It’s come to the end of my Seed Savers Exchange ADAPT seed trial for carrots and tomatoes. I’m pleased to say that I got the chance to taste all six varieties from the seeds that were sent to me to plant.

Weather for this season was something to contend with. It was a late start for my plants due to a lot of rain early in the spring season while the seeds were beginning to emerge and then mild temperatures causing the seeds to grow slowly without warming temperatures. We also faced a hail storm in the beginning of March and then our July was warm and humid. Essentially, it took the seeds a while to germinate, then it grew slowly when it wasn’t too warm and when it was warm we had extreme weather fluctuations causing more confusion.

CARROTS

Red Surrey carrots were the most consistent grower for me. I had good germination and was ready to harvest in about 90 days. This was in keeping to the season and time when I would grow carrots and have a harvest in Spring. This was a lovely carrot and was evenly sized and shaped. It also had a delicious traditional carrot flavor while raw and cooked.

The Flakkee Long Red Giant carrots were deceptive in name. I didn’t not find them to be too large nor were they any redder than the Red Surrey. The inside of this carrot was nearly an identical orange to the Red Surrey. There was an appearance of a red ring on the outside near the base. Unfortunately, there was a very mild flavor to this carrot and I was fairly disappointed in the flavor as it was just bland than having much carrot flavor.

I was afraid I had failed the Kuttigen Ruebi carrot as my first germination attempt was decimated by grasshoppers and in my second, it may have been too late in the season for it. I did manage to grow three tiny carrots which tasted amazing! I expected them to be bland because of the white color but they had a complex carrot flavor that I felt fortunate I had the opportunity to taste.

CHERRY TOMATOES

The Large Red Cherry Tomato proved to be quite successful. I loved its deep red and firm shape. I even loved the plant as it grew, it just looked different from most tomato plants in that it wasn’t excessively straggly or overgrown but somewhere in between. The taste was delightful, a wonderful find. Unlike most hybrid cherry tomatoes, this one had a deep heirloom flavor and it was not tart. It is now October and the plant is still living and I’m hoping it will last through the winter.

The Little Pink Plums was not as robust but I did manage to try a few tomatoes. It was tart and juicy and had a good oval shape.

Less successful was the Pearly Pink Cherry which barely eked out a couple of tomatoes. The plants did not adjust well to our weather and it had germinated and grown but just petered out after a few inches and somehow, it managed to have a few flowers and provide a few for me to taste. The tomatoes were tart but meaty.

Overall, I really enjoyed the ADAPT Seeds challenge. As a casual gardener, I don’t normally record my findings that closely but being assigned to do so was a good challenge. It also forced me to go beyond describing certain things as “good” and “bad” to describing the characteristics and growing habits.

I did find myself feeling conflicted as my garden is small so I felt that some of my usual rotation of specific tomatoes got “forced” out because of my commitment to this program. But I also planted a few tomatoes on my own that is not within the program and they did poorly. So in some ways, if it wasn’t for the program, I would not have enjoyed the amount of tomatoes that I had.

I also would not have discovered the Large Red Cherry Tomato which is fast becoming one of my favorites. I am also enjoying watching it grow and survive as it seems to be quite happy in our weather even during our 110+ heat wave! And I was completely smitten by the flavor of a white carrot, the Kuttigen Ruebi. It was also fun to see the shared posts through SeedLinked and compare how the same seeds fared in other parts of the country.

Overall, I would encourage everyone to join this program but to have an open mind, conduct some record keeping, and a willingness to share through your posts. It’s also good to not compare your skills or your garden with others but understand that adaptation of heirloom seeds at different environments is part of the reason why this program exists.

If you would like to participate in the ADAPT seed program, they are now taking sign-ups for 2025. You must sign-up in advance and the seed choosing takes place at a later time through e-mail notification: ADAPT 2025