Yes, Martin was quite a guy. Very opinionated in how he gardened but would do anything for any one. His posts were a joy to read. The abbreviation of Mennonite to Menon threw me until rdback figured it out. So far no germination but still there is hope. On my old seed list only Kosovo has sprouted. There is still plenty of time.

"Heidi C
Sat Mar 29, 2025 7:05 am
I just had a Spike's Red Belly Button pop up today! 2015 seeds from Gary. 11 days after planting. "

Heidi C -- that's good to know. I also received this one from Gary's MMMM swap and am going to try it. I looked for info on it, but didn't find anything. Anyone know what kind it is? I'm guessing cherry by the name Anyway, I hope to get a sprout and find out this summer.

I'm also planting Honey & Sugar 2018; Mom's Heart 2017; Snowball 2019; and Zorica's Sebastian Bull's Eye 2019.

colcol2 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 31, 2025 8:05 pm "Heidi C
Sat Mar 29, 2025 7:05 am
I just had a Spike's Red Belly Button pop up today! 2015 seeds from Gary. 11 days after planting. "

Heidi C -- that's good to know. I also received this one from Gary's MMMM swap and am going to try it. I looked for info on it, but didn't find anything. Anyone know what kind it is? I'm guessing cherry by the name Anyway, I hope to get a sprout and find out this summer.

I'm also planting Honey & Sugar 2018; Mom's Heart 2017; Snowball 2019; and Zorica's Sebastian Bull's Eye 2019.

Well, my memory isn't shot, yet, other than my present fog, where it is hard to remember only the previous day.

Spike's Red Belly Button seeds were sent to me by Patty Brown from Ohio. Her username at T'ville was something like PattyWV. I haven't been in contact with her for several years. While not absolutely positive, I do believe SRBB may be a large red beefsteak, with an "innie" belly button blossom end. I could be wrong. She did send me several large reds over the years, that I had previously never heard of. She also enjoyed growing just about every cherry she could get her hands on, every West Virginia heirloom (her mom was from WV, and I think Patty was born there), and her specialty was gold/orange (but not yellow) tomatoes.

For close to two decades, I basically don't write anything down about tomato descriptions or their history, it's all from memory. I'll likely never start writing this stuff down. And, I don't know if the memory will fail.

Oh I do hope I get one to sprout and that Spike's Red Belly Button turns out to be a large red beefsteak! If it grows, I hope to take pictures of that innie belly button blossom end.
Man with growing lots and lots of tomatoes I don't see how anyone can write much down!
May the fog you deal with disappear with the summer sun

There are still seeds sprouting on my seed starting tray. 2004 Green Zebra has now 4/6 sprouted.

Since the results are so promising I sowed four seeds of 2007 purchased Kosovo, which I have not yet grown at all.

aunt ginnys purple and crnkovic yugoslavian have made an appearance.
still waiting for the others to wake up.


keith

Re Spike's Red Belly Button - From what I have gathered from old forums -
Potato leaf, mid/early indeterminate, somewhat flattened and slightly ribbed deep red fruit with a little belly button on the blossom end of all, 2.5-3” diameter
Originated with Larry W, Pennsylvania circa 2009 from what was supposed to be a packet of Akers West Virginia.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.