Exciting news

Tom Wagner

Tom Wagner, legendry potato and tomato breeder is coming to Ireland, not just Ireland but to Brown Envelope Seeds. Tom has been plant breeding since he was 8 years old and has many well know varieties to his name. His visit to Europe was organised by Dominique Guillet of Kokopelli First he is touring mainland Europe where he will give four two-day workshops before coming to Ireland. If you are interested in attending the workshop here, please let me know.

.Some of Tom's potatoes

Here is a quote from his blog, about himself:

'In my attempt to create new types of potatoes, I stumble upon crosses that I make that stir my imagination in many ways. When I dug my variety that I call NAVAMEY, I was impressed with the vine and the natural production of many potato berries that are likely selfed with an occasional out cross. The potato vine is a breeder’s dream, a round russet with yellow flesh with just the right size plant, maturity, and yield.

Looking at the cross extracted today between NAVAMEY and LUMPER, I was struck by the memory of the pedigree background coming full circle; namely the Irish connection. Since the weather here in the PNW is much like where my grandfather Joe Kaighin lived until he was 21 near the Irish Sea on the Isle of Man, I was hoping to get some more germplasm that would complement my endeavor of keeping his potato growing spirit alive.

The LUMPER did very well this year in one or more patches; good yields and good flavors. Since I am the only one doing breeding work with this two hundred year old potato variety, the progeny of my breeding work may some day be released to the public.

The LUMPER is uniquely suited to organic production and does well in a broad range of soil types. Breeding away from its Irish Famine history of Late Blight susceptibility, I hope I can re-acquaint people with better selections of this heritage potato!'