Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - SKAGIT VALLEY GOLD -potato variety

**Tom Wagner** · September 30, 2013

I tipped the guitar player, Patricio Contreras who trained at The Madrid Royal Conservatory (Spanish: Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid) a music college in Madrid. His soft melodies of Spanish style were soothing and did not interfere with conversation.

The staff refused any tip.

The event I was invited to last night was from 3 to near 9 at night. Everyone who came to my table during the walkabout were offered the drink called TOM'S GREEN ZEBRA TOMATO SOUP, which had hints of ginger and some gourmet vinegar. There are samples of it on one the following photos.

I had a few tiny SKAGIT VALLEY GOLD tubers on one plate that also had Skagit Plenty and Lumper. I also had a plate full of multi-colored potato tubers grown from TPS in the forefront of the one picture.

I got the biggest laugh and broadest smiles from the restaurant's members and investors when I opened the egg carton full of BLUE DAWG tomatoes! The OMG comments were mostly from the sampling of GOLD KEEPER tomatoes. Most everyone's Sun Golds are splitting from all the downpours we had lately and the guests were amazed that the fruits had no cracking and were firm and sweet. Sun Sugar is in the pedigree as well as the frost/cold tolerant 77280 and Green Grape.
GOLD KEEPER fruits seem not to be affected by the late blight that is rampant here now. I tried a Sun Gold in the field yesterday and it was awful...the rain, cold, and blight has ruined any fruit remaining on the vine.

Needless to say... but I was able to get volunteers to grow my tomatoes next year, and was pleasantly surprised many of the guests had grown GREEN ZEBRA tomatoes and wanted to try my other varieties.

The table where I was seated for the dinner wanted me to join with them to sponsor a tomato theme dinner next August/September featuring my varieties.

Funny....seems like the Tom Tato was on everyone's mind. Tom Tato is where a tomato is grafted onto a potato rootstalk for a dual production of tomatoes and potatoes. I explained that it would be better to graft onto a TPS seedling that was a short day adapted variety or one that needed 150 days for maturity. An early maturing potato like Yukon Gold would be counter productive.

When I suggested that I may be able to sell or provide grafted tomatoes next year..... I got positive responses from those who overheard my explanations. One lady in the audience was an overwhelming fan of potato flowers and asked why it hasn't been featured as a flowering pot plant. I said it may not be long in waiting...as I will be talking later this fall with the grafting specialists to perhaps test graft a blue flowing Magic Dragon potato onto a tomato rootstalk. Instead of growing low as most potatoes...it would be a climber! Since the Magic Dragon is a diploid...it would never set berries without a pollenizer and would bloom profusely from the point of sale to frost. The SKAGIT VALLEY GOLD would make a great graft as well since the mauve pink flowers are attractive and the flowers' aroma is captivating.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/CISz11k.png?2[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/6vcpcwG.png?2[/IMG]

or if those don't load:
http://imgur.com/CISz11k
http://imgur.com/CISz11k

September 30, 2013	#18
Tom Wagner Crosstalk™ Forum Moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: 8407 18th Ave West 7-203 Everett, Washington 98204 Posts: 1,157	I tipped the guitar player, Patricio Contreras who trained at The Madrid Royal Conservatory (Spanish: Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid) a music college in Madrid. His soft melodies of Spanish style were soothing and did not interfere with conversation. The staff refused any tip. The event I was invited to last night was from 3 to near 9 at night. Everyone who came to my table during the walkabout were offered the drink called TOM'S GREEN ZEBRA TOMATO SOUP, which had hints of ginger and some gourmet vinegar. There are samples of it on one the following photos. I had a few tiny SKAGIT VALLEY GOLD tubers on one plate that also had Skagit Plenty and Lumper. I also had a plate full of multi-colored potato tubers grown from TPS in the forefront of the one picture. I got the biggest laugh and broadest smiles from the restaurant's members and investors when I opened the egg carton full of BLUE DAWG tomatoes! The OMG comments were mostly from the sampling of GOLD KEEPER tomatoes. Most everyone's Sun Golds are splitting from all the downpours we had lately and the guests were amazed that the fruits had no cracking and were firm and sweet. Sun Sugar is in the pedigree as well as the frost/cold tolerant 77280 and Green Grape. GOLD KEEPER fruits seem not to be affected by the late blight that is rampant here now. I tried a Sun Gold in the field yesterday and it was awful...the rain, cold, and blight has ruined any fruit remaining on the vine. Needless to say... but I was able to get volunteers to grow my tomatoes next year, and was pleasantly surprised many of the guests had grown GREEN ZEBRA tomatoes and wanted to try my other varieties. The table where I was seated for the dinner wanted me to join with them to sponsor a tomato theme dinner next August/September featuring my varieties. Funny....seems like the Tom Tato was on everyone's mind. Tom Tato is where a tomato is grafted onto a potato rootstalk for a dual production of tomatoes and potatoes. I explained that it would be better to graft onto a TPS seedling that was a short day adapted variety or one that needed 150 days for maturity. An early maturing potato like Yukon Gold would be counter productive. When I suggested that I may be able to sell or provide grafted tomatoes next year..... I got positive responses from those who overheard my explanations. One lady in the audience was an overwhelming fan of potato flowers and asked why it hasn't been featured as a flowering pot plant. I said it may not be long in waiting...as I will be talking later this fall with the grafting specialists to perhaps test graft a blue flowing Magic Dragon potato onto a tomato rootstalk. Instead of growing low as most potatoes...it would be a climber! Since the Magic Dragon is a diploid...it would never set berries without a pollenizer and would bloom profusely from the point of sale to frost. The SKAGIT VALLEY GOLD would make a great graft as well since the mauve pink flowers are attractive and the flowers' aroma is captivating. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/CISz11k.png?2[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/6vcpcwG.png?2[/IMG] or if those don't load: http://imgur.com/CISz11k http://imgur.com/CISz11k