Just for fun

Alpinejs · November 8, 2011

I thought it might be fun to find out what created nutcases for tomatoes out
of otherwise normal human beings. Why didn't they take up stamp collecting
or quilting or saving baseball cards instead of becoming fruitcakes?

In my case, I was heavy into tropical gardening and a nursery friend told
me in casual conversation that the best tomato she had ever eaten was
a black pear but she couldn't get seed anymore. I went on the internet,
found them and gave them to her. However.com, in my search, I discovered
that all tomatoes aren't either round and red or are romas. So, I ordered a
purple (cherokee purple) for myself and the rest is history. One more fruitcake
added to the huge roster.

What is your alibi for becoming a seedaholic?

amideutch · November 8, 2011

Not what but whom, Carolyn Male. Ami

Alpinejs · November 8, 2011

Ami.....Guten tag....I am sure you won't be the lone ranger on that one!!

kygreg · November 8, 2011

Being tomatoes are fruits (even though the US Supreme Court made them vegetables legally), fruitcake seems a very appropo term.

Worth1 · November 8, 2011

For one thing I have and always will think collectors of baseball cards and stamps are fruitcakes.
Furthermore I dont collect seeds.

Yes I do have a few more seeds than the average gardener.
But they are overflow from different varieties I have tried and have failed in the Texas heat.

Many times I have thought of having some kind of lottery or contest here to give all of the seeds I have to the winner.

I just dont need them.

Another thing that surprises me is every time a so called (new tomato) comes out many people flock to get seeds.
It's as though they think it will be something different than they have already tried.
Then only to find that it is just another tomato.

But and a big but, if you are growing all of these tomatoes so you can get a new variety started or you are sharing the seeds then that is fine.
Its the hoarding that bothers me.

Now collecting cacti, agave and desert plants is another thing.

I have a little problem.

Worth

dice · November 8, 2011

On kind of a related note, does anyone collect hops varieties?

How about peanuts? I was wondering if anyone had seen a peanut
variety that always produces 3 peanuts per pod.

Alpinejs · November 8, 2011

Interesting stuff but so far all of it avoids the gist of the thread which is: How
did you become addicted to growing tomatoes?.

Raffles · November 8, 2011

Mainly for the challenge of getting them to grow here. After that it was interest in old or odd varieties.

ddsack · November 8, 2011

I started gardening seriously in the late 1970's during the original organic gardening push. At that time, all the seed catalogs were only touting hybrids as the latest, greatest thing, so I tried a number of them. I also, as a favor to my parents, always started some of their saved seeds of a Latvian heart heirloom, but never saved any myself, and did not give much respect to this spindly plant with it's lopsided fruit, since I was still under the influence of thinking the perfect tomato was red and round. My perfect tomato then, was Rushmore hybrid, found only in the old Gurney catalogs. When it went out of production, I was devastated, and went on a search to find a replacement. Better Boy, was close, but not as good, nor were any other of the Burpee "Boys" or "Girls". About that time, the OP's and a few heirlooms began to get more space in seed catalogs. I think Pruden's Purple was the first heirloom I tried, along with Mexico and Peron and Yellow Brandywine. I don't remember when I received my first Tomato Grower's Supply catalog, but that was what had me hooked, and I was in tomato heaven just paging though it!

Boutique Tomatoes · November 8, 2011

It helped that I grew up in farm country with parents that each came from big rural families of 9 kids; growing and preserving your own food was just a fact of life. After leaving home, as soon as I reached the point that I could afford my own piece of ground I cut down trees and dug up a garden plot.

In my 20's I was training under a Japanese executive chef who was about how people enjoy food, appearance, aroma followed by flavor so we focused a lot on what was pretty, fresh and flavorful and if it was different we had to try to do something with it. With the fine dining restaurants in the 80's it was all about the exotic (and still is to a degree), and back then heirloom tomatoes were exotic so when they were in season we had them on the menu.

My parents had always grown a mix of canning varieties and beefsteaks, but tomatoes were all red at home. Now they came into the restaurant in a rainbow of colors, shapes and flavors. I saved seeds and bought from some of the early seed companies offering them.

Worth1 · November 8, 2011

I'm sorry on your original post you asked how a person became a seedaholic.

Now you ask how we became addicted to growing tomatoes.

Two totally different afflictions.

Don't tell me many of you have a seed problem AND a tomato growing problem also.

As far as tomato growing is concerned it is something I have always done since childhood.
I grew up in a family and farming society that grew gardens and to not have tomato plants was like going to town naked.
It was something you just didn't do.

So in short it is nothing new to me so there-fore I'm not addicted.
It isn't a novelty or passing fad from which I will move on to something else.

I also feel that a mentally healthy person should have many hobbies not just one or two.
In this way none of them turn into an addiction, you simply move on to the next hobby for a while and let the last one cool off a bit.

Actually if any addiction existed for me at all it would be plants.
Since tomatoes fall into this category you might go out on a limb and say I was addicted.

Worth

cloz · November 8, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

I'm sorry on your original post you asked how a person became a seedaholic.

Now you ask how we became addicted to growing tomatoes.

Two totally different afflictions.

Don't tell me many of you have a seed problem AND a tomato growing problem also.

As far as tomato growing is concerned it is something I have always done since childhood.
I grew up in a family and farming society that grew gardens and to not have tomato plants was like going to town naked.
It was something you just didn't do.

So in short it is nothing new to me so there-fore I'm not addicted.
It isn't a novelty or passing fad from which I will move on to something else.

I also feel that a mentally healthy person should have many hobbies not just one or two.
In this way none of them turn into an addiction, you simply move on to the next hobby for a while and let the last one cool off a bit.

Actually if any addiction existed for me at all it would be plants.
Since tomatoes fall into this category you might go out on a limb and say I was addicted.

Worth

Worth, you have described me perfectly. I don't ever remember there not being a garden of some kind or another. Some years it's larger, some years it's smaller. Heirlooms are new to me but I have always grown tomatoes and other vegetables.
My hobbies and interests are way too numerous and many get put on a back burner for years only to be revisited with renewed interest years later. It always bothered me that my father did not have hobbies or interest in his later life to keep him occupied. I am sure he would have lived much longer.

salix · November 8, 2011

Have gardened all my life (no, not going to say how many years!). My quest for the past 10 years has been to find 6 varieties which will be reliably early, tasty and productive up here in short season land. When I find them all, I shall go all out and save gazillions of seed from each and distribute to local gardeners. That's my story and I'm sticking to it - no addiction here.

Husband rolls eyes...

frogsleap farm · November 8, 2011

I've gone through three distinct stages. The first was a shift from growing a few plants each of a couple hybrids that I sourced at the local nursery, then to plants from seed sourced from trading with a few folks at Tville and purchased at SSE (heirlooms and F2/3 crosses made by others), and then into making crosses myself. It is now completely out of control, but I'm having a blast.

kath · November 8, 2011

My story includes bits of many already shared in the above posts- my interest in growing healthy food for my family began in the 70's and I was hooked on gardening immediately. The search for the best few tomato varieties that do well for me and that I love began in earnest a few years ago and reached crazy proportions when I happened upon T'ville in Jan. 2010.

I don't think I'm a seedaholic because I am just as obsessive about getting rid of the seeds I don't need as I am about trying as many varieties as I can each year.

I don't even think I'm addicted to growing tomatoes because, like salix said, when I find the winners my search will be over.

I'll save and spread those seeds and fruits around locally.

I also search for the best beans, the best carrots, potatoes, onions, etc., so the way I see it, I just want to be growing all the best varieties of every fruit and vegetable as soon as possible- maybe I'm just impatient.

I've been known to pour myself just as completely into birding or whatever hobby I'm enjoying at the moment.

Anyway, that's my story- no problem here, either...oh, and there's one more eye-rolling husband among us.

November 8, 2011	#1
Alpinejs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Alpine, Calif. in winter. Sandpoint Lake, Ont. Canada summers Posts: 850	Just for fun I thought it might be fun to find out what created nutcases for tomatoes out of otherwise normal human beings. Why didn't they take up stamp collecting or quilting or saving baseball cards instead of becoming fruitcakes? In my case, I was heavy into tropical gardening and a nursery friend told me in casual conversation that the best tomato she had ever eaten was a black pear but she couldn't get seed anymore. I went on the internet, found them and gave them to her. However.com, in my search, I discovered that all tomatoes aren't either round and red or are romas. So, I ordered a purple (cherokee purple) for myself and the rest is history. One more fruitcake added to the huge roster. What is your alibi for becoming a seedaholic?

November 8, 2011	#2
amideutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Germany 49°26"N 07°36"E Posts: 5,041	Not what but whom, Carolyn Male. Ami __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘...Holy Crap .....What a ride!'

November 8, 2011	#6
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	On kind of a related note, does anyone collect hops varieties? How about peanuts? I was wondering if anyone had seen a peanut variety that always produces 3 peanuts per pod. __________________ -- alias

November 8, 2011	#9
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,231	I started gardening seriously in the late 1970's during the original organic gardening push. At that time, all the seed catalogs were only touting hybrids as the latest, greatest thing, so I tried a number of them. I also, as a favor to my parents, always started some of their saved seeds of a Latvian heart heirloom, but never saved any myself, and did not give much respect to this spindly plant with it's lopsided fruit, since I was still under the influence of thinking the perfect tomato was red and round. My perfect tomato then, was Rushmore hybrid, found only in the old Gurney catalogs. When it went out of production, I was devastated, and went on a search to find a replacement. Better Boy, was close, but not as good, nor were any other of the Burpee "Boys" or "Girls". About that time, the OP's and a few heirlooms began to get more space in seed catalogs. I think Pruden's Purple was the first heirloom I tried, along with Mexico and Peron and Yellow Brandywine. I don't remember when I received my first Tomato Grower's Supply catalog, but that was what had me hooked, and I was in tomato heaven just paging though it! __________________ Dee **************

November 8, 2011	#4
kygreg Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: kentucky Posts: 1,019	Being tomatoes are fruits (even though the US Supreme Court made them vegetables legally), fruitcake seems a very appropo term.

November 8, 2011	#5
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	For one thing I have and always will think collectors of baseball cards and stamps are fruitcakes. Furthermore I dont collect seeds. Yes I do have a few more seeds than the average gardener. But they are overflow from different varieties I have tried and have failed in the Texas heat. Many times I have thought of having some kind of lottery or contest here to give all of the seeds I have to the winner. I just dont need them. Another thing that surprises me is every time a so called (new tomato) comes out many people flock to get seeds. It's as though they think it will be something different than they have already tried. Then only to find that it is just another tomato. But and a big but, if you are growing all of these tomatoes so you can get a new variety started or you are sharing the seeds then that is fine. Its the hoarding that bothers me. Now collecting cacti, agave and desert plants is another thing. I have a little problem. Worth

November 8, 2011	#8
Raffles Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Northern Vermont Posts: 700	Mainly for the challenge of getting them to grow here. After that it was interest in old or odd varieties.

November 8, 2011	#10
Boutique Tomatoes Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Northeast Wisconsin, Zone 5a Posts: 1,109	It helped that I grew up in farm country with parents that each came from big rural families of 9 kids; growing and preserving your own food was just a fact of life. After leaving home, as soon as I reached the point that I could afford my own piece of ground I cut down trees and dug up a garden plot. In my 20's I was training under a Japanese executive chef who was about how people enjoy food, appearance, aroma followed by flavor so we focused a lot on what was pretty, fresh and flavorful and if it was different we had to try to do something with it. With the fine dining restaurants in the 80's it was all about the exotic (and still is to a degree), and back then heirloom tomatoes were exotic so when they were in season we had them on the menu. My parents had always grown a mix of canning varieties and beefsteaks, but tomatoes were all red at home. Now they came into the restaurant in a rainbow of colors, shapes and flavors. I saved seeds and bought from some of the early seed companies offering them.

November 8, 2011	#13
salix Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: north central B.C. Posts: 2,310	Have gardened all my life (no, not going to say how many years!). My quest for the past 10 years has been to find 6 varieties which will be reliably early, tasty and productive up here in short season land. When I find them all, I shall go all out and save gazillions of seed from each and distribute to local gardeners. That's my story and I'm sticking to it - no addiction here. Husband rolls eyes...

November 8, 2011	#14
frogsleap farm Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Minnesota Posts: 568	I've gone through three distinct stages. The first was a shift from growing a few plants each of a couple hybrids that I sourced at the local nursery, then to plants from seed sourced from trading with a few folks at Tville and purchased at SSE (heirlooms and F2/3 crosses made by others), and then into making crosses myself. It is now completely out of control, but I'm having a blast.

November 8, 2011	#15
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	My story includes bits of many already shared in the above posts- my interest in growing healthy food for my family began in the 70's and I was hooked on gardening immediately. The search for the best few tomato varieties that do well for me and that I love began in earnest a few years ago and reached crazy proportions when I happened upon T'ville in Jan. 2010. I don't think I'm a seedaholic because I am just as obsessive about getting rid of the seeds I don't need as I am about trying as many varieties as I can each year. I don't even think I'm addicted to growing tomatoes because, like salix said, when I find the winners my search will be over. I'll save and spread those seeds and fruits around locally. I also search for the best beans, the best carrots, potatoes, onions, etc., so the way I see it, I just want to be growing all the best varieties of every fruit and vegetable as soon as possible- maybe I'm just impatient. I've been known to pour myself just as completely into birding or whatever hobby I'm enjoying at the moment. Anyway, that's my story- no problem here, either...oh, and there's one more eye-rolling husband among us.