New Heirloom

[Organic_Nut]

Well I scored a new Heirloom Tomato. it is of course a Beefsteak type. the best of taste.

[carolyn137]

Organic,

I honestly have no idea what you're trying to tell us when you simply state that you've "scored" a new heirloom variety, since most of us "score " many new heirloom varieties ever single year.

Did you expect to clarify what you meant or have folks ask you to name this new one you have so as to build up suspense and quest of the unknown? :wink:

[hedwarr]

[Organic_Nut]

sorry carolyn. maybe you can help me out.

I have scored a new heirloom that has been grown for 100 years locally. I have 10 plants. it grows the best beefsteak tomatoes I have ever eaten.

The farmer brought it from the Portuguese Azores about 1900. he was growing it there before then. this was his pride and joy for all his life. he died some time ago. and the son who is now very old has been keeping it going in his backyard. he gave me 10 plants.

what should I do with this strain. I hate to see it just die out. I had listed it once back in maybe 1985 or so in the seed savers catalog. I would have been someting like

MA AR G

but I was only a member for a short time. back then I dont think anyone requested any seed. I was very disappointed that no one cared about these seeds.

anyway. I am surprised that finally people are interested in these old heirlooms. I have 10 plants and I intend to make a lot of seeds this fall.

I remember long talks with the farmer about how he saved the seeds. he always took huge tomatoes from lots of different plants and mixed all the seeds together so that all the genes would be saved. so that is what I want to do. get a tomato from each of these 10 plants and mix the seeds together. save all the genes.

it is of course indeterminate. and is NOT potato leaf. it is regular leaf.

I have no idea how it compares to other beefsteak tomatoes. I know this one is good. and since it has been grown locally in Concord Mass for 100 years it should be acclimated to the climate. as far as I know he never had a problem with it producing well. A lot of people from all over Boston area used to come every year to Concord to buy some of these tomatoes. funny no one seemed to save any seeds. these were the favorites of a lot of people. but the farm stand shut down a long time ago. I thought the tomato was gone.

I have grown it in the past and I never had a problem. it always grew very healthy and big and with big tomatoes that tasted super good to me. I would put the color as red - pink. not red red. and not pink pink.

anyway I am glad I scored this tomato. I love eating it. I have not grown anything in several years and I did not have the old seeds. I thought everyone had lost this strain. but the old son was still alive and had some seeds going for this year. so I lucked out. it was not extinct. it was still growing on the same farm land. only now just a little bit of the land.

the farmer's son when he gave me the plants wanted to make sure I saved some seeds. I told him I would.

I did get some brandywine. never heard of it before the last couple of months as I started back to grow. so I will see how it compares. I also have some cherokee purple and will see how that goes. I have a hillbilly plant. and a green zebra. lots of fun returning to gardening in my old age. haha.

I got my favorite tomato. and I am happy.

[Catntree]

Hi,

You didn't ask me but here's my two cents:

You should ask the source of the seeds what he would like the variety named, save seeds as you planned, send seeds to a lot of people, including me, LOL, to preserve with as many people as possible.

[Organic_Nut]

well the son had gotten seriously sick a long time ago. and he was old back then. I thought he had passed on like his father and the seeds were now gone for good.

but he is still alive and he was growing it still. what a stroke of luck. he probably will not be able to grow too much longer. what little growing he does now is a struggle for him.

But these tomatoes are a pride and joy.

it blows my mind that he and his father have been growing this so carefully for a 100 years. just amazing.
.

[Catntree]

Might I suggest the name: ( farmer's name)'s Pride....or __'s Pride and Joy...?

[carolyn137]

Organic,

You had posted the same info elsewhere and I had made several suggestions to you.

Did you see those suggestions?

I shared with you that I also had an unnamed variety from the Azores and as a way of sharing with folks how one goes about naming varieties I started a thread at GW and gave all the background information I had and then let folks put in their two cents onm naming it.

The variety was named Neves Azorean Red and i'm sure you've seen it on several folk's grow list.

I sent seeds to all 22 folks who posted in that thread, I also listed it in the SSE Yearbook and also have sent out seeds since that time and still list it in the SSE Yearbook.

You have several choices here.

First, as Tree said, you need to gather all the information you can about this variety ( not called a strain), and then either you can name it, and/or I could help, and/or you could start a thread here and give all the background info you have and let folks have the fun of naming it.

You can offer seeds here this Fall to all, in that Forum.

If you're not currently an SSE member you can ask someone who is to list it for you if you want a larger distribution of seed.

If it's a really great variety I'd be willing to send seeds for trial to Tomato Growers Supply, since I know Linda very well and have sent many varieties to her, and i could also send it to Glenn at SandHill Preservation for trial b'c he's also a friend and someone to whom I've sent lots of varieties. Another possibiity is Marianne Jones at mariseeds whom I also know quitre well.

I know others who own seed companies but prefer to deal only with the above three/

So you have many choices as to how to proceed and what you want to do and how you want to do it.

[Organic_Nut]

Carolyn I did not see your other thread and I will have to look for it.

I had already decided that I liked the name Pride and Joy even before I read the suggestion here. but seeing that others like the name I think I would like to adopt the name.

I will be super happy to send seeds to everyone on tomatoville and also a bunch to you so you can pass them out to your friends. hope it all works out.

I would like to have some professionals try these out to get a professional honest evaluation. I wonder how it stacks up to some other tomato varieties today.

Back in the late 1960's I lived on the farm and talked to the old farmer almost every day. we became very close. I know most of the story. but I will be talking to his son to try to get the rest of the story.

As I remember it. he told me that they were growing it in the Azores as far back as he knew about it. but that he did not know the origin of it before that.

My feeling is that he grew it for 100 years and it should have become acclimated to the local conditions. also it makes sense that it would be a little bit different than the original. and someone else who might have had the original and grew it elsewhere would have chosen his plants and seeds a little differently and the variety would be a little different.

my friend did not really try to pick the so called best. he tried to keep all the genetics. he felt that so called picking the best would decrease the strength of the plant. it would limit the genes. he was willing to put up with some fruit that was not perfect. it did not bother him. he felt it was a mistake to so called try to improve the variety.

he always was careful to grow this variety a long distance from other tomatoes. I also remember him saying he liked to pick tomatoes from the middle to make sure they were pure. no seeds saved from the out side edge of the tomato patch.

It is amazing how every year something new pops up. I guess it keeps life interesting. but I dont think this will continue too much longer. I dont know there is much left to be found.

and you are correct some people do not want to share their genetics.

Peace and Love

George
.

[Organic_Nut]

Originally Posted by Catntree

Hi,

send seeds to a lot of people, including me, LOL,

you will be on the top of the list. wait to the fall. I will offer them free to everyone. lets see how well they grow.

Although I am going to ask everyone who gets seeds to pledge that they will grow them out. no sense in sending seeds to someone who will never grow them out. the non grower can wait until the 2nd year when more are available. I will want the first year seeds to be used.

[elkwc36]

Organic will be watching for updates and the offer. Thanks for sharing it all with us. JD

[jenn_sc]

I'm curious about the thread at GW Carolyn mentioned re: naming varieties. Does anyone have a link or info that may help me find it?

I would also be interested in having some seeds of this tomato in the fall. Please post any new info about the variety's history that you may get. I just love these stories! It's good to know that this family's efforts to save the seed (for generations!) won't be in vain.

Jennifer

[PaulF]

George:

Since I now have a large garden space on a farm nearby, I too will be watching for information on a grow-out of Pride and Joy. What a neat thing to be able to find a new-old heirloom.

[peppereater]

George...keep me on your list, and also keep us updated on what you think of Brandywine. BW is still the best I've tasted, I have a few this year that may give it some competition!

[Sodak]

Anything ever develop?