I know some members from The Hot Pepper Forum has ordered The Native Chile
from J & L. Only said good things. I also wanted to order the 'native chile', but
for 1 pack of seeds I don't usually make an order.

That is a nice chile. I got the seed from a fellow vendor at the Santa Fe farmer's market whose family has grown it forever. The big operations down at Hatch, New Mexico, pretty much drove the chile farmers here out of business and this variety was nearly lost. Not that Hatch chile isn't good, but I'm glad folks are starting to grow some of the old strains again.
Also, RobinB, thank you for posting those photos. It looks like you had a wonderful crop.
The Ambrosia Gold was trialled by a number of people last year with mixed results - some great, and some off-type. I guess what we found out was that it wasn't quite stable. So I am going back and reselecting the line and we'll see what happens. In fact, I started the seeds yesterday afternoon. Anyway, thank you for the replies.

I have to say I first "met" Lee on ebay when I was asking him for tomato recommendations for our school garden. I have ordered several different seeds from him and the service was outstanding (very quick shipping and good packaging) and he always answered all my questions promptly. We are actually germinating the Native chile indoors in our classroom now, and although it is slow (took more than 7 days) it is coming. My experience with peppers, especially big ones, is that they can be slow. Also could be my environment. But there is a good germination rate - at least 85%.

Lee was actuallly the person who told me about T'ville. I am also thankful for that. This is the first year I am growing out any of the seeds I got from him, and I am sure it will be positive. I am especially excited to try the "bedouin" tomato.

If you are thinking of ordering the native chile, I highly recommend it. It's worth trying just one packet.

Overall, I recommend J & L - they are really nice folks to deal with.

Lots of cool varieties and great service. There's some unique stuff in the exclusive varieties. I'll be posting pictures of a lot of them next year!

jennifer -
Nice to see you found T'ville - there are a lot of good people here. I think it's great you are doing a school garden. A lot of kids don't have a chance to grow a garden like we did.
And you are right - peppers can test your patience! Hot peppers, in particular, are notorious for taking their time to germinate. Good luck with everything. Let us know how it goes if you get a chance.

Hello everyone -
We have added a number of our new varieties to the catalog at [url]http://www.jandlgardens.com[/url].
Jan and I are just about done collecting and processing seed for the year and my wife has just about had it with all the containers of fermenting tomatoes, so that is a good thing!
Anyway, several of the standouts from our breeding program this year are the Starfire Isis, Sugar Drop, Strawberry Tiger, and Bosque Bumblebee varieties. This is the first season they have been available. We've also continued development of our wild lines and are offering some new and stable variations. And there is new seed from other rare varieties that did well at the market this year, as well as some container varieties.
For folks at T'Ville, we're happy to provide samples because we want to know how they do in all sorts of conditions. Some are in Heather's exchange, if you are involved with that. Anyway, take a look and let me know what you think.
Lee

I saw a few very interesting things there! Nice catalogue.

Yes I might be interested in samples for my prototype trial depending if you think any might be suitable for it. I sent you a PM .

This past year I tried Bosc Blue and Ambrosia. Both were very healthy and prolific. I am not much on small tomatoes but everyone really enjoyed the flavor of Ambrosia and the beauty of the Bosc Blue. We got a whole bunch of seeds from J&L and germination was 100%. Thanks.

Paul -
Thanks for the thumbs up! I'm glad what I sent worked for you. We had a good year here as well, despite a late freeze and a hot June. A lot of other farmers lost their early fruit set, but we were lucky.
Lee