste in there along with the carrot taste.

 

[heirloomgal]

The 'Schöenbrunn' ground cherries are finally rolling in! OMG they are delicious, just outstanding. And I have always really liked regular ground cherries, but wow, these are even better. These are crazy good, more in line with a superb plum than a ground cherry really in terms of size. I need to be growing 3x the plants I have if I want to eat all I want AND save seeds for them. A hint of mango, a hint of pineapple, a hint of citrus. Lip smacking good.

To my utter astonishment, I have gotten the 'Ojo de Venado' to not only grow, but ripen it's fruit. Wow. Such a wonderfully odd little tomato, I've never had such a challenge with the species. It's almost as though it has very little domestication in its heritage; the dislike of being potted, the immediate need for high heat. Lots of seedlings would be unable to go directly to those temperatures. The lady wasn't kidding when she said start only 3 weeks ahead of time. Nice meaty cherries too. It's a late variety, but not too late I guess.

 

[heirloomgal]

Gardening thoughts in the fall of 2025.

This year really showed me how important it is to not give up after a single, poor grow out of a variety. I regrew a few things that I've grown before with poor results, and it was a totally different experience this time. It further convicts my thinking that many factors influence the success or lack of success a plant has, and we know only a handful of what those factors are.

This is the 'Zulu' sweet pepper from Poland, which had a fairly poor yield last time I grew it. This year the plants yielded wonderfully, despite being very crowded by a pole bean plant and some space hog sunchokes. I don't really eat green peppers, but even at the black stage (which is immature) the taste of them on pizza was divine. I almost gave up on this pepper too! I'm so glad I tried one more time.

Finally changing to red, they really hold in the black phase. I had to cover the plants today since there'll be frost tonight. I'm hoping they'll be okay.

Today's tomato spotlight, 'Coeur d'Albenga'. Oh man, what a tomato. At first I wasn't sure about them, but as they ripened they have really turned out to be a wonderful cooking tomato. The meat is not like cardboard at all, it's soft, thick and succulent. The yield is amazing too, I got 2 big baking trays full from a single plant. I really like how they look too, lol!