Broken Bars grow-out list 2011

[brokenbar]

Okay...here is my list for 2011 and my first Mexican garden. I only grow tomatoes for drying and sauce so my list is probably boring whereas the Hubby's list is FILLED with bizarro colors, shapes and every oddball out there ()

My List
Federle
Romeo
Big Mamma
Carol Chyko
Amish Paste
Denofrios German
Nile River Egyptian
Chinese
Cow's Tit
Costoluto Genovese
Russo Sicilian Togeta
Zapotec


And I am trialing these new varieties:
Venetian Marketplace
Ecuador
Howard's German
Jiarg
Michca's
and a couple of un-named large red hearts I got in a trade.

I will have about 200 plants. I hope to still do my sun-dried tomatoes and ship them to the kid back in Wyoming for distribution (the jury is still out on this...)

[walkinggin]

Not boring to me, your lists are interesting as they always include varieties that I'm completely unfamiliar with. Although I only dry for my family and friends I never seem to have enough. This year I'm planning to do alot more though I tend to opt for smaller types that I can simply slice once down the center. For me the easiest size to work with is 2-4 oz and elongated.

What are your sources for the new varieties you are trialing?

ginny

[brokenbar]

Originally Posted by walkinggin

Not boring to me, your lists are interesting as they always include varieties that I'm completely unfamiliar with. Although I only dry for my family and friends I never seem to have enough. This year I'm planning to do alot more though I tend to opt for smaller types that I can simply slice once down the center. For me the easiest size to work with is 2-4 oz and elongated.

What are your sources for the new varieties you are trialing?

ginny

Most came from SS Member Charles Case. I have gotten seeds from him a lot over the years and I just sent him Venetian Marketplace to trial. He grows mostly the same types as I do...big, meaty, dry, few seeds. Also Marriana Jones who again, grows a lot of the same types of tomatoes. (She is very into Italian Culinary varieties.) Now that I am in Mexico, my growing environment will be a lot more like theirs (Charles is in Georgia and Marriana is in Tennessee) The "Fortuna" Charles has in current Yearbook might really interest you:

70 days, indet., regular leaf, 7' bushy swaggering, super healthy, productive, long lasting plants produce hundreds of 1 x 1.5" elongated brilliant red gems, bold taste, dry texture, perfect choice for cooking, canning, sauce or salsa, productivity champion and literal garden stand-out,

I broke my own rule(s) about criteria and got these from Charles! I am thinking salsa but they sound like they would be great for drying as they are very dry fleshed (Charles says few seeds also.)

Charles' listings are GA CA C and Marriana's are TN JO M

The two "un-named" oxhearts came from a friend who lives in Costa Rica. She has grown them both and says they meet all my criteria) We have been friends many years and she knows I will "boo hoo" if I grow them and hate them!

[DeanRIowa]

brokenbar,

I would be interested in hearing about your growing conditions as I plan to retire to Mexico in 20 years or so.

Do let's us know how the tomatoes turn out you are trailing.


Dean

[brokenbar]

Originally Posted by DeanRIowa

brokenbar,

I would be interested in hearing about your growing conditions as I plan to retire to Mexico in 20 years or so.

Do let's us know how the tomatoes turn out you are trailing.


Dean

Will do Dean. We spent a lot of time down there before moving so I checked out a lot of gardens and asked out handy-persons couple as they have a big garden. They have very little access to commercial seeds. Everything everyone grows are seeds handed down and around. I gave our guy some of my seeds for varieties he never heard of and you would have thought he won the lottery! They all have good access to various kinds of manure and they supplement/mulch heavily to conserve water. I saw tomato plants that were more than 10 feet tall! Humid but not as much as living in the south.
Average temp where we are is 84 and because we are close to the ocean, a fair amount of rain. Maybe because their seed supply is so contained, they have gradually bred varieties that are pretty disease resistant. I had to get another American whose Spanish was a little more detailed than mine to ask about Blight and some of the other tomato diseases. They say they don't have any problems. They did say they get some bugs and they especially don't like some kind of ant that eats into the tomatoes.

I try about 5 or 10 new varieties that might make good drying tomatoes each year and I am lucky if I become "enraptured" with one of them! Picky, picky, picky...

[walkinggin]

Broken Bar, Thanks so much for the info. Fortuna does seem like something that would suit my purposes well. I haven't received my SSE catalog yet but I never do in time to order tomatoes for the current year, however I am already working on my 2012 list so maybe I can just add Fortuna.

I look forward to your reviews on your new varieties.
ginny