Hi Tom

Nice to see you posting and about your question I like a lot of different color tomatoes. For some reason everyone that tried the salsas that I make they prefer the ones made with the yellows and gold tomatoes. I just made few jars for my dentist because she asked me.:) And Cheryl just finished a jar tonight with rice and black bean chips.

This season's favorites are:

Pork Chop
Georgia Streak
Kellog's Breakfast
Pineapple
Little Lucky
Lemon Boy
White Livingston Golden Queen
Sungold
Cuban Grape
And I probably forgetting others,lol

Today's harvest

Silvia

I tried growing Russian Black Prince. Taste was ok...bit nutty... but that's probably down to the fact I killed the plant and only got one edible piece of fruit off of it.

BTW, Tom, been meaning to thank you for posting such a thorough (with pictures) guide on making Al's mix. I've got about 10 buckets worth of stuff out of it and am saving loads of money on it. So thanks again for taking the time to do that!

Even though I grow tomatoes, I admit I am not the best person to ask about old tomato taste. My favorite tasting tomato was Great White, but it tastes more melon-like tomatoish. Of the ones Silvia mentioned, I've grown Kellogs Breakfast and Sungold and they were full favored and balanced. Of the black tomatoes I've tried everyone else likes Cherokee Purple the best.

Those look amazing Tom! Got any seeds for the Flamme? Black Krim is the purple I've had good luck with but Cherokee never produces much for me. If you've got some time soon, I'd like to come and have another look at your tomato set up. I could free up some garden space if I potted the maters. I can bring my mater seeds for you to pick through.

My Park Seeds Catalogue just came and they have a yellow 'mater on the cover.....'NUGGET'...'meaty yet sweet mini-plums like a beefsteak, Indeterminate..' sounds like a small plum-type but sounds good...sally

What cammunizum said...

Actually, I made Lou's Mix, but that post gave me urge to begin!

Hi Silvia, nice crop! I can't tell what is what? Livingston didn't do well for me, very little production. Kellogg's was reported with great taste but again, sparse production, how is it doing for you? Remember, I have a small garden and need maximum output for the space assigned.... Cuban didn't do well here either, Sungold has always done well but I want bigger fruit. I've started some Lemon Boy seeds so we'll see how they do this spring. How is Pineapple doing?

Camm - my pleasure, I figured the "how to" would help some folks....I've started Black and Black from Tula for the spring, only time will tell ;-)

Amber - Cherokee Purple was a dud over here, probably had to do with my proximity to the water but I have not given up on black tomatoes yet :-) :-(

Tina, I'll be home this weekend working on the garden since we were out of town last weekend, you're more than welcome to come over for a look see. I have plenty of Flamme seeds and I'm giving away 75% of our tomatoes since we are only a household of two ;-)

Sally, I ordered some Nugget seeds very early this morning :-)

Hi V, nice to see you posting ;-)

Tom

I love Jaune Flamme too. Tried it last year and saved seeds for this seasons crop.
As far as non-red beefsteaks go, have you tried Azoychka(yellow) and Black from Tula? They are not enormous, but I really like them.

Tom - I have to get the feedback on the other colored tomatoes from the community garden, they told me they liked them all. I gave them different varieties than the ones that I am growing, I put all the tomato varieties that I like in a merry go round, next spring season I will be growing other ones. Willy is a great black tomato aficionado, I always grow them for him like Pol Robeson, Indian Stripe, Brad's Blackheart and others. I don't know how you will do with Black from Tula in your conditions but for me grown in Arizona or here it always cracks and being a big variety tomato you can notice, they have a fine flavor but they are not the prettiest looking with all the cracking, they are productive.
I really don't pay attention to how much any tomato produce unless I only get 1 or 2 fruits, everything gets picked up and I only label them if I am collecting seeds, this season I am not because I am just too busy and growing more varieties for the greenhouse. Because the weather is unseasonably warm this fall I am still getting tomatoes and I have the next batch fruiting already, cannot complain, they all get put to a good use.

Silvia

Some of the catalogues show tomato-seed with a 'BRIX rating', sounds like a sweetness comparison, up to a '10' ? does anybody grow a really sweet 'mater, with a high BRIX #, and how does it do, in the garden???? Just curious... I'd like to try some, really sweet, instead of the usual acid-taste.... sally

There's a really nice, large, pink, ruffle-shouldered beefsteak called Marianna's Peace that's always done well for me in Deland. Prolific as all get out, and even sweeter than Brandywine, to me.

Oukay - I've eyed Azoychka more than once in the catalogs; I'll keep it in mind.

Silvia - I've also considered Paul Robeson, it's in the back of my mind...Indian Stripe and Cherokee Purple were duds over here, I've never heard of Brad's Blackheart but will look that one up, fingers crossed on the two blacks I'm trying this spring - I'll let you know if BFT is an excessive cracker :-( Regarding your greenhouse, you'll be happy with Mountain Magic but I swear you can't go wrong with any "Sweets"; Sweet Chelsea, Sweet Treats, Sweet Quartz, Sweet Baby Girl.... Glad you're still getting maters now :-)

Sally - I'll leave the Brix reports to others, I like the old-school taste!

Karen - Thanks for the response, I've eyed that one too since its pink. I don't care about the shape, my priorities are; non-red, old-world taste, size larger that a cherry and production.

Tom

Not too prolific, but I grew Hillbilly (heirloom) a number of years back & it was awesome! Huge, heavy fruits (size makes up for fewer fruits, I guess) & texture was silky smooth, juicy & sweet w/ very few seeds. Took a long time to produce & seemed to really get going once warmer weather set in - very long-vined.

Sadly, I had no such luck in subsequent years - none of my seedlings survived to produce = (

It's a bicolor, BTW.

Trying Virginia Sweets right now (1 plant) - it was a freebie w/ my TGS order. From the description seems similar to Hillbilly....

Hi Carol, I have about five packs of Virginia Sweets, seems TGS has been sending them as a freebie every time I order :-) :-( I'm trying it for the first time too, picked my first fruit yesterday but have not eaten it yet. Not very many fruit though, I think only 4-5 on the whole plant so I doubt I'll grow it again....

Tom

Yeah - I understand that can be a drawback w/ heirlooms vs. hybrids - low production. Mine just started putting out flower buds & there aren't very many, while the hybrids I'm growing have many fruits already & many more flowers - & all were started @ the same time.

Makes me think this variety may be like Hlllbilly - it wasn't very productive until the days got longer & warmer.

I haven't tried this one yet. The seeds just arrived. Let me know if you would like to try a few.

"Vinson Watts Tomato: Offered for the first time in 2006, this tomato has proven to be quite popular with many people. Prior to his death in March 2008, Vinson Watts had improved his namesake tomato for 52 summers. The original seed was from Lee County, VA and was given to him by his work supervisor at Berea College, Wilson Evans. Those interested in the story of this tomato can look it up on the internet since several articles in newspapers and magazines have been written about Watts and his tomato. The tomato is a large pink tomato flavored with an excellent balance of sugars and acids. It is also the most disease resistant tomato I know of�the result of all those summers of selection for flavor, texture, and disease resistance."

Sustainable Mountain Agriculture Center

I haven't tried this one yet. The seeds just arrived. Let me know if you would like to try a few.

Absolutely! I'm still looking for a good producing pink that is disease resistant. The first year I grew Brandy Boy it was spectacular, every year since it's been nothing but a dud :-(

Tom

Tom, just post an e-mail address so I can contact you for your address. Or, is there a better way?

Although it is a little late, I plan to plant a few tomorrow.

Click on "My Page" in my header, I have an email link there....

im not sure which i have (forgot to label plants this year) but i was loving on the low acid taste of my tomato.. its either pineapple or gold medal

Big Rainbow, Brandywine Yellow, Caspian, German Johnson, Hillbilly, Pineapple, Oh! Pruden's Purple I almost forgot about that one. It's kinda early for a big tomato and is great for fall because of that. If I could find it I'd like to get my hands on Spudakee it's Cherokee on a potato leaf. Supposed to get more fruit that way.

I have seeds for big rainbow - but for most of these I don't grow them. My HOA fines me if they can see the growth over my fence so I stopped growing indeterminates last year. *pout* Now I'm trialing semi determinates and determinates...and NOT happy about it. :-( but having fun trying! ;-) I do still grow one or two I just bend them over. teehee.

I do like a sungold f4 that I've seed saved though! LOL

Barbie

...but for most of these I don't grow them. My HOA fines me if they can see the growth over my fence....

Didn't I send you a whole list last year of compact indeterminate tomato plants for lower growth habit? Sure thought I did, if not I highly suggest Husky Cherry Red, and you can grow any indeterminate on an arbor, you just grow them horizontally instead of vertically, just set your height at 4-5 feet instead of 7-8 feet and use cattle panel for long-lasting wear. If you consider this I'd recommend Beefmaster ;-)

Tom

I didn't have any way to get a cattle panel last year. I drooled and drooled and tried to find a better way to grow indeterminates than bowing them to the ground after they grew out of a standard tomato cage so they couldn't be seen, (but did just that for 3 or 4 plants)and found none. I actually take that back. I grew 2 of them up into my orange tree and that worked well. :-)

You did send me the list. AND I bought a truck. I'm going to head out to the supply house for a cattle panel in the next couple weeks and I CANNOT wait. I still won't be able to grow many because the area that I will be able to put the cattle panel that won't be seen (the raised bed is in a raised area of the yard) is against the fence and doesn't get as much sunlight. So I'm not sure that they will grow as well, but I am certainly willing to try.

I started 3 Big rainbow, 3 beefsteaks, 2 Cherokee Purple this weekend. I'll plant more once I get the panel in and see how many I can really fit. I started all my determinates for the early season trial last weekend, too.

I don't normally care for cherry tomatoes but if it truly has a tomato taste and not overly sweet I'll be on the lookout. I have a ton of cherry seeds I'm willing to share if anyone wants some. :-) The f4 I've been saving that started as a sungold was sweet but it's lost most that now. :-)

When it comes to prolific non reds you can't beat yellow pear. They are like candy, just pop them in your mouth. Lemon boy is a really nice large yellow. I really like chocolate cherry tomatoes they have great flavor. Black tomatoes seem to have much more flavor to them but I don't have much luck with the larger varities. I am trying black krim this season but I am not thrilled with it either.

I love yellow-pear also, just delish! I like a low-acid sweet 'mater and it fits the bill... also Black Cherry is fantastic... both are small.... I'd like to find a larger one as well, low-acid and sweet, that grows good here... sally