Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Hempel
Carolyn's book was instrumental in facilitating my addiction to tomatoes, which in turn caused me to quit my job to farm. Curses to her and her book!
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Why thank you so much Fred. It's just a joy to be so highly regarded in terms of curses to me and my book.
When I was asked to write that book I'd grown only about 1000 varieties and now it's up to over about 2500.
When I was younger I wish I had taken the time to do some directed crosses, but I didn't, although I did make selections from natural X pollinated F1's and genetically stabilize them.
But in Dec of 2004 b'c I had two bad hips and fell and severed all four quads in my right leg and have had to use a walker since then so no more hundreds of plants and varieties each year for me.
I still grow some here at home, about 30, and concentrate on varieties that will be new to all or most folks so am always looking primarily for family heirlooms where the seeds have not yet been distributed.
Someone else does all my gardening for me now and that includes not just the tomatoes and other veggies, but also the extensive perennial beds that I have here, fragrant perennials being my first love. I've bred both daylilies and miniature roses but most of them were dogs and had to be ASAP gently euthanized.
