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Originally Posted January 16th 2011

1/25/2011

6 Comments

 

Sasha

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I know this guy in Siberia.  Well, I wish I knew him – I feel like I know him.  He grows tomatoes and so do I.  In fact, I grow his tomato – a beaut called “Sasha’s Altai”.  A luscious tomato with exactly the right amount of juice and meat and flavor.

I hit a milestone as a gardener recently, I planted my first saved Sasha seeds – saved from my own garden at 8,120 ft.  Sasha lives in the mountains too – mountains that look much like the Rockies – and even colder.  He developed this big, juicy tomato after saving the seeds for many years.

I know I will cry when I see germination – I almost did when I planted them but I was too busy giggling at how many seeds I had in my ‘seed cake’ – (the dry seed caked together), and I only planted a few really early ones – hoping to adapt them to the cool winter greenhouse for an even tougher Sasha.

I am connected to this person – I grow his tomato – it’s personal.  I love his tomato.  What if I could meet him someday?  What if I could talk tomato talk with him?  I’m starved for a serious tomato freak to really get down and dirty with me.  Sasha is somewhere in the Altai Mountains in Siberia – perhaps not even knowing his tomato became one of the best tasting tomatoes in the world – winning taste tests far and wide.  I am in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado – thinking about Sasha and those delicious tomatoes we ate for months this year.

To read an amazing story of tomato love go to the Seeds Trust website and read the story of Sasha – and fall in love.  I dare you not to.

Mountain gardeners- Sasha’s big, red tomato is so early – and so good and he’s done all the work for us by adapting this tomato to high cold conditions and sharing it with the world.

We are all family in the tomato garden – fascinating fruits they are.  I’m friends with a guy I’ve never met in Siberia – all over a tomato – not just any tomato - but I still thank Sasha every time I bite into that glorious juice.

Next year I will seriously grow him for seed and spread it far and wide.  I happen to have a Peep or two who might be interested in some as well as my mountain gardener friends.

Here’s to you Sasha – who knows – one day perhaps we’ll meet, on your mountain or mine,  I’ll try not to cry when I do – just laugh instead and talk tomato talk.


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Saved Tomato Seed in Coffee Filters
6 Comments
cate link
3/26/2011 12:49:34 am

I had to smile at your coffee filter tomato seed "packets" - I do the exact same thing and even have some of the same varieties you do! The silver fir are a favorite of mine for the foliage. I had some of my best crops from purple cherokee and mortgage lifter.

Cate
http://emergencyfoodsecurity.myefoods.com/

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Angelo link
5/31/2012 09:12:07 am

good one post bro

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Alexis Hernandez link
6/22/2012 10:23:44 pm

First time reading this blog, just wanted to say hi.

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Mohammed link
7/12/2012 02:21:19 pm

will come back before long

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Melissa
5/12/2014 08:31:21 am

If you don't already know the story of Sasha's Altai tomato, here it is from the man who received the seeds from Sasha.

The Story of Sasha's Altai Tomato
By Bill McDorman

In August, 1989, I was in Irkutsk, Siberia looking for seeds, especially tomato seeds. Hank Bernbaum, our translator introduced us to a dear Siberian friend of his, Sasha. With bright face and kind eyes, Sasha proclaimed he knew where to find seeds to the best tomato in all of Siberia. He asked us if we wanted some seeds. He told us he was more than happy to go get some for us.

Three days later we were preparing to leave Irkutsk by airplane. I asked Hank about Sasha, about the tomato seeds. Hank replied: “Sasha didn't explain something to you. He lives 35 kilometers by foot in the Altai Mountains. After he promised you the seeds he walked home which probably took him all day. My guess is he rested yesterday and will walk back to Irkutsk today. Let's see. An 8 hour walk. He should be here any time now.”

Sure enough, Sasha's bright face emerged from the crowd wishing us good-bye. He carefully handed a small wrapped newspaper package containing the seeds for his treasure. We named the tomato “Sasha's Altai” and offered it to the western world for the first time in our 1990 catalog. It has been one our of best selling tomatoes every year.

Sasha's Altai was selected by Organic Garden Magazine as one of the 10 best early tomatoes in the world. Other seed companies now offer the original Sasha's Altai under various names including Sasha's Pride. Thanks to Sasha, thousands of North American gardeners now have the opportunity to experience the earliness and award-winning flavor of the remarkable tomato.

In September, 1993 while walking home at night after visiting Hank in Irkutsk, Sasha was severely beaten and robbed. After numerous surgeries to save a badly damaged pancreas, Sasha remained weak for the next 2 years. We responded in 1995 with a story about Sasha in our catalog. Hundreds of American gardeners sent money to help Sasha with medical bills and personal needs. Organic Gardening Magazine picked up the story and spread it to more than a million gardeners. In November 1995 we were happy to report that we were able to send Sasha more than 1,000,000 rubles, enough to care for his family for more than a year. The last we heard, Sasha was up and working and living a somewhat normal life. Our dream is to return to Irkutsk someday to let Sasha know how famous he really is.

About a year later, we received an email order for Sasha's Altai Tomatoes from Tanzania, Africa. The kind gentleman ordering the seeds emailed us a copy of an ad he had seen, apparently from a company in Australia. The ad was selling “The World's Best Tomato” - Sasha's Altai for $5.00 USD per seed!

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    Penn Parmenter is a high altitude gardener, seedswoman and student of the earth.  She is married to Cord Parmenter - an awesome gardener, gorgeous man and a master blacksmith. Together they own and run a sustainable greenhouse design company, Smart Greenhouses LLC and Penn grows seed for her seed business, Miss Penn's Mountain Seeds.  She is a mother of three sons and an outdoorswoman.  Penn forages wild food, hunts big game, fishes, preserves, maintains a huge organic forest garden and occasionally makes dinner.  At home you can find her in her greenhouses as well as in the wilderness - nose to the ground, butt in the air, trying to identify Colorado natives.    

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