Bill,

I know how to pronounce it, but I am not sure I know how to describe how you would pronounce it.

I pronounce it like this: ram (like the male goat) uh poe (like Edgar Allen Poe). It probably would be shown like this in a dictionary: 'ra-me-po' only the 'e' would be printed backwards and the o would be a long o that rhymes with hoe, but I don't know know to print an e backwards nor do I know how to put the little hyphen directly over the o to indicate it is a long o. I need to go google and find this somewhere........

OK, found it, click on the link.

And, it is a New Jersey name, but I can't pronounce it with a Jersey accent, but maybe George can because he once lived in New Jersey, I think.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Ramapo pronunciation link

ram a po. I have no idea what this is, but it's given me my laugh for the evening. I opened this thread expecting a story about waving a dead chicken over an uncooperative gardenia.

Ramapo is a commercial tomato variety from the...I don't know, 1960s or 1970s. Originally grown by commercial growers in New Jersey and sold at markets there and in New York and surrounding areas, Ramapo is one of the outstanding varieties adored by many people who referred to these old, flavorful hybrid as "the Jersey tomato", and the "Jersey tomato" was famous pretty much worldwide for its' great flavor. Because these tomatoes had outstanding flavor, eventually the seeds were sold to home gardeners who were often very, very fond of them too. In fact, when production of Ramapo F-1 hyrbid seed was dropped, some home gardeners began saving their Ramapo seed and doing successive grow-outs in the hope they could dehybridize it, stabilize it and keep it going on their own without the commercial seed producers. Some of them did succeed so, in the seed-saver world, there are seeds of the dehybridized Ramapo.

Because the Jersey tomatoes as a group were not very good shippers, those varieties were dumped in flavor of newer hybrids that could be picked green and reddened artificially (NOT actually ripening, which is why grocery store tomatoes lack flavor), had a long shelf life and had thick, tough skin and could be shipped long distances. These new tomatoes had everything but flavor, so.....

For a couple of decades, people who like tomatoes have been asking "whatever happened to the Jersey tomato" because the tomatoes nowadays have all those great shipping qualities and poor flavor.

Finally, Rutgers University and the New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station decided to give consumers what they want and they are doing their best to bring back tomatoes that have actual flavor. Ramapo F-1 Hybrid was the first variety they "revived" and it reappeared last year, but was (and is) available only through Rutgers/NJAES. I was so excited I immediately bought a couple of packs of seed.

This year, their second "revived" variety is Moreton F-1 Hybrid, and it is available through Harris Seed. I am growing it as well. I love heirlooms and I'll always grow them, but I like growing good-flavored (and there are a few of them) hybrids because of their higher productivity and disease-resistance.

For me, Ramapo had excellent flavor and production and it produced tomatoes well into August (actually, it produced into October or November without skipping a beat) even though our drought conditions here were horrid and I wasn't watering the garden.....it was all I could do to water the area around the house to keep the clay from shifting and the foundation from cracking.

So, with Rampao F-1 and Moreton F-1 back on the market, market growers and small farmers, and home gardeners as well, now have access to two outstanding hybrid varieties with that good old "Jersey tomato" flavor.

The commercial world of plant breeders and seed producers have finally, finally, finally realized that folks don't just want a bland, flavorless, poor-textured, thick-skinned tomatoey-looking thing that ships well and has a long shelf life.....we want real tomatoes that TASTE like tomatoes. It is about time. I give Rutgers/NJAES all the credit in the world for spearheading the movement to give us tomatoes with flavor. Burpee deserves some credit, too, because it was their Brandy Boy which proved you COULD breed hybrids with high productivity/disease-resistance AND the heirloom-type flavor many consumers prefer. Because Brandy Boy was an immediate best-seller and has been enormously profitable for Burpee, other breeders are now trying to give us that excellent flavor in tomatoes again, and it is about time.

And, by the way, Harris Seeds has some of the best hybrids on the market and some of those have wonderful flavor too--Primetime, Supersonic, Jetstar, Moreton, etc. I suspect Harris-Moran never did stop breeding for flavor.

That's probably more than you wanted to know about Ramapo, but I thought I'd tell the story of its revival to illustrate how breeders are finally trying to give us hybrids with good flavor and texture again.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Rutgers/NJAES Tomato Info

Dawn, that pronunciation guide gave the right pronunciation. Not even I can reproduce an authentic NJ accent. What little I had, I lost. What most of the country considers to be a NJ accent is actually a Long Island accent. But many in the North of the state do have it and it is spreading.

During our last stint in NJ (2001-2005) I remember a local Shoprite selling Ramapo and Rutgers. Senior citizens bought them out! I don't personally have experience with Ramapo. But I like Rutgers quite a bit.

When I was 14 I met and was befriended by a 72 year old fellow named Clarence Mauser. "Mr. Mauser" as I always knew him, taught me to hunt, trap and eel bob. I helped him with his gardening. He was a widower and lived alone. Yet he normally put out a couple hundred tomato plants. He would only plant Marglobe, Rutgers and Roma. He also put out about 30X30' of muskmelons and needed help with eating them!!! Mr. Mauser was my very best friend right up until I had been in college for a couple of years. I miss him dearly.

George

George,

I am glad the pronunciation guide was correct because it sounded the way I "thought" it should, but I wasn't sure.

If you like Rutgers, I think you'd like Ramapo as well.

Mr. Mauser sounds amazing. It is so nice that you had someone like him in your life. Since he was a widower who lived alone, I bet he enjoyed your company as much as you enjoyed his.

Our son's girlfriend has a daughter who is almost two years old and she adores our son's dog, Jersey. Even though she is a southern girl, she has that perfect Long Island accent when she says one word and one word only--"Jersey" because, for some reason, when she says it, it comes out "Joisey" and it just cracks us up. : )

Dawn

Ramapo. Very interesting. Learn something every day. And I'm pleased to know it's not a voodoo ritual.

LOL, and I am glad, to know it "is" something one can grow. :)

A tomato!

Cool

Moni

Dawn,
Tnx for your info on ramapo pronunciation. In my subject line I had CAPS on the three pronunciations that it could have been, but it did not come out right. I had RAM a po - ram A po - and ram a PO. When you find a different word like this you dont really have a clue as to what cylinder (syllable) to strike with the emphasis, but I just wanted to be right this summer when I get to taste this delectable. This is one of the freebies from you.
Tnx again, Bill

You're welcome Bill. I figured you probably HAD typed it with a different emphasis on the syllable that was accented, but things don't always come out the way we expect them to in the subject line.

I really expect that you'll like Ramapo, although we won't know until you try it since we all have different taste buds.

Dawn