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Fred Hempel · July 14, 2013

I am noticing a bit of discussion of some of our un-released varieties, which is nice. But, I want to remind people who got Sunrise Bumble Bee, Green Tiger or any other un-released variety last year that they were sent out with the understanding that they are for "personal use" only.

Many of you got new varieties via our Kickstarter project last year, and some of you got them from us directly, because we want to have people trial them in various parts of the country, and under different growing systems. In either case, please remember that you agreed to not to distribute these varieties to others.

If you have varieties that are not released (Sunrise Bumble Bee, Green Tiger, Green Day or any others we have not released) please do not:

1. Give them to a seed company to trial before the end of 2013.

2. Distribute seeds in trades, or for free, at Tomatoville and similar places, before the end of 2014.

Johnny's Seeds is going to be the exclusive distributor of Sunrise Bumble Bee (see avatar) and Lucky Tiger (also previously know as "Green Day") starting late in 2013 will likely be supporting a PVP for both varieties.

Anyone growing these varieties will be able to continue saving seed of them, and growing them without restrictions. Farmers may save and use seed for their own farms as well. The PVP, however, will limit distribution by other seed companies.

Please respect the fact that it took us tens of thousands of dollars to carry out breeding year-round (in expensive, rented greenhouses in winter). These varieties represent some of the very best lines we have produced. Please respect our rights as breeders to recoup some of the money we spent through royalties from Johnny's Selected Seeds.

For those of you who are disappointed that you have missed out on the pre-release growing of some of our new tomato varieties, please consider participating in our new Kickstarter project (8 days left) in which we are freely distributing seeds for some exceptional new squash varieties. In this squash project, all Kickstarter participants will have absolutely no restrictions with regard to what they do with the seeds (and varieties) once they get them.

More details on our Squash Kickstarter project are here.

It is my opinion that these new squash compete with other squash, in the same way that Blush, Pink Bumble Bee, Lucky Tiger and Sunrise Bumble Bee compete with other cherry tomatoes. In other words -- they do pretty well.

July 14, 2013	#184
Fred Hempel Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Sunol, CA Posts: 2,723	I am noticing a bit of discussion of some of our un-released varieties, which is nice. But, I want to remind people who got Sunrise Bumble Bee, Green Tiger or any other un-released variety last year that they were sent out with the understanding that they are for "personal use" only. Many of you got new varieties via our Kickstarter project last year, and some of you got them from us directly, because we want to have people trial them in various parts of the country, and under different growing systems. In either case, please remember that you agreed to not to distribute these varieties to others. If you have varieties that are not released (Sunrise Bumble Bee, Green Tiger, Green Day or any others we have not released) please do not: 1. Give them to a seed company to trial before the end of 2013. 2. Distribute seeds in trades, or for free, at Tomatoville and similar places, before the end of 2014. Johnny's Seeds is going to be the exclusive distributor of Sunrise Bumble Bee (see avatar) and Lucky Tiger (also previously know as "Green Day") starting late in 2013 will likely be supporting a PVP for both varieties. Anyone growing these varieties will be able to continue saving seed of them, and growing them without restrictions. Farmers may save and use seed for their own farms as well. The PVP, however, will limit distribution by other seed companies. Please respect the fact that it took us tens of thousands of dollars to carry out breeding year-round (in expensive, rented greenhouses in winter). These varieties represent some of the very best lines we have produced. Please respect our rights as breeders to recoup some of the money we spent through royalties from Johnny's Selected Seeds. For those of you who are disappointed that you have missed out on the pre-release growing of some of our new tomato varieties, please consider participating in our new Kickstarter project (8 days left) in which we are freely distributing seeds for some exceptional new squash varieties. In this squash project, all Kickstarter participants will have absolutely no restrictions with regard to what they do with the seeds (and varieties) once they get them. More details on our Squash Kickstarter project are here. It is my opinion that these new squash compete with other squash, in the same way that Blush, Pink Bumble Bee, Lucky Tiger and Sunrise Bumble Bee compete with other cherry tomatoes. In other words -- they do pretty well. Last edited by Fred Hempel; July 14, 2013 at 07:32 PM.