by Douglass Oster
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette There are no bad seed catalogs. Each one provides hours of dreamy contemplative euphoria.
It's hard to explain why we order from a certain catalog--loyalty, reliability or curiosity, maybe sometimes all three. But many times it's certain that irresistible new introductions that draw us in.
For me the most exciting this spring is Thompson and Morgan's tomato "Sungella." A cross between "Sungold" and an orange heirloom, this one promises to be sweet like "Sungold" but with bigger fruit. "Sungold" is a small orange cherry tomato known for its taste. In my garden they never make it inside, anyone who visits can't resist the fresh fruit.
"Sungella" was developed by Andrew Tokely, horticultural manager at T&M, with the help of a customer from Norfolk, England. "The customer had been developing it for approximately 15 years. He only approached us when he thought it was a fixed variety(meaning it would grow true)" he said.
Tokely started his work on it in 1995 at the T&M head office in Suffolk, England. The seed was put through trials, and then enough was grown to provide for customer orders.
T&M encourages customers to send in varieties of seed. To do so send the seed with a photograph of the plant and some brief information about the variety. You can request a pamphlet about breeding plants at home. If the company introduces the seed in the catalog a deal is worked out to share royalties with the company.
Tokley is currently working on a new sweet red cherry tomato similar to "Sweet 100."
Next on my list is Lucky Leprechaun from my friends at Heirloom Seeds in West Elizabeth, Pa. An Irish heirloom from the early 1900s, this tomato only grows two or three feet high. Producing ping-pong ball-sized fruit with old-fashioned taste.
Owner Tom Hauch says it has a really strong tomato flavor that you don't usually see in a smaller bush variety. He found this tomato on vacation in New York. At a large dinner table of strangers the conversation turned to occupations, and then to tomatoes (where else?). One of the diners started raving over this plant. One thing lead to another and for the past three years "ucky Leprechaun" has been one of the tastiest tomatoes of the Heirloom Seeds trials.
Since it's small, it will work well in containers. In my garden I grow one row of big sprawling tomatoes along the back of a fence; in front of them I plant a bush tomato in between every other plant. Lucky Leprechaun will fill that role for me this year, replacing "Super Bush" and "Pixie." Their catalog has more great tomatoes than just about any other. If I had the room I would grow at least half of what they offer.
Heirloom Seeds is one of the only companies to offer my favorite bean, "Cherokee Trail of Tears." The pole bean dates back 1838. Cherokee Indians were rounded up by the federal government and relocated from Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee to Oklahoma. More than 4,000 Cherokee died from disease, hunger and exhaustion during the trek. The Indians took the bean with them and planted it the next spring. From then on, it's shared the name of the journey.
This bean's flowers and pods are purple, and its seed is black. The beans are about 4 inches long and about as thick as a pencil when mature. It's one of the best-tasting beans in my garden with a wonderful nutty flavor.
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds offers a non-hybrid variety of "Sungold" called appropriately "Sungold Select." Since it's not a hybrid, gardeners can save the seed each season and replant. Every year the plants will grow true providing small, two-ounce orange fruit.
Hybrid seed cannot be saved. When sown the next season it can be sterile--seed that sprouts will not come true and will revert to a weaker parent. I've never ordered from Baker Creek before but it's the only place I've ever seen a non-hybrid variety of "Sungold." I'm interested in seeing how it trials against the hybrid variety.
When I order from any catalog, I can't just order one packet, I don't want to pay more in postage than the cost of the item. Seed companies bank on this type of logic, knowing guys like me will order more stuff. It works out great for both parties, they sell more seed, and I get to try some cool new stuff.
Whether it's finding something new or ordering old favorites, there's not many things more enjoyable for a gardener than to search through seed catalogs and plan for next season.
(Douglass Oster is a garden columnist at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.)
Resources tomato seeds
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
2278 Baker Creek Rd.
Mansfield, MO 65704
Phone: 417-924-8917
Email:
seeds@rareseeds.com
URL:
www.rareseeds.com
tomato seeds - Lucky Leprechaun
A catalog costs $1, refundable with an order.
Heirloom Seeds
P.O. Box 245
West Elizabeth, PA 15088-0245
Phone: 412-384-0852
Email:
mail@heirloomseeds.com
URL:
www.heirloomseeds.com
tomato seeds - Sungold and Sungella
Thompson and Morgan Inc.
PO Box 1308
Jackson , NJ 08527-0308
Toll Free Phone: 800-274-7333
Fax: 888-466-4769
Email:
tminc@thompson-morgan.com
URL:
www.thompson-morgan.com
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper
It contains news and information about Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
34 Blvd. of the Allies
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Phone: 412-263-1100
Website:
www.post-gazette.com
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