Yugoslavian Opportunity

Fusion_power · March 8, 2012

I have worked with a woman off and on for several years now who has a very heavy eastern European accent. Communicating with her is difficult and takes extra time and effort. Today I asked her where she was from and she replied Yugoslavia. I mentioned that I grow several really good tomatoes from Yugoslavia and she proceeded to tell me that they have the very best tomatoes and peppers in the world. Now that gets my attention.

So I asked if she still has contacts and she said most of her extended family still live there. So being serendipitous and just a bit greedy, I immediately asked her if she could get some of her relatives to collect seed from some of the tomatoes they grow, specificially asking for the varieties that are passed around in the community, not from commercial seed packages. She says "Yah, I can do that!"

Now I'm all in a sweat. It will take a couple of months at least, maybe more, but I am very much looking forward to growing some really unusual tomatoes and peppers. Maybe a 2013 project!

DarJones

Zana · March 8, 2012

Now that's what I consider one heck of an early Xmas present or a bday present. Congrats and enjoy!

Zana

**carolyn137** · March 8, 2012

Darrel, now you're doing what I used to do, that is, it was the maintenance man and faculty members and the head of the Computer dept and some members of my father's Fish and Game club and I can't tell you all the others that I would ask to contact friends back home, or in some cases they still had the seed for some great varieties here in the US but no one in the family was interested to keep them going, to see if they could find some heirloom varieties for me and that's how I got:

Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Yasha Yugoslavian
Soldacki
Gogosha
Sandul Moldovan
Chris Ukranian
Ilse's Yellow, she was the tall gal on the basketball team
Opalka
Sarnowski Polish Plum
Milka's Red Bulgarian
Heidi
Tadesse
Wuhib

.... and on and on.

I never missed an opportunity, trust me on that.

Right now I'm working on some other local contacts, one of them is a bakery in VT owned by two ladies from the former USSR, now the CIS (I don't yet know which state)and another is a local HS student who is spending a year in Armenia. And on and on it goes and I love it.

Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don't but it doesn't stop me from trying.

travis · March 8, 2012

I mentioned Jacinicki Jabucar (aka Yaseniscki Yabuchar) to an Internet friend with whom I trade seeds. She lives near Zagreb, Croatia (in former Yugoslavian Republic), and she sent me seeds for several "Yugoslavian" tomatoes.

Some are from Dalmatia, some from Croatia, a couple from Serbia, and one from Macedonia. Each came with a short note as to shape and just a scrap of information about their histories. My friend had to translate Croatian into English, so the historic notes are a bit sketchy.

I'll post more information when I have access to the handwritten notes this weekend. So far, I've planted seeds for three of the "bull heart" shaped varieties.

Heritage · March 8, 2012

If any of varieties are half as good as the few Yugoslavian varieties I've tried, it is exciting to see new offerings being trialed.

Steve

**carolyn137** · March 8, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by travis

I mentioned Jacinicki Jabucar (aka Yaseniscki Yabuchar) to an Internet friend with whom I trade seeds. She lives near Zagreb, Croatia (in former Yugoslavian Republic), and she sent me seeds for several "Yugoslavian" tomatoes.

Some are from Dalmatia, some from Croatia, a couple from Serbia, and one from Macedonia. Each came with a short note as to shape and just a scrap of information about their histories. My friend had to translate Croatian into English, so the historic notes are a bit sketchy.

I'll post more information when I have access to the handwritten notes this weekend. So far, I've planted seeds for three of the "bull heart" shaped varieties.

And I had two new ones from Macdonia last year and now two new ones from Slovenia and several new ones from Serbia for this year as well. Still waiting for some sent from Russia a moth ago as well as Andrey's, sent three weeks ago.

I feel a bit conflicted when I refer to Crnkovic Yugoslavian and some others from Yugoslavia as to still using Yugoslavia as part of the names, but I got and named that way ( I named just the two that were from Yasha Crnkovic, the others already had names) when it was Yugoslavia.

See how they grow and down the road I'll trade you heart for heart, and last I knew which was yesterday when the RN was here, my own heart was just fine, thank you, but maybe wouldn't have been if that critical K level had continued.

Jeannine Anne · March 8, 2012

I met a woman from Bulgaria a few days ago who has moved here and has a new spot on our community gardens. She ordered transplants from me as she has no place to start seeds but she said she had lots of seeds she has been sent from Bulgaria from family members now she has a garden. She offered to give them all to me as she is not going to use them. I don`t know if they are commercial or home saved but she said she will pop them in the mail..

If commercial will they be here already or will they be new to us. Do we have many Bulgarian ones

XX Jeannine

ScottinAtlanta · March 8, 2012

Odd story, really. Yugoslavia has not existed since June 1991, and while I have worked in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia (all three parts), I have never met anyone who still describes themselves as Yugoslavian. People there are very nationalistic. She must be real nostalgic about the old Yugoslavia.

Zana · March 8, 2012

Scott,
I think that many of those who haven't lived there in 30 or more years still think of themselves as "Yugoslavian". I know I have a few courtesy "Uncles" and "Aunts" who have lived in Canada and the States or even the U.K. since the 50's-70's who think of themselves that way. Perhaps its more the people who lived through the split up of the former republic or most certainly those born since who think that way.

jennifer28 · March 8, 2012

What a great opportunity Darrel. The school where I work is in a large city. There are many people that are first generation from so many different places- Serbia, Croatia, Haiti, China, Korea, Greece, Turkey, Italy... more places I can't remember now... I should ask them at some point about tomato seeds. One of the families from Turkey offered me some seeds... I felt bashful about accepting them but I think it would be a fun project to have a true heirloom garden... thanks for the idea.

Dutch · March 8, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

I have worked with a woman off and on for several years now who has a very heavy eastern European accent. Communicating with her is difficult and takes extra time and effort. Today I asked her where she was from and she replied Yugoslavia. I mentioned that I grow several really good tomatoes from Yugoslavia and she proceeded to tell me that they have the very best tomatoes and peppers in the world. Now that gets my attention.

So I asked if she still has contacts and she said most of her extended family still live there. So being serendipitous and just a bit greedy, I immediately asked her if she could get some of her relatives to collect seed from some of the tomatoes they grow, specificially asking for the varieties that are passed around in the community, not from commercial seed packages. She says "Yah, I can do that!"

Now I'm all in a sweat. It will take a couple of months at least, maybe more, but I am very much looking forward to growing some really unusual tomatoes and peppers. Maybe a 2013 project!

DarJones

Wow Darrel what a find!
Congratulations!
Like the old saying goes, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained"
I hope you find some real gems.
Dutch

travis · March 8, 2012

It's no different than Ohioans vs Kentuckians vs West Virginians vs Tarheels, etc., etc., etc., when it comes to local common garden varieties. Come on.

jennifer28 · March 8, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by travis

It's no different than Ohioans vs Kentuckians vs West Virginians vs Tarheels, etc., etc., etc., when it comes to local common garden varieties. Come on.

travis - what are you talking about?

velikipop · March 9, 2012

Scott, Yes Yugoslavia is gone but for many of us who were born there we still at times refer to ourselves as Yugoslav. Though my family tree includes both Serbs and Croats I consider my self as a Serb because I was born in Belgrade, however, I never considered my self as a Serb until my teenage years in Canada. I was always a Yugoslav. Those who use the term today are most likely Serbs..they tended to identify with Yugoslavia the most and also contributed to its destruction. Talk about conflicted identities!!!

An institute in the region released a survey on the question of whether people thought they were better of now or while Yugoslavia was still in existence. With the exception of Croats and Albanians, all the other groups, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Bosniaks and Slovenes tended to agree with the latter.

As for tomatoes in the region I would hazzard to guess that most are CV varieties, but I have heard of some family heirlooms. I just received some seeds of a cherry tomato that is a family heirloom from Montenegro. I am growing it out and will make seed available if it turns out to be good one. I also have many Yugoslav varieties in my collection but I am very interested to see what Darrel gets from this lady. I have also shared many of my varieties with friends and realtives in Serbia. They have superb growing conditions and everything grown there tastes great, I am not sure it will be the smae here in the new world.

If anyone needs help with translation I would be more than happy to help, as I am sure many other former Yugoslav members on this forum would be equally helpful.

dice · March 9, 2012

I think Travis is saying that selection for varieties by farmers and backyard
gardeners over a century of growing tomatoes is not likely to be that
much different in other parts of the world where tomatoes have been
grown for that long than what we have seen here in the parts of the
country where tomatoes grow well and where growing some locally
handed around seeds was at least as common as growing commercial
varieties from catalogs.

We know about so many of the family heirloom varieties from Appalachia,
south of the Great Lakes, Virginia, the Carolinas, and so on. If you look at
the description and history of the variety "Moscow" in this document, you
see another good example of how varieties become locally specialized:
http://tgc.ifas.ufl.edu/vol11/v11p36.html

So we should not expect anything significantly different than what we see
from the areas in the US where a lot of heirloom cultivars that we grow
now originated. It is always interesting to see what kind of tomatoes
growers in other parts of the world found worthy of preservation, though.
Why have they been growing this particular tomato in this particular
village for decades? Because it resisted some locally chronic disease?
Because the timing of when fruit ripened best fit their seasons? Because
it simply tasted better to their palates than anything else that ever came
down the road with some trader or migrating farmer? Because it was
growing in the field of the only farmer in the village whose home and
field survived some natural disaster, and everyone else got seeds from
him the next year?

Usually it is some combination of perceived advantages that has kept
an heirloom cultivar alive and viable. Will those same advantages work
for any of us in our fields or gardens and local climates? When we grow it,
we find out.

March 8, 2012	#1
Fusion_power Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,250	Yugoslavian Opportunity I have worked with a woman off and on for several years now who has a very heavy eastern European accent. Communicating with her is difficult and takes extra time and effort. Today I asked her where she was from and she replied Yugoslavia. I mentioned that I grow several really good tomatoes from Yugoslavia and she proceeded to tell me that they have the very best tomatoes and peppers in the world. Now that gets my attention. So I asked if she still has contacts and she said most of her extended family still live there. So being serendipitous and just a bit greedy, I immediately asked her if she could get some of her relatives to collect seed from some of the tomatoes they grow, specificially asking for the varieties that are passed around in the community, not from commercial seed packages. She says "Yah, I can do that!" Now I'm all in a sweat. It will take a couple of months at least, maybe more, but I am very much looking forward to growing some really unusual tomatoes and peppers. Maybe a 2013 project! DarJones

March 8, 2012	#3
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	Darrel, now you're doing what I used to do, that is, it was the maintenance man and faculty members and the head of the Computer dept and some members of my father's Fish and Game club and I can't tell you all the others that I would ask to contact friends back home, or in some cases they still had the seed for some great varieties here in the US but no one in the family was interested to keep them going, to see if they could find some heirloom varieties for me and that's how I got: Crnkovic Yugoslavian Yasha Yugoslavian Soldacki Gogosha Sandul Moldovan Chris Ukranian Ilse's Yellow, she was the tall gal on the basketball team Opalka Sarnowski Polish Plum Milka's Red Bulgarian Heidi Tadesse Wuhib .... and on and on. I never missed an opportunity, trust me on that. Right now I'm working on some other local contacts, one of them is a bakery in VT owned by two ladies from the former USSR, now the CIS (I don't yet know which state)and another is a local HS student who is spending a year in Armenia. And on and on it goes and I love it. Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don't but it doesn't stop me from trying. __________________ Carolyn

March 9, 2012	#14
velikipop Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Langley, BC Posts: 768	Scott, Yes Yugoslavia is gone but for many of us who were born there we still at times refer to ourselves as Yugoslav. Though my family tree includes both Serbs and Croats I consider my self as a Serb because I was born in Belgrade, however, I never considered my self as a Serb until my teenage years in Canada. I was always a Yugoslav. Those who use the term today are most likely Serbs..they tended to identify with Yugoslavia the most and also contributed to its destruction. Talk about conflicted identities!!! An institute in the region released a survey on the question of whether people thought they were better of now or while Yugoslavia was still in existence. With the exception of Croats and Albanians, all the other groups, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Bosniaks and Slovenes tended to agree with the latter. As for tomatoes in the region I would hazzard to guess that most are CV varieties, but I have heard of some family heirlooms. I just received some seeds of a cherry tomato that is a family heirloom from Montenegro. I am growing it out and will make seed available if it turns out to be good one. I also have many Yugoslav varieties in my collection but I am very interested to see what Darrel gets from this lady. I have also shared many of my varieties with friends and realtives in Serbia. They have superb growing conditions and everything grown there tastes great, I am not sure it will be the smae here in the new world. If anyone needs help with translation I would be more than happy to help, as I am sure many other former Yugoslav members on this forum would be equally helpful. __________________ I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf Bob Dylan

March 9, 2012	#15
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	I think Travis is saying that selection for varieties by farmers and backyard gardeners over a century of growing tomatoes is not likely to be that much different in other parts of the world where tomatoes have been grown for that long than what we have seen here in the parts of the country where tomatoes grow well and where growing some locally handed around seeds was at least as common as growing commercial varieties from catalogs. We know about so many of the family heirloom varieties from Appalachia, south of the Great Lakes, Virginia, the Carolinas, and so on. If you look at the description and history of the variety "Moscow" in this document, you see another good example of how varieties become locally specialized: http://tgc.ifas.ufl.edu/vol11/v11p36.html So we should not expect anything significantly different than what we see from the areas in the US where a lot of heirloom cultivars that we grow now originated. It is always interesting to see what kind of tomatoes growers in other parts of the world found worthy of preservation, though. Why have they been growing this particular tomato in this particular village for decades? Because it resisted some locally chronic disease? Because the timing of when fruit ripened best fit their seasons? Because it simply tasted better to their palates than anything else that ever came down the road with some trader or migrating farmer? Because it was growing in the field of the only farmer in the village whose home and field survived some natural disaster, and everyone else got seeds from him the next year? Usually it is some combination of perceived advantages that has kept an heirloom cultivar alive and viable. Will those same advantages work for any of us in our fields or gardens and local climates? When we grow it, we find out. __________________ -- alias Last edited by dice; March 13, 2012 at 08:16 AM. Reason: sp

March 8, 2012	#2
Zana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,521	Now that's what I consider one heck of an early Xmas present or a bday present. Congrats and enjoy! Zana

March 8, 2012	#4
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	I mentioned Jacinicki Jabucar (aka Yaseniscki Yabuchar) to an Internet friend with whom I trade seeds. She lives near Zagreb, Croatia (in former Yugoslavian Republic), and she sent me seeds for several "Yugoslavian" tomatoes. Some are from Dalmatia, some from Croatia, a couple from Serbia, and one from Macedonia. Each came with a short note as to shape and just a scrap of information about their histories. My friend had to translate Croatian into English, so the historic notes are a bit sketchy. I'll post more information when I have access to the handwritten notes this weekend. So far, I've planted seeds for three of the "bull heart" shaped varieties.

March 8, 2012	#5
Heritage Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: San Diego Posts: 1,255	If any of varieties are half as good as the few Yugoslavian varieties I've tried, it is exciting to see new offerings being trialed. Steve

March 8, 2012	#7
Jeannine Anne Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 1,553	I met a woman from Bulgaria a few days ago who has moved here and has a new spot on our community gardens. She ordered transplants from me as she has no place to start seeds but she said she had lots of seeds she has been sent from Bulgaria from family members now she has a garden. She offered to give them all to me as she is not going to use them. I don`t know if they are commercial or home saved but she said she will pop them in the mail.. If commercial will they be here already or will they be new to us. Do we have many Bulgarian ones XX Jeannine

March 8, 2012	#8
ScottinAtlanta Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 2,593	Odd story, really. Yugoslavia has not existed since June 1991, and while I have worked in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia (all three parts), I have never met anyone who still describes themselves as Yugoslavian. People there are very nationalistic. She must be real nostalgic about the old Yugoslavia.

March 8, 2012	#10
jennifer28 Two-faced Drama Queen Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital Posts: 955	What a great opportunity Darrel. The school where I work is in a large city. There are many people that are first generation from so many different places- Serbia, Croatia, Haiti, China, Korea, Greece, Turkey, Italy... more places I can't remember now... I should ask them at some point about tomato seeds. One of the families from Turkey offered me some seeds... I felt bashful about accepting them but I think it would be a fun project to have a true heirloom garden... thanks for the idea.