Let's Talk About Heirloom Tomatoes

[aftermidnight]

'What do you know about your neighbor Tatiana's TOMATObase "

Steve, all I know is... this is the place I go when I'm looking for information on any particular tomato. I've bought bean seed from her .

Annette

 

[seedcorn]

Curious, if u r in zone 7, why r tomatoes iffy? I'm zone 4/5, tomatoes no problem.

 

[aftermidnight]

seedcorn, it's our unpredictable summers on the coast, June can be cool and wet, temps are mostly in the 60-70 range during the day dropping at night. During July and August mostly low to mid 70's, temps cooling off at night (right now it's 51F in my greenhouse). In the 80's maybe for a few days, up to a week or two sometimes even the odd 90 in July -August. When this happens you'll find me hiding in the house under a fan, not sure if the whining sound is coming out of me or the fan LOL.
September used to be a cool rainy month ( good for putting in a new lawn, same goes for April) but the last few years we've had some really nice ones. Some years we jump from winter right into summer, no spring to speak of, or, if we had one I didn't notice it. Occasionally we have a decent spring, gradually warming up into a warm not too hot summer climaxed with a warm dry fall right through October. I think it's the lack of heat as far as tomatoes go but the beans sure love our weather. Our last frost date used to be the end of March some years back but now it's more like the end of April. One year we had a killing frost in August, other years not until November, UNPREDICTABLE.

Annette

 

[digitS']

Annette, my gardens get about the same Summer warmth as Devil's Lake, North Dakota. Luckily, we don't share their Winter cold.

It must not have warmed up much in ND so far. Yeah, usually we are behind but this June, ahead! The WS claims that it has been warmer than usual around here since March. It may be so but there has been more variability than most years.

The invariability during a cool Spring kills things like melons and stunts most warm-season plants. (I don't know if my Blacktail Mountain watermelon will live - bad shape.) Trying to wait out Spring just means there isn't enough time for most heirlooms. And, the especially cool nights even during Summer just means there isn't enough time for most heirlooms.

There is a zone 8 in much of western Washington but it hardly matters. That's measuring winter cold. Quillayute, Washington is zone 8b and is running almost neck & neck with Fairbanks, Alaska (zone 2a) for growing season warmth (LINK).

Steve

 

[HotPepperQueen]

Those are some great looking tomatoes! Are German Giant and Old German related at all? It may seem like a funny question, but I have been learning a lot in this thread.

 

[PhilaGardener]

And tonight's favorite is German Johnson, a large pink tomato. @PhilaGardener and I traded seeds, Chocolate Cherry for German Johnson, so this is a sneak preview for you! The Chocolate Cherry hasn't ripened yet, but has little green ones on the vines!

View attachment 3119

@baymule, those look fabulous! We have had a really cool spring, so my plants are just starting to push out buds. Something to look forward to!

 

[baymule]

I have been picking Homestead tomatoes for weeks, duh, I just didn't think to post pictures. I am chunking them in a gallon zip loc bag in the freezer until I get enough to can. I sliced one for supper tonight and I found this fellow lurking in the Homestead tomato patch!

Homestead is a good tomato, especially if all you ever had was store bought red baseballs, then Homestead would be outstanding. It produces real well, it tastes good and it is a good all around tomato.

But my tomato heart so far belongs to German Johnson and Cherokee Purple.

 

[Smart Red]

@baymule, your tomato face needs to go to the caption posts.

 

[baymule]

@baymule, your tomato face needs to go to the caption posts.

Done!

 

[baymule]

Those are some great looking tomatoes! Are German Giant and Old German related at all? It may seem like a funny question, but I have been learning a lot in this thread.

I don't know what German Giant and Old German are, just tried the German Johnson and it is a winner! Are you growing the German Giant and Old German?