Artisan Seeds

05/31/2024

🌱 Important Announcement 🌱

Artisan Seeds is now Bene Seeds. Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates.

Letter from the Bene Seeds Leadership:

More than twenty years ago, Dr. Fred Hempel, a trained plant biologist and food enthusiast, left his stable corporate job to develop the perfect tomato. With support from friends and fellow enthusiasts, Fred gathered old heirloom varieties and meticulously intercrossed them to create the "Artisan" lines, sold under the "Artisan Seeds" brand. These were further refined into elite hybrids tested by chefs, gardeners, and high-end grocery stores.

In 2022, Fred expanded his reach by founding Bene Seeds with friends and family, securing funds from an angel investor for stability and team growth. Tragically, Fred passed away on October 31, 2023. Despite this loss, we are committed to honoring his legacy and continuing his quest for the perfect tomato using the exceptional germplasm he created.

Visit us at beneseeds.com

Oliver, Christian, and Omer
Bene Seeds Leadership and Fred's Longtime Friends

Please follow Bene Seeds on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated on our progress. 🌿🍅

09/20/2023

Alex Barkley, the chef at Botanica in LA, shares his luscious Tomato Tonnato, perfect for peak heirloom tomato season and the last great tomatoes of summer.

09/03/2023

Artisan Seeds is growing.

I have formed a corporation with some key collaborators to speed the breeding and grow the breeding/seed business.

So we can give some of these cherry tomatoes names and release them. So we can really push our "commercial heirloom" (Benevento) program.

Interested in participating? Visit the .bee.farm blog. Link in .bee.farm profile.

08/31/2023

An old fashioned radio interview about Benevento in So Cal

https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/good-food/salmon-threat-tandoor-grilling-etymology-of-food-words/farmers-market-benevento-tomatoes-birdie-gs

08/31/2023

https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/good-food/salmon-threat-tandoor-grilling-etymology-of-food-words/farmers-market-benevento-tomatoes-birdie-gs

Chef Matthew Schaler at Birdie G’s celebrates tomato season with a sandwich layering the nightshade in every component.

08/15/2023

Benevento Marmo parent.

It took 15 years and multiple crosses to construct it. And lots of careful field selections, in California, Ohio and Mexico.

Will we release it as an OP? NO

Is all genetic information from the line freely available? YES

One copy of everything in Benevento Marmo.

08/15/2023

Benevento Marmo (Marbled Benevento)

At the Produce Market

Variety launch at Artisan Seeds later this month.

06/17/2023

Availability of Artisan Seeds varieties at Green Bee Farm summer 2023

Availability of Benevento and other Artisan Seeds tomato varieties this summer Benevento -- our featured beefsteak slicing tomato Eataly Sil...

06/09/2023

Benevento in the hands of Chris Bianco

03/15/2023

Curry Grape.

Our grape-cherry hybrid that shades toward "grape"

This plant growing in a garden in the Czech Republic. The yellow stripes disappear with ripening as the.fuits are golden orange.

Very vigorous, productive and disease tolerant. Fruits firm with a long shelf life.

03/12/2023

Messaging is now turned on for this page. Please contact us here for information about our tomato varieties, bulk seed sales and Artisan Seeds related events at Green Bee Farm.

03/08/2023

Podcast link: https://growing-for-market-magazine-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/fred-hempel-of-artisan-seeds-on-breeding-veg-varieties-for-market-farmers

In today’s episode, hear how Fred Hempel of Artisan Seeds’ .seeds background in plant botany led him to strike out on his own as an independent vegetable breeder. For almost twenty years, Fred has used his own farm, Green Bee Farm .bee.farm in Sunol, California, to both support his breeding work and act as a proving ground for it. By selling to chefs and wholesalers in the Bay Area, he has been able to get feedback from some of the most demanding customers anywhere on his varieties, and has used those suggestions to move his breeding work forward.

We talk about breeding the Artisan line of striped, elongated cherry tomatoes that many growers may be familiar with, why most breeders need the support and infrastructure of a larger company, and why he doesn’t recommend others try to follow in his footsteps as an independent breeder. We talk about how breeding high-flavor varieties suited for market farmers can coexist with traits like disease resistance and shelf life. Link to full podcast episode in profile.

In Shop Talk with Neversink Farm we chat about new tools, old tools, how they can benefit your farm and tips to use them successfully with Conor Crickmore of Neversink Tools, which manufactures tools for farmers. In this episode of Shop Talk, we discuss how to choose between the different types of nursery trays. We talk about the pros and cons of different options, from soil blocks to Winstrip trays and everything in between, and which crops to propagate in which trays.

Thanks to Neversink Farm, our collaborator on this podcast. They make it free to everyone with their generous support. For tools designed and made by farmers, check out