Tomato List

[897tgigvib]

I used to grow a lot of them and sell the plants when I was in Montana. Yes, we were loaded down with them at the end of the season because I always started enough plants so we'd have a big huge harvest, lots of kinds. The Fiorentinos were always one of the better growers. I've only ever seen one plant among the hundreds I started each year die from something. A customer may have picked it up by the main stem, who knows?

It's basically beefsteak shaped, typical actually. Meaty to some juiciness, spicy flavored will make you want to make spaghetti sauce with them. Also good eating for a BLT.

 

[digitS']

If you look on those pages I linked to on the 1st post, Joz, you will find Dagma's in my basket!

That's why I axed.
Thanks for the insight. The description was intriguing, but when I ordered it, there was surprise at the other end of the phone. Most current heirloom names I've at least skimmed past on Tomatoville, but I don't recall ever having seen Dagma's before.

Oh, Joz was posting the same time I was!

Dagma's is on the front cover of Tomato Growers Supply, 2013!

There is a "Yellow Perfection" out there. Seeds of Change has it. Dagma of Tomatofest has to be the person Dagma's Perfection is named for. These tomatoes are really blonde or maybe, ivory.

Steve

 

[897tgigvib]

Where are the tomatofest folks these days?

 

[digitS']

North of San Fran, Marshall.

They gave up their Carmel gig to some festival management people.

You could probably visit them if they have a retail store. I bet that would be fun!

digitS'

 

[Jared77]

My wife likes the Sweet 100s she doesn't like cherry tomatoes too sweet. That's what she's told me but I may have to try those.

I like the strong flavored tomatoes to make into sauce, base, and salsa, and its nice to have a variety to mix together to blend sweet, spicy, peppery, and just a concentrated tomato flavor. I've made some of my best sauces from a batch of leftover tomatoes from what we'd picked that I threw together to have enough tomatoes to match a batch.

Size isn't as important to us as production. Why wait so much longer for big 12 or 14oz tomato when we can get a handful of 6oz tomatoes that much earlier? We quickly picked up on this and long gone are the "Boy" hybrids and we tend to do more Early Girls till I found TEG and have I've been pushing hard to get into the heirlooms and away from hybrids. The diversity of flavor is what brought me into the heirloom camp, even though I still grow hybrids. I just haven't found ones to replace the hybrids yet but its not for a lack of trying. Lot of tomatoes I haven't tried yet so I'm sure I'll find my keepers soon enough.

Honestly I like my 60ish - 80ish day tomatoes. Though I tend to be a bit skeptical of the 80+ day varieties. Season just isn't long enough to get good production out of those tomatoes usually. Some of them taste fantastic but if we can't get enough of them to ripen its hard to justify keeping them. Here in Michigan we have it pretty darn good though. We have 4 legitimate seasons and a good amount of rain through out the spring and summer but are protected from the harsher weather including the really bitter winters that the other borders states because of our Great Lakes. They tend to absorb the brunt of the fronts and major weather changes so we still get hit but not the pummelling that others do. We're 3rd in Floriculture behind California and Florida so we're doing something right.

Diverse is important but for us its really about flavor. Production is also important but its gotta be a good tasting tomato. I'm pretty open to shape and colors so long as the flavors there.

Like Jared, I'd like to have a little more control over my choices for the garden without the dependence on the corporations. And, I also want healthy productive plants. I suppose that I should explore the world of pink, yellow and gold hybrids beyond the golden cherries. However, I came to the game at the same time as the color and heirlooms choices were expanding .

Dang it Jared, I predate Early Girls, too!!

Sorry I can't help ya there. I'm 35, there isn't much I predate

 

[897tgigvib]

I kind of thought so Digit. Do you know where their secret lair may be?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

well, i can add 3 more tomatoes onto my list thanks to Ginny!
30. Fish Lake Oxheart
31. Kosovo
32. Linnies Oxheart

 

[Mackay]

Have a few questions... seems all you folks are planting a wide variety of tomatoes as I am too. All my seeds are heirloom.
Since I have to plant these near each other will they cross pollinate and therefore I'll be unable to save seed?

Should I isolate the ones I want to save seed on?

also Im planting a cherokee Purple. But the package from Botanical Interests say Tomato Pole on the top. What is a tomato pole? Will I need anything special for it like support?

thanks

 

[joz]

I'm no expert on seed saving, but I've been looking into it. For the price I paid for the heirloom plants I ordered, I'm'a save some of those seeds. Even if they cross, the hybrids should be interesting.

Tomato blossoms are "perfect", meaning they've both male and female pollens inside. Or the flowers are female and there's male pollen inside. Whatever the case, they needn't be pollenated by another flower to produce. That's not to say that cross pollination doesn't happen. But if you bag the blossoms (I think the current method is to cover and tie off the bloom cluster with an organza bridal favor bag), you stand a much better chance of preventing cross-pollination by insects. It would have to be done before the blossoms opened. After, you'd need to flick or shake the blossoms a bit to ensure they're pollinated by theirownselves. Then the bags can come off after the fruit forms.

I would bag blossoms rather than relying on isolation distance. Do YOU KNOW where that bee has BEEN?

Oh, and re the Cherokee Purple, and Tomato Poles. It probably needs a cage, at least, to support it. Unless I'm planting a dwarf variety in a pot, I put a cage around all my tomatoes. I planted a couple of Cherokee Purples one year, and they made it to the top of a 5' stake before the heat did them in. I've found cages much simpler to manage.

 

[digitS']

Some folks call indeterminates = "staking" and determinates = bush. It could be that Botanical Interests is telling you to "stake" them.

I kind of thought so Digit. Do you know where their secret lair may be?

I forgot to get back to you, Marshall. Their mailing address is a post office box in Little River. I couldn't find anything about a store. Even took a drive thru Little River on Streetview . . . it is just as little as I seem to recall it. One of those "blink" communities but a pretty location. They were sure prompt at sending me my order this year but I think they are really taking a lower profile in Little River and have left the lime light of Carmel behind.

Steve