Seeds have been ordered

[glypnirsgirl]

Hi Feldon - you were my inspiration for starting early. After being caught short last year when I had ordered things for starting my seeds early and then they did not come in, I am trying to be hyper-vigilant about getting everything together this year so I can just plop the seeds in the Metromix 360 (found it at a local nursery) then I am going to try Craig's dense planning method. I bought labels for the plants that I have not yet planted. Now that I know what I am going to grow I still am trying to figure out how to grow it!

Carolyn - what are your top 5 favorite tomatoes? I remember from your book that you said that you are not a big fan of black tomatoes. What is your favorite general type? What is your favorite tasting tomatoes?

Elaine

[carolyn137]

Carolyn - what are your top 5 favorite tomatoes? I remember from your book that you said that you are not a big fan of black tomatoes. What is your favorite general type? What is your favorite tasting tomatoes?

****

Elaine, I shy away from answering those kinds of questions since what I like best is almost constantly changing.

When I wrote the book I'd grown about 1200 varieties and now I've grown about 2500 varieties and almost every year brings some new favorites. Since I fell in 2004 and have been using a walker I now concentrate on growing varieties new to all or most, and some of those new faves in the past few years are only available, to date, to SSE members who can request them from the Yearbook.

I do send the best of what I grow each year to Glenn at Sandhill Preservation, Linda at TGS and of late Mike at Victory Seeds and try to spread the seeds around so that each one gets mostly different varieties.

So I no longer have a core group of faves that I grow each year b'c I need the space for the new ones.

[glypnirsgirl]

My husband always refuses to answer those "favorite" or "best" type questions also. He tells me the question itself is unfair.

I guess you are both right because I find that my "favorites" change alot. Sometimes moment by moment. While Ian and I were dating we were listening to the radio (an oldie station) one afternoon and "Sugar Shack" came on. I told Ian, "that's my favorite song." A few minutes later, "So Happy Together" came on and I told him, "that's my favorite song. A few minutes later, "I believe in Magic" came on ... yes, you guessed it, I told him, "that's my favorite song." He changed the radio station to a "light rock" station, and "Walking on Broken Glass" came on and I told him "I really dislike that song. He said, "I was beginning to think that every song was your favorite song." I told him that song reminds me of my divorce - that is why its not my favorite song.

I can find something about most things that make them my favorite! So, instead of refusing to answer, I will normally give longs lists!

Elaine

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

If you can't remember the taste tomorrow it isn't a delicious tomato.

I'll remember the taste. Tony's Italian stands above others I have tried in this same category, including Prue, Kosovo, Wes, Linnie's Oxheart, Sarnowski Polish Plum in that it seems sweeter and zippier to me. All the others are more of a savory, meaty flavor. I like them all, but for fresh eating, TI gets the edge.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by feldon30

I'll remember the taste. Tony's Italian stands above others I have tried in this same category, including Prue, Kosovo, Wes, Linnie's Oxheart, Sarnowski Polish Plum in that it seems sweeter and zippier to me. All the others are more of a savory, meaty flavor. I like them all, but for fresh eating, TI gets the edge.

I'm so darn glad I listed Tony's Italian on my seed offer list here,I think it was two years ago, and glad that Suze got it b'c it's a variety that I first grew many years ago and few folks have listed it through the years.

There are so many overlooked varieties like that one that it's a shame that more folks don't grow that one and many of the other varieties that were known long ago as opposed to growing what the variety of the day is for more recent varieties.

But we've had that thread here before about that topic.

[Douglas_OW]

Originally Posted by feldon30

Carolyn, is there some website I can reference which will distinguish for me the difference between a heart, oxheart, plum, roma, paste, and any other permutations I haven't even thought of?

The Tony's Italian I picked were delicious and meet with your description, even if I won't be able to remember it tomorrow.

I think that this subject of shape classification is very subjective; even the USDA dosn't ask growers to designate the shape, but to match it to unnamed graphics on their form:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getf...STELDEV3003738

I'm sure that you have had tomatos from a single plant that look like more than one of the illustrations in the back of the USDA form.