Photos of Joseph Lofthouse's Garden

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