Hello! I'm in zone 5b (tipping into zone 6-ish) in Michigan. I'm growing out some interesting varieties and wanted to join to talk it through.

Back in 2007 I received over a dozen packets of seeds from Mr. Owen Lambert of Parkersburg, West Virginia. We both were members in the old GardenWeb tomato forum and I, being a newbie at the time, gratefully accepted his offer to share some older varieties for me to try.

Over the years I've grown out most of the seeds, sometimes quite close together due to space constraints, which led to a few bits of weirdness in the plants here and there. I now have a much better garden set-up and decided to go back to Mr. Lambert's original seed packets and very carefully try to sprout his 2007 seeds. Lo and behold, most of them grew!

This year I'm growing two plants each of Mortgage Lifter, Old Virginia, Brandywine (potato leaf), Kellogg's Breakfast, Marianna's Peace, Red Oxheart, and Pineapple from Mr. Lambert's seeds. I'm also growing a hybrid he sent me, Mega Tom, which is at least 2nd or 3rd generation (unfortunately I don't have more specific info about that one), and a very black mystery heirloom I got a market, possibly Black Beauty.

Next year I'll tackle the other half of the batch he sent me, which has some yellow/gold beauties like Dixie Golden Giant, Hillbilly, and Jaune Flamme, plus Ultimate Giant and more. I'm doing this to try to get back to a cleaner - for lack of better word - strain of these plants. Even though they're planted not too close this year, I am using blossom bags to protect a cluster of fruits on each plant.

I look forward to learning from all of you!

MO

A warm welcome to the Junction @MOinMichigan. Those are some nice varieties that you have and it's nice to see your integrity on growing out pure seed strains.

Do you know which variety of Mortgage Lifter you have? There are a few of them.

Welcome from America's Dairyland...across the puddle.

The Gotch

MissS wrote: ↑Fri Jun 16, 2023 11:45 am A warm welcome to the Junction @MOinMichigan. Those are some nice varieties that you have and it's nice to see your integrity on growing out pure seed strains.

Do you know which variety of Mortgage Lifter you have? There are a few of them.

Unfortunately I don't know which exact variety of Mortgage Lifter I have. It's regular leaf, darker green leaves, pink fruit (often with green shoulders), typical large beefsteak.

Welcome! Will follow your progress with interest!

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the Junction!
Good to see, you haven't given up on the old seeds!
Many people wouldn't even try to germinate them ...

Frosti wrote: ↑Fri Jun 16, 2023 1:11 pm Welcome to the Junction!
Good to see, you haven't given up on the old seeds!
Many people wouldn't even try to germinate them ...

I was surprised at how well they did. I placed a few seeds between layers of damp paper towel, then placed that in an unsealed plastic food storage bag to slow evaporation. I set the slightly open bag in a warm cabinet on top of a heat vent for a few days until I saw little white root tails. I then used tweezers to set those sprouted seeds into a soilless mix under full-spectrum grow lights. They did really well. I lost only a couple out of dozens sprouted. In fact, they did so well that I had to give away a lot of plants. Basically every family member and friend I have, even coworkers, are all now growing tomatoes because I wouldn't take no for an answer!

MOinMichigan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 16, 2023 1:28 pm In fact, they did so well that I had to give away a lot of plants. Basically every family member and friend I have, even coworkers, are all now growing tomatoes because I wouldn't take no for an answer!

I bet this is far from unusual among passionate tomato growers I must have given away upwards of 50 plants this season

Welcome you will enjoy all the wealth of information here happy gardening

Welcome to the Junction from Down Under @MOinMichigan

Welcome to the Junction @MOinMichigan .

From time to time I still receive notifications from GardenWeb (now Houzz) for posts to threads that have remained active throughout the years.

MOinMichigan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 16, 2023 1:28 pm In fact, they did so well that I had to give away a lot of plants. Basically every family member and friend I have, even coworkers, are all now growing tomatoes because I wouldn't take no for an answer!

I resemble that remark! Welcome aboard!

greetings from da U.P.

former city boy from detroit, now a yooper, and happy here
in spite of the long winters. good to see more michigan people here.
where abouts are you?


keith

Welcome! I’m growing in Florida now but raised in Michigan then transplanted to New England.
I’ll never forget trying to work through the clay in my parents Michigan backyard. Worse than the stones in Massachusetts.

Great that you’re working with Mr. Lambert’s seeds; nice story.

Howdy from Central Texas.

rxkeith wrote: ↑Sat Jun 17, 2023 7:36 am greetings from da U.P.

former city boy from detroit, now a yooper, and happy here
in spite of the long winters. good to see more michigan people here.
where abouts are you?


keith

Kent County

PlainJane wrote: ↑Sat Jun 17, 2023 9:18 am Welcome! I’m growing in Florida now but raised in Michigan then transplanted to New England.
I’ll never forget trying to work through the clay in my parents Michigan backyard. Worse than the stones in Massachusetts.

Great that you’re working with Mr. Lambert’s seeds; nice story.

Thanks! The clay is something else. I'm convinced I could throw a couple vases on a wheel with it. Slick when wet and rock hard when dry. Full of nutrients, though, and it's saved me through droughts more than once. So far the raised beds on top seem to be working - good drainage near the stems but deep, damp, nutritious clay underneath.

It's been fun to see what I can do with these old seeds. I still have a precious few left. I'm tempted to experiment with a couple crosses this year. The Kellogg's Breakfast plants I have are hugely prolific and healthy, and I want to see if I can transfer that to some other red and pink varieties that are excellent tasting but weak and poor producers. I don't know at all what I'm doing , so it'll be purely experimental fun!

@MOinMichigan, go for it! Three years ago I didn't know anything about crossing either. It's a lot easier than it sounds. And the journey is a lot of fun!

Welcome to the Junction!