Tomatoes for '07

I fianally narrowed down my choices and here are this years winners - should they all germinate. I thought I had some Aunt Gertie's Gold seeds but I don't otherwise they would be on the list. I am still trying to decide if I want to plant Cosmonaut Volkov..... anyone?

Critter speak up if you would like any of these.
Edited to add Momotaro planted for Jill.

Aunt Ruby’s German Green -favorite
Bradley - new this year
Brianna - favorite - Thanks for the seeds Flip!
Cuostralee - accidently gave away my plants last year
Dad’s Italian (Opalka?)
Delicious - new to me - DG recommended
Fireworks - new to me - we will see
German Red Strawberry - new to me - DG reccomended
Green Zebra - tasted last year - yummy
Jaune Flammé - favorite
Kellogg’s Breakfast - trying again
Kimberly - cause it's my name
Magnum - new to me
Magnus - new to me
Mexico - because of the raves here
Nyagous - liked last year
Olena Ukrainian - big prize winner
Prudens Purple - tasted one from the farmer's market
Ramapo (Dad's)
Ramapo F5 - gift from a T'villian
San Marzano - new to me
Stupice - favorite early
Sugar Sweetie cherry - might only keep one red cherry
Sungold - favorite
Super Sweet 100 hybrid - we will see
Vinson Watts - Thanks to Frank for the seeds!
Wisconsin 55 - recommended by Jill


edited to add Momotaro and Green Zebra
edited to correct spelling and to add the fancy é


This message was edited Mar 23, 2007 10:09 AM

Well, I still had a few cells left that were crying to be filled. Yes, I start tomatoes in cells (48) with about 4 seeds per cell. I added:

Arkansas Traveler
Persimmon
Omar's Lebanese
Mortgage Lifter
Black Cherry

It is easy to dream big when the seeds are so small. Check with me in late April when I am out of room!

Kim -- Tidwell German, a nice salad tomato, did excellent for me in all factors. Taste, quality, production and disease resistance. You will be well pleased with Momotaro. A prettier more perfect tomato will be hard to find and the taste is excellent. Also a very heavy producer.
As you may or may not know, my tomatos were hit with a virus that destroyed a good part of my planting. Though the plants were ugly looking they kept producing. My Japanese Oxheart was infected but shook it off and is now producing monster oxhearts. The tomatos are heart shaped with green shoulders and are sweet and juicy. They each weigh a pound or more. Because I've lost so much weight(100lbs) and still dropping I have become very active in my garden and am now also growing vegetables and re-landscaping our gardens. Let me know when you come to town again??

Hi TP, Oh sure, throw another tomato in the mix! good thing I don't have seeds for Tidwell German or Japanese Oxheart you know I would have to give them a try - next year:)) I grew Momotaro last year and liked it but I kinda like to try new heirlooms instead of hybrids. I have been keeping up with you over on your Accessible Gardening threads, your progress is nothing short of amazing! You are on the list when I come to town - you are now a dirt boy you know that don't you?!?

Dad’s Italian (Opalka?)


*******

Hmmmmm. LOL And why does Dad's Italian have Opalka after the name? LOL There are lots of long reds but they aren't all the same, and I don't know Dad's Italian.

If you'd like some Aunt Gertie's Gold seeds just e-mail me at cmale@aol.com with your address and I can get them out tomorrow. Easiest way to go since I'd have to go on a search and destroy mission to find your address. LOL

Good looking list. I don't usually make comments when somneone already has the seeds for what they want to grow nor do I suggest substitutes. If I listed the many varieties, which I'm not going to do, that I like, as subs for some of yours, well, that just wouldn't be the way to go, say I. LOL

I'm envious seeing all the varieties you're planting. Again this summer I'm limited to about 12-14 plants grown for me by Martha in VA, and that will just have to do. No more hundreds of plants each season. (smile)

Carolyn

Carolyn,

Where in VA is Martha, is she on DG? You can always list subs! In my case I would just take notes for next year:)

The Dad's Italian is my own made up name. John's dad got it years ago (along with the Ramapo) from the local Italian guy. From what I can tell it looks like an Opalka but I don't give seeds away from them since I don't know for sure. They are really low on seeds anyway. You have email.

-Kim

Kim, great list! I liked Aunt Ruby's a lot more than G Zebra. I grew more than a few of those you listed myself this season. and a few of my keepers for next year are there - Brianna (my fave), A Ruby's and Prudens Purple.
btb, you have AGG seeds, you just haven't saved them yet. ☺
The dirty one

Point taken Flip. Note to self, "I will save AGG seeds this year." Oh, wait I am so slow!! There are AGG mater's in the mail as we speak!!!! Now look I will have a windfall. Thank you dirty boy!

Where in VA is Martha, is she on DG? You can always list subs! In my case I would just take notes for next year:)

*****

Martha is in Virginia Beach. And no, she's not at DG; she posts at Tville and sometimes at GW as gardenmama.

Why don't we wait until next year to see what you are thinking of growing and then before you get seeds or make a final decision you can throw up your tentative list and then I'd feel more comfortable about critiquing your list. OK?

Got your e-mail.

Carolyn

I've grown 'German Red Strawberry' the last couple of years, and it's a favorite! I'm trying 'Bradley' this year also, have a couple of early ones started along with some 'Stupice' and 'Jaune Flamme'. I just sowed way more cherry tomatoes than I have room for, so those will probably be the plants I give away up & down the block etc. this year! I'm not sure why I sow 4 seeds when I only want 1 plant... LOL. I'm hoping to squeeze in extra plants of some tried & true favorites, but I went for max. variety this year... just couldn't resist all those seeds in my stash!

Some of these may not even make it to my garden this year, but I started them anyhow so I'd have options. :-)

'Delicious', 'Mexico', and 'Pruden's Purple' are on my "try sometime" list Kim, so we'll see if you have any extras (and if I have extra spaces)...

May I hijack your thread and post my list of what I've sown this year? Let me know if you see any that you want to try.

Early:
Bradley -- new to me, from BriarRose
Jaune Flamme -- favorite
Stupice -- favorite

Reds:
Big Mama -- hybrid paster that did decently last year
Coustralee -- new to me, from oldseed
"Friendship" -- my name for a favorite a friend and I have passed back and forth for several years
German Red Strawberry -- a favorite
Marianna's Peace -- new to me, no germination yet
Pomodoro Pantano -- new to me, from Sequee
Principe Borghese -- favorite small tomato, usually self-sows in my side bed
Polish Linguisa -- huge paster, trying this one again
Rio Grande -- roma type, new to me
Wisconsin 55 -- new favorite from last year, outstanding flavor and production in my garden

Pink/Black/Yellow:
Anna Russian -- new to me, from BriarRose
Black Russian -- new to me, seeds saved from a friend's garden
Cherokee Purple -- favorite for its complex flavor
Eva's Purple Ball -- new to me, anyone have comments on this one?
German Head -- new to me, from ZZtopsoil
German Queen -- grew in 2005, trying again
Pink Potato Top (aka "Pennsylvania Pink") -- my favorite! tops for flavor and productivity in my garden
Pink Sweet -- new to me, from ZZtopsoil
Soldacki -- new to me
Yellow Brandywine -- new to me, seeds saved from a friend's garden

Cherry varieties (yep, definitely too many):
Black Cherry -- new to me, from ZZtopsoil, can't resist those rave reviews
Dr. Carolyn -- grew in 2005, liked it
Grape -- favorites 'Elfin' and 'Sprite', mixed/crossed, nice sweet red on semi-det vines
Hanging Basket -- trying again
Jolly -- new to me, from oldseed
Matt's Wild Cherry --- new to me, from ZZtopsoil
Sungold -- new to me, rave reviews
Tommy Toe -- new to me
Tumbling Tom (red) -- a personal favorite for containers
Wild Cherry -- red currant type with intense flavor, a favorite for garden snacks

Pomodoro Pantano -- new to me, from Sequee

******

Wouldn't this be Pantano Romanesco the well known Italian variety which I've also grown.

Pomodoro just means tomato and Pantano is always part of the name Pantano Romanesco.

The variety name is Eva Purple Ball, not Eva's which someone changed it to, and it's a real family heirloom of Joe Bratka's which comes from the Black Forest in Germany and is one lucious tomato. Simple round pink fruits, indet, very juicy. And I say a real heirloom b'c Joe had this habit of creating heirlooms and histories; not good at all. Sigh,

And I think you'll like Pink Sweet as well. It didn't start out as Pink Sweet, but was something that came to my friend Craig LeHoullier, wink, unnamed and he thought it was so good it deserved a name so named it Pink Sweet.

There are many that you're growing for the first time that I know you're going to like very much. And a few that, well, let's see how YOU like them, which is the only thing that's important. ( smile)

Carolyn

Thanks, Carolyn!

I appreciate your input -- these were trade packets, so I guess I won't know for sure until I grow them out, but I'll make the corrections.

Last year, my friend and I were trying to figure out the original name of the one we've been passing back and forth (we started calling it the "Friendship" tomato after we figured out she was calling it "Jill's tomato" and I was calling it "Theresa's tomato" LOL)... She looked through a bunch of old seed packets and thought that it might be 'Pomodoro'.... as far as I know, "Pomodoro" or maybe "Pomodoro Italian" was the only name on the packet, which came from Italy. Now that I know "pomodoro" just means "tomato," I'm laughing at that identification attempt!

I'm happy to have people tell me which ones on my list they've loved and which ones they haven't cared for or had good luck with. I know growing conditions vary, tastes are subjective, etc... but since I may not have room for all I'm growing out, even at 1 each for the new ones, reviews are helpful!

So.... Carolyn or anybody else.... what's your take on 'Soldacki' and 'Anna Russian'? Those are the only other pinks I haven't tasted. :-)

So.... Carolyn or anybody else.... what's your take on 'Soldacki' and 'Anna Russian'? Those are the only other pinks I haven't tasted. :-)

*****

Two terrific varieties as far as I'm concerned.

Anna Russian is the earliest of heart shaped varieties that I know of and produces abundant beautifully shaped fruits throughout the season, at least for me. Don't let the wimpy, wispy, droopy foliage concern you b'c they look so, well, under the weather, that's normal for almost all the hearts. And the taste is great, just great. In very hot high UV areas there could be problems with sunscald b'c of the scanty foliage, but that's true with all varieties grown in such areas that don't have a great foliage cover.

Soldacki is a variety that I introduced, seeds from Carmen Artino, whose wife's family brought them from Krakow, Poland in 1900 to Cleveland, OH. Carm was a former colleague of mine. Large indet pink beefsteaks, PL, which most folks think has outstanding taste, but they are prone to cracking at the stem end, which usually scars over nicely, though.

Carolyn

Yippee! Thanks for the heads-up on the Anna Russian... I'll do the same thing with it as I've done with German Red Strawberry, plant it between/behind a couple of other varieties with fuller foliage to give it a little extra shelter.

I'm not generally big on hybrids, but I had better luck with 'Big Mama' that I've had with most paste/plum types.. only had BER on one fruit last year, and it's usually much more than that. And I thought 'Momotoro' compared very favorably in terms of taste and texture with 'Rose'.... much as I love the latter, I've only managed to get 3 or 4 fruits from a plant, so it got knocked off the grow-out list this year.

I grew Anna Russian two years ago (thanks to JoanJ for sharing with a newbie) and liked it very much, nice and meaty with a reliable production. I think you will like it Jill.

Yes, why is it that four seeds are better than 2? I guess it is an odds thing. Things just escalate after that cause then they all germinate and you can't bear to throw out the little guys.....Thank goodness for relatives, friends and John's work where we sell them for a buck a piece.

Critter,
I grew (or I guess I'm still growing) both Anna Russian and Soldacki. Actually, I had an Anna Russian in my salad tonite and it is a tasty tomato. In fact, the 3 heart varieties I grew this season, Reif Red Heart, Ukrainian Heart and Anna Russian, all did very well and all are still putting out. I picked some of all of them today.
I planted Soldacki late and have not yet tasted them but they should be ripening soon.

Kim, you'll also be able to soon save seeds for Anna Russian!

Then I'm even happier that my Anna Russian and Soldacki seeds have sprouted! Kim, LMK if you want extras of either... :-)

Thanks for the reports!

I am growing considerably fewer than I did last year. Some of these I've only got a couple of, and some I have several of because I like them. :) I'm trying a few new ones this year, but not as many as in years past.

Milka's Red Bulgarian
Red Penna
Black Plum
Black Prince
Red Zebra
Black Krim
Black Pineapple
Brown Berry
Black Trifele
Cherokee Purple
Cherokee Chocolate
Pineapple
Pruden's Purple
Kelloggs Breakfast
Black from Tula
Pink Thai Egg
Rouge d'Irak
Azoychka
Chapman
Amy's Sugar Gem
Green Zebra
Granny Cantrell (loved this one last year)
Mirabel
Bananna Legs, the kids actually ate this one!
Amana Orange
KY Beefsteak
Hillbilly
Southern Night
Rose
Below are new to me this year
Black Cherry
Orange Bananna
Green Pineapple
Hezhou
Sisters
Berkeley Tie-Dye
Beauty King
Haley's Purple Comet
Evan's Purple Pear
Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye
Brad's Black Heart
Black and Brown Boar

I have an order coming at some point from Sand Hill, but it depends on when it arrives whether I plant anything from it this year. It was mostly replenishing seeds that I knew I'd run out of this year since I don't know if I'll ever get the saving seeds part down or not. :-

Kim, nice list friend!!! I'm going smaller this season. however, I did find another spot for 3 more plants where i normally put peppers and herbs. I guess peppers and herbs will be in pots or another location. hehe. I'm letting my garden area rest so I'm using all containers this year. All EBs except where noted.

The ones that are the same as yours:
Aunt Ruby's German Green (new to me...I tried to grow them in the fall but alas, early blight took care of that) In ground where herbs used to be.
Delicious...the best red mater I've ever grown and it is DH's fave. In EB.
Green Zebra (new to me..same story as Aunt Ruby's) in ground where herbs used to be.
Jaune Flammee (new to me...she is in an EB)
Nyagous (new to me...she is in an EB)
Sungold...I will always have this in my garden. It is in a pot.
Black Cherry ...I will always have this in my garde. Also in a pot.

The others:
Cherokee Purple...my all time fave mater. I have one in an EB and one in the old herb area in ground.
Tigerella (new to me, in EB)
444 (Merae grew this very successfully last year and so I have it in an EB)
Chinese Yellow (seed from Foolcontrol)
Black from Tula (my second fave...in EB)


Michelle

Here is what is actually planted in the garden now.

Aker's West Virginia
Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red
Aunt Gertie's Gold
Berkley Tie Dyed
Black Sea Man
Brandywine Red
Brandywine Sudduth Strain
Bulgarian #7
Chapman
Cherokee Green
Dr. Carolyn
Dr. Lyle
Druzba
Earl of Edgecomb
Earl's Faux
Gary O'Sena
German Red Strawberry
Granpa's Cock's Plume
Green Giant
Green Grape
Indian Stripe
Kellogg's Breakfast
Large Barred Boar
Lime Green Salad
Little Lucky
Matina
Marianna's Peace
Olena Ukrainian
Omar's Lebanese
Paul Robeson
Prue
Red Penna
Stump of the World
Wes
Zogola

These two germinated late and are not planted out yet
Todd County Amish
Russian 117

I killed my Kosovo accidentally. However, that made room for Little Lucky. What a great name for this one?

How are you liking 'Chapman'? Box Car Willie, and Chapman didn't quite make it to my grow-out list this year (but there's still time!) I also debated about giving Abraham Lincoln and Bloody Butcher another try, but my other reds ('Wisconsin 55' and the unknown "Friendship") just totally outperformed them last year.

I liked Box Car Willie last year. It really pumped out the maters. I haven't grown Chapman before; however, I decided to try it because of all of the positive reviews that I have seen.

Thanks! (hmmmm..... looking at full little seed trays...)

All these great tomato lists...so I am adding one of my own. Below is the tentative list for this year for my garden, subject to changes. Seeds go in on April Fool's Day and we hope that Spring comes in warm and soon.

Aunt Ruby's German Green x 2 (a favorite)
Azoychka x 1 (a favorite)
Black Cherry x 2 (a favorite)
Brandywine Sudduth's Strain x 2 (a favorite)
Bulgarian#7 x 1 (a favorite)
Chapman x 1 (first time with this one)
Cherokee Green x 2 (first time with this one, but I really enjoy green tomatoes)
County Agent x 1 (first time)
Cuostralee x 2 (a favorite)
Green Giant x 1 (first time)
Gregori's Altai x 2 (a favorite)
Jaune Flamee x 1 (a favorite)
Kanner Hoell x 1 (first time)
Kellogg's Breakfast x 4 (a favorite)
Kimberly x 1 (first time)
Mama Leone x 1 (growing-out as an experiment)
Marianna's Peace x 1 (did not germinate for me last year, try again)
Momotaro x 1 (was a good tomato last year, not memorable, another shot this year)
MS-5 x 1 (a favorite)
Noire Des Cosebeufs x 1 (first time. Not enamored of the "black" tomatoes but still do like them)
Oaxacan Jewel x 2 (a favorite)
Omar's Lebanese x 2 (a favorite)
Persimmon x 2 (a favorite)
Royal Hillbilly x 1 (first time)
Russian #117 x 1 (a favorite)
Sara's Galapagos x 1 (effectively the first time, last year's plant was not the correct variety)
Sasha's Altai Pride x 2 (a favorite)
Spears Tennessee Green x 3 (a favorite)
Stump of the World x 1 (did not germinate for me last year, try again)
Sun Gold x 1 (a favorite)
Tommy Toe x 1 (a favorite)
Washington Red Cherry x 1 (a favorite)

I might be adding a few more but this year there will be far fewer new-for-me tomato varieties in favor of tried and true favorites. Last year I had in excess of 150 varieties and comparatively few of them were really worth the trouble.

We really liked Chapman last year grew it on Carolyns recommendation. It performed well, and had a nice taste to it. I had a lot of maters last year wtih really thick skins, but chapman wasn't one of them. Bloody Butcher I could take or leave, so I left it this year.

I'm going to start one more tray this weekend... who knows what will end up in it. :-)

Oh I love to see all these lists! Michelle - I am sure someone will share a few peppers from their garden in exchange for some tomatoes! What about herbs in the front yard? side yard?

I guess next year's list is already started -LOL.
1. Chapman

Fool and Oldseed how do you keep them all straight? I have labeling issues. This year I am going to label them around the stems on the actual plant with those plastic kind you see in the nurseries.

Be right back the FedEx guy is here with a little present from Flip!

I really liked Kimberly last year, but since I'll be growing in EBs and containers this year (Bermuda grass took over my raised bed!!), I had to decide to grow less. New Big Dwarf is such a good tasting pink and since it doesn't get very big, it'll be going into big containers.Started 2 Black Cherry for a friend who loved it last year.I really want to grow some squash too, so started from seed 'Zephyr' from Johnnys and Zucchino Rampant.
In my EBs I'm putting- Russian 117, Aunt Ruby's GG, Prudens Purple,Vinson Watts, and am trying that hyped up hybrid from Burpee, 'Porterhouse'. That would be a good name for a tomato don't ya think? 'Hyped Up Hybrid' lol

Ahhhh, the lycopene rush! I have already eaten two Stupice (AKA Stew Pi*s) that one took me a while until I saw the actual tomato:)) Here is what I saw when I opened the box. I think I have them all labeled correctly thanks to my enclosed cheat sheet layout. LOL

Flip is the (dirt) Man!

Here is my bounty! I am such a happy camper at the moment. If it weren't for DG I would have never met so many tomato-heads and learned so much. Not to mention meeting Flip and TP in person last year.

Make sure I labeled them all correctly. Only one was squished (a Stupice) so that is why I had to eat it:) The Reif Red Heart is next on the ripeness scale. I am still chuckling over the Stew Pi*s!! Just for the record it is pronounced Stew-peach-ca. Thanks Carolyn.

You did a great job boxin' up Flip!! I think I need to be wary of those peppers though. Habanero, Bulgarian carrot, cayenne? and the yellow ones? These were used as additonal packing material.

I might have to email a different picture to John at work cause the Stupice are going to be a memory by the time he gets home.

Thank You Flip!!
XO
-Kim

They look great. I paid Flip to send me some last week and I think FedEx may have gotten rough with them. I do want to thank Flip for sending them for me.

Kim - glad they got there in one piece. (I'm improving my packing as I do this.) You've absolutely got them in the correct order. The peppers are Chile de Arbol (hot), Bulgarian Carrot (nice bite), Numex Suave Orange (hab - not hot, only smoky) and Aji Limon (yellow, fairly hot).
Fool, I still feel bad that yours didn't get there in as good a shape as they should have. I also blame Fedex.
Critter, Chapman is still going strong in my garden and has produced well since January. I had one over 2 lbs and many 1 pounders. Very good tasting, also!

Kim - Be careful with those on the right side in the middle. The name tag kind of indicates they might not be very tasty! LOL Ed

Here are mine for this season...

Oooh, Kim -- what a treasure! LMK if you like the Numex Orange Suave... Flip sweetly sent me some seeds, and I'll bet there's an extra seedling started.

I think I need to sow a couple of seeds for 'Chapman' -- if it did well in both FL and OH, it may be a winner in my garden too! Kim, do you want a seedling or two?

Every one keep your fingers crossed. I passed by one of my container tomatos yesterday and happened to look at the blooms and saw two small tomatos. These containers have my on receipt and the stalks are as pretty and green and healthy as any I have ever seen. I am just expermenting and having fun doing so. I am hoping to have the first vine ripe tomato in Hale county, Alabama.

Hooray! Of course, now we need to know the name of that tomato... and if you have a good season with it, we'll be hounding you for your container mix secret recipe!

Oh, I am careful with all of them! Fool, how exactly did you you pay Flip...Mr. XY chromosome? maybe that was the problem??

Ed, I think I will wake up laughing about Stew Pi*s. Can't you just picture me reading that, trying to process, then unpacking - seeing the real thing and laughing? Does a body good! It was a tomato moment.

Numex Orange Suave (Sua-Ve) as they say in S FL. Someone is going to have to fill me in! Danger Will Robinson!

Hey WW, keep us updated on what is ripe in Hale county! ;)

-Kim

Check. I don't think he takes paypal.

I really do appreciate him sending them to me. The tomatoes that were beat up the worst went into salsa. In the salsa you couldn't tell. It was awesome. It was one of the best fresh salsa's that I ever had. I used the papers he sent also.

No sir! Fool, You aren't right, those papers musta tasted like cilantro! Phew, soap, phew!

Sorry. I meant peppers.

I know you know a lot about food if you mentioned cilantro and soap in the same sentence.

I agree 100 percent that Cilantro is soap. If it is put into a recipe, all you taste is the cilantro.

One time a top local chef in Houston cooked a Cream of Cilantro Soup with Crabmeat. The entire class was saying how great the soup was and all I could think of is that my mouth was full of soap. No need for crabmeat, all I could taste was cilantro. It would have been much better if it was Cream of Roasted Poblano Soup with Crabmeat. Maybe then he could have also put some roasted corn, red bell pepper and cotija or asiago cheese for a garnish.