Karen,I just came across the list that I copied down when Neil called me on the phone with the NEW ones that Neil was going to list in the 2016 Yearbook and yes, Zena's Gift was one of them along with 14 more.

Neil usually lists about 400 varieties total for each annual Yearbook.

Carolyn

[QUOTE=Rajun Gardener;605364]Nice story about the tomato Karen, I'm glad you brought this thread back up or I would've never knew it existed.

I tried to find seeds but SSE has no results when I did a search for it. Do I have to be a member to search or buy seeds?[/QUOTE]

Yes,you have to be a member to request seeds from those who list them in the Yearbook, and you don't buy seeds ,you request them from those who are offering them and say what their request price is.

SSE is not a commercial vendor selling seeds, their mission is the preservationof varietes which can only happen if seeds are grown out and shared with others,or most importantly offer those varieties themselves the next year.

There is also a Public catalog that anyone can request and BUY from, it's sent to members each year, with ones that they have been chosen to show,with pictures and info, but there are over 400 pages in the Yearbook devoted exclusively to tomatoes, the largest section always in the Yearbook.

The link below will explain all,I hope

[url]https://www.google.com/search?q=seed+savers+exchange&hl=en&biw=1402&bih=788&site=imghp&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJxcexxIDRAhXG2SYKHTj6CoAQ_AUIBygA&dpr=1[/url]

If you have any questions not specified above maybe about the difference between a listed and non listed member,please just ask here in this thread and I'll try to answer and/or point you in the right direction.

Carolyn, who was a listed member since I think 1989, until last year but still a member as she noted above.

I conversed with Neil myself by pm last night. He immediately answered my inquiry above himself as the person who listed it. The point I made to him and I will make again, is that I would have expected some attribution, some "credit" as the seed source. In order for that to happen, he would have needed to have more information about where it came from. He had only that it came from "KarenO" my meaningless Tomatoville avatar name.
I sent the seed to you in 2014 to be included in your 2015 seed offer because I thought it was a nice thing to do, (I could easily have grown the seed out and offered it myself) and I thought it would be made available to more Tomatoville gardeners as well as others. I was excited that you showed interest in it.
Seed was grown in 2015, Neil experienced a failure of his crop, he tells me he had a few seeds left and grew it out again in 2016 with success this time.
I happily sent the seed to you in hopes that it would be shared so others could grow it. I do not object to it being listed by Neil on the SSE, in fact it pleases me that it is good enough in his opinion as an experienced professional tomato grower to do so.
However, this is MY discovery, One I have grown for 15 years and one which is unique. I really do require a simple and courteous aknowlegment as the source of the seed for this tomato. I have provided my information to him.

On a positive note, I have learned a good lesson and I hope that anyone who may grow Zena's Gift in the future will enjoy it for the great tomato that it is and smile about the story of the old man and his present to the pretty lady named Zena.

Darin, I think your tomato looks great and I would like to try it by whatever name you decide to call it.

"KarenO"

[QUOTE=KarenO;605380]I conversed with Neil myself by pm last night. He immediately answered my inquiry above himself as the person who listed it. The point I made to him and I will make again, is that I would have expected some attribution, some "credit" as the seed source. In order for that to happen, he would have needed to have more information about where it came from. He had only that it came from "KarenO" my meaningless Tomatoville avatar name.
I sent the seed to you in 2014 to be included in your 2015 seed offer because I thought it was a nice thing to do, (I could easily have grown the seed out and offered it myself) and I thought it would be made available to more Tomatoville gardeners as well as others. I was excited that you showed interest in it.
Seed was grown in 2015, Neil experienced a failure of his crop, he tells me he had a few seeds left and grew it out again in 2016 with success this time.
I happily sent the seed to you in hopes that it would be shared so others could grow it. I do not object to it being listed by Neil on the SSE, in fact it pleases me that it is good enough in his opinion as an experienced professional tomato grower to do so.
However, this is MY discovery, One I have grown for 15 years and one which is unique. I really do require a simple and courteous aknowlegment as the source of the seed for this tomato. I have provided my information to him.

On a positive note, I have learned a good lesson and I hope that anyone who may grow Zena's Gift in the future will enjoy it for the great tomato that it is and smile about the story of the old man and his present to the pretty lady named Zena.

Darin, I think your tomato looks great and I would like to try it by whatever name you decide to call it.

"KarenO"[/QUOTE]

Karen- thanks so much for clearing this up, and I'll tell you what- send me a PM with your address, and I'll send you a few seeds- on one condition- you send me a few of Zena's Gift! It looks like a glorious tomato!

Thanks!

Darin

Darin, that's a deal.
KarenO

[QUOTE=KarenO;605382]Darin, that's a deal.
KarenO[/QUOTE]

Karen I just got an e-mail copy with your latest remarks.

Do you ever apologize to anyone when something goes wrong,lost seeds,whatever, seeds not sent,whatever,I know I do, and so I apologize for Neil not citing you correctly,just as KarenO.

On the plus side Zena's Gift will have a much wider distribution via the Yearbook,which should please you. And it pleases me since Neil was the only one who opted to get it off my list of new ones.

And obviously I didn't offer it in any seed offer or send it to anyone else since Neil only ramped up seed production this past summer to be able to SSE list it.

And now that I look at the list again of what Neil told me on the phone that he had, I see Z Gift and 15 more that I thought he was going to send seeds back to me as well, since some are on that spread sheet for my seed producers that were grown out this past summer.

The BIG question for me is now two years late on getting the seed offer up, when will it go up, but both Shawn and I have had our problems, I still have seeds owed to a few others,and on and on it goes.

Carolyn, thinking of hiring a Brinks truck to get all the seeds needed up to Shawn in VT since it's too far for him to drive down to where I am.:)

[QUOTE=KarenO;605382]Darin, that's a deal.
KarenO[/QUOTE]

I just love happy endings to great stories...

I will grow my Zena's gift out for seed this year and post a thread showing its growth along the way. It is such a pretty tomato and unusual in its size, shape and DTM for a big tomato.
Anyone who is interested can get seed from me in the fall. I still have a couple of the original 15 year old seeds in addition to several fresher samples so it might be really fun to see if they will grow. 12 year old seeds germinated last time I grew it out for seed.
Happy gardening!
KarenO

[QUOTE=KarenO;605585]I will grow my Zena's gift out for seed this year and post a thread showing its growth along the way. It is such a pretty tomato and unusual in its size, shape and DTM for a big tomato.
Anyone who is interested can get seed from me in the fall. I still have a couple of the original 15 year old seeds in addition to several fresher samples so it might be really fun to see if they will grow. 12 year old seeds germinated last time I grew it out for seed.
Happy gardening!
KarenO[/QUOTE]

Zena's Gift is a beautiful tomato and you KarenO have saved it. When seeds become available, I definitely want to grow Zena's Gift in my garden. Thanks for growing out seed and offering them here at Tomatoville. KarenO, it's people like you that make Tomatoville so great.

Bob ;)

[QUOTE=carolyn137;413420]Very often a person will just name a variety for him or herself, a family member, winning a contest with it at a local fair, named after the church and on and on. That church one is called Jean's Prize, and I've offered seeds for it in my seed offers here and was so named b'c Jean won so many prizes with it at the church harvest fair.


Carolyn[/QUOTE]

Back into starting tomatoes again after a few years off. Life gets busy in the summer with 3 boys. Anyway, I looked and looked for Jean's Prize for sale anywhere and couldn't find it. I had 6 seeds left after giving most away and they were years old, I would say at least 5 years old. I started all 6 and only one came up. Now I have to baby this one surviving plant to be able to save seeds from it this summer.

Thank you again Carolyn

Oh wow! What a beautiful story! KarenO, thank you for saving this beautiful tomato. It would have been lost forever had it not been for you. I think the name you picked is lovely too. Perfect. I think the old man would have liked it too. Northerners and southerners alike would like an early tomato. Thanks again for saving this tomato's genetics. It is so very pretty.

[QUOTE=DoubleJ;627413]Back into starting tomatoes again after a few years off. Life gets busy in the summer with 3 boys. Anyway, I looked and looked for Jean's Prize for sale anywhere and couldn't find it. I had 6 seeds left after giving most away and they were years old, I would say at least 5 years old. I started all 6 and only one came up. Now I have to baby this one surviving plant to be able to save seeds from it this summer.

Thank you again Carolyn[/QUOTE]

Here's a suggestion.

If your one plant grows OK, why don't you cosider taking some cuttings from it and sticking those in the same soil or artificial mix you used to sow your seeds.NOT not in water.

Take cuttings from where two branches go off kinda together, and in the middle of those two,kind of in the arm pit, you'll see a new small branch growing and those are the ones you want.

Let me know if it works out and if not and you don't get seeds I'm pretty sure I may still have some, probably quite old,but not that old that they couldn't be awakened.

Here's some help on how to take cuttings,with pictures

[url]https://www.google.com/search?q=taking+tomato+cuttings&hl=en&site=imghp&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwigip-Pi_XSAhUX24MKHSgUBu4Q_AUIBygA&biw=1402&bih=788&dpr=1[/url]

[url]https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1402&bih=788&q=taking+tomato+cuttings&oq=taking+tomato+cuttings&gs_l=img.3..0i24k1.1500.24438.0.29553.22.12.0.10.10.0.144.1361.1j11.12.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..0.14.1360...0j0i10k1j0i10i24k1.0YrNaKJ_-ts[/url]



Carolyn

Saving seeds soon. Some big beauties from my original 15 year old seed.
KarenO

those are lovely. Great story and I would love to grow those to see how they would do here. I am always trying something new and my poor dear husband is so tolerant... he just wants round red tomatoes to sell because of course... they sell.

Thank you for the beautiful story that links the past to us by your growing out seeds and sharing with everyone, not just the few. The tomatoes are beautiful, as is your heart for sharing their seeds.