Elmers Old German Heirloom

2 Pounds each. These are typical, the vine is loaded with fruits of this size.

WOW!

WOW, indeed!

Daaaang! *drooling* lol!

Congratulations!! They look really yummy!! What was your tomato source for these? I see there are two vendors for this year at Tatiana's.

Very cool! Love the photo and the scale.

I don't find it in Tatiana's website

Got the seeds in a trade

Link to Tatiana's: http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Elmer%27s_Old_German She lists two venders under Seed availability.

Paul, that was obviously a very successful trade!!

This message was edited Aug 29, 2013 12:17 AM

As I said on another forum. It's going on my to grow list for next year.

This message was edited Aug 29, 2013 7:11 AM

Would be interested in your taste experience compared with other pink beefsteaks or hearts you may have grown.

Old German is open pollinated. The source can be anyone who grew it this year and saved seeds. Therefore it may differ slightly from source to source.
I spent mega bucks this year for a grafted Old German from Burpee. I was not at all pleased with the year. I had three sets with no more than nine fruit per plant. Since this was my first grow of grafted plants I can be a judge. This year's plant certainly did not even come close to advertised qualities. Four plants gave us enough to eat and freeze a few slurry tomato cubes for the winter's soups and stews. At about nine dollars a plant I was not a happy scout. As I drive about the area I do not see any good looking tomato plants that were not sprayed often and with stuff I would not use to prevent the blight. With four plants I expect enough fruit for our two local families, some for freezing and oodles to give away. Not to be this year.

No blight around here. But we do not do things like everybody else.
High tunnels are the secret to good tomatoes.
This picture was taken a few days ago. Plants are around 12 feet high.
I think this is the tenth year of tomatoes in the same locations, I'm talking
same holes even.
We spread some 19-19-19 fertilizer on the rows, till it in & plant.
Then watering is done with T-Tape & maybe every 2 weeks we add a water soluble
fertilizer to the water.
Plants are pruned to 1 stem each.

Do you leave the plastic on the tunnels all summer?

Of course. Sides are open to allow air flow.

We have quite a few Dutch growers that do well in high houses who are certified organic or known to be uncertified healthy practice growers. Their excellent product is our choice to purchase. They have found ways to discourage the blights. Fertrel Company has some good products to keep up with the challenges of this day. I am down to four or five plants. In fifty years of gardening I have very rarely used anything that falls short of being an organic practice. My garden 2000 sq ft. was closed five years ago testing seventeen percent humis content. It grew prize winning pumpkins, long gourds and tomatoes twelve feet tall as my personal best. Today just five years later my goofy organic buddies have grown a two thousand pound pumpkin and a lot have grown five pound tomatoes. Resent long gourds are measuring over a hundred and thirty inches. None of the above growers are large market growers but most have fed their families and given oodles to their favorite charities without using the processes that do not align largely with organic growing. It's a way of life for many and the numbers are slowly growing.

Wow! 2000 lbs pumpkin! Not to mention the 5 lbs tomato. How fun. ☺

Love the photo in the high hoop house, CG. Thanks for posting that.