Cherokee Purple.....Others like it?

[kath]

Originally Posted by jennifer28

Kath, you could sell that one on ebay! Love it.

It came up in a search for "images catface tomato"- don't know the source but it's not mine.

kath

[wally mcgee]

:

Originally Posted by kath

It came up in a search for "images catface tomato"- don't know the source but it's not mine.

kath

thanks. Now I know

[indigosand]

I have grown purple calabash this year and while a productive thing, with beautiful to look at fruits, definitely interesting smoky flavor - I would caution you that they are not a slicer and difficult to use. I have had most of them catface and those that were not had a large blossom scab. I have had to core every one that I picked. They make fabulous salsa, but at this point I have not tried to peel them for sauce and probably will not with the deep folds they have.

I did get one single carbon last season from the plant before frost killed it and it was quite good.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by indigosand

I have grown purple calabash this year and while a productive thing, with beautiful to look at fruits, definitely interesting smoky flavor - I would caution you that they are not a slicer and difficult to use. I have had most of them catface and those that were not had a large blossom scab. I have had to core every one that I picked. They make fabulous salsa, but at this point I have not tried to peel them for sauce and probably will not with the deep folds they have.

I did get one single carbon last season from the plant before frost killed it and it was quite good.

I've grown Purple Calabash as well, and while you say an interesting smoky flavor, that's not what I found.

First, I've grown lots of so called black varieties and have never once tasted anything smoky or salty.

But Purple Calabash has what I call an aggressive taste that I do not like at all.

If you like Purple Calabash I bet you'd love Noire de Cosebeauf, which has one of the most beautiful fruit shapes I've ever seen, but like PC has that aggressive taste that just doesn't appeal to me.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Noire_De_Coseboeuf

I couldn't find a good picture with Google Images so here's a Google search and you may find some good pictures there. What makes it so beautiful are the scalloped shoulders IMO, but not the taste.

Carolyn

[b54red]

So far this year the black tomatoes which are some of my favorites have not been up to their usual great flavor or production. I'm pretty sure it is due to the constant rainfall I have had. Over the years I have found that the black tomatoes taste far better during times of hot dry weather. They seem to really shine when many others are suffering from the heat.

If you want a tomato that is really almost the same as CP then plant Spudakee which is a potato leaf that tastes the same and is usually more productive. For flavor I haven't found one better than JD's Special C Tex. Others you might want to try are Indian Stripe, Black Krim, Carbon, Dana's Dusky Rose, Gary O' Sena, Paul Robeson and Big Cheef. I grow a lot of varieties of black tomatoes each year and find that every year a different one does better than the others so I just keep planting a good selection in order to get the variety that excels in flavor that year. I added Black from Tula to my list this year and I am really looking forward to tasting it; but have yet to get a tomato from it since I planted it so late.

Bill

[indigosand]

Maybe smoky isn't the right word for it? It does have good taste here in my garden for whatever that's worth. Not sweet, but that does not appeal to me so maybe it's all in the taste buds of the tester. Thanks for the recommendation for noire de coseboeuf, I'll try that for my fluted-fruit obsession next season.

OP- I have about 12-15 seeds left of "CARBON" from a 2012 packet sourced Baker Creek Heirloom Seed if you would like to have them just message me your addy and I'll send them to you.

[kellyst]

I like carbon. In addition to great taste it has very healthy plants, early fruit set for such a large tomato, and its a vigorous producer.

[Father'sDaughter]

I've never tried Cherokee Purple before, and neither has my husband, but I certainly hope it's a tomato at least one of us ends up loving. It's one of the few plants that has been continuing to set a large amount of new fruit through this hot and humid spell we've been having.

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by kellyst

I like carbon. In addition to great taste it has very healthy plants, early fruit set for such a large tomato, and its a vigorous producer.

I second that. Carbon and CP are the staple tomatoes in my garden. This year I am growing many new black and pink varieties. So far I really enjoyed the taste and production of Black Master, Brad's Black Heart and Indian Stripe.