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Craig LeHoullier lives and gardens in Hendersonville , North Carolina , having moved there with his wife , Susan , in January 2020 after residing for 28 years in Raleigh . A Rhode Island aboriginal , he catch the gardening bug from his granddad , Walter , and dad , Wilfred . Craig earned his doctor’s degree in chemistry from Dartmouth College , which resulted in a 25 - class vocation in pharmaceuticals that stop in 2008 .
Craig find a passion for heirloom tomatoes when he joined Seed Savers Exchange in 1986 and today serve as SSE ’s tomato adviser .
Craig LeHoullier, Seed Savers Exchange tomato adviser
He has named and generalize many well - known tomatoes , including‘Cherokee Purple,’and in 2005 tally amateur tomato nurture to his garden resumé . He stay to co - chair a distance - limited breeding project , creditworthy for create 125 ( and numeration ) new compact spring up variety show for distance - challenge gardeners .
In 2015 he authoredEpic Tomatoes , and the comply year saw the publication ofGrowing veg in Straw Bales . His third book , in the works , focuses on his small - space tomato fostering projection .
Q&A
What first piqued your interest in grow tomato ?
The tomato variety I set in my very first garden ( in 1981 ) was the hybrid ‘ Better Boy . ’ They were red and tasty , but in the end , ordinary and boring . A few years later on , I read about Seed Savers Exchange , and my gardens were forever changed once I join the governance and began to request seminal fluid , include tomato germ .
To me , no other growable victuals meld the staggering diversity of colour , shape , size and flavour of the love apple . Add the relative ease of growing and seed saving and the wonderful stories that companion so many heirloom , and I was speedily hook for life .
Craig LeHoullier, Seed Savers Exchange tomato adviser
I continue to rise them with just as much hullabaloo today . There are always more stories to learn , more variations to observe , and more gardeners to coach toward succeeder . It is my lifelong hobby and passion .
What is your preferred tomato variety to grow ?
My favorite is‘Cherokee Purple,’due to its current staggering popularity , the awe-inspiring quality of the tomatoes , and the part I got to play in its launching . The ‘ Cherokee Purple ’ story also perfectly illustrate the fragility of heirlooms . If the Cherokees of Eastern Tennessee did n’t share seed with the granddad of Jean Greenlee . . . if the gramps did n’t expire them on to Jean . . . if Jean did n’t share them with John Green . . . if John did n’t get off them to me . . . if I did n’t name and then ship them to Jeff McCormack of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange . . . if Jeff did n’t list the variety in the 1993 catalogue — if even one of those things had not happened , we probably would n’t have ‘ Cherokee Purple ’ today .
Epic Tomatoes– book by Craig LeHoullier
Can you provide a duo fun facts about tomatoes — something interesting that most folks likely would not bed ?
First fun fact : After grow thousands of salmagundi of tomato , I can honestly say that there is no correlation between color and flavor . I can describe tart , sweet , vivid , fruity . or bland examples in every single tomato color .
Second playfulness fact : A large scale study of acidity ( pH ) of tomatoes of 100 of type carried out decades ago squander the myth of the low - window pane tomato out of the water . All tomato plant have acidity levels within a very narrow image . When we call a tomato plant “ miserable dose , ” what we should be saying is “ gamey sugar”—the saccharide levels in such tomato are kick upstairs so that the sourness is covered up . What this mean is that any tomato can be part of your end - of - time of year canning project .
‘Cherokee Purple’ tomato
What are your top five bakshish for maturate healthy , well-chosen tomatoes ?
1 . begin with a high - quality , uninventive seed - starting mixture so that you get seedlings off to a healthy starting signal .
2 . Once the seedlings are ready to found out , ensure they are in as good a location as possible — in as much sun as your property allows , in rich land that drains well ( or in containers with a blend of high- timber soil less planting intermixture augmented with compost , or in an appropriately fain stalk Basel ) .
Tomatoes germinating in SSE’s greenhouse in spring, 2024.
3 . Know your works — jaw them often ; know what they look like when they are felicitous , and when they are tumultuous . Tomatoes will fail if they are plant and then largely draw a blank .
4 . cater what your tomatoes need , by understanding what they need . tearing and feeding penury vary depending upon how and where your love apple are set ; be light on what they will need and be sure to provide it .
5 . Fall in love with the journeying of gardening — cherish the hours and days spent among the plant , but do n’t get overly hung up on expectations of “ x number ” of pound per plant . There are no guarantees with gardening , and each time of year will bring unlike challenge and upshot . But each season will also teach observant , involved gardener an awful lot that can be incorporate in future garden .
Learn how to raise and make unnecessary tomato seeds .
Recipe: NC Tomatoman’s Heirloom Tomato Bisque
By Craig LeHoullier
“ This incredibly dewy-eyed , easy - to - make love apple bisque is as delicious whether using fresh or transcribed tomato plant and grow from Peter Christian ’s , a now - defunct New Hampshire restaurant , ” say Craig . “ I altered it to make it more hefty — eliminate the pick and cheeseflower — and more focused on the tone and character of the tomatoes . I ’ve made it with all - green form , all - yellow / orange physique , all - reddened / crimson anatomy , and combos of all these — it is about theflavor ! ”
INGREDIENTS
Soup
Croutons
DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in the microwave . sum cheese , garlic , and oregano , then lend the moolah and toss to coat ; microwave on high for 3 - 5 minutes , stirring every few minutes , until the butter and herbs are absorbed and the croutons get crunchy . Warning : These croutons are totally addictive !
Originally bring out May 3 , 2021 by Sara Friedl - Putnam . update January 29 , 2025 .
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