Tomato breeding, High-Altlitude Growing, Passive Solar Greenhouses, Mountain Figs

Breeding Tasty Tomatoes

Fred Hempel

Belgian Green Bee tomato

Agi Red tomato

Bumblebee series of tomatoes

Madera cherry tomato

Fred's son Alex

Fred's daughter Nicole

Our first guest is tomato breeder Fred Hempel. Fred has been breeding tomatoes on his small farm in California since 2006. Before that, he bred tomatoes in his backyard and in a community garden. Fred first grew tomatoes with his mother, as a child in Michigan. Fred’s son and daughter have been involved in his tomato breeding projects since the beginning. Both of them will visit Mexico with him this winter to help with breeding work. Fred trained as a plant biologist with a general background in genetics. His breeding business, Artisan Seeds, has produced a number of varieties that are grown by farmers and gardeners around the world. Most of these are striped cherry tomatoes, known for their flavor and aesthetic appeal. In his current breeding work, Fred is working on extended shelf life and disease resistance.

• Check out the Artisan Seeds website.

• Get seeds for Agi Red through Fred’s Kickstarter campaign

Tomato Seed-Starting Guide

Here’s our guide to growing tomato plants from seed.

High-Altitude Growing

Penn and Cord Parmenter

“Adaptation is one of our best tools up here in the clouds.”

In the second half of the show, we chat with Penn and Cord Parmenter, who grow food in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado at an elevation of 8000 feet. They share tips on passive solar greenhouses, biointensive gardening methods, and cold-hardy crops and cold-hardy vegetable varieties that they grow in their high-altitude garden. Penn’s seed business, Miss Penn’s Mountain Seeds, focuses on mountain-adapted varieties.

• Click here to connect with Penn and Cord online.

“We fail as much as we succeed!”

Biggs on Figs

Mountain Figs with Tony Christini of Mountainfigs.net

In the Biggs-On-Figs segment, Steven chats with Tony Christini, a fig grower in West Virginia. Tony’s focus is on cold-hardy and early-ripening figs. Tony created the Mountain Figs website, where he has information about cold-tolerant fig varieties, and comparisons of fig flavour and appearance. See below for another chat with Tony, where he talks a bit more in details about his top 5 fig varieties for cold climates.

Click below to hear more about cold-tolerant fig varieties, with Tony Christini from Mountain Figs