Eva St. Wendell

[travis]

Here is a tomato that I've been working with for several years in a row.

The original cross I think was done by Keith Mueller for Darrel Jones (Fusion Power), but Fusion may correct me if I am mistaken about its origin. Anyway the cross was made between Big Beef F1 and Eva's Purple Ball with the intent of selecting an Eva's Purple Ball type with greater disease tolerance.







I obtained F3 seeds from a medium sized pink F2 tomato, and continued to select for 6 - 8 ounce, round, pink, thin skinned tomatoes with well balanced flavor.

After several years of selection, I have a stable line that produces tomatoes that appear to replicate Eva's Purple Ball in appearance, but do not shatter (fall off) the vine when ripe as do EPBs.

The fruit size has varied between say 5 and 9 ounces year to year depending upon weather conditions (smaller and fewer in hot, dry seasons), but have produced very well in moderate climates according to reports I have received from several growers with whom I shared seeds in the past two summers.

[clkeiper]

Nice. I love pink tomatoes.

[Labradors2]

That one sounds like a real winner. How was the flavor?

Linda

[carolyn137]

And what's the story behind the name you gave it, again;

Eva, I understand

St. as opposed to Ste., refers to a male Saint, and knowing you as I do I'm positive that the St. is not referring to you.

Wendell, I don't have a clue.

Looks like a good one Bill and in terms of sharing seeds sometime in the future allow me remind you who first made Eva Purple Ball available to others.

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Eva_Purple_Ball

Your choice as how I might eventually thank you but perhaps sending you the original seeds that I saved from the plants I raised from the original seed Joe Bratka sent me. I know it wouldn't be a problem for you but they do reside in a screw top plastic scintillation vial and are from 1991 since I've never thrown out ONE saved seed since about 1990.

Carolyn, kept awake by the wolves howling last night and no, she isn't the Little Red Riding Hood type, so was not scared, but a nice nap is in the offing.

[travis]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

That one sounds like a real winner. How was the flavor?

Linda

I consider the flavor "well balance" between acids and sugars, and just perfect for salads and sandwiches. Personally, I like a deeper, more complex flavor, something more like Cherokee Purple.

But this tomato has the refined, pink tomato flavor, more like a heart tomato along the lines of Slovenian Bull's Heart would be the only tomato I've grown that I can think of with a very similar flavor. Or maybe Ozark Pink (which coincidently falls from the vine when ripe as does Eva's Purple Ball).

[travis]

St. Wendell is a small, unincorporated town that straddles the Posey/Vanderburgh County Lines in N.W. Vanderburgh County, Indiana.

When I was county surveyor, my chief deputy grew a few of my plants each summer in piles of rotted horse manure from her horse rescue paddock.

Three or four years ago, she grew one plant of this tomato that was superb, and they were larger than those I grew. So, I used seeds from her plant for all future grow-outs here at home.

The size still varies, as I said, depending on the summer climate and apparently whether you grow them in horse manure or not!

I suppose the correct name by gender would be Eva Ste. Wendell, but I never thought about that before. Thanks for the correction.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by travis

St. Wendell is a small, unincorporated town that straddles the Posey/Vanderburgh County Lines in N.W. Vanderburgh County, Indiana.

When I was county surveyor, my chief deputy grew a few of my plants each summer in piles of rotted horse manure from her horse rescue paddock.

Three or four years ago, she grew one plant of this tomato that was superb, and they were larger than those I grew. So, I used seeds from her plant for all future grow-outs here at home.

The size still varies, as I said, depending on the summer climate and apparently whether you grow them in horse manure or not!

I suppose the correct name by gender would be Eva Ste. Wendell, but I never thought about that before. Thanks for the correction.

Well, I didn't really mean it as a correction, and knowing it was a woman who grew plants in horse manure for sure Ste. would be correct.

When you get it where you want to in terms of stability, please don't say to others that in order to get the fruit size you get that they have to grow it horse manure piles.

Carolyn

[travis]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

When you get it where you want to in terms of stability, please don't say to others that in order to get the fruit size you get that they have to grow it horse manure piles.
Carolyn

I'm perfectly satisfied with mine at tennis ball size, but if someone wants really big balls ...

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by travis

I'm perfectly satisfied with mine at tennis ball size, but if someone wants really big balls ...

OK, you started this but if someone wants really big balls they should grow Couillies de Taureau, nee the red Huevos de Toro from Spain.

Carolyn

[JLJ_]

If you're naming the tomato after the place, rather than after the saint, surely however the place name is spelled would be correct?

[travis]

whoopsie

[travis]

SJames, I have no way to prove disease resistance to several of the disorders to which Big Beef is resistant.

I don't have nematodes in my garden. My plants have shown no signs of verticillium or fusarium. They have shown intolerance to septoria leaf spot and early blight, neither of which Big Beef resists, and both of which I get when late spring and early summer is cool and wet.

However, the plants do not succumb, and end up producing well.

[travis]

By the way, Carolyn and I decided to alter the name to Eva Ste. Wendell in order that the abbreviated title for Saint be gender correct

[Fred Hempel]

So, where do we get our hands on the latest batch of seed? And how much does it cost?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Fred Hempel

So, where do we get our hands on the latest batch of seed? And how much does it cost?

Fred, as I noted in an earlier post above, the seeds I have from Bill will be offered in my seed offer,which goes up in late summer or early Fall.

Also three others and I have the parentage on most and just some hints on that

Rosedale, a PL, has CP in it

Little Dixie, red cocktail cherry with BW and NAR in it

Not Purple Strawberry,not Bill's initially but has won several contests at 1 or 2 message site and should be much better known. Bill once described it as

(But the topper was something called "Not" Purple Strawberry, which apparently is a working cross of Cherokee Purple x German Red Strawberry from Jay in the Brazos River Valley down in Texas. He's all bumbed out that he cannot capture a strawberry shaped fruit. I say, well that's too bad, Jay, I guess. But that was about the best tasting tomato I've eaten in the past 3 years! )

So I'm sending to Tania, at a minimum, probably to places other than to Glenn at Sandhill already since as I said already,I didn't get Bill's seeds until I'd already sent to Mike at Victory Seeds,etc.,the following.

Daniel Burson
Not Purple Strawberry
Eva Ste.Wendell
Little Dixie
Rosedale
and several others from elsewhere.

Fred,you pay no money at all with my seed offers,just an SASE (for US folks), but you get back but 6-8 seeds, that goes up depending on seed age,b'c that's what my seed offers are all about,getting access to varieties that will hopefully be new to most or all..

As for me and what Freda will be growing for me here at home this summer

Rosedale
Little Dixie
Not Purple Strawberry
Eva Ste.Wendell
Daniel Burson

..... and 10 others.

Carolyn, wih fingers crossed for a good growing season since the last two have been perectly lousy.