German Cascade

kay · July 18, 2010

I wanted to reach out to the forum here to see if anybody else had ever heard of this variety?

Two years ago I came across this variety at a Seedy Saturday, being sold by a local seed company. The gentleman who sold it to me it was a variety his mom had been growing for at least 50 years, so I gave them a whorl.

Absolutely delicious tomato, bright red, nothing overly exciting to look at, about 2" in diameter and perfectly round fruit. But this was the kicker - it had an earthiness that I've only ever tasted in a black variety. Kind of peaty. My partner said he thought it tasted like dirty socks, absolutely hated it. I loved it (totally didn't get the dirty sock flavour).

Here's a few photos:
Ripe fruit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56797736@N00/4002327812
Unripe on the vine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56797736@N00/3799175254

Does it ring any bells for anybody? My internet searching has been absolutely fruitless (sorry, couldn't help it

). I'm wondering if it's just a mislabelled variety perhaps?

Timmah! · July 18, 2010

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/German_Cascade

I've only been enjoying this community since April, yet I find myself browsing Tatiana's almost every day. It's the first place I go when I want to look up a tomato. The picture you post is the same one in her tomato base for that variety.

kay · July 21, 2010

Heehee, that's because that's my post up at Tatiana's site!

remy · July 21, 2010

Kay,
German Cascade sure does sound like a commercial variety name doesn't it? Maybe it was a locally(for you) grown commercial variety at one time since you are in the Cascade Mountain area. A lot of varieties have disappeared over the years being only offered for a short time and unless you have some old catalog from the right grower in the right year, you'll never find the name. It is also possible that the mother, or who ever gave it to her, named it for how they got it from a German in the Cascade Mountain area.
Remy

kay · July 22, 2010

Remy - I had the same inkling as well!

I'm just dying to know the history of this tomato, but I'm starting to think it might be lost.

July 18, 2010	#1
kay Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: B.C., Canada Posts: 8	German Cascade I wanted to reach out to the forum here to see if anybody else had ever heard of this variety? Two years ago I came across this variety at a Seedy Saturday, being sold by a local seed company. The gentleman who sold it to me it was a variety his mom had been growing for at least 50 years, so I gave them a whorl. Absolutely delicious tomato, bright red, nothing overly exciting to look at, about 2" in diameter and perfectly round fruit. But this was the kicker - it had an earthiness that I've only ever tasted in a black variety. Kind of peaty. My partner said he thought it tasted like dirty socks, absolutely hated it. I loved it (totally didn't get the dirty sock flavour). Here's a few photos: Ripe fruit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56797736@N00/4002327812 Unripe on the vine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/56797736@N00/3799175254 Does it ring any bells for anybody? My internet searching has been absolutely fruitless (sorry, couldn't help it ). I'm wondering if it's just a mislabelled variety perhaps?

July 21, 2010	#4
remy Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest™ Coordinator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Z6 WNY Posts: 2,354	Kay, German Cascade sure does sound like a commercial variety name doesn't it? Maybe it was a locally(for you) grown commercial variety at one time since you are in the Cascade Mountain area. A lot of varieties have disappeared over the years being only offered for a short time and unless you have some old catalog from the right grower in the right year, you'll never find the name. It is also possible that the mother, or who ever gave it to her, named it for how they got it from a German in the Cascade Mountain area. Remy __________________ "I wake to sleep and take my waking slow" -Theodore Roethke Yes, we have a great party for WNY/Ontario tomato growers every year on Grand Island! Owner of The Sample Seed Shop

July 18, 2010	#2
Timmah! Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Elizabethtown, Kentucky 6a Posts: 754	http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/German_Cascade I've only been enjoying this community since April, yet I find myself browsing Tatiana's almost every day. It's the first place I go when I want to look up a tomato. The picture you post is the same one in her tomato base for that variety.

July 22, 2010	#5
kay Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: B.C., Canada Posts: 8	Remy - I had the same inkling as well! I'm just dying to know the history of this tomato, but I'm starting to think it might be lost.