Old Time Tomatoes

[tlintx]

I wonder how much is the tomato and how much is our tastebuds. I, for one, don't taste "sweet' like I used to. But sour - especially lemons - yum!

I have considered growing some of the really old varieties, the ones like Junk Pink, Roi Humbert, and Early Large Red, next year. I suspect that some of them will be gems and some will have virtues (like longevity and firmness) that I won't appreciate as much as people 100 years ago did. And I wonder why they aren't grown more frequently? Or maybe they are, but people just don't think to mention them?

[lycomania]

Originally Posted by camochef

Kathy,
Doesn't matter if it's tomatoes or blackberries or something else entirely. To go from $3.00 or less for over 50lbs of tomatoes in the late 60's to $3.99/lb here in today's world, simply shows the devaluation of the dollar. It would make a bushel of tomatoes cost over $200.00 today.
At that time we were paying 19-21 cents/gallon for gas...what is it today? Where will we be in the next ten years? What will be able to afford to eat? Why can't we find those tasty Jersey beefsteaks anymore?
Camo

I hear that! The largest driver of inflation is wages. Pretty much everybody on the planet wants to earn more. So the driver of prices is all of us wanting to earn more, or pay less for other people's labor. I don't think you or I can change that, but we can certainly think about it.

We can ask ourselves if we are willing to produce over 50 pounds of heirloom tomatoes for less than $3.00. I can tell you right now that I'm not. Are you? If so, please let me be your first customer.

[carolyn137]

I was raised on a farm where we grew many acres of tomatoes and I'm 74 and have been up close and personal with tomatoes since I was about 5 when I first started helping my dad, and yes, I remember many of the names of those varieties we grew back then.

But there are MANY varieties that were available from the late 1800's up through the 30's many of which I've grown myself, that I think would also qualify as having that old time taste.

And since taste is perceptual and personal and even involves a human genetic component, In my opinion I think it would be impossible to define what old time taste really is.

Carolyn

[riceke]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

I was raised on a farm where we grew many acres of tomatoes and I'm 74 and have been up close and personal with tomatoes since I was about 5 when I first started helping my dad, and yes, I remember many of the names of those varieties we grew back then.

But there are MANY varieties that were available from the late 1800's up through the 30's many of which I've grown myself, that I think would also qualify as having that old time taste.

And since taste is perceptual and personal and even involves a human genetic component, In my opinion I think it would be impossible to define what old time taste really is.

Carolyn

I agree that no two people have the same taste requirements in order to define what old time taste is, but I think we can all agree on what old time taste ISN"T. And that is the plastic tomatoes, ethylene ripened fruits that are the usual fare at most supermarkets. I don't know of anyone who has told me that they prefer those types of tomatoes over freshly picked ones, no matter what variety. So while our tastes and selections vary on the varieties we grow I think we are all in agreement that we prefer them to the store bought type.

[hornstrider]

This should make you smile..............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-QzLIjL1u4

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by hornstrider

This should make you smile..............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-QzLIjL1u4

yep! Made me smile for sure!

[Hillbillygardner]

My grandpa grew several varieties, but he was favorite was a Mozark cross he had grown for years, as a kid, I wasn't a real big fan of tomatoes but people came from all around to buy them from him. I remember they had a rich smokey flavor, almost like a Cherokee purple, and folks said they were the best thing that ever happened to sliced bread.

[dpurdy]

This is my first year growing Rutgers tomatoes. For some reason I've never grown them in the past. I've been very impressed with the growth of the plants and how strong and sturdy they get. They have a good number of fruit and now I have to tie up some of the branches because of the weight of the tomatoes. I'm hoping that in a week or so I should be able to harvest a few and find out how good they taste. Here's a picture of one of my plants that has over 40 tomatoes on it.
dpurdy

[KathyDC]

Originally Posted by dpurdy

This is my first year growing Rutgers tomatoes. For some reason I've never grown them in the past. I've been very impressed with the growth of the plants and how strong and sturdy they get. They have a good number of fruit and now I have to tie up some of the branches because of the weight of the tomatoes. I'm hoping that in a week or so I should be able to harvest a few and find out how good they taste. Here's a picture of one of my plants that has over 40 tomatoes on it.
dpurdy

Good grief! Now I see why that variety has such appeal.

Kathy

[snippits]

Originally Posted by dpurdy

This is my first year growing Rutgers tomatoes. For some reason I've never grown them in the past. I've been very impressed with the growth of the plants and how strong and sturdy they get. They have a good number of fruit and now I have to tie up some of the branches because of the weight of the tomatoes. I'm hoping that in a week or so I should be able to harvest a few and find out how good they taste. Here's a picture of one of my plants that has over 40 tomatoes on it.
dpurdy

Yup Rutgers set fruit like that...nice picture!! Rutgers are known to have a tolerance for not splitting. But on the other hand, if there is a lot of rain they can really be sour almost vinegar like. Under normal growing conditions, Rutgers was the best tasting tomato that I grew last year.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by KathyDC

Good grief! Now I see why that variety has such appeal.

Kathy

I love Rutgers. The problem I am having is finding a good Rutgers strain, probably partly due to my memories of Rutgers being from Indiana and me currently residing in Oklahoma. I know from my tomato history that there were Rutgers strains adapted to almost every area in the US, but so many of those have been lost. I keep looking though. Growing several types this year.

Originally Rutgers was released with a fairly high genetic diversity (for a tomato) and open sourced and Rutgers University encouraged growers to save seed adapted to their local conditions. AND Rutgers was around long enough for that to happen. But finding the one that is for your area may not be so easy.

[Father'sDaughter]

"Only two things that money can't buy is true love and home grown tomatoes." Love it!

[MissS]

I remember my grandfather growing lots of tomato plants. We would pick them in the garden and eat them like apples. He would grow 50-100 plants for my grandmother to make her chili sauce. Each year they were all the same variety. I remember the tomatoes being red. He grew Ponderosa. My mom told me he grew Ponderosa Pink too, but I do not recall that one. He made a big to-do the year he grew a new variety of tomato that was supposed to be great. It was Big Boy. Prior to Big Boy he also grew Rutgars. I do recall not liking the Big Boy as much as I enjoyed the toms from the years before.

I have some Rutgars seed for next year and will have to get some Ponderosa as well. Grow them out and see if they are as I remember them. Yum.

[manyplews]

Hope you folks forgive me for digging up old threads!
I'm 77 and was born and raised on a 150 acre farm in SW Pa..My parents milked about 40 cows and raised crops to feed the cattle and the workhorses.
During the depression,we had little money,but plenty to eat.They killed 6-8 hogs a year and a couple beeves.
We had a big garden.The tomato varieties we grew were Beefsteak,Rutgers,and some Marglobe.I don't recall any cherry sized tomatoes back then.
The Rutgers was mainly used for canning whole tomatoes and the Beefsteak was for eating fresh and caanning juice.
At that time everybody had a garden and there were about a dozen small greenhouses in the immediate area,where you could buy plants. We sometimes built a coldframe and filled it with horse manure and raised our own plants.

[MissS]

Manyplews this is hardly an old thread! Compared to you and me it is quite young. I am glad for your post. Thank you. Perhaps I will try growing Beefsteak and Marglobe as well. Dig up any old thread anytime. People around here post on threads from two years ago.