Heritage tomato suggestions, please.

hoodat

Garden Addicted
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
3,758
Reaction score
509
Points
260
Location
Palm Desert CA
I never measured or weighed any of them but they were bigger than most beefsteaks and almost all of the fruits were well shaped. I had very few deformed ones.They are quite flavorful and solid enogh inside to be good slicers.
 

momofdrew

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
Messages
1,110
Reaction score
3
Points
114
Location
Rochester NH
Thanks for the warning Hoodat...I guess I will have to give it an extra pole to stake it to...if it gets that big... right now it is tiny maybe 6 inches tall...late starting this year...
 

grow_my_own

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Messages
218
Reaction score
76
Points
133
Location
Zone 9a
I got a 500-seed assortment of various heirloom tomato varieties all mixed up together, so I don't know what I'm gonna get until they grow! I haven't planted them yet, just started them today in seed trays. All my tomatoes for the year are planted in the ground and getting big already, so this is basically just to "play" and see what I get. We planted late tomatoes last August & had tomatoes in October, so I figured if I get my variety seeds going now, we'll have something by the end of the season & I will at least have seeds available that I can save for next year because I will know what they are!
 

SweetMissDaisy

Garden Addicted
Joined
Jun 5, 2010
Messages
941
Reaction score
595
Points
257
Location
Eastern Washington
Well Carol Dee, you already know this, but I'll mention it here anyway. :)

This year, I'm pleased as can be with my Cherokee Purple plants! My largest tomatoes from the garden this year have been CP's. One I picked last night weighed in at 18.5oz! (Photo below)

I'm also growing Arkansas Travelers, and while they're TASTY (and I LOVE their dark red color) they are much smaller in size than I'd hoped for. Still, they are doing well in our heat, and I wouldn't hesitate to grow them again.

I'm also growing Lemon Boy very successfully this year. I wasn't going to grow this variety again this year, after dismal failure last year of the Lemon Boys in the garden, but then remembered just what a horrible growing season I had last summer for EVERYTHING, so thought I would give the old Lemon Boy another shot. Glad I did! Not a very "large" tomato (tennis ball size is about right), but when ripened on the vine, they're good. Not as "sweet" as the Cherokee Purples, tho ... but still, good.

6a00d8341c2d2753ef01761575e4f1970c-800wi
 

hoodat

Garden Addicted
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
3,758
Reaction score
509
Points
260
Location
Palm Desert CA
Cherokee purple is a wonderful tomato and I love the purple red tomato sauce you can make with them but their one flaw is they are prone to splitting.
 

Jared77

Garden Addicted
Joined
Aug 1, 2010
Messages
2,616
Reaction score
974
Points
277
Location
Howell Zone 5
I second the Lemon Boys. They were a big hit around here as far as flavor and productivity. We grew them again this year after trying them last year. Green Zebras had a good flavor but I didn't feel comfortable without palpating each potential tomato before picking it to be sure it was ripe. That slowed down the process at harvest time (we have a LOT of tomato plants so time is a factor) but again another very good tasting tomato.
 

Collector

Garden Master
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
3,026
Reaction score
3,852
Points
337
Location
Eastern Wa. Zone 5/6 ?
The only heirloom I have tried are Rutgers last year. Weather was not good last spring so it took forever for the plants to take off growing. Once they grew and set fruit it was late in the season so we only got a few vine ripened before frost came and we had to pick and ripen in the basement. There were a lot of tomatos on them though and they ripened in the basement fine. I am growing them again this year, maybe more willripen on the vine I hope.
 

raabfarm

Leafing Out
Joined
Jan 11, 2012
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Points
22
The Crimson Cushion has been my choice for the beefsteak last season and failing to start another variety, it will be for this year also. Not sure if it is considered a heirloom but it is open pollinated. It seemed to mature late last year but the weather had some to do with that. Love them beefsteaks! Trying new varietiesof tomatoes that were originaly developed for short seasons and released by the North Dakota State University including Super Souix which I have been growing for 2 seasons and others which I have had a hard time finding including Bison, Dakota Gold (my mom raised these in the 60s) and Sheyenne. I have seen them listed in the Sandhill Preservation cataloge but they are either sold out or not available. Anyone can help me locate these varieties? My zone 4 garden is also graced with other open pollinateds like Large Red Cherry, Cherokee Purple and Roma tomatoes plus all non hybrids like Golden Bantam sweet corn, Pederovikc oil seeds, squash, pumpkin, peppers and much more, for seed saving is a large part of my gardening passion.
 

digitS'

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
26,628
Reaction score
32,104
Points
457
Location
border, ID/WA(!)
My understanding is that dealing with Sand Hill Preservation takes patience.

They do have some hard-to-find old varieties like Kootenai, that I grew in the '70's.

Tatiana's TomatoBase is a place to look for varieties and who offers them. She has nothing listed for Bison in 2012 but I just looked in Heritage Harvest, on the 2011 list, and see that Bison is still being offered there.

Steve
 

raabfarm

Leafing Out
Joined
Jan 11, 2012
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Points
22
Thanks for that info steve. Ill have to make time and look at them.
 

Latest posts

Top