Experiments That Yielded Fruit

I have been a professional gardener for the last 15 years. My tomato breeding journey began more recently, in March 2023.

I had already been starting tomato plants for some of my gardening clients— my favorite varieties including Brad’s Atomic Grape, Tim’s Taste of Paradise, and Red Grape. Out of curiosity, I searched the internet for how to make a cross and tried my hand at it.

I got some viable seeds which I grew the next year and I was hooked! I started reading tomato breeding blogs and research papers and learning about tomato genetics and looking for the best tomato varieties to use as parents for new varieties. I noticed that some with almost universal acclaim were indeed all-stars, but others for me were disappointing. Some combination of the growing conditions here and my personal taste made me very selective in choosing which to grow more than once.

I realized that I have a very particular taste and interest, and after learning more and growing hundreds of varieties of tomatoes, I found three main projects that continue to pull me forward: Large “tangerine” tomatoes, Grape tomatoes of all colors, and Micro Dwarfs with interesting leaves (variegated, light green, wooly).

I also found that I like particular sizes and shapes of tomatoes— orange, passionfruit, and grape. And so my experiments continue within this framework of interest, hopefully with more to show for them soon!