Help needed; Andrey, Alex, Tania, etc.

[carolyn137]

What a surprise when in todays mail I received 15 seed packets with varieties pictured, but everything is in Russian.

Now I do admit I was able to translate the name Bordo on that package of beets, but let's get real, no way could I translate these. The tranlater had written some translations in heavy black ink across the face of the tomatoes, but I couldn't read all of those either.

So I did almost cry b/c I don't have a scanner, couldn't read the names and the VOILA, at the bottom of the pack was a translation sheet with name , ripening period( clearly from time sowed to ripe fruits), average weight, in grams, and height, in cm, and then Comments.

So what's a haulm?

So I'm looking for some help here. I'm going to list them as typed on that sheet and ask any of you if they have names in Russian that you can give me, and ****most importantly, are there any that I should be growing this summer that aren't especially widely known.**** Since Martha is growing only 12 plants for me and two new ones are already in there, perhaps 2-3, if not known otherwise might be targeted from this list.

So here we go, and at the bottom I'll tell you the amazing amusing story as to how I got sent these.

Astronaut Volkov ( OK, is Cosmonaut Volkov)
Yellow Giant
Early Ground Tomato
Early Tomato-83
Russian Hero
Tzar Bell ( looks great to me)
Market Miracle
Chernomor ( should know, but forgot)
President F1
Bull Heart
Gorgeous Gift
Danko
Gift from Zavolzhye
Giraffe ( I know, and comment says mainly for pickling)
Red Giant

So go at it my friends.

So why did this surprise find me.

I have a long time friend who livews in Pacific Palasades in CA and met Dennis several years ago when I was asked to present a tomato doo dad at the now defunct Hortus Nursery in Pasadena, although their Tomatomania plant sale lives on.

A couple of years ago Dennis drove to a nursery nearby and bought lots of stuff, not just tomatoes. When he went to pay he found he had no cash and no credit cards with him.

You have to know Dennis, suffice it to say that he's a fast talker, originally from Brooklyn, and runs a huge PR agency in LA.

So the nice lady at the check out counter not only told him she'd let him take the stuff and he could come back later to pay, she also gave him a $20 bill if he needed it for gas or whatever while driving home.

Dennis was so pleased and surprised by this that he asked me if I'd autograph my book and send it to the woman, whose name he remembered. It turns out that at the checkout counters were stacks of my books and Dennis had gotten into a chat with her saying he knew me and all that.

So I sent the book and received a lovely thank you back from her. She said her husband was in the former Soviet Union, working there, and she'd ask him to see if he could find some tomato varieties for me.

Now that was 2-3 years ago and I'd forgotten all about it. But here today comes these 15 varieties that her husband got and he had the Russian translater who works with him do the translations and obviously typed the page in English that I thankfully found at the bottom of the larger package the seed packs were sent in.

Nice story, yes?

[bcday]

Someone else will have to do the rest of the translating, but I think the haulm is the aboveground stems and leaves of the plant. I usually see it used in reference to potato and legume crops.

[dcarch]

Carolyn,

I know you don't have a digital camera, but if someone you know has one, or a cell phone has a camera, taking pictures of the writings can also work.

dcarch

[patty_b]

Carolyn, does your beets happen to be Bordo 237? I was really impressed with how well these did.....Patty

[velikipop]

Carolyn,

Chernomor is Black Sea..perhaps it is the variety called Black Seaman??

As for the rest I'm not familiar with any of the names, but it seems that the translation is accurate.


Alex

[Patrina_Pepperina]

I've grown Chernomor (PL) a couple times, but it doesn't do well in containers for me, which doesn't really say a lot

Anyhow, it gave me a medium purple/black globe, with good taste (but not as good as Black from Tula) It's an attractive fruit.

http://au.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/fou...26.jpg&.src=ph

PP

[carolyn137]

bc, I looked again and I think that haulm is referring just to the stems.

Patty, not my beets. Someone posted a picture of the seed pack, was it you?, and I commented in that thread that I could read the Russian as Bordo.

dcarch, lets wait and see what develops here, b'c having the English translation I'm pretty sure that Andrey and/or Tania can help out. And if I'm not going to grow them out to list in the SSE YEarbook, I'm not so sure I even need to know the Russian spellings of ALL of them.

Don't faint when you read that Andrey.

[Tania]

I'll try...

Astronaut Volkov ( OK, is Cosmonaut Volkov - yes)
Yellow Giant - Zheltyi Gigant
Early Ground Tomato - Ranniy Gruntovyi
Early Tomato-83 - Ranniy-83
Russian Hero - Russkiy Geroi
Tzar Bell ( looks great to me) - Tsar Kolokol
Market Miracle - Chudo Rynka
Chernomor ( should know, but forgot) - Chernomor
President F1 - Prezident F1
Bull Heart - Bychie Serdtse
Gorgeous Gift - ??? Prekrasnyi Podarok ??? not sure...
Danko - Danko
Gift from Zavolzhye - Dar Zavolzhiya
Giraffe ( I know, and comment says mainly for pickling) - Zhiraf
Red Giant - Krasnyi Gigant

[carolyn137]

Tania, have you grown all of those?

What about the Tsar Kolokol? The looks and description of that one I really liked. Have you grown it or is it something I have that maybe others don't have?

As I said above, I'd like to grow something from those 15 packs that maybe others haven't.

Thanks so much for stepping in and helping me.

[Tania]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Tania, have you grown all of those?

What about the Tsar Kolokol? The looks and description of that one I really liked. Have you grown it or is it something I have that maybe others don't have?

As I said above, I'd like to grow something from those 15 packs that maybe others haven't.

Thanks so much for stepping in and helping me.

Carolyn,

No, I didn't try any of these, but I'd agree that Tzar Kolokol sounds interesting ;-)

[Andrey_BY]

Carolyn, Tania was right with the most of translations.

I have doubts only these some names.

Direct re-translation of Russian Hero is definately "Russkiy Geroi", but I do expect this is one of two varieties with the name Russkiy Bogatyr (a.k.a. Russian Bogatyr), because Russian language is much richer with different words with similar meaning but with just small differencies. For example, our words "bogatyr", "velikan", "gigant" can be translated all as only "Giant" in English :wink: And I expect that it is very easy to interprete the word "bogatyr" as "hero" as well :wink: And no variety with the name Russkiy Geroi is known for me or can be found via web-source in Russian-web.

That's why you Red Giant can be originally both Gigant Krasnyi or Krasnyi Velikan See my comments about both:

Gigant Krasnyi (~ Red Giant (Rus.>Eng.)) *midseason to mid-late, indet.plant wth a good yielf of red, beefsteak 400-800 g fruits, very good flavor. Even it is a Russian amateurish variety it has an interesting habit for all fruits being the same large size both on first and second cluster and all upper clusters Definately must to grow from this list if this is really Gigant Krasnyi

Krasnyi Velikan (~Red Giant (Rus.>Eng.) *midseason, indet. (1.5-1.7 m tall), vigorous regular leaf plant with a high yield of red, oblate 250-500 g fruits, good flavor. From Russian CV Sedek. It has got not so complex flavor as Gigant Krasnyi, but still very respectable :wink:

I'm offering Tsar-Kolokol (~Tsar of Bells (Rus.>Eng.)) this year as well. This is a midseason, semi-det. (80-120 cm high) with a good yield of dark-red, heart shaped, meaty 300-700 g fruits, very good flavor, desease tolerant. Siberian amateurish variety :wink: Both taste and apperance are excellent. A must to grow!

I also start distributing Danko which another excellent Siberian variety. Mid-early to midseason, det. (h 50-55 cm) plant with a good yield of red, heart-shaped 100-300 g fruits, good flavor, all-purpose use. It was bred by Siberian Res. Plant Breeding Inst., Novosibirsk, Russia

Both Tsar-Kolokol and Danko are still almost unknown outside CIS so they are really good to try for Carolyn and Martha :wink:

Dar Zavolzh'ya (~Zavolzh'e's Gift (Rus.>Eng.)) *mid-early, det. (50-70 cm tall) regular leaf plant with a good yield of orange-red, globe 70-100 g fruits, well-balanced flavor. From Russian CV Volgograd AES of VNIIR
This is just a standart Russian commercial mid-early tomato variety.

Chernomor is better known for all of you outside CIS as Black Seaman.

Carolyn, you can ask Earl to provide some for Giraf (a very good keeper)

Have no idea what is Gorgeous Gift (or Prekrasnyi Podarok)...

Bordo-237 is one of the most famous and popular table beet varieties in former Soviet Union countries.

*mid-early to midseason (60-115 days), sweet dark-red globe roots of 250-500 g and green foliage, good keeper in a moderate cold storage place; prolific and draught tolerant variety. Russian pre-1945 CV bred by VNIISSOK. I've listed it in SSE Yearbook 2007 :wink:

Time difference is the only cause everybody had overtaken me to reply faster

[carolyn137]

Thanks so much Andrey, and next time I'll call you to let you know when I'm going to post something like this, which will probably never happen again, so that you can be ready to read/post.

I'm so very glad that we have both Tania and you to help out folks like myself better understand what we might have.

It definitiely is Russian Bogatyr, that much I can make out, and that's the one I got from Earl that you sent him and I currently list in the SSE Yearbook and I love it.

And I do think the other one has Velikan as part of the name.

I have that book that Alex sent me with the Russian alphabet the first thing to learn, so today when I get time I'm going to sit down with it and try to make out the words on some of the other ones you referred to.

A couple of the packs have the names in, how shall I say it, written language, not the printed language, if you know what I mean, and Generous Gift is one of those. But in that Russian language book they also present those, so let me see what I can do and then get back to you.

And yes, I do know all about Giraffe from what Earl initially, and then others have said about it.

Tsar's Bell and Danko do look like two good choices since the pictures look great to me, you speak highly of them and they haven't been grown that much outside of CIS.

OK, what does CIS stand for in words, for I know what it means in a larger sense.

Thanks again.

[Andrey_BY]

Always welcome, Carolyn :wink:

What I should also mention is that there are 2 different Russian tomato varieties with the name Russkiy Bogatyr. You can find descriprion for both in my list in Available for the Trade section. The one I've sent to Earl and them he sent you is amateur variety with indeterminate habit and large beefsteaks with an excellent flavor. It is maintained by several Russian seed companies like Sedek and Sredi Tsetov. Another has determinate habit and 140-180 g fruits with not so bad, but less complex flavor. It is maintained by Russian seed company NC.

Can I be sure dear Carolyn will list Tsar of Bells by its Russian original name Tsar-Kolokol at 2008 SSE Yearbook? :wink:

Tsar-Kolokol (Moscow)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Kolokol

Yes, I can understand that difference between written and printed letters everytime I'm dealing with somebody's seed packs while trading seeds. Sometimes it's almost impossible for me to identify what is the name written down on a sticker and the only I can recognise is the word "extra"

I wish you a good Russian self-education :wink:

CIS stands for Commonwealth of Independant States. This an organization which was built on the ashes of Soviet Union uniting all former USSR republics except for 3 Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). CIS head office is located here in Minsk, Belarus :wink:

[carolyn137]

Can I be sure dear Carolyn will list Tsar of Bells by its Russian original name Tsar-Kolokol at 2008 SSE Yearbook?

*****

Now just wait a minute here Andrey.

Not Tsar of Bells, but Tsar's Bell is what I will list it as, but only AFTER the MAIN listing as Tsar Kolokol, as you've done with your listings in the 2007 Yearbook.

Do you want it as Tsar or Tzar?

And guess what, I'll list Danko as Danko.

Thanks for the definition of CIS.

I just came back here to copy down the info from your post above so I know what to look for when I attack that Russian language book.

If you don't even know the variety Gorgeous Gift, whatever it might be, that sounds like another one I might have Martha grow for me.

The picture shows a very flattened red beefsteak type and the info on the translated sheet says 200-300 grams weight, 170 cm tall, mainly for eating fresh.

On the front of the seed pack in the upper left there's an oval, with yellow lines circling around as I guess the seed company logo. and on the back at the top I think the Co name is Russ____________ semena, or similar, meaning seeds I know.

And the variety name I think I will be able to figure out, or at least enough for you to comment.

There's an e-mail address of opt_sale@russeeds.ru and a website of www.russeeds.ru if that helps.

Others I have from that same company are Tsar's Bell, Cosmonaut Volkov, Danko, Market Miracle and President F1.

Gift from Z_________ is from a different company which appears to have a logo that's a white circle with a green figure in it that almost looks like a seedling, and the variety Giraffe is from the company Gavrish and all the others are from the company Sedek.

And yes, I know there are two Russian Bogatyrs and the one I have and like so much is the indeterminate one.

[Andrey_BY]

Dear Carolyn,

now I see I was wrong with understanding the meaning of Tsar-Kolokol. Tsar of Bells is the correct translation as they mentioned it by that link at Wikipedia! It is not a bell of Russian Tsar, but the hugest bell of all Russian bells (a Tsar of all bells) :wink: Another reason to use only original names with English spelling :wink:

And the right is Tsar, not Tzar, because Russian letter "Ц" (the first letter in the word "Царь") is always spelled as "Ts" in English But for example in German Ц=Z, so I won't be confused if Reinhard will add this variety as Zar of Bells

Of course, I know this Russian seed company Rossiyskie semena, but they usually offering more varieties from other seed companies but packed in their packs than their own. Now I'm looking through their tomato seed listings and still can't find anything that matchs Gorgeous Gift. Must be a very skilled Russian translator