What are you growing in 2012

What are you planning to plant in 2012? Been pouring over the catalogs and web sites for new varieties to try.
Need to grow out about 1000 plants for our Master Gardener sale and about 20 for my own use.

Need some suggestions for OP peppers to try.

I'm going to try Amish Paste tomatoes next summer

http://rareseeds.com/vegetables-p-z/tomatoes/red/amish-paste.html

I might also try these current type called Tess's Land Race

http://rareseeds.com/vegetables-p-z/tomatoes/red/tess-s-land-race-currant.htm

2012 will be for growing out and attempting to stabilize the F3 generation of the Dr. Wyche's Yellow x German Red Strawberry cross I did in 2009. I selected three strains of last season's unstable F2 generation to pursue, based on flavor and other good qualities.

#1 - A large, late, pink heart with excellent, balanced tomato flavor. The characteristics of this one are very, uh, heart-like, including wispy foliage on the plant. Unlike either grandparent variety, though, it's pink. This F2 plant seemed much more productive than the grandparent GRS, we'll see.

#3 - A large, late, gold semi-heart on a plant with very thick RL foliage. This may actually be an "orange" tomato, as the flavor is very good when they're fully ripe but tart when they're still yellowish.

#4 - A large, late, oblate pink tomato on a plant with thick RL foliage. The flavor of this one was really, really good - and I'm hoping that will carry on and stabilize in later generations.

Other than isolated rows of those three, I'll grow a few plants of some "mainstream" varieties I like for earlier eating and production. Those will be Big Beef and Steak Sandwich for sure, and maybe Mortgage Lifter.

What am I growing for 2012 asks Paul. Paul, I'm growing older, that's what I'm doing. LOL

Honey, while Amish Paste is spoken of as a paste it isn't a paste variety at all. Too juicy, too many seeds. Many times a variety is called a paste just b'c of the shape.

Lillian's Kansas Paste is another one that's not a paste.

But there are loads of great paste varieties out there if that's what you want for sauces, etc. As for me and my friends, that's tomato friends, we prefer to use great tasting larger varieties and just cook down the sauce a bit more to the right consistency. Most paste varieties are not known for superb taste and many of the are quite susceptible to BER ( blosso end rot) as well as suceptible to A. Solani ( Early Blight), which can appear early or late in the season as can P. infestans (late blight), but the latter is almost always lethal.

Just curious, but why the currant variety?. Don't get me wrong, there's one I do like. I guess maybe I was seeing it below Amish Paste and, well, just wondered. LOL Very time consuming to harvest from currant varieties so I just pick the whole stems with attached fruits, and don't plant currants near any non-currant varieties, as a precaution

Carolyn.

Carolyn, thanks for the heads-up regarding Amish Paste. From it's description I thought it would be a good one.

I make a LOT of tomato sauce each summer and freeze it. My hubby eats chili about three times a week that I make it from scratch.

Which tomato would you recommend for making a nice thick sauce? I don't boil down mine as I think the long cooking destroys nutrients. I just strain the pulp and we drink the juice separately.

As to the current variety... My neighbor said she likes tiny sweet tomatoes, so I thought I would grow some of these for her. My past experience with cherry tomatoes is that they produce huge, unmanageable plants covered with tomatoes that split at the slightest provocation!

Has anyone grown Kimberly (indeterminate) or Legend (determinate) before? Could you give a follow-up report, please?

Thanks!

Yes, I've grown both Kimberly and Legend.

Kimberly was bred in Canada, could give you all the specs but you can also find that at Tania's site as well, and is a small red that one might compare with Bloddy Butcher, Matina and Stupice. it's early and the taste isn't that great, IMO, but it is early.

legend was bred by Dr, James Bagget of Oregon Statee, now retired, and was bred for the PNW for late Blight ( P, infestans) tolerance. Again, not that great a taste, IMO and it was bred so many years ago that there are now varieties out there that have genes for greater LB tolerance and those who grew it initially didn't see that much tolerance anyway. I have tomato friends who live near Houston and some in Bastrop and I've never heard them say that their plants have had Late Blight.

Are you looking for early, usually det varieties? I ask b'c if you grow two crops a year the Spring crop in your gardening zone should be mostly mid and late season varieties while the Fall crop should be mostly early and midseason varieties.

Carolyn

Honey, gym girl said I had to answer her first even though you asked your question first, so here we go.LOL Being the good teacher I once was I know how to follow directions gym girl ( wink)

I can't name one variety but I'd like you to consider the following:

First, almost any heart variety b'c the flesh is dense with few seeds and tastes far greater than any paste variety I know. if you haven't grown hearts I can name a few for you.

For pastes, real paste varieties, if that's what you really want to use:

Heidi
Mama Leone
Opalka
Martino's Roma

... And I won't list more so as to make decison making more difficult. If you aren't familiar with any of those go to Google and enter Tatiana's Tomato Base and then scroll down to where it says searching by the alphabet and go to the page for the varieties above and see what others have to say, look at some pictures and scroll down to find seed sources.

You can also search by tomato type so on the first page you can also click on paste types and look that way. But when I know the name of a variety I use the alphabetical way.

Carolyn

Give our teacher an "A+" for following directions!

Hey Carolyn (and only YOU know what that address does to me...), thanks for the comeback.

I went to TGS to peruse some fresh tomato seeds for the next crop. I've settled on seven, some old one's I like, and some new to me. My old standby in the mix is EVA PURPLE BALL.

MID-Seasons: I grew MOMOTAROS and SIOUX (not Super Sioux) for the 1st time this year and fell in love with the Momo flavor (totally sweet, and just a beautiful fruit!), and was truly impressed with Sioux's production in our severe drought. I'm also trying RUSSIAN ROSE because it was described as a beautiful plant, and it would enhance my edible landscape design.

LATE Season: MULE TEAM and PERFECT PURPLE are both new to me. I chose MT because the description says it'll produce up until the frost, which means if I can keep it alive thru the summer, it'll keep on going. Or, I'll just start some new for next fall.

I'm trying Perfect Purple for potential as a meaty, hamburger slicer;

I'm trying to become a more efficient gardener, making the best use of the small space I have available and my long growing season potential. I keep reading that I can grow year-round in Houston!

With that said, I figure I should grow early-, mid-, and late-season tomatoes for the overlap, and not put all the late-season tomatoes in one basket. I've never grown an early tomato, and Kimberly looked interesting as a little salad tomato. I don't know why, but, I'm not fond of cherry tomatoes, and Kimberly is slightly larger than a cherry @ 1-2oz.

Please weigh in on my list for redundancies I'm not aware of. Just an FYI, I prefer sweeter, tomato taste. Some tang is ok, but too much acid sets off an allergy.

Thanks!

Linda

Carolyn, thanks for your reply. If you could name some heart types that have few seeds and thick flesh, that would be great! I'm looking for sauce that has less juice and more meat - the taste doesn't matter too much, my hubby adds lots of spices to his chili, so the original tomato flavor is lost anyway.

I'm going to be using up all the tomato seed I had left over from last year. We really got hit with the drought and high temps along with wind in my neck of the woods. Between that and the broken fingers I decided not to do a second crop last year. So I have extra for this year!

Only a few new choices for me this year. I am wanting to try Sophy's Choice and some of the heart or strawberry shaped tomatoes (haven't decided which) so I will buy some seed. Also, I saw in the Southern Exposure Seeds catalog a tomato named Good Neighbor and on the next page I saw Long Tom. I thought I might grow, for my own personal entertainment, a row themed on one of my favorite Britcoms from my teens years--Good Neighbors. I already have Margo. I just need to find a tomato with Barbara in the name and one with Jerry in the name and I'll be all set. Maybe Lenin for the rooster. Yes......I do tend to do goofy things like themed beds for my own amusement. I also laugh at corny jokes and puns....

Thanks for the suggestion, Russ.

Terri_emory,
I believe that people who can genuinely laugh with and AT themselves, are the most well-adjusted folks on the planet. It also shows a real comfort level with and awareness of our "selves!"

Hugs!

This message was edited Dec 16, 2011 11:05 AM

=+)

Honey, I've grown lots and lots of heart varieties b'c they're one of my favoite types to grow and that b'c of the exceptional aste that they have compared to many other varieties.

Here's a few that I know are eslit found and you can do so by accssing the pages for them at Tania's data base if you don't know seed sources ASAP:

Pinks

Kosovo
Anna Russian
Nicky Crain
Anna Maria's Heart

Reds

German Red Strawberry
Wes
Danko
Russian 117
Linnie's Oxheart
Indiana Red

I didn't list any other colors, there is a white and a black and several yellow orange ones b/c I think it's best to stick with the pinks and reds for now. I can prioritize them if you want me to do so.

Carolyn

Carolyn - thank you for the list of heart tomatoes. I'll look up their descriptions and choose one or two for next summer.

Im going to try a bunch of the Dwarfs (tomatos) this year. Might even do them in containers just as a comparison.

1lisac - about 3 summers ago I tried "Patio Princess". It grew extremely well in different sized pots, with lots of tasteless fruit! YMMD

Honey, I hope I dont have that experience. : (. These are from the Tomatoville project and Ive gotten a bunch of traded seeds and a few commercial. Im not sure if they are the same as the one you mentioned.

I will be growing 51 varieties as it stands now. One of each except
for 3 each of:
Sudduth
Kosovo
Marianna's Peace
Green Cherokee and (drum roll, please for the new entry onto my
must have list)
MOMOTARO!!

Oops, forgot the cherries multiples. 2 each of Sungold f1, black
cherry and Green Doctors.

A number of the 51 are 2nd chancers (ala Carolyn), so they need
to shape up or they are gone, gone,gone.

Goldrusher,
You will LOVE the Momotaro!

PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE post back after you try it so we can compare notes, ok?

Linda

No, Patio Princess is not one of the varieties from the Tomatoville Dwarf Project.

Lisa, in your above post if you were referring to the Dwarf Project varieties offered this past Spring or the absolutely new ones recently also offered commercially, I'd trust the ones you bought commercially, but not necessarily the ones you traded for.

And why do I say that? Because it's become quite clear that some who were working with growouts for the Dwarf Project shared seeds with others, of ones not yet stable, when they knew darn well they weren't supposed to.

So Patrina, the SH Coordinator in Australia recently put up a thread at Tville which participants have to agree with, and one of those is NO sharing of seeds with non Dwarf Project participants

If everything turns out fine, though, then that would be great,

Carolyn

Thanks Carolyn, after going through the seeds again I noticed that most, if not all, are from a company just shared by the individual. On most of them it says the commercial source. I got so excited over a bunch of very expensive/rare pepper seeds I didn't pay close attention. I just saw Dwarf ( that was on my want list) and well lost my concentration. I also share commercial seeds because I don't have the patience to save them. Didn't really have the tomatoes this year. Lol thank you for the warning, I will pay close attention to those that may not be commercial and make sure they don't get passed on.

I've got 108 4" seedling pots in trays on the light stand, and, I've placed my new seed order.

Let the sowing begin! I plan to begin sowing seeds on New Year's Weekend.

This message was edited Dec 20, 2011 2:48 PM

And, I just got another package from Santa! Can you guess what it's for?

Ok. Here's another picture with a little clue...the compartments will NOT house nuts and bolts!

This message was edited Dec 20, 2011 4:14 PM

SEEDS!

DING, DING, DING, DING!!!!!!

AND, WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!

I got these on sale at the Harbor Freight year-end close out for $4.99/per. Each has 24 compartments, so I can label them and store the seeds far more easily. And, I can group them by seasons!!!!!

And, I can stack them NEATLY!

And my prize is----?

Just happened on this forum. Does anyone know a source for Texas Big Boys or Beefstake tomatoes. Years ago we grew them and loved them. Don't know if they would grow in Fl. heat but would like to try them here.
Thanks for any assistance.
Bonnie

Whirled Peas?

Waiting to see what friends want first from the list I gave them of what's available. My preliminary list. Will change it if someone else chooses one of these:

African Togo
Belize Pink Heart
Black Cherry
Carbon
Earl's Faux
Early Annie
Hillbilly
Lime Green Salad
Marianna's Peace
Persimmon
Principe Borghese
San Marzano
Stump of The World
Sungold F1
Tasmanian Chocolate
Viva Lindsey's Kentucky Heirloom.

I plan on starting seed on the 1st, so this isn't a for sure list yet. The only two that are a 100% thing for me this year are the Belize and Early Annie. Early Annie has been awesome for me in the past.

I know there are some in my area that are looking to plant out really early. I'm starting an order that will give me some plants to experiment with in the middle of Feb. However, I would feel foolish ( even if I can protect them) planting in ground when the temps are in the high 20s low 30s. These plants are headed down south.

I did look at my Texas regions map and for some reason in the spring I'm on the border of zone II zone III. Dallas and Austin are a solid Zone III Houston is on the border of Zone III and Zone IV.

What would be the lowest temp that you would plant out in?

1lisac,
I was advised that tomato plants are good down to 45 degrees. I'll go with that recommendation, while covering the hoop with plastic and probably light frost cover. If I get a hard freeze below 28 or thereabouts, I'll string some lights underneath the hoop.

Linda

I had my plants out in the garden March 1 Linda and the cold didn't hurt the plants but did not set any bottom fruit. I attribute that to the cold.

I stick to what has worked for me and do very little experimenting. Fourteen of my tomatoes will be Amelia. They have produced really good and taste good. I picked over 700 off 12 plants last summer. I weighed ten of average size and they weighed seven pounds. I will also plant six Top Gun. They are a decent tasting tomato but fruit is not to large. I will plant them because they come off a lot later than the Amelia. I'm going to try a few of a new variety just out but can't remember the name.

Bonniegardens, I'm not quite awake yet this morning. But a research project still caught my eye. Follow the link for Big Boy tomato: http://www.willhiteseed.com/search.php?pg=1&stext=big+boy&sprice=&stype=&scat=. These aren't Texas Big Boy, but they are Big Boy from Texas.

I could not find Beefstake, but here is a tomato called Beefsteak: http://www.tomatogrowers.com/BEEFSTEAK/productinfo/5720/.

I know this is not exactly what you are looking for, but it might get you started and I'm sure others on this forum can find the exact tomato, Texas Big Boy. The photo of the Beefsteak tomato just looks luscious, doesn't it? Tomatoes are a fairly new obsession of mine and you can learn soooo much from this forum. I hope you find the exact tomato you are looking for. And if not I hope you find something even better!

Brother Jim,
Have you tried the Momotaro? It is a fantastic tasting tomato, and beautiful to boot! Also, the Sioux I grew last season continued to produce fruit in the middle of our draught, and probably would still be if I hadn't just ripped it!

Amazing production in the heat of summer!

1lisac -