Fruity tomatoes sound right up my alley. I have to admit though, the green outer and red inside looks kinda gross :lol:

Too bad none of the current generation of parents had yellow fruits. I hope to get that resolved this growing season.

Really promising, Joseph. I'm another fan of fruity tomatoes. :yes:

I'm giving a presentation near Seattle Washington

[b]Food security through common sense and traditional methods
Snohomish, Washington
Tuesday, February 13th [/b]

I'll stay around after for a question and answer session about landrace gardening. Promiscuously pollinating tomatoes are fair game.

[url]https://www.facebook.com/events/189291078334806/[/url]

Then I'm going to [B]Corvallis Oregon[/B] to attend the Organic Seed Growers Conference ([B]Feb 15th and 16th[/B]), and present at the Open Source Seed Initiatives open house ([B]February 18th[/B]).

Hoping to meet some of you at these events.

Too many dozens of years, too many thousands of miles.
I'm looking forward to reading a summary of what you said and heard on these occasions, I remember you've already given us a recording of one your talks. A written version would be welcome if it requires less work.
Thanks in advance for your cooperation !

Will anyone be recording it and posting online later? I hope so. Good luck!

[QUOTE=BigVanVader;680656]Will anyone be recording it and posting online later? I hope so. Good luck![/QUOTE]

Someone has made arrangements to live stream it on my Facebook page. I think that also makes an archive.
[url]https://www.facebook.com/Josephs.Garden[/url]

Joseph: Sent you a PM yesterday, regarding Big Hill.

Unable to message you by email.

For those of you who do not have facebook i have ripped the audio of Joseph's talk here:

[url]soundcloud.com/andrew-barney-745137400/food-security-through-common-sense-and-traditional-methods[/url]

p.s. great talk!

Keen101, Thanks for the audio of Joseph's talk. Appreciate his sharing of information.

While I was on my recent trip, I really enjoyed making a podcast with Paul Wheaton and Jocelyn Campbell.
[URL="http://redirect.viglink.com/?key=bbb516d91daee20498798694a42dd559&u=https%3A//soundcloud.com/andrew-barney-745137400/food-security-through-common-sense-and-traditional-methods"]Podcast: Joseph Lofthouse on Plant Breeding, Part 1[/URL]

Lofthouse varieties in Austin
 

Started these Lofthouse varieties on Jan. 22, 2018. Each seed that was planted did germinate. Of the two Ot' Jagodka plants,
the one on the right was grafted to Supernatural rootstock. Observe their difference in size, see how grafting sets the plant back. Jagodka root system seems as vigorous as that of the rootstock. Will compare roots at the end of the season to see if there were soil-borne problems. Thank you Joseph for all the promiscuity, promiscuous...er, ah, you know...cross-pollination.

Harry: Thanks for the grow report. It's good to see!

So far I'm impressed with the toughness of your varieties. Fern and Ot'jagodka survives a near frost with minimal damage. Big Hill seems the weakest of the tomatoes I got from you. Several went down to damping off and a few to frost but the few that survived will be good stock to continue forward. My Lofthouse melon came up fast and are very uniform compared to my grex. They are forming true leaves now. I will be planting everythi g over the next 2 weeks and will continue my reports.

BigVanVader: Thanks for the grow report. While Jagodka was the winner of my frost/cold tolerance trials, it wasn't particularly frost tolerant, but it grew really well in cold weather. Big Hill is descended from Jagodka.

Lofthouse's Big Hill blossoms.
 

Joseph, am a confused newbie who wishes to help! Here are photos showing blossoms on a Big Hill, the seeds of which were received from you recently. In your description of Big Hill you say: "closed flowers are a dominant trait. Therefore any offspring that have closed flowers are off-type and should not be called Big Hill." The flowers shown here appear to be closed... to this newbie. You say that you would love to receive seeds from any descendants of this variety that are off-type or have closed flowers.

Would like to harvest seeds from this crop, if it makes. Then plant them next spring in order to see if they produce offspring that you may wish to receive.

To better understand "closed flowers," do these photos show the closed flowers to which you refer. Please help someone who would like to help you.

Nice pictures! Interesting that the youngest flower on the front truss appears to be exposed by virtue of short petals. Do they grow out as the flower ages, or is that example atypical for this plant?

Lofthouse Big Hill Blossoms 2.
 

PhilaGardener, Thanks for your interest. This is the first year to grow from Lofthouse seeds. Here is a closer crop to better show the blossom on the left, and sequence of opening. Will continue to monitor and photograph the plant. Hope this newbie has answered your question. Still, would like clarification on what a "closed flower" looks like.

Harry, I'm sure Joseph will see this and reply at some point, but afaik his work on flowers makes the distinction between a closed anther cone, vs one in which the stigma is exerted. Looking at your picture of the open flower on the left, you can see that the stigma is 'exerted' ie it sticks out further than the anther cone. you can also see that the anthers are curling back at the end instead of forming a tight or closed cone. So I think you have the right phenotype for "Big Hill", with open anthers.

I'm loving to see your pictures of this cross which is very interesting to me! and hoping to grow it in future. Please keep posting your pics! :) I can see you have some fruit setting already (those finished flowers are really "closed"! and around some baby fruit I'd say.)8-)

Harry, thanks for the grow report. As PhilaGardener and Bower mentioned, I would call those open flowers, because the anther cone is exposed so that it could in theory rub against the belly of a bee. Here's a photo I took a minute ago of a Big Hill flower. I've marked two traits that I consider important in a Big Hill flower: The exposed stigma, and the anthers being only minimally connected to each other.

The flared tips of the anthers in your photo is interesting to me. I don't know if that is typical of Big Hill. I guess fruit will be ripening in about 7 weeks. Hoping for another grow report then.

[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/big-hill-flower-phenotype.jpg[/IMG]

Here are some photos of the vocabulary I use to describe tomato flowers. I am selecting for the trait listed in the caption, and against the industrialized trait which is also shown in the diagrams. In general, I call a flower "open" if the female part of the flower could rub against the belly of a bee.

[B]Loose Anther Cones[/B]
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/flower-loose.png[/IMG]

[B]Exerted Stigmas[/B]
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/flower-style.png[/IMG]

[B]Open Anther Cones[/B]
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/flower-fused.png[/IMG]

[B]Abundant Pollen[/B]
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/flower-pollen.png[/IMG]

[B]Huge Flowers[/B]
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/flower-size.png[/IMG]

[B]Welcoming Petals[/B]
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/flower-triple.png[/IMG]

Here is a flower from my promiscuous pollination project (on the left), compared to a typical industrialized tomato flower. I'm pleased with the progress. One of these days, I hope to get those huge flower petals incorporated into Big Hill.

[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/huge-tomato-flowers_640.jpg[/IMG]

That big petaled flower is awesome Joseph. :yes::D

Thanks Bower. I'm also selecting for bold floral displays. Want to attract pollinators.

[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/flowers-huge-001.jpg[/IMG]

Here's a photo of a flower from a wild tomato. Some day, I might get a highly exerted style like this incorporated into my tomatoes. It's pretty far away genetically from the species I'm currently working with, and attempted crosses haven't been successful. So for now, I just grow it in my garden.

[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/tomato/solanum-corneliomullerii-highly-promiscuous_640.jpg[/IMG]

Big Hill lost blossom.
 

PhilaGardener, Bower and Joseph; Many thanks, sharing your knowledge, prompted one to find an additional book. Now have a copy of "Economic Botany," by Simpson and Ogorzaly, to supplement books by Dr. Carolyn and the one by Bill Adams. Would you suggest some other publication? Joseph's drawings and photos indicate that he would be a very mind-stimulating teacher. Problem, these days, would be for Joseph to find a classroom with minds worthy of his time. Today's photo of Big Hill reveals the loss of one petiole from that cluster of blossoms. Also made a tighter photo of the top left blossom showing its flared anther tips that Joseph mentioned.

One of the most influential books in my life was: [URL="https://www.idrc.ca/en/book/return-resistance-breeding-crops-reduce-pesticide-dependence"]Return to Resistance: Breeding Crops to Reduce Pesticide Dependence by Raoul Robinson[/URL]

I'll be teaching for a week at the [URL="http://www.onsenfarm.com/events/2018/6/4/build-the-guild-a-permaculture-and-sociocracy-convergence"]Build the Guild Convergence[/URL] in June 2018. It's the worst possible time to be leaving the farm, but I've become an elder, therefore I feel inclined to act like one.

OMG free pdf. Thanks, Joseph, I'm stoked to read it. :yes::D

@ Harry that's a great picture! You can see daylight through the gap in the anthers... they are loose!!

So much to learn from all your great pics and project details. Thanks to everyone for sharing. Before this I didn't even know there was something called a closed flower. That exposed anther is really something Joseph! I also poked at your link to Building the Guild. It is fantastic you give back in this way. What are the two veggies you are holding in your profile pic? Amazing!

As an aside- what kind of tomatoes are you looking for with Big Hill?
Heide

Big Hill is descended from my earliest tomato, and from my favorite tasting. Eventually I intend to incorporate Big Hill into the promiscuous pollination project.

Me holding landrace carrots. I have been selecting for carrots that can out-compete the weeds.
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/carrot/carrots-2016-10-20_640.jpg[/IMG]