Market tomatoes ?

[ScottinAtlanta]

I hate to keep going back to the well, but Mule Team has done very well for me here in Atlanta, similar to your climate. Larger salad red tomatoes - always popular among my friends.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

Same price for heirlooms here, and very few stores carry them. Going price for greenhouse or regular tomatoes is about $3 at this time of year.

My neighbor sold some of "our" KBX for $3 each last summer. They flew and always sold out, as did any red. Green Zebra didn't go over well.

- Lisa

Isn't that funny? I had one customer that would buy all my green zebras...all, every time. I couldn't grow enough. I had another who wanted green tomatoes for fried green tomatoes. She always bought up all my GWR and fried them! I told her they were ripe, not green for fried, but she said, "I know that now, but they are better than the regular green tomatoes fried. You should try it."

It's a funny world.

[Cole_Robbie]

Ugly tomatoes sell the worst for me. People want a fairly uniform shape with no catfacing or cracking. Even blossom end scars are viewed with suspicion.

[Hermitian]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

It's a funny world.

Bingo.

[Fusion_power]

More like it is a "crazy" world.

I would probably grow Druzba, Eva Purple Ball, and Jaune Flammee if I were a market gardener.

[nickbolk]

My plan for farmers market growing would be baskets of Ildi, black cherry, rose Quartz multiflora, elfin, and sungold. And then Jaune flamme, black and brown boar, Eva purple ball, azoychka, and an early or two to get things started

[Wi-sunflower]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Ugly tomatoes sell the worst for me. People want a fairly uniform shape with no catfacing or cracking. Even blossom end scars are viewed with suspicion.

EXACTLY !!

IF you are in an area where you can still cut and sample those less than perfect tomatoes, the taste WILL sell them. But about 5 or more years ago the market I go to prohibited sampling if you had to cut (unless you had a licensed kitchen to do it in). That totaled the heirloom tomato sales and the melon sales. You will sell twice as many melons when people can taste them.

BUT there is no prohibition against giving a whole uncut tomato as a sample. So that's why I take mostly cherry (and slightly larger) and grape types. I can give people a cherry so they can figure out which they like the best. It's rare that someone will try a few and not buy something.

Carol

[travis]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

I hate to keep going back to the well, but Mule Team has done very well for me here in Atlanta, similar to your climate. Larger salad red tomatoes - always popular among my friends.

Scott, please give a little of your experience with Mule Team with regard to its performance in central Georgia.

Heat tolerance, and hotset ability July thru August?

Average size and weight of fruit?

Shoulder smoothness? Cracking?

Fruit firmness, skin thickness, and ability to stand up to typical fresh market handling?

Thanks, as I have long been interested in this variety but never have grown it.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Scott, please give a little of your experience with Mule Team with regard to its performance in central Georgia.

I live in Atlanta, so it is northwest Georgia. Central Georgia would be quite a bit hotter and more humid.

Heat tolerance, and hotset ability July thru August?

Mule Team never suffered from heat - it kept flowering and setting through the entire season. I watered deeply and weekly during the hot periods, and fertilized weekly with Texas Tomato Food to keep it going.

Average size and weight of fruit?

They are larger saladettes for me - 4 ounces on average.

Shoulder smoothness? Cracking?

Completely smooth top to bottom and I never had any cracking.

Fruit firmness, skin thickness, and ability to stand up to typical fresh market handling?

I cannot say.

Give it a try.

[Fred Hempel]

I have customers who buy the ugly ones, because they fell sorry for them.

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Ugly tomatoes sell the worst for me. People want a fairly uniform shape with no catfacing or cracking. Even blossom end scars are viewed with suspicion.

[Hermitian]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

... experience with Mule Team ... They are larger saladettes for me - 4 ounces on average. ...

In my experience the majority of them are about 8 oz.

[BigVanVader]

I have customers who buy the ugly ones, because they fell sorry for them.

That made me chuckle, sounds like something my fiance would say.