Orange Heirloom better than KB?

[dokutaaguriin]

I am not sure I would exactly say better....but I think it has a bit more zip than KB. However, I still think that Kellogg's Breakfast has the best texture of any tomato around.

It took a bit to get the seed but treefrog (FL) was nice enough to send some to me and boy am I glad he did!!

KB did have two coveted spots in the greenhouse...now OH will take up one of those from now on!!!

Orange Heirloom (I just had to take a pic of on our recent camping trip!!!)


OH Cut in half

[jerseyjohn61]

Pretty Doku, and more visually appealing
than any of my K.B.s yet this year. Have
heard good things said about OH vs other
oranges from folks like Carolyn and others.

Might have to place that on the To Grow
List. Do you have an estimate on the pictured
one's weight?...JJ61

[dokutaaguriin]

I think it was about 10 1/2oz which seems to be about the average size of them so far.
Jeff

[jerseyjohn61]

Thanks Doku, and that is larger than any of my KBs todate. Good to know and love the color....JJ61

[Tania]

Jeff, it looks delicious!

Now I regret I didn't plant it this year... darn. It looks so good, and I don't have any ripe orange tomatoes yet (well, except Jaune Flamme ).

It is embarrasing, but up-to-date I failed to grow large orange tomatoes - for some reason they don't like me...

Btw, your 1884 that you sent me is doing absolutely fabulous - 2 plants, both loaded with large pink tomatoes, I picked the first one today, it is 370 g - I'd give it a day or two to ripen on the counter to see what the color would look like - they do look like dark pink so far...

Happy tomato season!

[carolyn137]

(Have
heard good things said about OH vs other
oranges from folks like Carolyn and others.)

Actually you haven't heard that from me John.

I grew it in the summer of 2004, I'm pretty sure I saved a few seeds but I didn't get a good look/taste of it b'c that's the last summer I grew lots of varieties and the weeds had taken over and if it weren't for my brother helping me with harvesting fruits I'd have had next to nothing from about 300 plants. Almost all the varieties I offered in my last seed offer at GW, of the recent ones, were from that summer, but I don't think I offered Orange Heirloom.

So my memory is vague, very vague on how I liked it, or didn't.

[dokutaaguriin]

Hi Tania,
I just checked my 1884 and it does have quite a few large fruits on in it, including one large cat-faced gnarled looking one that has just taken on a blush of colour.

BTW- I also tried Woodle Orange this year and it has not been very productive as it has stalled out at the 1m mark. I just thought it was a shorter variety than most but then it just stopped growing GRRRR!

[Lee]

I first obtained Orange Heirloom from Reem's Creek Nursery
near Asheville, NC in 2002. They were growing seedlings
for the Sherman family and others in the area who have
been growing it for well over a half a century.
I grew it out in 2002 and its vigor, productivity, size, and
flavor put it in my top 10 list. The flavor is tart with hints
of a fruity flavor behind it.
During that year's Tomatopalooza[tm], a few folks compared it
directly with Kellogg's Breakfast. The results were mixed,
as 1/2 preferred KB and 1/2 preferred OH.

I sent seeds to Carolyn in 03 or 04, but I don't know if she
actually had a chance to grow it out. In 05, I sent it out
to many GWers, but was unable to send any out of the
US, so I'm glad to see it's made its way North and has
been received well.....

It's currently listed by 3 people in SSE, myself -> Neil Lockhart -> Bill Minkey; but is not commercially available,
except as seedlings from Craig and Reem's Creek Nursery.

Lee

P.S. I tried thinking up a good story for it.... but haven't
nailed anything down yet...
Maybe something like.... While Tecumseh Sherman was burning Chatanooga he came to a house that he ordered his men to torch. While the house was burning, he saw a
wheel barrow in the fields with a small box in it. The box
had Sherman written on the outside and inside were packs of seeds of all kinds.... Since the owners of the property had the same name, he decided to leave that one small token untorched.
After the war, the Sherman family migrated to NC with their wheel barrow and seeds (which contained an orange tomato) to start their new lives.... and were able to with just the few seeds that had been left untouched...

Of course we wouldn't want fiction to get in the way of a good tomato now would we?

[montanamato]

Orange Heirloom is offered commercially by Victory Seeds, as I purchased it last spring from them...Not planted this year, maybe next...

Jeanne

[dokutaaguriin]

Hi Lee,
I found it interesting the 50/50 split on KB and OH, I guess that is because they are both such great tomatoes!

I say you stick with that story because 'the better the story the better that first tomato always tastes'.

thanks again for making this tomato available to the masses
Jeff

[Lee]

Jeanne,

Thanks for reminding me.

Craig sent seeds to Mike at Victory and he had asked me for a
description this spring.... Forgot all about that one.


Lee