"Epic Tomatoes from YOUR Garden –

Some History, Stories, and Lots of Tips and Tricks for Success in Your Area"

Speaker: Craig LeHoullier

This colorful, info packed workshop will draw you into Craig's near 40-year obsession with tomatoes. The first half will focus on helping you select appropriate varieties for your gardens, including info that will make it clear what fortunate tomato growers we are in this particular time; it will touch on a bit of history, some stories, and an interesting discussion on the relationship between tomato flavors and colors. The second half will focus on tomato culture – the key success factors leading to a desirable tomato harvest, from seed starting to seed saving. All questions will be answered, so bring yours!

Speaker Bio: Dr. Craig LeHoullier lives and gardens in Hendersonville, North Carolina. A Rhode Island native, he caught the gardening passion from his grandfather, Walter, and dad, Wilfred.

His love of heirloom tomatoes began with his joining the Seed Savers Exchange, an organization for which he has served as adviser for tomatoes since 1986. He is responsible for naming and popularizing many well-known tomatoes, such as Cherokee Purple, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, and Lucky Cross.

In 2005 he added amateur tomato breeding to his garden resume, and continues to co-lead the Dwarf Tomato Breeding project, responsible for creating 145 (and counting) new compact growing varieties for space-challenged gardeners. His writing career began with a 2012 request from Storey Publishing to write a book on tomatoes, resulting in Epic Tomatoes (2014). His second book, Growing Vegetables in Straw Bales, followed in 2016. Book 3, focusing on the Dwarf Tomato Breeding Project, is in progress and should be completed during 2023.

His current and upcoming projects include a weekly Instagram Live each Friday at 3 PM Eastern from his garden throughout the growing season, typically from March to September. The most exciting current venture is a collaborative on-line tomato course, Growing Epic Tomatoes, with Joe Lamp’l, as part of Joe’s Organic Gardening Academy. The course is available to purchase and experience at your convenience.

This Zoom program is free to all HPS/MAG Members. $15 for Non-members. Registration is required.

Registration is now open, click here to register. Click here if you would like to become a member of HPS/MAG before registering for this event. The deadline to register is February 18, 2024.

This event will be recorded and will be available for registrants to watch for just 2 weeks following the lecture.

Please make sure you have Zoom installed on your computer. Plan to join 5 minutes before the start time. The talk will be followed by a 15-minute Q&A. Questions can be submitted via chat box and will be read to the speaker by the HPS/MAG moderator. Please note that all participants will be muted for the duration of the event.

Important Info regarding registration: Please make sure you hit the "submit" button after registering on-line. If you do not receive a confirmation e-mail, then the registration process was not completed.

Contact: Nora Sirbaugh at [email protected]