Hello World!  Some of you may be wondering what has been happening with this blog.  Where have the articles gone?  Well it is summer, summer, summertime and that means it is TOMATO season.  I have been busily tending to the garden.  This year I have 36 tomato plants and about 30 pepper plants.  Among the tomatos there are #13 different varieties.  Since I do not buy seeds I have to grow enough, every couple years at least, to keep a fresh supply of seeds for the varieties that I want to keep in stock. I have included a list of varieties below for anyone interested.  What you will also notice, on this blog and in other places is that I have been attempting some cross breeding experiments.  Since sometimes record keeping can be a chore, I have been using this blog as a tool when I am working in the garden and then updating the entries later as time permits.  So if you see an entry that looks like this: crossed OBT with SGRT on SGRT plant #25 marked with pink string, do not be alarmed.  That is my shorthand way of saying that on the date in question I took pollen from a OBT (Orange Banana Tomato) and applied it to a SGRT tomato (some good red tomato) on Tomato plant #25 which is Row #5 plant #1 and somewhere on that plant is a pink string marking the magical flower.  Eventually that entry will be updated with either FAILED CROSS or SUCCESSFUL CROSS and any details on the fruit growing.  Here is an example:SUCCESFUL CROSS ENTRY

This year the varieties I am growing are:

• Sweet Pea Currant Tomatoes (SPCT)
• Tommy Toe Tomato (TTT)
• Beams Yellow Pear Tomato (BYPT)
• Orange Banana Tomato (OBT)
• Some Good Red Tomato (SGRT) Either Italian Heirloom or Brandywine Sudduth's strain.  I say that because they are both potato leaf varieties and all I got from last years harvest was a few good red tomatoes and wasn't sure from whence they came. There is also a regular leaf that I call SGRT but that could be something else.
• Amish Paste Tomato (APT)
• Gold Medal Tomato (GMT)
• Nyagous Tomato (NYGT)
• Moonglow Tomato (MOON)
• Wapsapinicon Peach Tomato (WSPT)
• Purple Russian Tomato (PRT)

If you are interested in purchasing seeds for any of the varieties listed above they are $3 per packet of 25 seeds.  Just email me your order at seeds@markfederici.com

SUCCESSFUL CROSS:1 that is an actual cross.  1 possible and a learning experience!

Must clip the green leaves from around the fruits that are crossed to be sure that they are actually marked.  It is hard to see which fruits the strings are wrapped around.