I've linked the Jersey Tomato website from Rutgers University/New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station for anyone who might be interested in obtaining seed of the Ramapo F-1 tomato.

For anyone not familiar with Ramapo F-1, it was "the" tomato grown in New Jersey for many years in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, and it made "Jersey tomatoes" famous, especially in Farmer's Markets and grocery stores in New York and New Jersey. At some point, the seed company stopped producing it, causing near-panic among commercial growers and home gardeners who adored it.

At some point, Dr. Caroyln Male deybridized it and you could obtain the dehybridized version from her and from other folks she had shared seed with. Finally, in the early to mid-2000s, Rutgers and the New Jersey AES brought it back and into production, which is a very costly process. I have grown it several times and it is a very good variety that has great flavor and performs well in our climate.

The response from gardeners nationwide was so positive that they followed up by bringing back another discontinued hybrid variety called Moreton F-1, which also produces well here. They brought it back in cooperation with Harris Seeds, so you can get seeds of Moreton F-1 hybrid from either Harris Seeds or at the same place that the NJAES sells Ramapo F-1 seed.

Ramapo and Moreton perform very well in my garden, along with a handful of other Harris Seeds varieties like Supersonic and Jetstar. Before I tried them, I was worried they couldn't handle our heat, but they handle it as well as any other hybrid and better than most. I don't grow them every year, but do grow them about one year out of every 3.

Even if you don't want to buy seeds of Ramapo or Moreton, the website has lots of great tomato-growing info and links.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Ramapo and Moreton Tomato Seeds at Rutgers/NJAES