North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Betty Mayfield <bmayfield@columbia-center.org>]

Ginda,

My favorite tomato--both for flavor and meatiness--is Pritchard, but the 
plants are hard to find in nurseries. Moreton Hybrid is almost the same. I 
have not tried either from seed. By "meaty" I assume you mean a tomato with 
substantial amounts of flesh inside the skin, instead of just seeds and 
juice. These two are both medium sized.

Betty Mayfield
Northwwst Oregon


At 11:47 PM 12/19/02 -0500, you wrote:
> Well, it's that time of year, and I'm debating which tomato seeds to 
> buy.  I know this isn't what this list is for, but I know most of you grow 
> tomatoes, and I beg your forgiveness.  Please reply off-list.
>
> I really like a meaty tomato, but I'm the only tomato-eater in the family, 
> and the giant beefsteak tomatoes are just too big.  I grew Jetstar for a 
> couple of years, and I liked the tomatoes, but despite what the catalogs 
> say, it isn't really indeterminate - all the fruit ripens at about the 
> same time.  I seem to get better yields with hybrids that claim resistance 
> to everything than with heirlooms.  Some combination of soil viruses and 
> less than a full day of sun (6-8 hours) is probably the culprit.  I have 
> inoculated these with various beneficial fungi, although I suspect my soil 
> already has ample fungal colonies.  Most of my seed has come from Fedco, 
> but I'm willing to buy a packet fo tomato seeds from almost 
> anyone.  Here's my experience to date:
>
> Big Beef - years ago, in a giant pot in very full sun.  These were great 
> if I remembered to water them every single day.  The damn things needed 
> more than a gallon of water on every sunny day or they wilted.
> I liked the tomatoes, but they are bigger than what I hope to grow this year.
>
> Jetstar - tasty and a good size, but the season is short and there's too 
> much at its peak.  (Too much is not a serious problem, as I can give them 
> away.)
>
> Brandywine - One large delicious fruit and one tiny one.
>
> Early Girl - lots of dry flavorless (but pretty) fruit.
>
> Rutgers - Perfect fruit, but only two of them.
>
> Cosmonaut Volkov - Not a single ripe fruit.
>
> I usually grow one cherry tomato plant, too, and I've had good luck with 
> both Sweet 100s and Peacevine Cherry.  I have a lot of Peavevine Cherry 
> seeds left from last year, so I'll probably grow that again.
> I'm not looking for cooking tomatoes, as I find some of the canned ones 
> are very good, and my sunny space is very limited.
>
> Thanks,
> Ginda Fisher
> eastern MA, zone 6
>
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