I know this will be difficult but... - Page 7

Tracydr · February 29, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by barryla61

Please try
I would like you tell me the ONE tomato you ABSOLUTELY have to plant each year.
I'm looking to try a few new varieties this year.
Oh yeah, Happy New Year!!!

Cherokee purple.

camochef · February 29, 2012

I've grown just about every tomato mentioned on this thread so far. I must admit when I first went from growing hydrids to mostly heirlooms, there were some real standouts. Brandywines, Cherokee Purple, Boxcar Willie, Kelloggs Breakfast, Caspian Pink, Prudens Purple, Black Seaman, and many others.
Then along came A Brandywine that stood out above all others, I called it Cowlicks Brandywine and it changed my tomato growing world. I pursueed every type of Brandywine and Brandywine cross I could find. Pink Brandywines, Red Brandywines, Yellow Brandywines, Black Brandywines, crosses like Liz Birt, Dora, Bear Creek, Gary O'Sena, suspected Brandywines like Ed's Millenium, JD's Special C-Tex and others. It became a crusade on my part, searching for the best tasting, most productive Brandywine out there.
Then one year Black Brandywine topped the list of hundreds that I was growing and I was off to try every Black tomato I could discover. From Carbon to Paul Robeson, Black Seaman to Southern nights, Black to Black Krim,
Some were fantastic, some I didn't care for at all. Those like Black from Tula or Japanese Black Trieffle weren't invited back. Others became regulars, like Amazon Chocolate, Dana Dusky Rose and Bear Creek. Some were quite impressive, many not so much.
Over the years I reduced the size of my gardens from growing hundreds and hundreds of tomatoes each year to more managable numbers, (along with increasing age on my part, slowing me down more). Last year I was determined to plant my favorite 25 and that was going to be it! Then along came, Ashleigh, and Purple Dog Creek and Kukla's Portugese Beefsteak and Kukla's Portugese Bullsheart and the next thing I knew I was up to 80 tomato plants.
Still I'm glad it happened. While my Cowlicks Brandywine had the worst year they ever faced, Purple Dog Creek led the way to the #1 tomato of the year. Brandywine-Glicks beat out Cowlicks Brandywine, both the original potato leafed and the regular leafed version sent up from Bama. While Barlow Jap produced well as it usually does and Sandul Moldovan was right there too, Ashleigh produced some tasty fruit also.
I didn't grow any yellow/gold/orange or green when ripe tomatoes last year or any cherries either, but I must comment that over the years, Kelloggs breakfast has outproduced KBX, its potato-leafed version, time and time again, here in my locale. Cherokee Purple, which really caught my attention back when, hasn't been in my gardens for a few years now, finding it didn't compare favorably to the likes of Amazon Chocolate or DDR or Bear Creek, I even found Black master to do better although it reminded me more of a semi-determinate as does Black Seaman.
I guess the point of this rambling is that everything changes and no matter how hard you search for that perfect tomato, things change too much over the years to satisfy that desire, every time you think your getting close along comes a new discovery and your back at square one.
This winter that new discovery was Kumato!
Enjoy and happy gardening!
Camo

February 29, 2012	#92
camochef Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Posts: 707	I've grown just about every tomato mentioned on this thread so far. I must admit when I first went from growing hydrids to mostly heirlooms, there were some real standouts. Brandywines, Cherokee Purple, Boxcar Willie, Kelloggs Breakfast, Caspian Pink, Prudens Purple, Black Seaman, and many others. Then along came A Brandywine that stood out above all others, I called it Cowlicks Brandywine and it changed my tomato growing world. I pursueed every type of Brandywine and Brandywine cross I could find. Pink Brandywines, Red Brandywines, Yellow Brandywines, Black Brandywines, crosses like Liz Birt, Dora, Bear Creek, Gary O'Sena, suspected Brandywines like Ed's Millenium, JD's Special C-Tex and others. It became a crusade on my part, searching for the best tasting, most productive Brandywine out there. Then one year Black Brandywine topped the list of hundreds that I was growing and I was off to try every Black tomato I could discover. From Carbon to Paul Robeson, Black Seaman to Southern nights, Black to Black Krim, Some were fantastic, some I didn't care for at all. Those like Black from Tula or Japanese Black Trieffle weren't invited back. Others became regulars, like Amazon Chocolate, Dana Dusky Rose and Bear Creek. Some were quite impressive, many not so much. Over the years I reduced the size of my gardens from growing hundreds and hundreds of tomatoes each year to more managable numbers, (along with increasing age on my part, slowing me down more). Last year I was determined to plant my favorite 25 and that was going to be it! Then along came, Ashleigh, and Purple Dog Creek and Kukla's Portugese Beefsteak and Kukla's Portugese Bullsheart and the next thing I knew I was up to 80 tomato plants. Still I'm glad it happened. While my Cowlicks Brandywine had the worst year they ever faced, Purple Dog Creek led the way to the #1 tomato of the year. Brandywine-Glicks beat out Cowlicks Brandywine, both the original potato leafed and the regular leafed version sent up from Bama. While Barlow Jap produced well as it usually does and Sandul Moldovan was right there too, Ashleigh produced some tasty fruit also. I didn't grow any yellow/gold/orange or green when ripe tomatoes last year or any cherries either, but I must comment that over the years, Kelloggs breakfast has outproduced KBX, its potato-leafed version, time and time again, here in my locale. Cherokee Purple, which really caught my attention back when, hasn't been in my gardens for a few years now, finding it didn't compare favorably to the likes of Amazon Chocolate or DDR or Bear Creek, I even found Black master to do better although it reminded me more of a semi-determinate as does Black Seaman. I guess the point of this rambling is that everything changes and no matter how hard you search for that perfect tomato, things change too much over the years to satisfy that desire, every time you think your getting close along comes a new discovery and your back at square one. This winter that new discovery was Kumato! Enjoy and happy gardening! Camo Last edited by camochef; March 1, 2012 at 01:03 AM. Reason: spelling