Post by macmex on Nov 24, 2021 19:50:20 GMT -6
This originally appeared as a blog in Homesteading Edu.
In the last decades the term “heirloom” has become very popular in gardening circles. I’ve even seen seed catalogs which claim only to sell “heirloom vegetable seeds.” “Heirloom,” in many quarters, has become a rather ambiguous term, which many assume to be nearly synonymous with super good eating quality. I would submit to you that not all heirlooms are super good. Some are downright terrible, at least when grown in my conditions. Frankly, I would like to see the term used a lot less, and “open pollinated,” or “standard” used in its place. Still, there is a good and important facet of gardening which is truly captured by the term “heirloom gardening.” I’d like to take several posts to deal with this facet of gardening, as it is quite important to me. I’ll use some real life examples of heirlooms to flesh things out.
Tomato Rocky is the one and only heirloom I’ve received from my own immediate family.
The term “heirloom” implies that one has received the variety from someone close or significant to you.
My father (also named George McLaughlin) received seed for Tomato Rocky from a very close family friend named Rocky Mastro. Rocky, Marge and their family were early members of the same church where my entire family came to know the Lord. This was during a time that my father was experiencing some real health challenges, and the Mastros essentially adopted us. To this day, in the McLaughlin clan, we love to tell stories about special times we have had with our friends the Mastros.
My father grew this tomato all during my teen years.
McLaughlins have been growing this tomato since 1973.
It was a very flavorful tomato, in fact, perhaps the strongest “tomatoey flavored” tomato I have tasted. It also has very few seeds, which my grandmother (mother’s mother) loved. Grandma Abbot lived with my parents in her later years. My dad felt that “Italian tomato” was too general for a good name. He dubbed it “Tomato Rocky,” in honor of Rocky Mastro.
Sometime during my college years, my father stopped growing Tomato Rocky. The variety is susceptible to late blight, and we had it in our garden. It became difficult to get a crop. I went to college, met my wife and married, and headed off to seminary. The first year I was in seminary I started hearing about seed saving. I read about it in Gardens For All a national gardening magazine, which I greatly enjoyed. Through Gardens for All I heard of the The Seed Savers Exchange. I joined the Seed Savers Exchange in 1984, and Tomato Rocky was one of the first seeds I offered, thus spreading the seed all over the place.
Here’s a link where you can watch a video about the history of Tomato Rocky. Click on the first image and it will play.
Seed Savers Exchange: Legacy Donors/Tomato Rocky
It was through members of the Seed Savers Exchange, really, that Tomato Rocky was preserved until my family and I returned from nearly 14 years of missionary service in Mexico, where, for the life of me, I could hardly get a tomato to produce. We picked up growing it again, when we returned to the USA.
In 2003 Rocky Mastro passed away, after months of difficult complications from a stroke. I was honored to officiate at his memorial service. Marge Mastro had one special request of me in 2004, that I plant a patch of Tomato Rocky on the grounds of the Lincroft Bible Church, which was where we first met, and where Rocky was a member till his dying day.
So what’s a real heirloom variety? A real heirloom vegetable or fruit variety has a history, a history which means something to someone. The relationship behind it is important. The memories attached are important. These things give one a sense of place and time when growing such varieties.
Tomato Rocky doesn’t like Oklahoma’s blazing hot summers. It has produced marginally for me here. It does much better in the upper Midwest. But over the years I have learned some tricks to help it along. I still have hopes of a bumper crop… next year. I will always grow it because of the relationships and history which come piggybacked with this variety.
So, what if you were to receive seed to an heirloom like this. Those memories probably won’t be your memories. That history won’t be your family history. Still, you can appreciate those facets of the variety’s background and… you can remember from whom you received it and how, etc.
Consider gardening for more than just food. Garden to be better in touch with culture, history, family and friends.
Thread: Tomato Rocky: Lessons Learned on Preservation vs. Practicality
In the last decades the term “heirloom” has become very popular in gardening circles. I’ve even seen seed catalogs which claim only to sell “heirloom vegetable seeds.” “Heirloom,” in many quarters, has become a rather ambiguous term, which many assume to be nearly synonymous with super good eating quality. I would submit to you that not all heirlooms are super good. Some are downright terrible, at least when grown in my conditions. Frankly, I would like to see the term used a lot less, and “open pollinated,” or “standard” used in its place. Still, there is a good and important facet of gardening which is truly captured by the term “heirloom gardening.” I’d like to take several posts to deal with this facet of gardening, as it is quite important to me. I’ll use some real life examples of heirlooms to flesh things out.
Tomato Rocky is the one and only heirloom I’ve received from my own immediate family.
The term “heirloom” implies that one has received the variety from someone close or significant to you.
My father (also named George McLaughlin) received seed for Tomato Rocky from a very close family friend named Rocky Mastro. Rocky, Marge and their family were early members of the same church where my entire family came to know the Lord. This was during a time that my father was experiencing some real health challenges, and the Mastros essentially adopted us. To this day, in the McLaughlin clan, we love to tell stories about special times we have had with our friends the Mastros.
My father grew this tomato all during my teen years.
McLaughlins have been growing this tomato since 1973.
It was a very flavorful tomato, in fact, perhaps the strongest “tomatoey flavored” tomato I have tasted. It also has very few seeds, which my grandmother (mother’s mother) loved. Grandma Abbot lived with my parents in her later years. My dad felt that “Italian tomato” was too general for a good name. He dubbed it “Tomato Rocky,” in honor of Rocky Mastro.
Sometime during my college years, my father stopped growing Tomato Rocky. The variety is susceptible to late blight, and we had it in our garden. It became difficult to get a crop. I went to college, met my wife and married, and headed off to seminary. The first year I was in seminary I started hearing about seed saving. I read about it in Gardens For All a national gardening magazine, which I greatly enjoyed. Through Gardens for All I heard of the The Seed Savers Exchange. I joined the Seed Savers Exchange in 1984, and Tomato Rocky was one of the first seeds I offered, thus spreading the seed all over the place.
Here’s a link where you can watch a video about the history of Tomato Rocky. Click on the first image and it will play.
Seed Savers Exchange: Legacy Donors/Tomato Rocky
It was through members of the Seed Savers Exchange, really, that Tomato Rocky was preserved until my family and I returned from nearly 14 years of missionary service in Mexico, where, for the life of me, I could hardly get a tomato to produce. We picked up growing it again, when we returned to the USA.
In 2003 Rocky Mastro passed away, after months of difficult complications from a stroke. I was honored to officiate at his memorial service. Marge Mastro had one special request of me in 2004, that I plant a patch of Tomato Rocky on the grounds of the Lincroft Bible Church, which was where we first met, and where Rocky was a member till his dying day.
So what’s a real heirloom variety? A real heirloom vegetable or fruit variety has a history, a history which means something to someone. The relationship behind it is important. The memories attached are important. These things give one a sense of place and time when growing such varieties.
Tomato Rocky doesn’t like Oklahoma’s blazing hot summers. It has produced marginally for me here. It does much better in the upper Midwest. But over the years I have learned some tricks to help it along. I still have hopes of a bumper crop… next year. I will always grow it because of the relationships and history which come piggybacked with this variety.
So, what if you were to receive seed to an heirloom like this. Those memories probably won’t be your memories. That history won’t be your family history. Still, you can appreciate those facets of the variety’s background and… you can remember from whom you received it and how, etc.
Consider gardening for more than just food. Garden to be better in touch with culture, history, family and friends.
Thread: Tomato Rocky: Lessons Learned on Preservation vs. Practicality
