OMG Jay LOL. Now I know how you got your title :-)

Yeh, Jay just plants a little garden with a few tomatoes. (grin)

Dawn you know me. I don't have one top ten list. I have a top ten list for earlies, mid season, late, reds, yellows, blacks, pinks,paste, canners, slicers, beefsteak and ect. With 15-20 top ten lists I can cover most. LOL.

MJ and just what title is that? "Indecisive"? LOL.

Carol you and Dawn know me too well. You are right. A few tomatoes here, a few there. Jay

Jay, You're the Tomato King, and you know that it is true!

I told someone I'd bump this thread up because they wanted to see your list, so blame me if you are suddenly inundated with tomato seed requests.

I also thought a lot of the 'top ten' lists on the responses in the original thread might be interesting to some of our newer forum members who are wondering about which tomato varieties to try.

The other day, someone on the Tomato Forum here at GW posted about the "agonizing" process of choosing which tomatoes to grow. Clearly, you and I never feel that same agony of having to choose only a few varieties to plant because we just go ahead and try to plant them all.

I'm glad your horses can't read this thread (um, you don't let them read the forum pages, do you?) or they might be wondering 'what about us?'

MJ, We all knew Jay had a "tomato addiction problem" before he posted his list, but once he posted the list, Carol dubbed him the Tomato King and I seconded the motion. LOL Then, Bella described us as a Tomato Cult, which I have to admit is pretty true. Carol belongs to the cult but is more space-challenged which prevents her from planting as many tomatoes as she'd like.

Carol, The thing about Jay's place that surprises me is that he still has room for the horses. I think the horses keep Jay's garden under control by eating any plants that he places too close to the pasture fence. Reining in the Tomato King is a tough job but someone has to do it. I guess that job falls to the horses because they have to prevent him from taking over their pasture.

Dawn

No problem. I've already filled a few of them and will try to finish filling them this weekend. But as I go through the seeds each time I see another I think I should grow this season. Then have to look at my already over the limit list and see what I can eliminate to make room. I attached Tatiana's list to another thread. For those looking for information on varieties from sources other than sellers I thought it might be of interest. And on some varieties there are reviews from several different areas of the country. Did find Darrel Merrill's 1884 Pink Oxheart last night. So had to order it. Guess I just have to see if there is one oxheart that will do well here. When you see my list for this year there will be several surprises I'm sure. Jay

Jay I would never call you indecisive :-) that would be like the pot calling the kettle black LOL. I'm just amazed even you, The Tomato King, has that many varieties lying around and you fill orders like you're your own business. I needed a smile last night and reading that post gave me one. I second Scott's original response (at least I'm pretty sure it was Scott's)----Wow.

Mandy

I meant to add this to the above post and forgot too. I hope anyone that is a regular poster here regardless whether they live in OK or not will ask for seeds. I would like to keep it to regular posters or lurkers. I've had trouble with offers on other sites when I made offers with surfers just looking for free seeds. You have never seen them post before or afterwards. And have even seen some of my seeds end up for trades later at other sites. I have a surplus of seeds and would like to see them go to someone who will grow them. So feel free to ask if you see something of interest. Jay

Holy smokes, Jay! I thought I was bad. Before the Great Seed Drama, I had about 150 varieties of tomatoes (and just under 100 chiles). I knew there were worse people out there but I had no idea HOW worse. You are baaaaad!

Diane, feeling much better about herself now...

Jay,

There is no limit to what you can plant there on your property. Just steal a little land from the horse pasture, but don't you dare tell the horses I suggested that!

I'll probably start more varieties than I have room for, but then that will postpone some of the tougher decisions until planting time. And, I can always plant a lot in containers like I did last year. If this spring's weather is a repeat of 2007's which is what the winter reminds me of so far, then I'll have to plant mostly in containers because the garden will be a lake.

You know, a day or two ago I was looking at something on Tatiana's website and I did pause a second and ask myself if you or I had ever linked it here, and I couldn't remember if we had. So, I'm glad you linked it. I do like the descriptions she includes from real people who've actually grown those specific varieties.

I can't wait to see what your 'surprises' are.

I pulled my trade list off "My Page" long ago for the same reason....numerous seed requests from people all over the country that I'd never seen on any Garden Web forum before or since, although I also did trade seeds with some nice people who were GW members and who are still around. I like trading with folks from our region that I know via this forum or other forums, but have no intention of being a free seed supplier for just anyone who knows how to google and is just looking for free seeds without participating in the forums at GW.

If you ever find an oxheart that produces more than 3 fruit per plant in any given year, I want to hear about it. I gave up on oxheart types long ago after getting from 0 to 3 fruit per plant. Varieties have to produce well to earn space in my garden.

Mandy, I always thought Diane and I each kind of went overboard because we each have 100-200 varieties of tomato seed sitting around at any given time. Then Jay posted his list and I decided Diane and I are mere amateurs. I gave away a large portion of my seeds next year and all that accomplished was that it left room in the seed storage box for me to start accumulating other varieties that are new to me this year.

Diane, Well, at least you have begun the recovery from the Great Seed Drama so I'm sure you'll rebuild your seed inventory in a few short years. Um, did you mention peppers? The Tomato King grows a couple of varieties of those too, although it is hard to imagine where he finds the space.

Dawn

I knew he knew a ton and had a ton...but I really underestimated his "kingness" LOL. I think I have a pretty good picture now :-)

Dawn,
The reason I posted what I did is because one of the posters here who lives out of state although real close to OK asked about seeds for a variety and said if it was for OK posters only they understood. I just wanted to clarify that. 99% of all people have good intentions. But there is always that one that will push the envelope and take all the rope they can. I haven't seen it here yet. Last year at another site I had one ask for 20 varieties which I sent although they weren't a regular poster and then asked for 40 more after the first batch arrived. By that time it was planting time. And other than filling a request for a few varieties I shut down when I get in the garden and also have plants to pot up ect. If someone has a germination problem, loses several for what ever reason I will try to help out. I had another request in the fall for around 50 varieties from a person and then another 20 for his brother. So after the question I received yesterday I decided to clarify my conditions. Jay

MJ I think it is more of an addiction than "kingness". LOL. That is why I've been hesitant to update the list. As I know it has grown and not shrunk like i had intended. I can't resist the thought of not growing that perfect one.

Diane I grow around 30 pepper plants. Mostly jalapeno's, NM chili types, bells and a few other sweet types. I grew a Hungarian Volcano I really like last year. Really haven't counted but probably have 30-40 varieties. So not near as overboard as my tomato addiction. I'm going to try to hold my in ground numbers to about the same and increase my container number this year. Hopefully can keep numbers to around 80-90 plants. And that maybe hard to cut down too.

Dawn I wasn't sure if you had ever linked to it but was sure I hadn't. I use it myself a lot and will be more as I try to whittle down my list. And thought for those that don't grow as many it might be of interest and use. You are more liable to see a neutral comment there than you are at a sellers site. I do know Mule posts reviews there as he asked me about listing the garlic I sent him there. Jay

Jay, It became a 'Kingness' when you posted that list. Until then, we only thought you had an addiction or an obsession. Now that you have been annointed King, there is nothing you can do but grin and bear it. You'd just better hope I don't show up at the Spring Fling with a Tomato Crown fit for a king.

With the folks from Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri who post regularly on our forum, I just think of them as part of 'us' and anytime they want some kind of seed that I have, I'm happy to send them some, and they send me seed too. I tend to ignore seed requests from people who do not post on this forum because they're usually just looking for free seeds. Sometimes I will offer seed to someone who asks me questions about a specific variety but that's not the same thing as having strangers trolling the web for free seeds and I ignore those e-mails if I don't recognize the folks from this forum or the Tomato forum.

I'm going to try to save OP seeds this year so I can share them , but I know that in order to do that, I need to do it early in the season before canning, freezing and dehydrating consume my days. I know from experience that once I'm spending 12 to 16 hours a day harvesting and putting up food, saving seeds will be the last thing on my mind.

Diane, See....the Tomato King is turning into a Pepper King too. Those horses are really getting nervous. They are wondering if he's gonna put those containers in 'their' pasture.

Jay, When I go to Tatiana's Tomatobase and start reading the lists/descriptions of varieties and seeds, I totally immerse myself in it and can wander around there for hours, planting dream gardens in my mind. I, too, take everything a seller says with a grain of salt and prefer real reviews from real gardeners.

I'm looking forward to trying Mule's tomato crosses (Dora and Gary O Sena) that you sent me. I'm thinking of growing them all together in one bed along with Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, and Indian Stripe...and JD's Special C-Tex, just so I can closely compare their growth and performance side-by-side. Of course, I'll have to do many, many taste tests to choose my favorites....like THAT will break my heart.

Tomorrow is THE DAY....the big day I've been looking forward to for such a long time......no, not because it's the Super Bowl. It's SEED-STARTING DAY! Well, you know that I'll watch the football game, but long before gametime, I'll have my 2010 tomato seeds tucked into the seedstarting mix, sitting on the seedling heat mat with those bright lights shining down from the shelf above.

Seed-Starting Day is one of my favorite days of the year. On the day you start your seeds, the new gardening year stretches ahead of you in all its perfection -- nothing has gone wrong yet and there haven't yet been any disappointments. From seed-starting day forward, the gardening year is a tiny bit less perfect day by day as things begin to go wrong....seeds don't sprout or the weather acts up or whatever. But, for that one perfect day, everything is brand new and full of hope and you are sure that "this year, things will be different....and everything will be perfect". OK, I know that kind of gardening perfection doesn't really exist, but on Seed-Starting Day you can make yourself believe it does.

Dawn

Dawn, Thanks for the link! I'll check it out. Watch out, Jay! LOL! I actually got some I was wanting to try in a Round Robin today, so that was a nice surprise!

I wasn't going to start seeds til Valentine's Day...maybe I should squeeze in a few early? My 10 year old has already started some of his. I had to threaten him to stay out of the tomatoes!! He'd get them all mixed up, and I only have about 5 or 6 of some!

I'm starting raised beds this year, and I think that will help my tomatoes a lot. I didn't have a good year with them last year. I think because it was so wet. They grew great, just didn't produce. I think the raised beds will allow them to drain more, because we have such heavy clay here.

Now...off to peruse The List!

:D

Shelly

Oh, wonderful day! I'm not sure if I'll get to do any starting tomorrow as there are several other things that need one. If not, it will be this week for sure! We ran up to Fort Smith today and bought a new bag os peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite. The greenhouse is (mostly) cleared out of winter's piles. Cells & trays are standing at the ready. Ahhh...

Chiles. I love them as much as tomatoes. Maybe. It's pretty close. I don't think I want to get as crazy with the 100-150 varieties of toms and chiles like before. That was just too many to track. I really am enjoying the relative simplicity of fewer (but good!) varieties that I have now. Of course, my simplicity includes the now slight;y enlarged numbers from the Great Seed Avalanche of 2009. :-D I'll be starting a bazillion and bringing the excess to the swap as Phase One of my pay it back & forward plan. Make sure you folks leave lots of room to take some home!

And, horror of horrors! I just opened the last jar of pickles chiles from last year's garden. *sob* I'm canning WAY more chiles this year. We eat more & more of them each year as the kids are acquiring the addiction.

Diane

wow, I was thinking that with all the bad weather this was way too early to start seeds...I may need to get on the ball here.

I hope anyway. Had one variety that was on my list. I received it during the fall and knew I had filed it in one of the 8 different containers I had tomato seeds in. Went through all of the varieties 3 times. Like finding a needle in a haystack. It had stuck to the back of another seed packet and I was missing it. So now I can start the process of paring down the list. Then will start some winter sowing in my hot frame in a dry mix. Jay