An Open Question for Carolyn

[IronPete]

I have just finished a pleasent week reading Carolyn's book but it occurred to me that it was published a while ago and since then many incredible new varieties have shown up on the tomato landscape. I know I have seen where you have posted great things about Virginia Sweet and Cherokee Green neither of which made it into the book. My question is if you were to redo the list or say increase it to 110 varieties, which new ones would be on your 'definite consideration' list? I am incredibly interested in your answer. Thanks in advance for any response. Pete

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by IronPete

I have just finished a pleasent week reading Carolyn's book but it occurred to me that it was published a while ago and since then many incredible new varieties have shown up on the tomato landscape. I know I have seen where you have posted great things about Virginia Sweet and Cherokee Green neither of which made it into the book. My question is if you were to redo the list or say increase it to 110 varieties, which new ones would be on your 'definite consideration' list? I am incredibly interested in your answer. Thanks in advance for any response. Pete

Pete, you are maybe just one of several hundreds who have asked me the same question. And same for those who ask for my top 10 or 20 or whatever. And I've always explained that my top anything was a moving target since I was always growing new varieties that replaced former top ones.

I had to stop growing all my own tomatoes after the summer of 2004 after I fell at a local school production and severed all four quads in my right leg on Dec 12th, 2004. Subsequent to that others did raise some plants for me that another person planted for me here at home so I wasn't totally out of the loop, but it would be difficult , actually impossible for me to go back that far and give you an answer.

If you want to pick a category such as hearts, cherries, beefsteaks, not pastes for several reasons, for example I think I could do that since almost all of the seed production for varieties I've listed in my annual seed offer here are done by 5 folks and they get back to me on the details of those varieties and I know them all well enough that I know that what they like that I would as well.

Carolyn

[IronPete]

I can see that you must get a lot of that sort of question so I appreciate your willingness to answer here.

I am going to keep away from the bi colours and the greens because I think I know the answer to those ones. I have also read a lot on pastes that you have written. So how about I ask you about 2 areas that are of interest to me. One is early tomatoes. The second (not covered in your book except for Sophie's Choice) is Canadian varieties. Quirky question I suppose but I have noticed that there isn't a huge amount of available information on Canadian tomato varieties so I wondered which ones you had tried or were familiar with that you particularly enjoyed?

Thanks in advance!
Pete

[carolyn137]

Pete, sorry but you'll have to wait a bit until I can develop a list of varieties to post for you, and have no time right now to do that for several reasons.

Thanks in advance for understanding.

Carolyn

[IronPete]

No problem, Carolyn.

My motivation, of course, is my upcoming season's garden. I have seeds for a number of earlies that I want to try. I also have gathered a number of Canadian varieties including some from the famous breeders like Ernie Kerr (the 'Vee' tomatoes), Roger Doucet (the 'bec' tomatoes) and Charles Walkof to name a few. I have others that came up as crosses or selections like Jeff Casey's Yellow or his Maya and Sion's Airdrie classic (Stupice x Brandywine I think). From BC I have several like Kimberley, Pollock and Tatiana's 'Igor'. Lots of traditional Quebec varieties that I picked up like Montreal Tasty, Mac Pink, Meme Beauce, Petit Moineau and Blanche Du Quebec. From out east Scotia and the selection made from that called Cabot.

These don't even scratch the surface of the ones that are out there. Most were designed for our short season so they make a lot of sense to grow here. That said, being a certified tomatophile, I have more seeds than I will ever have space to grow them! Therefore I thought I would start with the ones that were most recommended and work through the others over the years.

If anyone else has any recommendations in these areas I would welcome them.

Happy tomato dreams! Pete

[RJGlew]

Cobourg. Short season? lol :-)

[Labradors2]

IronPete,

I hope you will let us know how your trial of Cdn tomatoes went.

I was very keen to try some Canadian varieties, specifically to find some pink tomatoes with good flavor, which I remember growing years ago when I lived in Quebec.

Then I attended a tomato-tasting event where some of Doucet's varieties were featured. I must have tasted them and found them lacking. So I asked the person in charge about them and was told that his varieties were designed for the commercial trade and generally didn't have good flavor :-(.

Linda

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by IronPete

No problem, Carolyn.

My motivation, of course, is my upcoming season's garden. I have seeds for a number of earlies that I want to try. I also have gathered a number of Canadian varieties including some from the famous breeders like Ernie Kerr (the 'Vee' tomatoes), Roger Doucet (the 'bec' tomatoes) and Charles Walkof to name a few. I have others that came up as crosses or selections like Jeff Casey's Yellow or his Maya and Sion's Airdrie classic (Stupice x Brandywine I think). From BC I have several like Kimberley, Pollock and Tatiana's 'Igor'. Lots of traditional Quebec varieties that I picked up like Montreal Tasty, Mac Pink, Meme Beauce, Petit Moineau and Blanche Du Quebec. From out east Scotia and the selection made from that called Cabot.

These don't even scratch the surface of the ones that are out there. Most were designed for our short season so they make a lot of sense to grow here. That said, being a certified tomatophile, I have more seeds than I will ever have space to grow them! Therefore I thought I would start with the ones that were most recommended and work through the others over the years.

If anyone else has any recommendations in these areas I would welcome them.

Happy tomato dreams! Pete

Pete, I went to Tania's website to look at her list from Canada and saw many that I've grown, and you mentioned some above, but first let me say that I knew a man from Montreal, Raymond Tratt, with whom I intereacted for many years and when he retired he had gardening space out in the country and was trying to preserve Canadian bred varieties.

He sent me some but I found that almost all the ones with bec at the end were all small reds that I found wanting as to taste. So I suggested he send some to Glenn at Sandhill Preservation and whileIdidn't check Ithink Glenn still lists some of them.

As for Jeff Casey's one, Maya and Sion , etc. Jeff originally got that from me in the following way. Stanley Zubrowski in Saskatchewan had sent me 5 hybrids where he crossed Brandywine with an early, Glacier, Stupice, etc., I grew them out an offered the F2's in several seed offers and Jeff got the one Brandywine X Stupice and worked with it and then offered it at his seed site.

But the best ones I got from Canada were from a long time friend who lives in ONT, NEil G, who sent me seeds for Ashleigh, a wonderful variety, Fish Lake Oxheart, which should be red but flip flops back and forth due to going between a clear epidermis, pink, to a yellow epidermis, red. Neil also sent me Meme Beauce and all of them I offered in my annual seed offer here.

High Crimson was another canadian one I grew and it has been used for breeding purposes due to the high crimson gene

If you look at both JEff's website and Tania's, both in Canada, you'll see that they give a suggested list of earlies.

Now about pastes. Not my favorite topic since most of them most of them don't taste that great and are also very susceptible to Early Blight as well as Blossom end rot.

Here are a few I do think are worthwhile.

Heidi
Mama Leone
Opalka
Martino's Roma

Most folks I know have decided to us not pastes but heart varieties and beefsteak varieties that have few seeds for their sauce needs.

If I've left anything out please let me know.

Carolyn