Podcast

Tomatomania II with KC and NC!

June 13, 2020November 2, 2020 Mike Nowak Artisan Grain Collaborative, Chicago Region Food Fund, COVID-19 food chain, Craig LeHoullier, Dwarf Tomato Project, eco-influencer, Epic Tomatoes, Karen Lehman from Fresh Taste Chicago, KC Tomato, Peggy Malecki, The Mike Nowak Show, tomato breeding

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(June 14, 2020) This year, we’ve experienced social distancing, civic unrest and economic turmoil. So, as we head into summer, it seems only fair that our reward should be…tomatoes. 2020 might be remembered as the year when folks sharpened their gardening skills (and a few tools), mainly because, like me, that’s about the only place they went. And, more than pretty much anything, folks want to grow tomatoes. So it’s time for Tomatomania II with KC and NC.

Skip to a specific segment in this podcast.
2:30 Craig LeHoullier, KC Tomato
47:51 Karen Lehman
1:26:09 Meteorologist Rick DiMaio

The Tomato Guys were on our show just over a year ago. KC is short for KC Tomato, aka Keith Mueller. NC is Craig LeHoullier, also known as “NC Tomatoman” because he lives in North Carolina. Oh, and for the record, they’re also good friends.

Tomatomania II guest number one is KC, who describes himself as “a life long gardener, a horticulturist and a plant breeder. I also have a degree in horticultural therapy (specialized in community & childrens’ gardens).” He has been independently breeding plants in the Midwest for 30 years–including melons, dry beans, soybeans and tomatoes. He works with growers in both Missouri and Kansas. He says that he focuses on flavor, novel traits and selection/development under organic systems.

If you’ve ever grown varieties like “Dora” “Gary’O Sena” or “Bear Creek” you were growing plant bred by KC. Seed for those lines can be found on the internet. He also has a breeding line co-developed with North Carolina State University. Basically, he is tomatomania in action.

Kathleen and I are growing two of KC’s tomato varieties in our yard this year–Sun Lucky and Delta Queen.

Much of his work in the past year has been

Working with Row7 Seeds (Chef Dan Barber’s startup from the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture) to advance and develop tomato lines.
Submitting lines to University of Wisconsin’s Seed to Kitchen project which is working to develop vegetable varieties adapted to the Midwest and organic systems. He hopes to work with grad student and Midwest growers to develop varieties together.
Working to have seed next spring of the “Purple Haze” hybrid to sale.

However, COVID-19 has limited space, travel and projects planned with Kansas State Extension, the Seed to Kitchen Project in Madison, Wisconsin and his work with Row7 Seeds.

Our other Tomatomania II guest is Craig LeHoullier–gardener, educator and author of two books, Growing Vegetables in Straw Bales, and Epic Tomatoes: How to Select and Grow the Best Varieties of All Time. What has the year of COVID-19 been like for him? He writes:

Last year was a really good garden – and as it turned out, our last one in Raleigh. Tomato yields were excellent for the first planting (the tall ones – the indeterminate varieties – in the straw bales), but less impressive for the later planted ones in containers because it got SO HOT and HUMID – we had more than 60 days at 90 and above, which leads to blossom drop. And – the deer eventually found me and nibbled a bit. And yet – flavors were consistently outstanding despite heavy watering, sometimes twice daily. We progressed the Dwarf Tomato Project well, and Mike at Victory Seeds is now offering 123 of our releases. And we continue!

In October, my wife and I looked at each other and thought that it was finally time to downsize – get into a smaller house, all on one floor, declutter, and also go to a less crowded, less hot place. We took aim on Hendersonville NC (which Keith knows well!) – started looking, found something quickly -went from not even entertaining an idea of moving to buying a house, moving, and selling our Raleigh home all in a 3 month span as COVID was hitting. We got so lucky.

My garden is now larger and more flexible – over a quarter acre of flat, sunny area – but I am growing above ground (raised beds, grow bags/containers, straw bales). It is now fully planted. I have over 100 tomato plants, a nice selection of peppers and eggplants – but also summer squash, cukes, green beans, peas, carrots, chard, beets, lettuce – I am having such fun with it.

If you’re wondering what the Dwarf Tomato Project is, he devotes a couple of pages to it on his website. The story is longer than I can go into here (you should read it yourself), but here’s part of it.

Dwarf varieties, prior to this project, are relatively rare, unknown and undeveloped as a group. Appearing quite distinct in all growth phases – from seeding to mature plant – they behave as if they are very compact indeterminate varieties in the manner that they fruit, persevere until frost, and exhibit flavors that in many cases can approach the best of the indeterminate varieties, due to similar foliage to fruit ratios. There is some variation in height throughout the new dwarf varieties – some appearing to be more “determinate” than others. As young seedlings they are half the size of indeterminate or determinate seedlings right from the start. The central growing stem is particularly stout, and the foliage, which can be either regular or potato leaf, tends to be a darker bluish green and have a puckered, wrinkled characteristic that is known as “rugose”.

Though the yields of dwarfs will never approach that of indeterminate varieties, the ability to plant them much more closely or grow in as little as 5 gallon pots are adequate compensation. What we are producing in this project is a color, size and shape range that will allow those who are space constrained to experience the nature of many of the well known heirloom types, but in a growth habit that is much easier to manage. We are excited about what we are creating, and are anxious, as well as finally ready, to share the very best of these with gardeners. We invite feedback – there is always a chance that you will not get exactly what is described or expected, and all of these, while quite stable, are still in a way works in progress.

He says the Dwarf Tomato Project continues and could possibly see another 25 or 30 releases coming out, though it is winding down. If that’s his idea of winding down, I wish him luck.

I will say (as a knock on wood as vigorously as I can) that Kathleen and I have crammed eight tomato plants into my sun-challenged yard, and they all look great. I will probably add at least one or two more plants. We are growing Tasmanian Chocolate, which was one of the very first introductions from the Dwarf Tomato Project. I am also growing three varieties from Dr. Harry Klee’s Lab at the University of Florida: Garden Gem, Garden Treasure and W. Hybrid.

I think today’s Tomatomania II show will be a chance to forget about the coronavirus and concentrate on growing great tomatoes. It’s the closest thing we have to normalcy right now. Roll with it.

Grants for local food organizations

It’s almost impossible to talk about food right now without also examining the effects of COVID-19 on food production, distribution and availability. The pandemic has exposed serious flaws in our food chain. But it has also resulted in people and groups stepping up to meet the challenge. For instance, in early May we talked to Alyssa Hartman from the Artisan Grain Collaborative about a project they started called Neighbor Loaves. It’s a way to provide people with bread which contains at least 50% locally grown stonemilled flour.

Just a couple of days ago, we learned that the Artisan Grain Collaborative was one of nine organizations that have received grants from The Chicago Region Food System Fund.

Impacts of the coronavirus have been swift and massive. People go hungry while some farmers watch their food go to waste for lack of markets. Frontline workers—those working in meat processing plants and as cashiers and delivery drivers—have higher rates of exposure, more positive coronavirus results, lower wages, and higher mortality rates. Small businesses have lost their customer bases overnight. Communities of color are the hardest hit, suffering disproportionate health and economic impacts resulting from structural racism. This Fund aims to address these impacts.

With an initial investment of $4.2 million, the Fund focuses on hunger and business disruption from COVID-19 in the local food system. Its initial round of $895,000 was awarded to nine organizations responding to the immediate pandemic impacts on communities in Chicago and on food producers, processors, and distributors in the region. AGC was one of those groups. Here’s the full list:

Artisan Grain Collaborative, $50,000
Black Oaks Center for Sustainable Living, $120,000
Chicago Food Policy Action Council, $75,000
Chinese American Service League, $80,000
Green City Market, $125,000
Illinois Stewardship Alliance, $100,000
Plant Chicago, $25,000
Street Vendors Association of Chicago, $120,000
Urban Growers Collective, $200,000

Today, we welcome Karen Lehman, Chicago Region Food System Fund Manager and Fresh Taste Director. She’s here to talk about how organizations can apply for a second round of grants. To apply, visit ChicagoRegionFoodFund.org. Before being considered to submit a full application, interested organizations will be asked to fill out an initial screening questionnaire. Only 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to apply. Screening questionnaires can be submitted until July 29, 5 p.m. CT. Inquiries will be reviewed and funds disbursed on a rolling basis. From May through August, priority will be given to COVID-19 response and food system strengthening with priority given to work in communities of color.

The area in which grants will be considered is basically within 200 miles of Chicago. In Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, funding consideration includes nonprofits serving:

urban farmers
food hubs/cooperatives
farmers markets
community organizations with close ties to informal community associations
food businesses (processors, distributors, slaughterhouses, retail, restaurants, institutional providers)
food chain workers impacted by COVID-19 or at high risk of contracting the virus
emergency food system support
and wasted food projects.

Funding consideration in other regions of Illinois, southeast Wisconsin, northwest Indiana, and southwest Michigan is for nonprofits serving:

rural farmers
food aggregation hubs
and food processors

that include the Chicago metropolitan area as part of their market. This includes nonprofits supporting food chain workers impacted by COVID-19 or at high risk of contracting the virus.