Lightly circulated treasures - Page 2

**nctomatoman** · February 10, 2013

So many great varieties get "lost" in the flood of so many new discoveries. I am just as guilty of letting some really great tomatoes go forgotten, especially now that I end up putting more attention on my many mini-projects (and of course the maxi-project on Dwarfs).

Looking through my list, going back to 1986, these are some I should grow more often after excellent debuts in my garden.

Persimmon
Tiger Tom
Bisignano #2
Old Brooks
Fritsche
Yellow Oxheart
Tappy's Finest
Madara
Pink Sweet
Yellow Bell
Potato Leaf Yellow
Price's Purple
Gregori's Altai
Goliath
Big Sandy
Ukrainian Heart
Pale Purple Perfect
Large Dark Purple
Belgian Beauty
Winsall
Shilling Giant
Lillian's Large Red Kansas
Livingston's Favorite
Livingston's Magnus
Golden Monarch

all of the above were grown and enjoyed between 1987 and 1995....and some I've ignored since then, for whatever reason!

habitat_gardener · February 10, 2013

I've grown several tomatoes that were among my favorites the year I grew them but aren't mentioned much:

Aunt Ginny's Purple is widely available, but I rarely see it mentioned
George O'Brien isn't even in the tomatobase!
Ernie's Round is scarce
Marizol Bratka and Tobolsk tied for best tomato in my garden a few years ago
Croatia Joanna YMCA was from a local source

If I could grow only tomatoes I'd already grown (no new-to-me varieties), I'd have lots of great choices. The following aren't rare, but they tasted great and and did well in my garden, and I'd grow them again if only I had enough garden space and if only I weren't tempted by different varieties every year!
Marianna's Peace
Aunt Ruby's German Green
Pruden's Purple
Tommy Toe
Sunsugar F1
Pink Vernissage
Black Plum
Druzba
Opalka
(this list could be 3x as long but I'm stopping here)

MikeInCypress · February 10, 2013

I think Picardy is one variety that needs to be more popular. It is not a showy "super star" but it is a reliable producer of good, old fashioned tomatoes. Heirloom Seeds in Pa offers it. It does well for me in Southeast Texas.

MikeInCypress

Barbee · February 10, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by ContainerTed

Listed below are some of the ones I'm growing this year that are hard to find. For some, there may be a single source, but most have no commercial source this year.

Absinthe
Acme
Chapman
Chello
Church
Climbing Trip-L-Crop
Dolly
Giant Tree
Italian Tree
Large Red
Mortgage Lifter - Estler
Soldacki
Spears Tennessee Green
The Dutchman
Tommy Toe Yellow

Ted, I grew Church 2 years ago. I am anxious to hear your thoughts on it once you taste it

doublehelix · February 10, 2013

I don't know if "sales" has anything to do with this, but Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Coustralee, Principe Borghese, Kosovo, Kellogg's Breakfast, Green Giant and Yellow Brandywine are in the bottom. It would not be worth regrowing these based on sales.

Doug9345 · February 10, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by doublehelix

I don't know if "sales" has anything to do with this, but Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Coustralee, Principe Borghese, Kosovo, Kellogg's Breakfast, Green Giant and Yellow Brandywine are in the bottom. It would not be worth regrowing these based on sales.

I suspect that may because of the number of vendors that are selling some of those varieties and not because of their popularity.

Sun City Linda · February 10, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeInCypress

I think Picardy is one variety that needs to be more popular. It is not a showy "super star" but it is a reliable producer of good, old fashioned tomatoes. Heirloom Seeds in Pa offers it. It does well for me in Southeast Texas.

MikeInCypress

Picardy has been on my list to acquire, taste for a while. I gravitate towards tart / agressive taste in my maters and have heard it fits the bill. Glad to hear it takes heat.

Tania · February 10, 2013

Shuntikski Velikan and Russian Bogatyr tomatoes come to mind - that are great tomatoes, but not requested very often.

Others that I loved - they do not seem to be requested or mentioned very often:

Rozovyi Izumnyi
Bradley
Our Own Pink
Emerald (cherry)
Great Divide
Heatherington Pink
Ispolin Malinovyi
Kitaiskiy Rozovyi
L'Espagnol Lefebvres
Malinovyi Gigant
Marlowe Charleston (true PL)
Medvezhiya Lapa
Milka's Red Bulgarian
Montreal Tasty
Nicholaevna Pink
Polish (Ellis)
Polish
Palestinian
Shirley S
Yellow 1884 Pinkheart

Crissyb · February 11, 2013

I'm a sucker for a description such as rare, needs to be grown more, in danger of being forgotten...etc. I visited Double Helix Farms and had to acquire several more tomatoes even though I had enough for the year. I noticed many varieties I have never seen before. So I purchased:

Quedlinburger Fruh Liebe (very early variety I need)
Beautiful from Toggenburg (early variety)
Feng Shui (yellow heart)
Ruffled Apple (beautiful red)
Zomu (determinate- trying in container)
Great Divide (red beefsteak)

These seeds are only available at Double Helix and some are available on Tatiana's. I am very excited to try the very early varieties to see how early I can get tomatoes here. Often it's not until end of July before I get any if not sometimes August if I accidentally plant all late varieties. I'm also intrigued by Great Divide because Double Helix says it's one of the best red beefsteak he ever had. Well I have to see! Also going to try some smaller determinates in pots then I can get some earlier tomatoes, hopefully.

ScottinAtlanta · February 11, 2013

Following Tania, Bradley did well in the Atlanta heat in 2012, and its taste was good, around 8 on a 1-10 grade.

Tormato · February 11, 2013

Cabin is the only tomato I've seen that has superb flavor, and gets no mention (except for a thread a few weeks ago). But then, the Cabin I have may or may not be Cabin. Hopefully it'll all be sorted out this year.

Tormato

**carolyn137** · February 11, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crissyb

I'm a sucker for a description such as rare, needs to be grown more, in danger of being forgotten...etc. I visited Double Helix Farms and had to acquire several more tomatoes even though I had enough for the year. I noticed many varieties I have never seen before. So I purchased:

Quedlinburger Fruh Liebe (very early variety I need)
Beautiful from Toggenburg (early variety)
Feng Shui (yellow heart)
Ruffled Apple (beautiful red)
Zomu (determinate- trying in container)
Great Divide (red beefsteak)

These seeds are only available at Double Helix and some are available on Tatiana's. I am very excited to try the very early varieties to see how early I can get tomatoes here. Often it's not until end of July before I get any if not sometimes August if I accidentally plant all late varieties. I'm also intrigued by Great Divide because Double Helix says it's one of the best red beefsteak he ever had. Well I have to see! Also going to try some smaller determinates in pots then I can get some earlier tomatoes, hopefully.

Crissy, Great Divide is one of the several varieties that were bred by Joe Bratka's father. Joe found the seeds in a tool shed, already named and couldn't germinate them and sent them to me to try.

I was able to wake up:

Box Ca rWillie
MuleTeam
GreatDivide
Red Barn and
Pasture

Great Divide is very good but my own personal fave is Red Barn which I think is very overlooked.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...b=General_Info

Yes, if you look at seed availability both SteveW and Tania are listing seeds for 2013. In past seed offers here at Tville I've offered all of them listed above

I've always wondered what the two that I could not wake up might have been.

Carolyn

**carolyn137** · February 11, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by habitat_gardener

I've grown several tomatoes that were among my favorites the year I grew them but aren't mentioned much:

Aunt Ginny's Purple is widely available, but I rarely see it mentioned
George O'Brien isn't even in the tomatobase!
Ernie's Round is scarce
Marizol Bratka and Tobolsk tied for best tomato in my garden a few years ago
Croatia Joanna YMCA was from a local source

If I could grow only tomatoes I'd already grown (no new-to-me varieties), I'd have lots of great choices. The following aren't rare, but they tasted great and and did well in my garden, and I'd grow them again if only I had enough garden space and if only I weren't tempted by different varieties every year!
Marianna's Peace
Aunt Ruby's German Green
Pruden's Purple
Tommy Toe
Sunsugar F1
Pink Vernissage
Black Plum
Druzba
Opalka
(this list could be 3x as long but I'm stopping here)

About George O'Brian,

You've just reminded me that I need to e-mail the personwho originally SSE lsited the variety as a pink heart b'c in that thead we had Neil and you ( from Cynthia via Neil)and Fusion all said long red, and I want to know if that originated with crossed seeds sent out by the original person, who is still listing it as a pink heart and who lives here in NYS.To me, hewouldn't still be listing it as a pink heart if it wasn't.

My to do list is getting so long it's impossible, but it would help if instead of keeping these items in my head I'd write them down.

Carolyn

Crissyb · February 11, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Crissy, Great Divide is one of the several varieties that were bred by Joe Bratka's father. Joe found the seeds in a tool shed, already named and couldn't germinate them and sent them to me to try.

I was able to wake up:

Box Ca rWillie
MuleTeam
GreatDivide
Red Barn and
Pasture

Great Divide is very good but my own personal fave is Red Barn which I think is very overlooked.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...b=General_Info

Yes, if you look at seed availability both SteveW and Tania are listing seeds for 2013. In past seed offers here at Tville I've offered all of them listed above

I've always wondered what the two that I could not wake up might have been.

Carolyn

That's so incredible that you could help bring back those seeds from the edge of extinction! Thanks for the information Carolyn, that makes it more personal to me and will give me a great story to think about and tell my friends when I share my tomatoes. Box car Willie I have even seen around here at a local greenhouse that sold heirloom tomato plants, which is pretty amazing in rural Wisconsin! I will have to try Red Barn next year as this year I may have reached my limit.
So many tomatoes, so little time...

dice · February 13, 2013

Czechoslovakian is one I have never seen for sale anywhere.
It is the bottom one on this page:
http://sev.lternet.edu/~jnekola/Heir...zechoslovakian

(It is hard to web search for, because it's name is part of so many
other names and brings up so many hits on other pages that are
not it, even pages with "tomato" on the same page.)

February 10, 2013	#16
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	So many great varieties get "lost" in the flood of so many new discoveries. I am just as guilty of letting some really great tomatoes go forgotten, especially now that I end up putting more attention on my many mini-projects (and of course the maxi-project on Dwarfs). Looking through my list, going back to 1986, these are some I should grow more often after excellent debuts in my garden. Persimmon Tiger Tom Bisignano #2 Old Brooks Fritsche Yellow Oxheart Tappy's Finest Madara Pink Sweet Yellow Bell Potato Leaf Yellow Price's Purple Gregori's Altai Goliath Big Sandy Ukrainian Heart Pale Purple Perfect Large Dark Purple Belgian Beauty Winsall Shilling Giant Lillian's Large Red Kansas Livingston's Favorite Livingston's Magnus Golden Monarch all of the above were grown and enjoyed between 1987 and 1995....and some I've ignored since then, for whatever reason! __________________ Craig

February 10, 2013	#18
MikeInCypress Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Cypress, TX Posts: 963	I think Picardy is one variety that needs to be more popular. It is not a showy "super star" but it is a reliable producer of good, old fashioned tomatoes. Heirloom Seeds in Pa offers it. It does well for me in Southeast Texas. MikeInCypress __________________ "Growing older, not up"

February 10, 2013	#23
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	Shuntikski Velikan and Russian Bogatyr tomatoes come to mind - that are great tomatoes, but not requested very often. Others that I loved - they do not seem to be requested or mentioned very often: Rozovyi Izumnyi Bradley Our Own Pink Emerald (cherry) Great Divide Heatherington Pink Ispolin Malinovyi Kitaiskiy Rozovyi L'Espagnol Lefebvres Malinovyi Gigant Marlowe Charleston (true PL) Medvezhiya Lapa Milka's Red Bulgarian Montreal Tasty Nicholaevna Pink Polish (Ellis) Polish Palestinian Shirley S Yellow 1884 Pinkheart __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase

February 13, 2013	#30
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Czechoslovakian is one I have never seen for sale anywhere. It is the bottom one on this page: http://sev.lternet.edu/~jnekola/Heir...zechoslovakian (It is hard to web search for, because it's name is part of so many other names and brings up so many hits on other pages that are not it, even pages with "tomato" on the same page.) __________________ -- alias

February 10, 2013	#17
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,543	I've grown several tomatoes that were among my favorites the year I grew them but aren't mentioned much: Aunt Ginny's Purple is widely available, but I rarely see it mentioned George O'Brien isn't even in the tomatobase! Ernie's Round is scarce Marizol Bratka and Tobolsk tied for best tomato in my garden a few years ago Croatia Joanna YMCA was from a local source If I could grow only tomatoes I'd already grown (no new-to-me varieties), I'd have lots of great choices. The following aren't rare, but they tasted great and and did well in my garden, and I'd grow them again if only I had enough garden space and if only I weren't tempted by different varieties every year! Marianna's Peace Aunt Ruby's German Green Pruden's Purple Tommy Toe Sunsugar F1 Pink Vernissage Black Plum Druzba Opalka (this list could be 3x as long but I'm stopping here)

February 10, 2013	#20
doublehelix Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Central Arkansas Posts: 190	I don't know if "sales" has anything to do with this, but Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Coustralee, Principe Borghese, Kosovo, Kellogg's Breakfast, Green Giant and Yellow Brandywine are in the bottom. It would not be worth regrowing these based on sales.

February 11, 2013	#24
Crissyb Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 46	I'm a sucker for a description such as rare, needs to be grown more, in danger of being forgotten...etc. I visited Double Helix Farms and had to acquire several more tomatoes even though I had enough for the year. I noticed many varieties I have never seen before. So I purchased: Quedlinburger Fruh Liebe (very early variety I need) Beautiful from Toggenburg (early variety) Feng Shui (yellow heart) Ruffled Apple (beautiful red) Zomu (determinate- trying in container) Great Divide (red beefsteak) These seeds are only available at Double Helix and some are available on Tatiana's. I am very excited to try the very early varieties to see how early I can get tomatoes here. Often it's not until end of July before I get any if not sometimes August if I accidentally plant all late varieties. I'm also intrigued by Great Divide because Double Helix says it's one of the best red beefsteak he ever had. Well I have to see! Also going to try some smaller determinates in pots then I can get some earlier tomatoes, hopefully.

February 11, 2013	#26
Tormato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MA Posts: 4,971	Cabin is the only tomato I've seen that has superb flavor, and gets no mention (except for a thread a few weeks ago). But then, the Cabin I have may or may not be Cabin. Hopefully it'll all be sorted out this year. Tormato