67 - Jahrige Tomate aus Babelsberg

[ContainerTed]

My seed source was a friend in Germany. The name above is what the German seed bank had it listed as. Even though my whole garden is 4-5 weeks late, this is one of the first to give ripe fruits

Round, slightly oblate, regular leaf, yellow with a yellow skin, and finishing with a hint of reddish-orange.

Taste is clean and citrusy with complexity and depth. Fruits are consistently 2 inches round and slightly oblate. I've tasted a lot of green and yellow and orange tomatoes, but this one is just different. The taste reminds me of the "Lemon Boy" hybrid. I rated the taste at a solid 8. I'll continue to monitor this thruout the rest of my season.

The pictures below show the same two fruits and you can see the finishing color take on a bit of orange-red blush over the canary yellow.

[clara]

Let me add that Babelsberg is now a part of Potsdam and located near Berlin. In 1911, the movie studios were founded which are now again the largest studios in Germany. But also international productions take place there, Renegades and The Girl in the Spider's Web to name the newest ones. Perhaps you have seen Bride of Spies, Monuments Men, Inglourious Basterds, Grand Budapest Hotel to name a few older ones.

Of course Nazi productions have also taken place there...

[ContainerTed]

Hey and howdy, Miss Clara. This one is winner. You had stated that the fruit size was close to golf ball size. Golf balls are 1 2/3". Our difference is probably that plants in the ground seem to produce fruits that are slightly larger (in my experience). Thank you for trusting this German Heirloom to me. I hope we have done it justice, because it is truly one of a kind. I am saving seed and will make it easily available to all who would like to try it.

I can only say that the taste "reminded me" of the hybrid Lemon Boy. But it was still very different. Lemon Boy retains its tartness no matter what. This German tomato "suggests" that tartness, but has that smooth sweetness we all look for. Truly, this one is different.

[clara]

Many thanks, Ted, for all the work you have done with this tomato! I really appreciate it!!!

Thanks also for your detailed description of the taste - I could not have done it better!

Let me only add two things: The correct name is "67-Jährige Tomate aus Babelsberg", (= 67 years old tomato from Babelsberg), but I know foreign keyboards don't have that umlaut/mutated vowel, so it's also okay to write "Jaehrige".

Although I tried hard, I could not find out when those 67 years began. For me personally, it's already more than 70 years old, but who knows - perhaps it's even way older.

[peppero]

I will certainly be looking for the announcement.

Jon

[carolyn137]

Clara there are key strokes that one can use to place the umlaut. I used to have those keystrokes, and some others,such as the French forward and backward accent ones, taped to the side of my computer, no longer, but here they are if anyone is interested for the umlaut one.

https://www.google.com/search?q=keys...&bih=815&dpr=1

Carolyn

[clara]

No problem with the umlaut! Some Germans even write ae instead of ä, oe = ö or ue = ü.