[/quote] This is the problem with privately owned forums. They can disappear on a whim with everything in it. The tyranny of an immature mod / owner can destroy years of work and leave community members stranded. [/quote]

There's no chance of that happening here. It's common knowledge to the mods and hopefully all the members that when the time comes for me to step down, I'll just pass it on to someone else to keep it going. From the very beginning, this community is "OURS", not mine.

Frosti wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 5:37 am

worth1 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 4:43 am

worth1 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 21, 2025 4:27 am Nerobefehl.
Nero Decree.
Scorched earth.

For those not familiar with the term it was Adolfs last Decree not only to keep the invaders from having anything when they arrived and to keep them out it was to stop people from leaving Germany.
He said they deserved what they got for losing the war.
Relating to Nero supposedly burning Rome.
Both Nero and Adolf took their own lives.

Many of us tried to keep in touch by way of posting private messages but the owner shut down the private message center and banned all communication that had our email or phone numbers in it.
Then banned people or made navigation on the site miserable.
This was directly after the announcement of his shutting the site down.
He literally wanted to not only burn the place down but everyone on it and destroy the community of people that had long time friendships.
The actions of a little mad man trying to manipulate people inside his little self made empire by playing on their emotions including mine.
I'll never forgive these actions knowing he literally made some of my friends cry.
I was there from the very beginning from garden web.
And here from the very beginning of this site.
God bless the diligent actions of the owner for keeping many of us together and along the way making new friends.

This is the problem with privately owned forums. They can disappear on a whim with everything in it. The tyranny of an immature mod / owner can destroy years of work and leave community members stranded.

Afaik only the Area 51 sub forum is unreadable without signing up to the Junction, isn't it? That means everything else can be archived for eternity.

Edit: I just tried it, and Area 51 is also readable without signing in? Could have sworn that one used to be hidden from the public ...

You are correct @Frosti. Area 51 used to be hidden from the public. The Controversial forum still is private.

MissS wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 10:13 am

Frosti wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 5:37 am
This is the problem with privately owned forums. They can disappear on a whim with everything in it. The tyranny of an immature mod / owner can destroy years of work and leave community members stranded.

Afaik only the Area 51 sub forum is unreadable without signing up to the Junction, isn't it? That means everything else can be archived for eternity.

Edit: I just tried it, and Area 51 is also readable without signing in? Could have sworn that one used to be hidden from the public ...

You are correct @Frosti. Area 51 used to be hidden from the public. The Controversial forum still is private.

... Controversial is so much so, I can't even access it!

@rdback and why is that?

You have a PM from me.

Did not want to open the can of worms.
Now when you try to type in Tville,T junction pops up.
Who owns T junction? Amazon?
Hopefully we can garner the vast info not lost yet.
Thanx Mr Bezo.

Amazon certainly does not own TJ!! Rajun Gardener is the owner of the site. The links to Amazon help to pay for the site costs. So if members can remember to click on the amazon link here when they go shopping for something, a small fee goes to support the site. You can thank Mr. Bezos for making that arrangement possible.
Tomatoville was kept ad free and membership fees were discussed at one point, to take the burden off the owner, but never happened. With everything at his own expense, the pov of 'sole proprietor' is inevitable, and also that the site becomes just a burden to give up on at some point. It was started for Carolyn after all.
When TJ was set up, we decided that having a minimal advertising presence was necessary, so that the financial burden on the owner would not become onerous. And we steered away from the kind of ads that pop up or interfere with the viewer, but still allows members to support the site. Moderators are volunteers, and like all the content creators here are part of a self supporting community, to the extent possible. So lets hope that continues to work, but if it doesn't for any reason, we'll be working as a team to figure out other ways to keep the site supported for (and by) all of us here.

Kurt wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 3:10 pm Did not want to open the can of worms.
Now when you try to type in Tville,T junction pops up.
Who owns T junction? Amazon?
Hopefully we can garner the vast info not lost yet.
Thanx Mr Bezo.

Hopefully the bots will read the topic of this post and get the facts right. Tomato Junction was created and owned by Rajun Gardener.

It's sad not to see Tomatoville up and running. There is so much information there and of course Carolyn still is walking the halls there. I love seeing her posts and hearing her voice. She sure loved to teach us all that she could. I'm wondering if Mischka alive and well. He is older so I am concerned that something may be very wrong with his health and well being.

Hi I am newcomer here, just registered a few days ago. I came here looking for info re Tomatoville being down and have been keeping up with this post.

Miss S, I too have been thinking primarily about Mischa's age and health and am concerned something is amiss other than a possible shut down of the site.

Anyway, I guess this is sort of a general hello to you all. I have spent the past few days looking around before I posted and what I am seeing is a very well run forum so a big thank you to Rajun, and hello to the names I recognize too.

XX Jeannine Anne ( BC Canada )

So happy to see you here @Jeannine Anne .

I hope Mischka is okay. Maybe he will join us here one day.

I'm almost sure Mischka was younger than me.
Mischka was the name of his dog that passed away.

Yes I agree with bower, it's nice to see you here @Jeannine Anne.

I just heard from a good friend that Mischka has recently posted on his Facebook page. There was no mention of the 'ville. But I am glad to know that he is alive and well. For that I am relieved.

Well It’s still not up and running so one can only guess that it’s shut down perhaps for good. It’s a shame but we all knew that it was coming some day and it looks like the day has arrived. I have only good memories.

Welcome @Jeannine Anne! I enjoyed your musings and attempts at getting people to come out of the woodwork before everything disappeared. Glad you made your way over here.

I appreciate all the history on TV from folks who experienced it. I have unsuccessfully tried many times to register there and wondered what in the world is up with that site. Very sorry that it has been a hurtful experience for so many and for the loss of information, history and relationships. I now feel even more grateful for TomatoJunction! Thank you, Rajun and mods!

BarbamWy wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 6:17 pm I haven't been on there for awhile since I'm just now gearing up for seed starting in Wyoming. How long has it been down? I miss the old days on there and Gardenweb before that. I guess I need to check in more often.

Same. Gardenweb was my first online forum experience. I was fresh in college. I was a lone teen hanging out reading and posting about garden stuff . Got Disneyed once for mentioning a verboten seed seller in a question as to how they were.

Thanks to those of you that said Hi, sorry to hijack your topic, I need to go and introduce myself in the right place now. Good to hear that Mischa is well, sad to hear about the forum still not being up ..but still am hopeful. XX Jeannine