Favorite Heirloom(s)?

[pacmanJohn]

Hege German Pink, Carbon and Brandywine Sudduth

My favorite last year was probably Mortgage Lifter with Hillbilly a close second. All the other well known varieties like Sudduth, did well but not as good as what I consider to be a forgotten or overlooked heirloom in Mortgage Lifter.

I grew for many years in containers (normally fifteen gallon) as we moved around with my work. Containers made it easy to move my garden with me. The last few years, I've grown in raised beds, but started adding a few containers last year to accommodate the dwarf varieties. I used to believe "bigger is better" in pots or containers. When I did a little research into growing tomatoes hydroponically, I realized pot size is not a major concern if you can deliver a consistent moisture and nutrition supply to the plants. This year, I am growing some really large varieties in really small pots (three or four gallons is probably the largest). I'm using timed drip irrigation with slow release fertilizer in high quality soil less mix and the plants are doing great. I may be growing hydroponically since the soil less mix in the small pots seems to only provide a stable environment to hold the roots in place and retain moisture between drip cycles as the plants grow.

Ted

[muck4doo]

Originally Posted by feldon30

[Arkansas] Traveler often gets overlooked, but it's great for the South. Medium pink globes are very sweet yet rich.

That was the only Tom I had last year that kept producing like a champ during our record heat summer in Austin. Unfortunately, the flavor was only okay. Not bad, but nothing great either.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Two varieties liked by several people in the Deep South were Indian Stripe and Super Sioux, both of which I am trying this year.

Scott if you like Indian Stripe then I can suggest a few more that you may also like to try. Indian Stripe Potato Leaf, Big Cheef, Cherokee Purple, JD's Special C Tex, Spudakee, Black Krim, and Gary O' Sena are all blacks that have done well for me. The Indian Stripes, Spudakee, Big Cheef, and Dana's Dusky Rose were the most productive. Gary O' Sena and JD's Special C Tex were the largest.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Thanks, B54. I have several of those already in the ground -- and will probably try Big Cheef and O'Sena for my second crop this year. Good recommendations.

[camochef]

Seems the older I get, the more opinonated I become.
Let me start by stating that Indian Stripe has been one of the most productive tomatoes in my gardens. The first year I grew them they were huge! Never attained that size again, but became more like they should have been.
Last year, both Big Cheef and Gary O'Sena were quite unimpressive in my gardens. Big Cheef ( 5 plants), never got any size to them at all and Gary O'Sena,(2 plants), kept getting a reddish or rust colored growth on the sides that I never did identify.
Amazon Chocolate, Dana's Dusky Rose, and Bear Creek were my best Blacks.
Tarasenko6 remains my best Red tomato with Gigantesque close behind.
Pinks weren't as easy to rate.
#1 would have been Purple Dog Creek, easily the best tasting tomato of the year.
#2 Liz Birt, a Pink Brandywine/ Cherokee Purple cross that was simply fantastic.
#3 Barlow Jap, another large pink with great taste, very productive too.
#4 Cowlick Brandywine- both my original P.L. and Jon's earlyer ripening R.L.
#5 Brandywine-Glicks- a great BW that has been right up there with and sometimes surpasing Cowlicks for both size and taste but never for productivity or early ripening.
#6 Earls Faux-another great tasting pink thats a lot like BW's
#7 Dana's German Johnson A strain of very large pink german johnson that her family has been growing for years that outperforms other types of German Johnson both in size and taste to say nothing of productivity.

I could go on and on and...but they are the best of my favorites and just so happen to be among those I'm growing this year.
With about 50 years of tomato growing behind me now, I have to admit that the best tomatoes change somewhat year to year. Weather conditions, soil conditions insect, disease and even bird damage (last year) make major differences in results. Its rare that the same tomatoes make the top of the list year after year.

Years ago, it was Jersey Beefsteaks that we grew every year, some going three lbs or more. I cannot even find a comparable tomato anymore. But over the years of growing hundreds each year, I've been able to find enough favorites to keep a smile on my face. What more can an old man ask for!
Enjoy! and Happy Gardening!
Camo

[stonysoilseeds]

camo with all the varieties i am growing this season its funny i dont have one on your list of favorites i gueess its a process of weeding out and just staying with the ones that you like most and that can change from season to season for me last year my favoites were cherokee purple, sungold, black krim . brandywine only because i have to grow it for sentimentality , stupice, and rose de berne,, i am trying many new ones this year so will be intersting to learn which my new favorites will be happy gardening

I enjoy reading the "best of" or "favorite" threads. I usually find myself chasing down some seed for the latest and greatest. This year my latest and greatest are Terhune, Hoy, and the Dwarfs plus a few more.

I can't get it out my mind that unlike Camo, I haven't been growing tomatoes for fifty years. Probably only thirty. I think that while I am chasing the latest and greatest, I may be overlooking some oldies but goodies. I try every year to balance my newest finds with some oldies that were probably the hit of the year at some time. This year my oldies include Mortgage Lifter again plus Prudens Purple and a few others. I keep trying to grow Cuostralee but fate interferes each year. Maybe next year.

Ted

[camochef]

Originally Posted by stonysoilseeds

camo with all the varieties i am growing this season its funny i dont have one on your list of favorites i gueess its a process of weeding out and just staying with the ones that you like most and that can change from season to season for me last year my favoites were cherokee purple, sungold, black krim . brandywine only because i have to grow it for sentimentality , stupice, and rose de berne,, i am trying many new ones this year so will be intersting to learn which my new favorites will be happy gardening

Stonysoilseeds,
We all have different favorites that do well for us in our local conditions. I used to grow all those you list. Cherokee Purple was a favorite for a number of years, although I found their taste to be inconsistant from one plant to another even when I'd have a row of ten one right next to the other. Also found their shelf-life to rather short. Others like some of the Brandywine/Cherokee purple crosses did better all around, especially in production. They were however one of my favorites for canning, especially combined with pink Brandywines.
Sungold has been my favorite cherry for years now, Just that I stopped growing cherries and dedicated the gardens to slicers.
Black Krim was a favorite for years, even though the had cracking problems more often than not. I simply found better tasting blacks without the cracking problems. Brandywines have been my favorites for years now, Used to think Cowlicks were the best, both the original P.L. and Jon's earlier ripening R.L., but the past few years Brandywine Glicks has been outperforming them. All three beat Brandywine-Sudduths, year after year.
Stupice is not a favorite of mine. It is an early producer and an extremely good producer but not a very flavorful one. Then too I'm really more of a slicer man.
I grew Rose de berne one year and really cannot recall much about it so I assume it wasn't overly impressive here.
Most years I would grow beteen 300-400 tomatoes including anywhere from 15-100 new to me varieties. as I always enjoyed trying something new and highly recommended. Last year I managed to reduce my tomatoes to just 81 plants which was a major accomplishment for me, and still included some new varieties. One of those was Purple Dog Creek, I had 5 of them and they became the best 5 plants in the two gardens. Most were over a pound each, and had wonderful taste to them. They were my most requested seed to share this year.
This year I planted 16 seeds of which 14 sprouted and I'll re-plant the other two after my first transplanting. With 54 years of tomato growing behind me, I have to admit my favorites have changed over the years, especially the past dozen or so, when I really devoted much time and effort to finding those really special tasting slicers. Its been a great adventure, but its beginning to wear me down now, and there won't be many more years to continue. Still, there are local farmers markets, many of which now sell most of my favorites.
Wishing you many years of gardening enjoyment and the best of luck finding your favorites.
Enjoy!
Camo

[camochef]

Originally Posted by tedln

I enjoy reading the "best of" or "favorite" threads. I usually find myself chasing down some seed for the latest and greatest. This year my latest and greatest are Terhune, Hoy, and the Dwarfs plus a few more.

I can't get it out my mind that unlike Camo, I haven't been growing tomatoes for fifty years. Probably only thirty. I think that while I am chasing the latest and greatest, I may be overlooking some oldies but goodies. I try every year to balance my newest finds with some oldies that were probably the hit of the year at some time. This year my oldies include Mortgage Lifter again plus Prudens Purple and a few others. I keep trying to grow Cuostralee but fate interferes each year. Maybe next year.

Ted

Ted,
I've grown those you listed except for Hoy and the dwarfs. Terhune was a first timer last year but didn't make my garden this year. Perhaps again in the future.
I grew Mortgage lifter for 4 maybe 5 years and while they weren't bad they just didn't measure up to some more favored varieties. I grew Prudens Purple, both the Regular Leaf and the Potato leafed versions for a number of years until I had a year where their taste really went south (an almost fishy taste) and I quit growing them.
Cuostralee were grown on and off for a couple years and just never did well for me here. Would get a few good-sized ones and then just small ones.

All in all, my favorites are Brandywines, Brandywine crosses, (like Liz Birt, Dora, Bears Creek, Gary O'Sena, JD's special C-Tex and my DDRXBW-C). And others that resemble Brandywines. ( Like Earls Faux, Barlow Jap, Ed's Millenium, Stump of the World ), and more. These are all off the top of my head, and after midnight too, I'm sure if I checked my journals I could add a lot more to the list.
The past few years, the top tomatoes change constantly from one year to the next, because of all the variables. The trick is to find the ones that do best for you where your at and to escape the game of trying every known variety out there searchin' for tomato nirvana.
Unfortunately it takes years and years to realize its just too immense of an undertaking and you don't have to kill yourself trying to do so. I'm done planting hundreds of tomatoes or anything else in such numbers. I also plant lots of alliums and peppers many years too. Then too, I have hundreds of homemade tomato cages...maybe I should get into beans.
Enjoy!
Camo

[b54red]

Camo though not growing quite as long as you I am coming up on 40 years of growing tomatoes and am really only interested in the tomatoes that have that very rich full tomato flavor. I guess as we get older quality becomes more important than quantity. I can't believe that I used to grow up to 25 or more Celebrity tomatoes and some others that make Celebrity seem like a gourmet tomato. I now only plant a couple of hybrids which is due to a deep and nagging fear that one day the nematodes will return or TSWV will hit really hard.

I have had really good luck with Mortgage Lifter producing some huge tomatoes in even bad conditions but the taste just is too bland for me. Most of the mild tomatoes no longer make my grow list each year. When I have to decide between having two Stumps or one Stump and a Mortgage Lifter then ML just loses that battle.
I had a Black Krim give me a couple of tomatoes with that weird smokey taste and I have been growing it ever since despite the things splitting if you spit on the ground near them. I guess that is why I grow Donskoi every year despite it's well known stinginess. To my tastes it makes most of the other hearts seem like store bought tomatoes. Now almost every tomato I grow is a proven taste winner in my garden; but there is still about 1/4 of them that are new or unproven.

I hope everyone has a better year this year than last.

[Tania]

I discovered Bradley tomato last year - it is so good! This is another one that often gets overlooked.

I love Cherokee Green, Cherokee Chocolate, and Cherokee Purple. And ~100 more tomatoes that I am not going to list here

[camochef]

B54red,
There are no rewards for how long one's been growing tomatoes. Perhaps there should be for hard-headedness or something similar.
Yes there was a period that I also grew celebrity, and big boy, better boy, early girl and other hybrids but once I got into heirlooms, the only hybrid in my gardens was SunGold, which I haven't grown for a few years now.
I've never been crazy for heart-shaped tomatoes, but would try different ones as I learned about them. My favorite was Wes up until last year when Kukla's Portugese Bullsheart simply blew it away! IMO its the best tasting heart I've ever tasted.
Cutting back like I have, there are no hearts in my garden this year. Must mention that Kukla's Portugese Beefsteak is also a great tasting tomato, but a beefsteak. Last year was the first year for both in my gardens, but the beefsteak wasn't very prolific so therefore it didn't make this years garden either.
Also hoping everyone has a much improved gardening season.
Enjoy!
Camo

[babice]

I really wanna try all of these everyone has listed here! I particularly want to try that Purple Dog Creek and it's a seed I have already ordered along with Sudduth Brandywine Pink, Glick's Brandywine and Chianti Rose. Also have a very kind person from this site sending me Cowlick Brandywine (YAY! I can't wait!) and I hope to try the Bradley, Cherokee Green, Cherokee Chocolate, and Cherokee Purple Tania mentioned above.

[gssgarden]

Shannon's - Tasty with many uses
Cherokee purple - won't go without!
Anna russian - ditto!

Brads black heart looks interesting!!

Greg