Monkey *** tomatoes

[tomatoaddict]

I know this might be controversial for some but I thought it would be a good idea to at least comment on it.
I was one of the people that bought MA seeds from the guy on e-bay. Only afterwards did I read from many Tomatovillians that it is not a good idea to buy seeds from E-bay. Since the damage was already done I did plant and grow this tomato this year.
I have to admit that the guy is a marketing genius the way he did up the info on it. I read thru it and it sounds like it is a genuine heirloom that has been in his family for quite a long time. The only discrepancy I have found is he lists it as a Roma type but it is definitely a large heart.
None of mine have ripened yet, but they are huge. And some of them do have a closed crack. I will have to report back on the taste when ready.
My theory is that this family aren't really heirloom growers they are just people growing the tomatoes every year that Grandma brought from Italy. They cleverly marketed them and that's that. I don't think they really know there is a huge world of heirloom growers out there. From what I have put together wouldn't that make it a genuine heirloom?

[bcday]

It might but I doubt that anyone would take it seriously with a name like Monkey ***.

They'd have to find out what its name was in Italy, if it had one. Otherwise maybe honor Grandma by naming it after her.

[tomatoaddict]

I'm not Pro or Con on this tomato being an heirloom. I think the actual tomato might be an old Italian variety that was grown by the family in the old country and that the family christened it with a name they thought was humorous. I'm just putting it out there since I am growing it this year. I try to keep an open mind on these things since there are probably alot of families out there growing tomato varieties that have been in their family for years and they have no idea that there is such a thing as an heirloom tomato.
They said the tomato came from Riardo Italy. Maybe they should have named it: Riardo Monkey A$$