Pennyrile, yes I have had slow to sprout seeds later sprout when I planted something else in the potting soil, but it is usually easy to tell which seedling was the slow starter because it will come up in a different place then where I planted the new seed. I always dump the potting soil I am going to reuse in a big bin I use to store it and mix it up so usually the seed will be buried really deep when I reuse it. I have even had slow to sprout seeds finally sprout after I transplanted the new seedling out into the garden. Your comment about packed for 2009 brings to mind a question. Was that seed actually produced in 2008 for sale in 2009 or is it old seed from previous years that was tested and repacked? The reason I ask is I asked Armstrong if they had any year old seed they were selling at a discount and they said no, they send all unsold seed back to the vendor. But what does the vendor do with it? Do they throw it away, or test it for germination rate, put it in a new package, and resell it, or maybe sell it to cut rate seed companies, or mix it with some fresh seed and resell it, or what?

I'll check out the Vent Marin site... ***** Trust me catman, you can't ID a variety for sure from a picture and description at any site and that includes Ventmarin, b'c there are other sites. Once a variety gets seperated from its name there's no way back. At this point I think the best way to go is to contact your seed source and explain the problem, send some pictures and ask for advice. That's the only way you're going have a chance of IDing what you have. I did check the 2009 SSE Yearbook for an orange colored High Country and there was no listing. When I Googled it there were two places selling seed for it and I've linked below to the one that had a picture. I sure wouldn't let an oz or so deter me from considering that you might have received High Country seeds. And yields for the same variety grown in different places sure can vary. Again, I think contacting your seed source is the best way to go. ( smile) Carolyn Here is a link that might be useful: High Country picture

I will be starting my tomato seeds inside in about a week. I use a card table in a southern window. I have to be careful because Zackey, my cat, ate some of the leaves a few years ago. They are poisonous to kitties. I have more tomato seed varieties than I have a place to grow them. I'm starting just a few of the following: Golden Jubilee--our all time favorite Large red cherry from a GW trade (no name was given) and the following that I will be seeding for the first time Jet Star Hybrid Pomodora Roma Nano Wayahead Amish Paste Boxcar Willie

No, actually I said some are red, some are gold. I totally take your point about the instability of hybrids. I hadn't really thought about that factor. And you are quite right about dominant genes recurring in reiterations of a plant. (Embarrassing that I hadn't remembered the simple Mendelian factor of dominant vs. recessive genes that I learned in freshman zoology.) That said, about half of my seedlings produced yellow, and half red. If I were to run a proper experiment, of course, I would plant an entire field with my collected SunGold seeds. And then, in that imaginary scenario, I would select out the yellows that reappeared, year after year. And I suppose, about 40 years on, I might even find SunGold seeds that actually broke out of the hybridized prison, and became true to type every time. I also totally agree with your points about sloppy plant taxonomy, a problem we all encounter every time we purchase a plant that has highly variable forms, depending on where you buy it, who grew it, and so forth. Bottom line is that my SunGolds, or "SunGolds," all taste the same. A blind tasting proves this. The gene that seems to be dominant/recessive is evidently the gene that governs color, rather than flavor or fruit size. But I'm not a geneticist, so for me this is all speculation. And the bottom-bottom line, I guess, is that these are wonderful-tasting tomatoes. If I were putting them on the market (as I am not) I could not legally call them SunGolds. But you know what? At home...we call them SunGolds.