Paging Dr Wyche

But who exactly was Dr Wyche?

Here’s a one-pound Dr Wyche tomato, its slip of a plant start delivered to us by nephew Trevor back in late April.

Brother Chris and I have an ongoing conversation about tomatoes. He likes hefty, BLT-size fruits almost to the exclusion of the smaller varieties. I am happy to have any homegrown tomato, any size, at any time.

It’s been an exceptional growing year here and at Chris’s west of Chicago.

At left above is the NZ Rainbow Giant, seed for which I got at the hardware store in Golden Bay, South Island NZ.

Below, Chris says he’s been picking this much—13 pounds!—every other day. He notes there are five large Dr Wyches on the bottom.

Speaking of Dr Wyche, this description of seed origin raises more questions than it answers…

This heirloom was introduced to Seed Savers Exchange by the late Dr. John Wyche, who was once a co-owner of the Cole Brothers Circus and used the manure of elephants to fertilize his heritage gardens.

Sounds like someone I would have liked to know. Here’s a sliced Dr Wyche from our garden, ready for a BLT.

In August, 2020, before most of us were vaccinated, we wrote from Covid Cafe, and this post on your individual BLT preferences remains one of my favorites. Click here to see it and if you have more to say, let us know in comments.

We investigated the doctor further. His “ornery sense of humor” makes him feel almost like a member of our family.

Dr. John Wyche was a master gardener who lived on the top of a rock mountain near Hugo, Oklahoma. He moved hundreds of tons of rocks to build the walls of twenty-two terraced gardens around his home. The materials to "make" his soil had to be hauled up the mountain: leaves, sawdust, loam, pine needles, and lots of elephant manure. (He used to own Cole Bros. Circus.)

Dr. Wyche was one of the founding members of the Seed Savers Exchange. He sent out thousands of packets of free seeds each year to anyone who would send him postage and never wanted anything in return, except to help other gardeners. His seeds are scattered through this Yearbook, including some of our most valued ones which his people, the Cherokee, brought over the Trail of Tears in 1836.

Dr. Wyche enriched our project not only with his seeds, but also with his friendship. His ornery sense of humor was delightful and he was a wonderful, warm, mailbox friend to many of us.

One last shot of summer beauty from our garden. Thanks to Trev for the Dr Wyche plant start.