Does anyone grow the Wild Boar Farms Tomato intros?

I found Wild Boar Farms website. Actually stumbled upon it-

http://wildboarfarms.com/index.html

They sell seeds of thier own introductions. Wow, I am really taken by these. Beautiful and unusual tomatoes. Oh, did I mention they are beautiful ? LOL There are quite afew of them that I can just see growing in my garden.

Would like to read feedback of anyone growing any of Brads tomatoes.

Beautiful yes, and I've kidded Brad that he must get so much crossing b'c his fields are under a power line. LOL

A lot of folks I know at two other message sites grow them but opinions are all over the lot as to taste.

THe only one I've grown is Brad's Black Heart, which was from a field of Black Krim plants and I wanted to grow it b'c at the time there were no other black hearts.

Speaking just for myself, I won't be growing any other of Brad's varieties

Carolyn.

Last summer I grew 5 of his varieties. We had a very wet summer so tomatoes in general did not taste the way they should due to getting actually "waterlogged". but here are results I experienced.
I grew:
Berkeley Tie Dye
Berkeley Tie Dye Heart
Berkeley Tie Dye Pink
Black and Red Boar
Brad's Black Heart

The best was Brad's Black Heart - also unanimously my best black next to Black Seaman according to my tomato tasting group so I am growing that again but none have ripened so far.
The Black and Red Boar did so poorly as a plant that the couple of tomatoes I got were not memorable and I am not growing them this year.
Of the Tie Dye group most people preferred the Tie Dye Heart. The other two were OK but not great. To be fair I need to grow them again in better conditions if we ever get them here again! They were all beautiful and are worth trying. It is just amazing how differently tomato varieties can perform from one year to the other so these do need another fair shake. Do try them!

Carolyn, thank you for answering. I am really surpised about the lack of flavor because those descriptions are really into lots of flavor.

gardador- Exactly what I was looking for. Feedback from gardeners growing these varieties. Thank you. Out of your list I was thinking of maybe trying Pink Berkeley Tie Dye . I also am taken by the pictures and descriptions on the site of BLACK AND BROWN BOAR, RED BOAR, PINK BOAR and SWEET CARNEROS PINK.

Rita, I'd like to clarify why I said above that I won't be growing any more of Brad's varieties.

I have many tomato friends and over the many years, some I've known for over 20 years, have the same tastebuds that I do, so when they say they don't like the taste of this variety or that one, I don't bother with it. And it's the same in reverse in terms of my sending varieties to others and also to a certain degree which commercial seed sites I send varieties to for trial/ And the places I send varieties for trial are those where I've known the owners for quite a few years and trust their sites and of course them.

A second reason is b'c since Dec of 2004 when I fell and severed all four quads in my right leg and did so b'c I knew I needed two hip replacements, but the fall occurred before the hip replacements So since Dec of 2004 I've had to use a walker.

The summer of 2004 was the last time I grew my several hundreds of plants and varieties.

So I decided to concentrate on finding varieties that would be new to almost everyone and have SSE listed them and also offered them in my annual seed offer at Tville.

A good friend, Craig LeHoullier, who was the person who named Cherokee Purple, raises my plants for me in Raleigh and sends them up here except for last year when he and his wife delivered them in person.

And there are three others who do seed production for me, bless them.

Freda is the person who cleans for me and does all the gardening here and that includes the 40 plants in the backyard in grow bags and containers. But this year, for many reasons, has been a disaster with my plants and Freda was out there this AM taking of diseased leaves b'c tomorrow two men are diving to my home to interview me.

So I have no room for any varieties other than the new ones I just mentioned. From time to time I'll ask Craig to start a Sungold F1 for me, or a JEt Star F1, or possibly Black Cherry or Green Zebra Cherry or Green Doctors ( cherry); I like the cherries for snacking.

My tomatoes are so bad this year that I doubt I'll get ANY ripe ones before first killing cross. And all that I grow here I do so b'c I want to record all the traits of each variety and make up my mind about taste as well since I'll be sharing seeds with others.

For 2013 I'm deleting almost ALL of my SSE listings and that's a first.

Finally, the only way that anyone will know if they like a variety is to grow it. And I'm lucky in that regard since quite a few tomato friends of mine have the same opinions about varieties as I do as I mentioned above.

So I keep going, for how much longer I don't know, b'c it's a burden on others to help me out, but to date I've grown about 3,000 varieties and I just have this passion for especially heirloom varieties and don't want to stop unless others say they no longer can help me, which hasn't yet happened. And yes, in June I was also 73.

So grow what you want to and make up your own mind about varieties b'c there are so many variables that go into variety perfomance and taste, such as seed sources, soil, how the plants are grown, amendments used and if so which ones and how often, and always the weather in any one season.

Carolyn

Thank you Carolyn. I do know that you have grown thousands over the years and do not need to experiment much at this stage to find what you like. And I also know that taste is very subjective. But if 90 out of 100 people say something tastes bad I figgure I will not like it either. But if 90 out of 100 people say something tastes great I have learned that doesn't necessarily mean I will like it.

I have been eating BIG BOY, BETTER BOY and BEEFMASTER tomatoes from my garden because those are the ones I like best. I give the CHEROKEE PURPLES away because I can't eat all the tomatoes (have too many) and honestly like the others much better. And Cherokee Purple is a tried and true variety that everyone likes. Not that I don't like it but like the others much better! :-((

I have never been a great fan of most heirlooms I tried. Didn't much like the VERY few Brandywines I tasted. So who knows what my I guess not very refined as to tomatoes taste would like better.

I grew 11 Brad Gates varieties this year. Unfortunately, family illness has kept me from being able to taste them, as they are grown on a farm 150 miles from here and I have been unable to be there since the fruit started ripening. I will say that I did try the following varieties and rate them very highly. Beauty Queen was tasty, and extremely pretty both whole and sliced.
Sweet Carneros Pink is salad sized, very prolific, and beautiful pink/gold stripe. Very good flavor.
Blonde Boar is the best "white" variety I have ever tasted, not at all bland. Again this is salad type tomato and plentiful.
Pink Berkeley Tie Dye was oh so pretty and I thought good tasting. Brads Black Heart also a winner in my book.
I was told that Trentons Tiger was very pretty but on the dry side. The varieties I grew but haven't tasted are Beauty King, Black and Brown Boar, Large Barred Boar, Micheal Pollan, Pink Boar, Red Boar, and Solar Flare. I may be able to assess those later.
I have grown these varieties because of my fondness of Green Zebra and because I want tomatoes that look beautiful as well as taste great.
Everyone has their own taste buds, for sure. I have grown Beefmaster and, for me, it couldn't compare to the flavor of many of the heirlooms I have grown. They are pretty, though.

nancy, wow, 11 varieties, that sounds great! Only a shame that you have not been able to get to taste them all. I hope you are able to get to at least try them all.

I was thinking of maybe trying about four varieties as I don't have unlimited space. None of the "furry" ones appeal to me. Can't quite get my head around the idea of a tomato with peach fuzz! Also ruling out the yellow or green tomatoes. Not really my colors. So have been looking at some of the others there. I really CAN"T get over how pretty those tomatoes look. Of course, that is not much good if they don't have flavor. But sounds like you liked all that you tried.

Thank you for your review, I think it really helps and I enjoyed reading it.

Oh, by the way, I have never tried Green Zebra.

Rita,
Whatever varieties you choose for 2013 I hope you will report on your results as you are choosing mostly ones I have not tried yet!

I will deffinately report back on what I think about any I try.

I have been eating BIG BOY, BETTER BOY and BEEFMASTER tomatoes from my garden because those are the ones I like best. I give the CHEROKEE PURPLES away because I can't eat all the tomatoes (have too many) and honestly like the others much better. And Cherokee Purple is a tried and true variety that everyone likes. Not that I don't like it but like the others much better! :-((

*******

And it might interest you to know that Big Boy F1 and Better Boy F1 have a common parent which is an heirloom variety from the Midwest called Teddy Jones.

And some day you might want to look into the great varieties that Keith Mueller bred such as Dora, Liz Birt, Bear Creek, etc., and also Purple Haze, an F1, and most folks I know love those as well. As I recall Cherokee Purple was part of the parentage of all of them, and I could check that out by looking at Keith's wonderful website. LEt me try to find it right now.

http://www.kdcomm.net/~tomato/

On the Home page click where it says autism to see the varieties I just mentioned.

His site is a treasurehouse of information, that I can tell you.

Carolyn

Big Boy is the tomato I grew up with as these were the tomatoes my mother grew when I was a kid. I like Better Boy as much but I can taste the difference.

Of the ones listed on your link, Gary O Sena is one I was already thinking of trying.

Interesting site. Thanks for the information.

I received seeds for 'Brown and Black Boar' in a swap last year. Grew two plants this year. Good taste, reminiscent of 'Cherokee Purple' but fruit much smaller. Plant dried up in mid-season so I can't say it was as good a producer as they say.

I was giving away extra tomatoes to a group I belong to. They picked the red and pink tomatoes and didn't go for the black ones. I guess non-gardeners don't know what they are missing!

I give lots of tomatoes away to friends but so far except for sungold, never grew any yellows or stripes or odd colors. So basicily just red and sometimes pink tomatoes. I do wonder how my friends would react if I gave them striped tomatoes.

I have no patience. I read on their website that tomato seeds are good for ten years so I guess mine will be fine until I start them next spring!

I ordered -
Black And Brown Boar
Red Boar
Pink Boar
Sweet Carneros Pink
Pink Berkley Tie Dye


Have not heard anything back since I ordered and have not gotten the seeds yet. If I don't get them in the next few days I will e-mail and ask about them. Not that I am going to use them until next spring.

Rita, I know that Brad doesn't always send out seeds ASAP b/c he is terribly busy this time of the year b'c he grows for wholesales to restaruants, etc.

And he may have to wait until his own seed production to occur to restock varieties.

So I don't think it's necessary for you to e-mail him and I'd wait at least another month or so before doing so. He may not even have time to read about orders coming in at this time.

About seeds lasting 10 years. Well OK, tomato seeds can last forever if storage conditions are OK, but to me that's not the point.

The question to be asked has to do with germination percentages and that does decline after seeds are maybe 5 yo and certain varieties lose viability quicker than others, such as heart varieties do for me and many others.

When I do a seed offer I write on each pack the date when the seeds were produced and do so for SSE requests as well. That's the kind of info a person needs.

The packed by dates on many commercial packs are useless b'c they only tell you when the seeds were packed, not when they were produced.

When I offer older seeds I also make suggstions as to how best germinate them and in my 2012 seed offer I was offering varieties with seed production in 2007 as I recall. A lot also rests with how good a person is at germinating seeds. I can offer fresh 2011 seeds and one person will get 100% germination and another person will get 0%, so that's another variable to be considered and an important one at that.

Finally,

Patience is a virtue
Find it if you can
You'll find it in a woman
But not in a man.

No bias here, folks, you can interchange man and woman where necessary. LOL

As in, nothing happens in a NY minute. LOL

Carolyn

I thought that he might be busy and it is not like I need those seeds right now. I am not going to grow them until the spring. I am just worrying about them, which I tend to do LOL!

I think the thing with tomato seeds being good for ten years to me is that I took it to mean I don't have to worry about if they were produced this year or last and I am planting them next year. I only need a few plants of each variety and I believe the packets are 25 seeds. I am only going to try and start maybe 6 plants of each? Not sure yet, have to see. But my point being plenty for me and only need a few plants.

Thanks! But I am going to have some really fancy new varieties here next spring!

I have now tasted Micheal Pollan, Beauty King and Solar Flare. Of these, I though Solar Flare was the best. Beauty King was very pretty, but I did think the flavor was quite there. Micheal Pollan was a very unique tomato, but seemed too tart. Maybe it wasn't ripe enough. Probably will only invite Solar Flare back.

Nancy, thank you for the update on the taste test.

Hi everyone. Wow again so much info. I looked at the Wild Boar site and remembered that reviews were mixed on some of the varieties. Again. Subjective of course and some things out of our control. Carolyn, I would love to get my hands on Purple Haze. I have been trying to find a source. From what I understand it's not stable?but who cares, just want to try it.
Rita, I plan on only trying 6 per packet. Too many choices, not enough time or room!
Regarding Better Boy, initially I was disappointed, but have since changed my mind. While they have all cracked, flavor is really good. Still won't grow Green Zebra again. 4 years of disappointment is enough! Tigerella is improving, but I would not growit again either.just my viewpoint.
Sharon

Everyone is different and of course should grow what they will enjoy. I have never grown Green Zebra or Tigerella and do not plan too. Better Boy and Big Boy are staples in my garden and both will be back next year. I do really just love, love, love the taste of both of them.

I really am looking forward to growing the Wild Boar intros that I have chosen and can't wait to try taste tests for myself.

Sharon, Purple Haze is a hybird and is very stable as purchased as plants from Darrel Jones at Selected plants or for a higher price I think still from Laurel, although I didn't check to see if she still carried it.

It's a variety bred by Keith Mueller and here are the other great ones that's hes bred:

http://www.kdcomm.net/~tomato/

On the Home page click on the link that says autism charities to see a picture and read about Purple Haze, then look at the other ones that are OP's, then look at the ones he has in the works.

Lots of folks have grown Liz Birt and Dora and the others and love them.

Keith is not an amateur breeder. He got his MS from NCSU with Dr. Randy Gardner and knows more tomato genetics than anyone else I know.

His website is a treasure and when you have time you might want to click on the Culture link and the others on the Home page to see what kind of info he does present.

Knowing the background parents for ALL of those varieties presented will ASAP tell you what you should expect.

Keith's son is austistic and that's what the reference is to.

He decided to not go for a Ph.D and returned to Kansas City where he does landscaping, breeding tomatoes and so much more. His wife's parents live very near Craig LeHoullier in Raleigh and Craig has met him many years ago.

Many folks have tried to dehybridize Purple Haze F1 with varying degrees of advancement, so I'm sure you got the idea it was unstable with reference to the dehybridization efforts. But it was bred as an F1 Hybrid, which is perfectly stable as the hybrid.

Carolyn

Carolyn, thank you for that. I have gone on Keith's site, and was very impressed. I first read about Purple Haze from checking out JBT and discovered it. It could have been Laurel's site. Thanks for the tip. Hopefully they ship to Canada.
Rita, I would happy to share any seeds I have with you if you want I'll send you the list Carolyn came up for me.
Sharon

I think I had better pass on more seeds. Already have more planned than I have room for! But thanks anyway.

Hi Rita, question about making the new garden bed, cause I couldn't find that thread. Did you have any problems with weeds and straw? I ask because on another forum that issue came up, so I know you have experience with that. Any recommendations or advice?
What I'm waiting to see is the volunteer cherry that's now starting to ripen to see what it tastes like!
On another note, my first Gold Medal is starting to ripen!!!!!

Rarely do I have any weeds pop up in the straw. Sometimes it does happen if its first cutting were the seed heads have formed. Then some straw grass pops up in clumps that is really, really easy to pull up. But mostly it doesn't even happen. Don't use hay, that really does have a lot of weed seeds. Though I have seen "mulch hay" for sale and not sure exactly what that is. So just use the straw. It is really good for your garden so pile it on thickly.

Mulch hay is hay that's not good enough to feed to an animal. That means that it is old, been damaged with water, too weedy, but not necessarily more seedy, dusty or has other sorts of problems. It's also used for bedding. What becomes bedding or mulch hay will depend on who your market is. Horses are fussy, cows less so, but if you are trying to get maximum production out of them you'll be fussy, Goats will most likely eat it strings and all. Sheep are just plain odd. Ours won't eat anything they haven't see before, though they prefer weeds to grass.



This message was edited Aug 31, 2012 5:21 PM

Well, after I buy them all my bales sit outside so if it rains, it rains. They are going to be mulch anyway. No farm animals here.

thanks Rita for clearing that up. No farm animals here either!

Sharon, I don't know which site you were referring to in your post above, whether Selected Plants, which would be my choice, or Laurel's place, but I'm pretty sure that no live plants can be sent over the border to Canada without what's called a phytosanitary certificate and last I knew those were VERY expensive, muey expensive, aha, I just remembered that instructions were at the front of each SSE YEarbook and what it said was;

"It is illegal to send plants or cuttings between countries, so no international prices are listed for plant materials. ( As opposed to the restrictions around sending seeds between countries, me just clarifying.)

So it's only large commercial places that pay the $$$$ for the certificates. I know that the local Agway, for instance, gets almost all of their perennial plants from Canada.

There are a few decent seed sites in Canada that might sell plants, is Heritage Harvest one of them? Mandy's is not one of the good places and I don't know about Solana Seeds as to plants and I don't think Jeff Casey's site in Canada sends out plants either. If you don't know Jeff's site, I think your should since his and Tania's are THE best in Canada IMO.

Carolyn

Carolyn, it's the seeds for PH that I want and can't seem to find except for this email I received: do you know anything? He mentions Selected Plants, so guess I'll try.
Thanks, Sharon
mark wessel

To: Sharon Rossy
Date: July 21, 2012, 9:43 PM
Sharon,

I would be happy to send you seeds later in the year when they start to ripen. You will be best to send me a reminder. The problem with seeds is the fact that purple haze is a hybrid and will not come true from seed. There are people trying to stabilize this variety to get something close to the hybrid. I ordered my plants from Selected Plants.

Mark

Sharon, seeds for the F1 hybrid are not available anywhere. Only plants and Keith sends those F1 seeds to the two places noted at his website, Darrel at Selected Plants and Laurel and neither of them have extra F1 seeds to sell and wouldn't anyway b'c of the money that comes from plant sales, a portion of which is donated for autism research. And you saw Mark say that he bought his F1 PLANTS from Darrel at Selected Plants.

So if he sends you seeds they would be saved F2 seeds from the F1 fruits on thise F1 plants and you'd be growing out all sorts of stuff as are many others who would like to find an OP that resembled the hybrid.

And, well, I don't think that's what you want at this stage of your new tomato career since it can take many years to do so, if ever. LOL

Carolyn

Thanks Carolyn, that's what I thought. I would be only too happy to contribute to Keith's autism charity. Anyways, I'll see if there are any places here that have the plant, which I doubt. Speaking of which, I have sent Tomatobob an email and have not heard anything yet....
I'm currently waiting for the cherries on my volunteer plant to ripen to see how close they are to the Sweet 100 that I believe they are from. They are definitely larger than the one I planted this year.
BTW, I don't know if this is a dumb question, but here goes. I have a yellow cherry (no name on the tag) and a Sungold growing next to each other. My yellow cherry fruits are starting to look like Sungold when ripe, much more orange in color. Is that possible from OP? I see bees all the time. Just wondering....

Hurray!!! Hurray!! My seeds came today from Wild Boar Farms. I am happy to have them. Of course I am saving them for starting next spring. I have already decided where they will be planted. I intend to plant two of each of my varieties that I chose.