Larry, I picked up a Yearbook at random off the floor next to me and it was the 2007 one but I assume Bill had listed it earlier than that and it is listed in the 2008 at which point no one had relisted it and it isn't in the 2009 but that doesn't surprise me b'c Bill had real mobility problems and got a hip replacement this past Spring, but his medical problems the year before may be the reson why he cut back or the seeds may have reached his 5 year limit and he decided not to grow new stock.

Here's his description, which is a bit different from what you said above :

HAS 75 days, indet, regular leaf, 1.5 oz ( that's ounce not inch) ball shaped red cherry fruit, very good sweet flavor, from ( I'll just say you here instead of your full name and cites where you live in PA) via Linda Baronowski, Toledo. Ohio, via old man named Ray Tefft who got it many years ago from an old German guy.

So Bill was listing a cherry tomato which is quite different from what you said it was most recently, that is a 2 " diameter whereas Bill said 1.5 oz.

Did you contact Bill and talk about the discrepancy when you first saw him list it.

How come you didn't list it if you are/were an SSE member since you referred to SSE Yearbooks b/c I would think that would be the normal thing to do. ( smile)

Is there any chance what you sent him was crossed seed or do you know that your seed was pure and it was his saved seeds that were crossed?

Now someone might pop up here who has seeds, but if they don't I see two ways to go here, well now three with the link below.

One is to contact Linda Baronowski and ask for more seeds. The other way is to contact Bill and see if he has any of the original seeds you sent.

But since no one seems to have relisted it in the YEarbook and I haven't seen anyone mention it at the several places where I post, well I just got excited when I did a Google Search and found a reference to it from this past summer but it was YOU who was reporting on it here at GW. LOL

Check the source below. The name is mentioned but not for seeds. You have to go to the link in blue and post what variety you're looking for.

And I also checked Tania's data base and she doesn't list it either.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

I know what it's like to lose a variety, I really do. Sigh.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Possible source

Thank's Carolyn for your suggestions. No, I have never listed on SSE because I always worried that I would have to save an awful lot of seed to be sure to supply. And it alweays seemed that my forum and trade relationships took about all the seed I could ever get together.

I've been a member of SSE for most years since about 1993.
Sometimes I would neglect to send in my dues then get back on the ball the following year. What with the orchard I used to do plus the several big gardens, and the often heavy travel schedule from my job at Bayer there were a lot of loose ends in my life until retirement in 1997.

Now I'm trying to pick up some of the loose ends, back down out of several other hobbies, and just kind or cruise her out.

No, I did not contact Bill, meant to, but never got down to doing it. My guess is that I might have messed up the seeds as well as Bill because I was sending out a lot of them in those days. So far as the cross goes I have noticed it in 4 tries over the past 4 years. Last year I
discarded 1 packet of seed and selected an older one to grow out. Still crossed.

Larry, I did a search for Ray Tefft in the Toledo area. The information I discovered was that a Mr. Raymond A. Tefft died at the age of 60, Liberty Center, February 23, 2009 of cancer. His funeral must have taken place at the Memorial United Methodst Church Of Christ in East Toledo, Ohio.
I don't know if this was the grower you corresponded with or a famly member. I hope this information is helpful.
Gary

Thanks to all for help and suggestions. My Garden Web post led to direct e-mail contacts with old ITGer forum members as well as folks in UK and Australia.

At this point, 4 seeds which I sent more than 10 years ago to St Louis and then were traded to Australia are in the mail coming back to Beaver Falls, PA!!!!!

I'm going to need some luck and there will be special care.
And then we will pray for a spark of life next spring--at least 1 spark!

Larry

Crossimg my fingers for you!

Hello. I am the Linda Baranowski-Smith referred to in the above posts from 12 years ago. I knew Ray Tefft and we shared tomato seed. Ray and his wife lived in Northwood, OH. They are both deceased.

I shared the seed with LarryW in PA, who, unfortunately, also has passed away. The only reason I know of his death is from a recent phone call from a gent in Ontario who had seed (and my phone number) from Larry. He wanted seed from the originator; I had no more to share. I shared Tefft tomato seed with many others as well but did not keep track.

I grew the tomato from seed over many years in the last century. They were pretty consistent each year. The fruit was a beautiful sandwich-sized pink beefsteak type with few seeds and really great flavor. About 20 years ago, several years after sending seed to Larry, we had serious blight issues in the area. I had more Tefft seed and gave them a diluted bleach treatment before sowing in the event the blight was carried by the seed. Didn't matter. The plants were a mess. Perhaps the blight remained in the soil. Local tomato farmers were having similar issues. We stopped growing tomatoes and related species. All seed saved from the Tefft and other tomato seed I'd been saving each year for up to 40 years were discarded. It was a sad event.

Linda Baranowski-Smith