Paquebot Memorial Grow Out

[MissS]

Our dear member Paquebot's journey has come to an end here on earth. He was a great asset to the gardening community and will be sorely missed across the internet and to his family and friends.

He single-handedly rescued Wisconsin 55 and Wisconsin 55 Gold from extinction and passed the seed on to hundreds of people to ensure that they would survive.

In his honor, I have purchased a bulk order of Wisconsin 55 and Wisconsin 55 Gold seeds for those that wish to honor him in a mass grow out in the coming season. The seeds will be 5 seeds to the pack. They are yours just for the asking and a SASE. I am forwarding these seeds to Tormato to distribute. If you are participating in the MMMM they can be included in your parcel at no extra charge for postage. If you are not participating in the swap please send Tormato (Gary) a SASE and include your username with your request.

Gary Fitzgerald
22 Francis St.
Westfield , MA 01085

Gary please feel free to add anything else that you would like to this thread.

[MissS]

Update - I have edited the above post to include Wisconsin 55 Gold in the offer. I found them at Delectation of Tomatoes.

[wykvlvr]

Update - I have edited the above post to include Wisconsin 55 Gold in the offer. I found them at Delectation of Tomatoes.

Yippee this is one I have been wanting to try.

[Julianna]

I added it to my MMMM wish list.

[HL2601]

just added them to my MMMM list. Thank you for doing this @MissS It's a nice way to pay tribute to him!

[MissS]

A very nice article about Martin and his seed saving. Article found by ladymarmalade at Not Just Tomatoes.

https://www.hngnews.com/sun_prairie_sta ... d9b80.html

I have learned much about Martin this past week. He listed 23 different varieties of tomatoes at SSE and shared 22 with Dale Thurber at Delectation of Tomatoes which is where the seeds for distribution are from. It's nice to know that the seeds offered for the grow out are grown directly from seeds shared by Paquebot. He gave seeds to many members freely across many boards. He had the complete collection of Campbells tomatoes. He found the long lost Campbells 135 in his collection and reintroduced it to the tomato community. In his later years he cut down on growing his tomatoes and concentrated on onions and garlic for which many on this board know him.

Some of the many varieties that he shared with others are:

Banjan Roomii
Campbell 135
Croatian Heart
Fantome de Laos
Franchi Giant Pear
Graf Bathyany
Hermann's Yellow Heart
Jann's Cherry
Julia Child
Kristina Vatcheva
Liguria
Linhart's Giant
Malcolm Lincoln
Minnie's Pinstripe
Ovi's Romanian Giant
Paquebot Roma (his creation)
Plaisir Paradisiaque
Prairie Sun (his creation)
Red Giant Banat
Ugly Ripe
Volovsko Srce Slovenian
Voyage
Wisconsin Chief
Wisconsin 55
Wisconsin 55 Gold
Yamal
Yellow Out Red In
Zorica's Croatian Bull Eye

His seed collection is now in the care of Kim Lund at SSE.

[MissS]

I forgot to mention that Dale Thurber of Delectation of Tomatoes has put both Wisconsin 55 and Wisconsin 55 Gold on his grow list to join us in the Memorial Grow out for Paquebot. He was quite saddened to hear of his passing.

[HL2601]

Wai, I have a question. I thought Julia Child was created and named by Gary at Tomatofest? I seem to remember something on their home page about this??

[MissS]

Wai, I have a question. I thought Julia Child was created and named by Gary at Tomatofest? I seem to remember something on their home page about this??

You are correct. Paquebot listed it at SSE and shared it with others. He did not create all of the tomatoes on this list.

[zeedman]

This was the first I heard about Martin's passing. He & I were vaguely acquainted... we had several vigorous debates about SSE over the years, on other forums. He sent me several of his beans as he began cutting back (and his garlic, which I lost in a bad year). Martin was a very vocal advocate for tomato preservation, and shared seed freely. My condolences to his family & friends.

[eyolf]

Maybe I should go online more often. Always late to the party.
I read a seed Co blurb re: WI55 a couple of years ago and decided to order a packet of carefully rogued and maintained seed.

This is not to disrespect Martin's memory, but it was a little better than the seeds I got from Jung maybe 15 years ago.

But I grow out a semi-determinate Roma that Martin sent as a "free bonus' with seeds probably 20 years ago. I was cautioned to watch for tripled seed cotyledons, and every time I grow it, plant only those in the garden.

In most respects, it seems very much like Striped Roma...but the tri-cot plants delivered measurably more tomatoes, so I have only maintained seeds from the tri-cots.

Like many Roma types, it's a little late here in N. MN, and earliest fruits often display blossom end rot. But.production is very good, flavor about the same as any Roma type (better than some).

I did not grow "Martin's Super Roma" last year, but will jump it ahead in the rotation in Martin's honor for next year.

[jmsieglaff]

RIP Martin. I was lucky to have 'met' him here early in 2021. Learned quite a bit about some Wisconsin originated varieties and got to try one of his latest projects--Prairie Star Tomato (which doesn't seem to be stable yet). I was also fortunate he shared true Wisconsin 55 Gold seed with me, as my seed had gotten bee crossed.

[MissS]

@jmsieglaff Prairie Star was not quite stable yet. Is there any chance that you could grow it again and save some seeds to share with us? This was Martin's last work and it would be a shame to let it go...

[wykvlvr]

I asked for seeds of Wisconsin 55 Gold for the grow out but I will also be growing some onion seed he sent me for the bottle onions he was trying to preserve.

[jmsieglaff]

@jmsieglaff Prairie Star was not quite stable yet. Is there any chance that you could grow it again and save some seeds to share with us? This was Martin's last work and it would be a shame to let it go...

We have a short thread on TJ about it prairie-star-tomato-t2554.html.

I have saved seed from that plant--not a ton, but some. I need to check how much seed I have left of the original that Martin sent me last winter. I'm happy to share with I have, might be small numbers but all it takes is a couple seeds per person interested.

[brownrexx]

I only requested the Wisconsin Red and Gold but was excited to receive 3 additional varieties. I found info on Swoon and Seek No Further Love Apple but can not find anything on Bacon Lettuce and This.

Can anyone tell me anything about this variety?

Thanks

[MissS]

I only requested the Wisconsin Red and Gold but was excited to receive 3 additional varieties. I found info on Swoon and Seek No Further Love Apple but can not find anything on Bacon Lettuce and This.

Can anyone tell me anything about this variety?

Thanks

The last that I heard it was an experimental variety by none other than our own Tormato. I wonder if anyone has any more info on it?

[brownrexx]

Maybe @Tormato can tell us about it?

[Tormahto]

Maybe @Tormato can tell us about it?

I'm sorry, but he is not able to find this thread. Perhaps if you post in the "2021 variety questions and maybe answers" thread he'll find it.

[ponyexpress]

I asked for seeds of Wisconsin 55 Gold for the grow out but I will also be growing some onion seed he sent me for the bottle onions he was trying to preserve.

Wisconsin 55 looks like a nice tomato. I'll join the grow out.

Like you, I will be busy with the bottle onions. Just planted some seeds yesterday. Will be trying to grow them like a traditional onion from seed as an experiment. I'll plant some of the other seeds in early June as sets. Save the rest of the seeds for next year. I also overwintered a few onions last year for seeds and will plant the rest of my onions in the spring. The goal is to produce lots of seeds. This will be done at my house garden to ensure that there are no other onion pollinators near by which is impossible to do at the community garden.