Golden Queen

[OneoftheEarls]

So............. what I have are two packs with no donor names and one that says USDA Strain (1882 version by Livingston description) 8-12 oz. from Tomato Growers in FLA

Also states it has a pronounced pink blush. Which Carolyn says is NOT original. They also claim it has superior flavor than the other yellow strains.

So now I have to grow all three just to see the difference...I have BIG orange an yellow kinds....so now the quest is...which, (if any difference exists) tastes better.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by OneoftheEarls

So............. what I have are two packs with no donor names and one that says USDA Strain (1882 version by Livingston description) 8-12 oz. from Tomato Growers in FLA

Also states it has a pronounced pink blush. Which Carolyn says is NOT original. They also claim it has superior flavor than the other yellow strains.

So now I have to grow all three just to see the difference...I have BIG orange an yellow kinds....so now the quest is...which, (if any difference exists) tastes better.

Earl, I'm the source to Linda at TGS and I just looked at her picture of Golden Queen USDA which is the same as the picture I show in my book as to coloration although hers shows reddish while my picture does not., so that's why I think there could be photography problems.

Pronounced pink blush?

That blush of pink I don't necessarily call pronounced, her choice of words, and in the years when I've grown the USDA strain that exterior blush is always there but extends upwards on the exterior to different degrees. Not a bicolor.

As I recall Linda was already offering Golden Queen so I hesitated sending her this USDA one, but did and let her make the choice and she did. I Also sent her Yellow Brandywine ( Platfoot) and hesitated about that one as well since she was already listing Yellow Brandywine. But she too much preferred the Platfoot one so listed that one.

BEtter taste than other yellow strains as you wrote above?

What linda wrote was " What makes this one superior is its superior flavor." And she could only be comparing it with the non USDA one that she'd grown before b'c that's the only other one that was offered for the many years before we got the USDA one that matched what Livingston wrote about it.

Weather conditions can be a BIG factor in color developent, that I know, I mean both exterior coloration and interior coloration with known ref/gold bicolors, as well as with so called blushes with many white and yellow varities that appear from time to time. But Livingston noted the blush on this one and actually it was a selection from a yeolow fruited one he'd gotten at a farmers market or such, so he must have grown it out several times to get what he got and released in 1882.

[roamwhereiwant2]

The photo at Victory Seeds shows a pinkish tomato. That's where I bought my seed this year. Mike's blurb says this is a grow out of seed from the National Seed Storage Lab. Is that the same as the USDA seed storage?

http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_l...den_queen.html

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by roamwhereiwant2

The photo at Victory Seeds shows a pinkish tomato. That's where I bought my seed this year. Mike's blurb says this is a grow out of seed from the National Seed Storage Lab. Is that the same as the USDA seed storage?

http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_l...den_queen.html

Yes, the national Seed storage Lab gives what are called NSSL or usually NSL designations. THe NSSL lab in C) is the back up lab\ to the USDA one here in W NYS.

Craig and I were both gettng out varieties form the USDA from the early to mid 90's when it was possible to do so. Craig listed it in the 1995 SSE YEarbook noting it was an NSL source, shared the seeds with me and I also listed it in 1995 and gave the NSL #, which is 27357.

I had thought that Mike at Victory had been sent the USDA one by Craig, but since I didn't see Craig's name in the blurb I guess Mike got this one out himself.

Both Mike and Craig have had a long term interest in Livingston varieties.

A couple of years ago Mike and his wife and two of his kids were East for a USDA conference and stopped by for a visit. What a wonderful family he has and what a great person Mike is, his wiffe as well. And n\bot just b'c he brought me dark chocolate from Oregon.


For several years now I've sent him varieties to trial, as I did this Spring as well. And he's ended up offering many of them.