Met Tom Wagner and other ramblings

[pugs]

Hi All,

I met Tom Wagner yesterday, Saturday, the 14th. All I can say is "wow." I was just going to pickup some seed potatoes from him and we ended up talking for over three hours. He showed me pictures of things he's working on. Pages of potato seed stock he is going to grow this year. Pedigrees of tomatoes and potatoes and explaining why he's doing what he's doing.

I'm going to try and post later with more of the things said, as I remember them. If you ever have the chance to meet him, don't pass it up. I'm meeting up with him again next month, so I'm sure I'll have more to say after that too.

Other ramblings, finally got my tomatoes planted today. I'll post a list later. They were to be planted on Friday the 13th, but I misplaced one of my seed tubs and spent hours looking for it. Turned out I moved it four times while I was looking for it.

Then I was having trouble locating the seeds, in the various tubs, I was planning on starting, so I stopped and alphabetized them, checking them against my inventory list. Found things on the list I no longer have and ones I have, not on the list. Ugh. Well, I have some order in a small part of my life now, I should celebrate the victory of that.

I ended up planting double what I had hoped to keep it to. Tomorrow I'll start on the peppers (yeah, I know that is backwards, but I'm doing the best I can which is better than not doing it at all), potato seed, asparagus, wolfberry, onion, lettuce, cabbage, and such planted.

How was your weekend?

Pugs

[bunkie]

hey pugs, better late than never, right???! at least that's what i'm doing this year too.

it's been snowing here all weekend with strong winds, but in the 30's. hubby's healing after a hernia operation Friday. i'm readying to start peppers and toms myself.

can't wait to read more about your visit with Tom Wagner. i will be growing out some of his potatoes this year.

[clarkfoodfarm]

Pugs,

Sorry you couldn't stick around for the meeting with Tom at NW Organic Farms on Saturday night. If you were impressed by your conversation with Tom at the hotel, you would have been blown away at the meeting. We went on for about 3.5 hours and could've easily gone for another 4. Hope we have an opportunity to meet in person next time around.

-Glenn

[pugs]

Glenn,

That would have been great to hang around and hear him speak with all of you. When we first made the plans we were going to meet around noon, by the time he knew the time was evening, it was too late for me to change my plans. Tom asked me if I could wait till April to get my seed potatoes. I agreed, so he had more to offer your group.

Now, I'm trying to remember the things he said.

Here's what I remember about crossing. Tom uses a cobalt blue shot glass to collect his pollen in. It is easier to see the pollen against the blue glass (and the picture sure showed that). He doesn't start emasculating the flowers until he knows there is pollen to use. He suggested practicing the emasculation on open flowers before going on to the one you really want to make the cross with. On his label he marks how many flowers were crossed on the (what is it called?) flower set.

With his coding on the cross labels, he can remember the pedigree back 6 or more generations, when crosses were made, etc. His memory is amazing!

He mentioned in passing that he thinks the reason Green Grape ( the original name was 'Thompson Seedless Grape Tomato') has strayed from the original is the selection process. The seeds were very small, so it was easier to save the larger seeds. Some came up determinate, which set more seed earlier, so that was used. The first seeds up were the plants used (probably the ones from larger seeds). So the tomato was selected away from what was released. Elberta Girl isn't what it was at first either, but he didn't say what had changed with it and the conversation moved so fast I forgot to ask.

Brandy Stripe is another example. The traits for it are heterozygous and it was easier to select the homozygous recessive trait as it is easier to spot; thus you have Vintage Wine, a selection out of Brandy Stripe.

That's all for now.

Pugs

[grungy]

I envy you, Pug. Veing able to set at the feet, so to speak, of such an authority of tomatoes and potatoes. It must have been quite a time.

[Alan]

Thanks for sharing pugs and glenn. Possibly in the next year I may try to make a trip out to the west coast, specifically Oregon and Washington to meet a number of folks who we have contact with here and away from this message board. Would love to speak with Tom in person.

Did anyone suggest that the remedy for "green grape" might be "Verde Claro"

Tom if your out there, any time frame for the release of Verde Claro?

[pugs]

Bunkie,

Didn't mean to ignore you there, just forgot to respond, me bad! Yes, better late than never. I hope that weather gets better soon in your neck of the woods. The problem here is the rain, it just doesn't stop much until June and we have cool springs and summers. I hope the hubby heals quickly, but he has a good excuse to not help. Have fun with Tom's potatoes. He does have some beauties.

Getting back to Tom. I'm not a writer and as I read what I've written in past days, I just don't think I'm doing justice to the meeting or to Tom. Maybe if anyone has some specific questions about the meeting, I could answer them.

One thing I do remember, is he wonders why seed companies don't ask him for original seed of his varieties. What they do now is get some seed that has been grown out for years maybe has crossed or not been selected for the right traits, past around and may not be the original thing. They then grow that out and sell the seeds. They would have a chance of getting seeds which are the 'real' thing from him. I hope Tom doesn't mind me saying that.

Getting potatoes grown out in a lab and virus free is expense too. I'd like to find out how expense it is. I'm trying to think of ways to help Tom out in that cost. Tom is also trying to figure out ways of storing potatoes which might help in reducing the viruses in them. This would be a big help to home gardeners, otherwise we must always be buying virus free potato seed stock and are then at the mercy of the seed companies and what they want to sell. This is another reason Tom is working with TPS.

Well, I think I'll stop trying to distill the meeting into words. Meet him if you get the chance. It is worth it.

Pugs