When I met up with him in Richmond to buy the plants it was a little overwhelming - he had so many and he only sells them in $20 lots, which was the equivalent of about five or six plants. He keeps this greenhouse in an area of Richmond that borders between highly industrial and residential. On the way in, you pass by all these abandoned greenhouses on lots that are for sale, as well as a scrapyard with people lined up outside with cars full of aluminum cans.
Steve was very nice, and my daughter, then 2, was intrigued to walk around, but the greenhouse itself was in a state of disarray. Steve was in the middle of moving his plants up to his outdoor growing space, near Davis, I think.
Anyway, I came with a list of the ones I specifically wanted, which I had agonized over after reading descriptions on his Craig's List ad, and also on other heirloom tomato sites. As he hunted for the right strains and couldn't find this one or that one, we got to chatting... and he started throwing in extra plants here and there. He is so zealous about his tomatoes that he kept describing each plant in a way that made it seem even better and more fantastic than the last.
The next thing you know, instead of having 6, maybe 7 plants, tops, I walked out with probably 15! You can see Steve's full cultivar list here. I hope he updates his site sometime to include his fantastic descriptions.
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