by Elizabeth Spence
featuring Carol Walton and Silvana Castillo
Many years ago, I binge-grew some heritage tomatoes from seed. I had so many that I advertised the excess for sale. They included “Tribe’s Tobique,” a tomato discovered in the wild along the banks of the Tobique River in New Brunswick by a man called Fred Tribe
No sooner had I posted the ad, than Carol Walton who lives not too far away dashed to my house.
“Do you really have Tribe’s Tobique?” she asked excitedly.
“Yes,” I answered, “Indeed I do!”
Carol was beaming.
This is what she says today:
When I saw Elizabeth’s ad for “Tribe’s Tobique” tomato plants, my interest was piqued, to say the least. As my eyes glanced over at my own table full of tomato seedlings, I knew I didn’t have room for any more. But – – – a Tobique tomato?
You see, I grew up about three miles from where the Tobique River enters the St. John River in New Brunswick.
I rapidly drove down to Elizabeth’s and she told me that she had discovered that this tomato, probably a garden escape, was found growing in the woods up along the Tobique river by a local man called Fred Tribe. He took a tomato home, saved seeds and over the years passed them along to other gardeners.
Imagine Elizabeth’s surprise when I told her I knew Fred Tribe!
He lived out on the Fort Road in Andover!
When I got home, I sent a little note to my brother, Kip, our family historian, thinking he would get a chuckle out of me growing Fred’s tomatoes. He did!
He wrote back telling me that when Fred set up living in Andover, he bought his first plot of land from our great Aunt Jen Curry. Part of the sale agreement was that Aunt Jen’s cows could go to pasture on Fred’s fields every summer.
Fred was a true steward of the land. He worked it, cared for it, nurtured it to ensure he would be able to make a living to support himself and his family while being respectful of his surroundings. From cutting wood for his sawmill, to growing plants in his greenhouse for us to buy, he contributed to the greater good of mankind.
Fred was also known as the chickadee man. CBC New Brunswick often had him in the spotlight of their human-interest segment with these little birds perched all over as he held out a handful of bird seed.
This year, if you grow “Tribe’s Tobique” tomatoes, remember its humble beginnings and the kind gentle man that was Fred Tribe.
Thank you Carol!
The tomatoes are about 2” and very tasty. Great for fresh eating or canning. It’s a bush tomato but still needs a cage. About 60 days from transplant to harvest.
You can now get “Tribe’s Tobique” tomato seeds at Heritage Harvest Seed.
The second tomato story comes from Silvana Castillo.
Silvana was our first “Gardening Neighbour” (check it out!) and in that article we talked about many things, including the tomato named after her: Silvana’s Gold Cherry Tomato.
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She received the original seeds from an old lady about 30 years ago and has been growing it, open-pollinated, ever since.
She sells her tomato seed through Annapolis Seeds, who describe the fruit as “sweet and intensely flavourful” and suggest that it is even better than “Sungold,” one of the top-rated tomatoes in recent years.
You can buy them here at Annapolis Seeds.
Isn’t it wonderful that we can keep these local tomato varieties going and enjoy them knowing their history? So many people say that they taste much better than any store-bought ones too. And they’re right, aren’t they?
It’s now proper seed starting time in our area, so why not give these two a go? For inspiration on indoor seed starting, have a look at Jennifer’s article on the subject. Don’t forget to tell us how they turned out!
Does anyone else have any tomato stories? Let us know!!
April, 2025