Lightly circulated treasures

[OmahaJB]

I'm starting this thread in hopes of sparking conversation about great tasting tomato varieties that aren't grown by many people, but deserve to be to help them survive. In the past I've seen this discussed to some degree in threads that I couldn't find searching the forum/site. If I ever have land I'd like to have an area designated just for varieties that need attention. It's a dream anyways! With so many varieties out there, there are bound to be some that have been overlooked, and possibly in danger being lost. And I mean really good tasting ones.

Even though I'm focusing on tomatoes, other things like eggplant, peppers, etc., could be listed.

I don't have anything to list but hoping others will.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Mlm1]

Jeff,
My very favorite tomato of all time is Mullen's Mortgage Lifter. I think it fits this thread discussion perfectly since I rarely see it mentioned and it really deserves more attention. It is a large pink beefsteak with delicious flavor, fairly firm texture, productive and mid season. Looking forward to seeing other rare gems.
Marla

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Mlm1

Jeff,
My very favorite tomato of all time is Mullen's Mortgage Lifter. I think it fits this thread discussion perfectly since I rarely see it mentioned and it really deserves more attention. It is a large pink beefsteak with delicious flavor, fairly firm texture, productive and mid season. Looking forward to seeing other rare gems.
Marla

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com./wik...er,_Mullen%27s

If one clicks on seed availability at the above page one sees that only you and Steve are offering it for this year. I've grown it and the only Mortgage Lifter, of which there are many so called strains , that I like is the Estler one which I think more folks should grow, and I have grown the Mullen's one as well and it is good.

I know a couple of folks have grown out many of the various ML's in the same season and see very little difference.

Unkown gems, ones that need to be preserved? For tomatoes I'd point all to the SSE Yearbooks ( members only) where over 4,000 total are listed, some of them I call gems. Sometimes a person will list onevariety for just one year and it was Bill Minkey who saw such a listing for Aunt Ginny's Purple and saved that one.

Too bad I never put my tomato data in an Excel form, but if I were to go to the back room and spend hours looking through my vials and envelopes I'm absolutely sure I could come up with some forgotten gems.

But so could many of us who have been long time SSE memebers going backtothelate 80's/early90's,such as Craig L, Nei lLockhart, Bill Minkey and several more and who are still active and listing.

We have had this discussion before as it relates to folks who just ignore so many that have been known for a long time and always want the newest, the latest, you know what I mean. Who was it who said she'd give away her first born to get which variety I can't remember.

And onward we go.

Carolyn

[OmahaJB]

I thought it had been discussed to some degree in the past, Carolyn, but couldn't find the thread. Tried searching and looking at some of the back pages with no luck. Oh well. Making my purchases this year I bought varieties that I had either read about here in the past that sounded good, or ones I've wanted from reading descriptions in seed catalogs over the past few years. Got me to wondering what else is out there that would be as good or better than the ones I bought, that are in need of attention to help them survive. In the future I do hope to be able to get into gardening more seriously if and when I buy a house with at least a litttle bit of land. Kind of hard to grow things in a small apartment and I can't get over to the garden at my mother's house more than once a week to take care of it properly. But there are future possibilities to consider. Guess you could say I'm in the planning stages.

[OmahaJB]

Originally Posted by Mlm1

Jeff,
My very favorite tomato of all time is Mullen's Mortgage Lifter. I think it fits this thread discussion perfectly since I rarely see it mentioned and it really deserves more attention. It is a large pink beefsteak with delicious flavor, fairly firm texture, productive and mid season. Looking forward to seeing other rare gems.
Marla

Thanks Marla. Last weekend I bought Mortgage Lifter seeds at a local store that were from Ferry Morse. It doesn't say Mullens or list any other strain though. I am going to try fitting at least one of these plants in. I'll have to keep the strains you and Carolyn mentioned in mind for the future.

Originally Posted by OmahaJB

Thanks Marla. Last weekend I bought Mortgage Lifter seeds at a local store that were from Ferry Morse. It doesn't say Mullens or list any other strain though. I am going to try fitting at least one of these plants in. I'll have to keep the strains you and Carolyn mentioned in mind for the future.

I grew ordinary/plain Mortgage Lifter for the last three years and was totally impressed with it. With so many varieties to grow, and limited space, it didn't make the cut this year. In discussions on different threads, most people agree that it is a very good variety but then go into the "ho hum" or "been there, done that" mode. I suppose that is the mode I've entered for the variety. Since the Mullen and Estler strains are out there and are supposedly better than the original, I guess one or both may be added to my grow list for next year. Can someone tell me why those strains are supposedly better than the original?

Three varieties that made a splash in tomato growing forums and performed well for me were Fred Limbaughs Potato Top, Hoy; and Barlow Jap. I'm growing all three again this year and I hope they gain a foothold in other folks gardens. Unfortunately, everyone seems to be favoring varieties with Eastern European names or oriental names. There really are some good varieties with common names, that I can pronounce; available. I may have to erect a barrier for my future grow lists which will only allow names I can pronounce too make the cut onto my list.

I don't know why, but I seem more attracted to varieties with names that tell a story or have a story to tell and seem more related to the term "heirloom" than "open pollinated" though both are accurate. I will watch this thread for some Kentucky Derby, or Triple Crown winning pedigree; and retired to the pasture names. Who knows, I may find some lost jewels that I can grow.

Ted

[carolyn137]

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com./wik...b=General_Info

Ted, above is the link to the Estler ML, and wonderful to see is if you click on seed availability Marla's brother Steve of Heritage seeds is the only one listing it for 2013.

Aside from the fact that the Estler one has been documented to have been developed in the 20's way before Radiator Charlie made his claim, I find it to be better than the others as regards taste, smoothness, and yield, while the Mullens one is still good, I prefer the Estler one.

At Tania's page you'll see that the source of the Estler one was Bob Estler. he died recently and at GW a relative of his was looking for seeds for the Estler one, they had no more in the family.

I said I had some older seeds, I'd offered them in previous seed offers here at TV, mine were directly from Chuck Wyatt, his name is also there, but was hoping that someone would come along with fresher seeds. Two did and one I think was Darrel Jones, aka Fusion, so she was happy. And knowing it was hard to find the Estler one these days I suggested to Edie, her name is, as well as Fusion, that in Edie's case if she got a lot of saved seeds this season, and Fusion if he wanted to, could get me some seedsI could not only put inmy seed offer,but more importantly send them to various seed vendors, as I've done for years, for trial,

Carolyn, real happy to see the Estler one at Steve's Heritage site,

[Heritage]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com./wik...b=General_Info

Carolyn, real happy to see the Estler one at Steve's Heritage site,

Carolyn, Estler ML has been on my "to grow" list for a few years now but I haven't found a convenient seed supply yet and ii appears it isn't getting any easier to find. "Heritage Harvest Seed" is the source listed at Tania's but they don't ship to the US. Also, I only saw one source at SSE last year and don't have this years catalog yet to check on availability. If you haven't yet shipped my seed order, and have a few seed of Estler still available, I would do a growout and supply you with seed next year for your seed offer here at T'Ville as well as list it at my site.

Mullen's was superior to both Charlie's ML and Quisenberry's ML in my side-by-side greenhouse comparison and, as Marla mentioned, it was her "go-to" tomato out of 140 varieties in 2011. On your high recommendation, I will escalate my search for Estler!

Steve

[PaddyMc]

Originally Posted by Mlm1

Jeff,
My very favorite tomato of all time is Mullen's Mortgage Lifter. I think it fits this thread discussion perfectly since I rarely see it mentioned and it really deserves more attention. It is a large pink beefsteak with delicious flavor, fairly firm texture, productive and mid season. Looking forward to seeing other rare gems.
Marla

I'm pretty excited to say I have Mullen's seeds to try this year. Seeds from Heritage Tomato Seeds.

[Heritage]

Thanks to my friend cbadcali, I now have a source for Estler's ML

Steve

"Aside from the fact that the Estler one has been documented to have been developed in the 20's way before Radiator Charlie made his claim, I find it to be better than the others as regards taste, smoothness, and yield, while the Mullens one is still good, I prefer the Estler one."

Carolyn,

Thank you for the information.

As usual, I am interested in the story behind a name almost as much as the tomato itself. The story associated with Mortgage Lifter and Radiator Charlie seems somehow to fit both. How can the story resulting in the name be retrofitted back to the 20's and mr/mrs Estler or Mullen? Did one or both of them also have a mortgage to pay off? I could understand it a little better if the sequence fit in the same manner the story of Brandywine and Cowlicks Brandywine fits.

Thanks again!

Ted

[ContainerTed]

Listed below are some of the ones I'm growing this year that are hard to find. For some, there may be a single source, but most have no commercial source this year.

Absinthe
Acme
Chapman
Chello
Church
Climbing Trip-L-Crop
Dolly
Giant Tree
Italian Tree
Large Red
Mortgage Lifter - Estler
Soldacki
Spears Tennessee Green
The Dutchman
Tommy Toe Yellow

[Barbee]

Originally Posted by ContainerTed

Listed below are some of the ones I'm growing this year that are hard to find. For some, there may be a single source, but most have no commercial source this year.

Absinthe
Acme
Chapman
Chello
Church
Climbing Trip-L-Crop
Dolly
Giant Tree
Italian Tree
Large Red
Mortgage Lifter - Estler
Soldacki
Spears Tennessee Green
The Dutchman
Tommy Toe Yellow

Ted, I grew Church 2 years ago. I am anxious to hear your thoughts on it once you taste it

[Sun City Linda]

ML Estlers just popped its cute little seed head up

[ddsack]

Dang it! Scanning through the nice website at Heritage Seeds (I like the vertical double row format with the pictures in the middle) I found a newly found variety - Flin Flon - that I feel calling to me - even though I am full up with tomatoes for this year. Flin Flon is further north than I am, so if it does well there .....