(By Patrina Nuske Small)
The Dwarf Tomato Project
This is a story about an idea that grew into a fun project. One day I was casually reading posts in a Tomato Forum on Gardenweb and noted that Craig LeHoullier lamented the fact that the dwarf category in tomatoes was very restricted. He suggested it would be good to cross dwarfs with heirlooms to remedy this situation! He mentioned New Big Dwarf being listed in a 1915 Isbell Seed Catalogue which noted how the variety was developed by crossing Dwarf Champion (known since the late 1800s) with the largest known tomato at that time, Ponderosa. I thought this sounded like a fun thing to do and decided to have a go at crossing some dwarfs with heirlooms in my next summer season down in Australia.
By the end of 2005 I had successfully made 8 crosses and Craig and I decided to use this material to start a project where anyone who wanted to help grow the many generations could volunteer to take part for as few or as many seasons as they wished. Craig would head up a team in the Northern Hemisphere and I would do likewise in the Southern Hemisphere. We wanted to give volunteers the opportunity to name any new novel dwarf tomato type they discovered in appreciation for helping in the project.
So from this point, the project was on its way. We had just joined a new tomato forum – Tomatoville – and were given a dedicated section there for the project by the site owner who has provided a home for the project now for over a decade! Forum members signed up each season to help grow the many generations of each ‘family’ which is how we identified each cross using names taken from ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ and inventing new names as needed. This was a much simpler way to identify individual plants (eg Sneezy F2 rather than Golden Dwarf Champion X Green Giant F2) which can become rather complex, especially when an early generation is used for further crosses and additional parents need to be recorded.
Each year further crosses introduced new ‘families’ to the project with ever more inventive family names. And the number of volunteers needed to grow out the many generations increased until we totaled over 300 people volunteering in a 10 year period! Volunteers who personally named newly discovered varieties have their names in the OSSI listings for individual varieties bred by the project. A complete list of project volunteers is included here on the OSSI website.
The first completed dwarf varieties (fully stabilised) were released to seed companies in 2010 and newly completed varieties have been released year by year since then, reaching 68 at the time of writing (2017). In 2015 we came across the OSSI website and the rest, as they say, is history! So here we are, and the Dwarf Project continues with many more fun crosses being added by Craig since then.
Craig and I are delighted that all volunteers and other people who have made crosses for the project have supported our desire to have all varieties bred by the Dwarf Tomato Project designated as OSSI varieties and are proud to have them listed here. Stay tuned – there will be more to come!
Patrina Nuske Small lives in Bemboka NSW, Australia.
Co-Directors: Craig Lehoullier, Patrina Nuske Small
Members of the Dwarf Tomato Project:
| Jon Schmuck | Alabama, USA |
| Darrel Jones | Alabama, USA |
| Carole Wells | Alabama, USA |
| Susan Bailey | Alaska, USA |
| Sherry Shiesl | Alaska, USA |
| Bev Egan | Alaska, USA |
| Sherry Long | Alaska, USA |
| Jeff Casey | Alberta, Canada |
| Eric Ellison | Arizona, USA |
| Jim Hogan | Arizona, USA |
| Brandie DeBusk | Arizona, USA |
| Melissa Braudaway | Arizona, USA |
| Patrina Nuske Small | Australia |
| David Lockwood | Australia |
| Ray South | Australia |
| Richard Allen | Australia |
| Tessa Millesse | Australia |
| Adam Small | Australia |
| George Small | Australia |
| Joyce Small | Australia |
| Carl Matthei | Australia |
| Doug McSee | Australia |
| Andrew Mason | Australia |
| Rosemary Kieslinger | Australia |
| Anna-Lena Piroth | Australia |
| Keith Risk | Australia |
| Russell Pietsch | Australia |
| Joan Guthrie | Australia |
| Elaine Bateman | Australia |
| Margaret Woolley | Australia |
| Annette Scanlan | Australia |
| David Harvey | Australia |
| Jenny Anderson | Australia |
| Tracey Hart | Australia |
| Amrao Singh | Australia |
| Bob Schimmig | Australia |
| Craig McTaggart | Australia |
| Lyne Rancourt | Australia |
| John Smarz | Australia |
| Don Fenton | Australia |
| Adam Synnott | Australia |
| Greg kirby | Australia |
| Helen Crawford | Australia |
| Bill Hankin | Australia |
| Roger Humphreys | Australia |
| Lawrence Andris | Australia |
| Don Firth | Australia |
| Anneke van Tholen | Australia |
| Robyn Fookes | Australia |
| Mog Bremmer | Australia |
| Deanne Hammer | Australia |
| Jacinta Battista | Australia |
| Lou Larrieu | Australia |
| Quentin Nuske | Australia |
| Margaret Robertson | Australia |
| Margaret Cronin | Australia |
| Lieven David | Belgium |
| A. Carmichael | Bermuda |
| Tatiana Kouchnareva | British Columbia, Canada |
| Denise Salmon | British Columbia, Canada |
| Nuria Sanchez | British Columbia, Canada |
| Diane Whitehead | British Columbia, Canada |
| Willa Osis | British Columbia, Canada |
| Nick Bolkowy | British Columbia, Canada |
| Jeannine Chalmers | British Columbia, Canada |
| Jamie Holling | British Columbia, Canada |
| Limei Tian | British Columbia, Canada |
| Denise Bath | British Columbia, Canada |
| Steve McClaren | California, USA |
| Phylis Chen | California, USA |
| Laurie Sutherland | California, USA |
| Linda Black | California, USA |
| Doug Frank | California, USA |
| Garrett Conrad | California, USA |
| Ray Newstead | California, USA |
| Hung Nguyen | California, USA |
| Melissa Levesque | California, USA |
| Tanya Kucak | California, USA |
| Damon Huck | California, USA |
| Ginny Bishton | California, USA |
| Vince Lavallo | California, USA |
| Dustin Stober | California, USA |
| Evelyn Bishop | California, USA |
| Andrew DeWald | California, USA |
| Germinator | California, USA |
| Barbara Anderson | California, USA |
| Marla McClaren | California, USA |
| Matthew Winter | California, USA |
| Paul Buddenhagen | California, USA |
| Charlotte Burk | California, USA |
| Sue Ragen | California, USA |
| Jamie Ford | California, USA |
| Carol Bayer | California, USA |
| Logan Garland | California, USA |
| Nancy Chin | California, USA |
| Rob Herle | California, USA |
| Bruce Bradshaw | California, USA |
| Deb Cook | Colorado, USA |
| Vincent Jaconski | Colorado, USA |
| Roberta Mell | Connecticut, USA |
| Heather Cook | Connecticut, USA |
| Jen Hill | Connecticut, USA |
| John Beidler | Connecticut, USA |
| Chris Bohinski | Delaware, USA |
| Scott Linnemann | Denmark |
| Frederick Denny | England |
| Linda Sapp | Florida, USA |
| Barbara Kambourelis | Florida, USA |
| Kay Robbins | Florida, USA |
| Marsha Eisenberg | Florida, USA |
| Elise Vaughn | Florida, USA |
| Jessica Dubin | Florida, USA |
| Janet Matherly | Florida, USA |
| Tony Kay | Florida, USA |
| Paula Rask | Florida, USA |
| Marjorie Holloway | Florida, USA |
| Cheryl Welch | Florida, USA |
| John Mullins | Florida, USA |
| Carlos Portu | Florida, USA |
| Delettre Franck | France |
| Dawn Denton | Georgia, USA |
| Scott Jacobs | Georgia, USA |
| Bill Yoder | Georgia, USA |
| Rena Abernathy | Georgia, USA |
| Ray Grimmer | Georgia, USA |
| Mark Gladney | Georgia, USA |
| Simone Pennig | Germany |
| Reinhard Kraft | Germany |
| Fynn Weinholz | Germany |
| Grovespirit | Hawaii, USA |
| Daniel Kelly | Hawaii, USA |
| Ann Tanaka | Hawaii, USA |
| Dawn Holmes | Idaho, USA |
| Susan Oliverson | Idaho, USA |
| Linda Stormes | Idaho, USA |
| Paul Pulley | Idaho, USA |
| Bill Burke | Illinois, USA |
| Corey Thompson | Illinois, USA |
| John Swenson | Illinois, USA |
| Melisa Naiman | Illinois, USA |
| Neil Lockhart | Illinois, USA |
| Mo Cahill | Illinois, USA |
| Sandra Tipton | Indiana, USA |
| Rick Hawksworth | Indiana, USA |
| Trista | Indonesia |
| Glen Drowns | Iowa, USA |
| Robin Roseman | Iowa, USA |
| Grant Olsen | Iowa, USA |
| Amanda Fischer | Iowa, USA |
| Angie Allen | Iowa, USA |
| Lori Cox | Kansas USA |
| Tod Bevitt | Kansas USA |
| Bob Fitzpatrick | Kentucky, USA |
| Bob Franklin | Louisiana, USA |
| Bob Franklin | Louisiana, USA |
| Betty Westbrook | Louisiana, USA |
| Robert Waddell | Louisiana, USA |
| Kathy Wolfe | Maryland, USA |
| Judi Bailey | Maryland, USA |
| Regina Kreger | Maryland, USA |
| Wendy Montanez | Massachusetts, USA |
| Gina McDermott | Massachusetts, USA |
| Carole Shannon | Massachusetts, USA |
| Craig Shea | Massachusetts, USA |
| Roberto Caro del Castillo | Mexico |
| Nancy Ruhl | Michigan, USA |
| Ken Jacobs | Michigan, USA |
| Jeff Fleming | Michigan, USA |
| Ed Fizzell | Michigan, USA |
| Duane Schiller | Michigan, USA |
| Bob Fromm | Michigan, USA |
| Patrick Sullivan | Minnesota, USA |
| Dee Sackett | Minnesota, USA |
| Craig Weber | Minnesota, USA |
| Douglas McLellan | Minnesota, USA |
| Gary Thomas | Minnesota, USA |
| Charlie Bowler | Minnesota, USA |
| Ricky Dawson | Mississippi, USA |
| Richard Parker | Mississippi, USA |
| Robbins Hail | Missouri, USA |
| Ruth TenBrink | Missouri, USA |
| Danny Lee Turner | Missouri, USA |
| Stuart Pollack | Missouri, USA |
| Donald Hudgens | Missouri, USA |
| Jeanne Krenning | Montana, USA |
| Lisa Georgian | Nebraska, USA |
| Paul Fish | Nebraska, USA |
| Robin Bort | Nevada, USA |
| Kathy Hughes | Nevada, USA |
| Joan Anglin | Nevada, USA |
| Nicole Diana | New Hampshire, USA |
| Ryan McCarthy | New Hampshire, USA |
| Donna Marie Kudrak | New Jersey, USA |
| Antoniette Koshykar | New Jersey, USA |
| Jim Krajewski | New Jersey, USA |
| Tom Micholas | New Jersey, USA |
| Larry Sims | New Mexico, USA |
| Mike Mauer | New Mexico, USA |
| Remy Orlowski | New York, USA |
| Melissa Fink | New York, USA |
| Doug Smith | New York, USA |
| Neil Schuldiner | New York, USA |
| Robbin Goodman | New York, USA |
| Jeremy Pardo | New York, USA |
| Gary Woods | New York, USA |
| Carolyn Male | New York, USA |
| Martin Fisher | New York, USA |
| Barbara Morgenroth | New York, USA |
| William Rositzke | New York, USA |
| Nancy Kirch | New York, USA |
| Ross Hewitt | New Zealand |
| Richard Watson | New Zealand |
| Craig LeHoullier | North Carolina, USA |
| Linda Pugh | North Carolina, USA |
| Paige Prince | North Carolina, USA |
| Gregory Fee | North Carolina, USA |
| Lee Newman | North Carolina, USA |
| Chris Kafer | North Carolina, USA |
| Jerry Dickerson | North Carolina, USA |
| Chris Geddings | North Carolina, USA |
| Steve Williams | North Carolina, USA |
| Amanda Davis | North Carolina, USA |
| Morgan Marks | North Carolina, USA |
| Tim Warren | North Carolina, USA |
| Tim McElroy | North Carolina, USA |
| Jenna D’Amore | North Carolina, USA |
| Reitzel Deaton | North Carolina, USA |
| Ralph Whisnant | North Carolina, USA |
| Brie Arthur | North Carolina, USA |
| Bobby Whicker | North Dakota, USA |
| Niki Jabbour | Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Adam Gleckler | Ohio, USA |
| Jeffrey Bayes | Ohio, USA |
| Carolyn Keiper | Ohio, USA |
| Susan Dzejachok | Ohio, USA |
| Lisa Moore | Ohio, USA |
| Lurley Hernandez | Ohio, USA |
| Jason Ford | Ohio, USA |
| Susan Barber | Ohio, USA |
| Heather Garver | Ohio, USA |
| Amber France | Ohio, USA |
| Brian Poplin | Ohio, USA |
| James Hallman | Ohio, USA |
| Patty Brown | Ohio, USA |
| Scott Stough | Oklahoma, USA |
| Megan Bealmer | Oklahoma, USA |
| Susan Johnston | Oklahoma, USA |
| Kevin Taylor | Oklahoma, USA |
| Neil Gillard | Ontario, Canada |
| Julianna Griffin | Ontario, Canada |
| Nicky North | Ontario, Canada |
| Dara El | Ontario, Canada |
| K. Burnside | Ontario, Canada |
| Kim Pembleton | Ontario, Canada |
| Jennifer Hutson | Ontario, Canada |
| Mike Dunton | Oregon, USA |
| Paola Gelmetti | Oregon, USA |
| Ann Rollins | Oregon, USA |
| Karl Johnson | Pennsylvania USA |
| Beth Carlock | Pennsylvania USA |
| Charles Bunders | Pennsylvania USA |
| Lee Gage | Pennsylvania USA |
| Edward Giebel | Pennsylvania USA |
| Stephanie Gernert | Pennsylvania USA |
| Peter Knight | Prince Edward Island, Canada |
| Peter Gallant | Prince Edwards Island, Canada |
| Lyne Rancourt | Quebec, Canada |
| Amy Shores | Rhode Island, USA |
| Dave Versteeg | South Africa |
| Andrew Lascelles | South Africa |
| Larry Yonce | South Carolina, USA |
| Tom Dalva | South Carolina, USA |
| Jim Markwood | South Carolina, USA |
| Billy Compton | South Carolina, USA |
| Maggie Chalmers | South Carolina, USA |
| Linda Reid | Tasmania |
| Ted Maiden | Tennessee, USA |
| Dan Jones | Tennessee, USA |
| Jordan Beasley | Tennessee, USA |
| Tommie Wade | Tennessee, USA |
| Kassandra Courtney | Tennessee, USA |
| Rickey Bryant | Tennessee, USA |
| Carrie King | Texas, USA |
| Michael Volk | Texas, USA |
| Susan Anderson | Texas, USA |
| Wendy Xu | Texas, USA |
| Jeff Walker | Texas, USA |
| Connie Dockler | Texas, USA |
| Dana Ivey | Texas, USA |
| Christy Shedd | Texas, USA |
| Worthy LaFollette | Texas, USA |
| Laurel Lampton | Texas, USA |
| Jay Scott | Texas, USA |
| Tony Schievelbein | Texas, USA |
| Dan Follett | Utah, USA |
| Shawn Conant | Vermont, USA |
| Carol Pronovost | Vermont, USA |
| Ira Wallace | Virginia, USA |
| Ken Bezilla | Virginia, USA |
| Walt Meade | Virginia, USA |
| Rebecca Gustafson | Virginia, USA |
| Lindsey Ratterree | Virginia, USA |
| Joyce Beggs | Virginia, USA |
| Martha Hufford | Virginia, USA |
| Stephanie McVeigh | Virginia, USA |
| Justin Morse | Virginia, USA |
| Robin Drake | Virginia, USA |
| Jennifer Brandt | Washington, USA |
| Marcia Dillon | Washington, USA |
| Taryn Gustafson | Washington, USA |
| Paul Anguiano | Washington, USA |
| Angora Gorilla | Washington, USA |
| Debi Franklin | Washington, USA |
| Keith Mathews | Washington, USA |
| Bill Minkey | Wisconsin, USA |
| Desire Sommers | Wisconsin, USA |
| Crissy Brady | Wisconsin, USA |
| Chris Cole | Wisconsin, USA |
| Justin Sieglaff | Wisconsin, USA |
| Carol Knapp | Wisconsin, USA |
| Joel Giarardin | Wisconsin, USA |
| Mike Hanson | Wisconsin, USA |
| Dan Hardy | Wisconsin, USA |
| Hudson England | Wyoming, USA |
| Richard Watson | New Zealand |