Photos of Joseph Lofthouse's Garden

Yesterday, I planted five seedlings each of paw-paw and persimmon.

Edit to add at the end of the season—only one paw-paw survived the summer, and no persimmon.

I planted potato onions today which we harvested 1.5 years ago.

We had a severe frost a few days ago, which eliminated any tree fruits this year. It even damaged the rhubarb.

Wow; your season starts so much earlier than mine! My rhubarb:

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:Yesterday, I planted five seedlings each of paw-paw and persimmon.

What do you think the challenges would be growing pawpaw in Utah? Protecting young trees from intense sunlight? Keeping the soil moist? Soil pH?

I don't have any expectations one way or the other for the paw-paw and persimmons. I hope they survive and thrive, but if not, then I will plant something else. I live in the desert. They come from the humid east.

Joseph, your garden is always such a huge inspiration. Seeing those tomato seedlings survive the radiant freezes is just mind-blowing! It really proves the power of landrace growing and letting survival-of-the-fittest do the heavy lifting. That early spring harvest looks incredibly delicious. Thank you for continually paving the way and sharing these updates with us!

Timed the tomatoes perfectly—6 weeks old for transplanting outside next week.

One year old grape cuttings.

I planted about 378 tomatoes. Four wild species. Domestic tomatoes, and crosses between them.

Jumping in on this older post — Joseph’s methods sound incredible for anyone facing similar environmental challenges. Has anyone tried using gravity-fed irrigation like he does? I'm curious about its setup and maintenance. Also, Joseph, are you still actively sharing seeds from your garden experiments? The diversity you're cultivating seems fascinating, and I’d love to know more about it!

My irrigation system waters about 12,000 acres. My grandparents generation built the pressurized system about six decades ago. I still use the same equipment—brass sprinklers and 40 foot long 4 inch aluminum field lines. My great-great-great grandparents built the predecessor ditch-based system.

I got semi-famous, and it interferes with farming, so I don't grow much seed any more. (I also transition to trees and perennials, cause they require less labor from an old man.) What seeds I do grow, I send to Experimental Farm Network or Going To Seed. Two seed companies carry many of my varieties: Buffalo Seed Company in Kansas, and Giving Ground Seeds in Idaho. Snake River seed carries a few varieties. Baker Creek carries a sweet corn. Other companies carry a few varieties.

We had frost day before yesterday (June 29th). My locally adapted tomato varieties didn't care, but some of the galapagose island tomatoes got damaged.

In other news, I love this purple-leaved tomato. I noticed a natural hybrid with one of the galapagose island tomatoes last summer. I planted a bunch of seed, and found two plants with this phenotype. I may get a better idea of its heritage after if it flowers and ripens fruit.

I started an herbarium to more easily keep track of the promiscuous tomatoes. It will also help with grape ID.

The herbarium is a great idea, especially since so many others are growing out seeds from your projects.

How small are the fruits on the dwarf hummer, and what size does the plant reach?

Here's a photo of the Island Dwarf tomato plants.

I learned as a child to freeze summer sweet corn for winter scarcity.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:Here's a photo of the Island Dwarf tomato plants.

Those are delightful. Thanks for sharing a photo. Do they vere more to the sweet or savory side of things?

Also, want to see something cool?

These photos are from 2018, and the little yellow ones are from your seed. Maybe Galapagos... I think so, but it's been a long time. What I haven't forgotten is that they had little lime-green exploding gel orbs around the seeds which were full of a magical, sorta salty grilled pineapple flavor. I tried growing them again when I moved down to Payson from Pleasant Grove, but they didn't survive the hardship trials.

Maybe I should've been nicer.

There are also some red pimpinellifolium that I grew for many years. Sometimes they'd surprise me with interesting crosses.

I have some seed from some little orange buddies from my hardship trials last year that are also yours, but I couldn't find any photos. Excited to grow them next year.

New varieties of tomatoes. I expect to send them to Experimental Farm Network this fall.

Wild Sunshine
Descendants of a cross between SunSugar and the Profoundly Promiscuous and Totally Tasty tomatoes. Selected for years for fruity flavor and orange fruits. Three species contributed to this population.

Island Joy
Derived 50% from Solanum cheesmanii and 50% from Profoundly Promiscuous and Totally Tasty tomatoes. A young, highly segregating population, so expect lots of diversity and wildness. Orange and yellow fruits. Four species contributed to this population.

Island Sprite
Derived 50% from Solanum pimpinellifolium and 50% from Profoundly Promiscuous and Totally Tasty tomatoes. These tomatoes captured my imagination by growing as highly productive micro-plants. The fruits taste like familiar red tomatoes. Four species contributed to this population.

Island Dance
A diverse mix of the three Galápagos Islands tomato species, their natural inter-crosses and off-types, with additional influence from the Profoundly Promiscuous and Totally Tasty tomato project. Expect abundant diversity and plenty of surprises. Orange, yellow, and red fruits. Six species contributed to this population.