Heirlooms NOT to grow!

[Father'sDaughter]

Yes, the shapes are similar on several of them. I went in search of elongated pastes a couple of years ago, and am slowly weeding out those I'm not happy with from a production stand point.

Here's some info on average weight so far, which is what I'm basing next year's selections on - Polish Linguisa and Olpaka are averaging about 3 ounces, and Jersey Devil only 2; George O'Brien is at 4 ounces, Ernesto and Nudi Family Heirloom are averaging 7 ounces, and my first Romeo is a solid 10 ounces. All that have ripened so far are meaty with little gel and few seeds. I've read that Romeo is the same way, but I'll find out myself tomorrow,

When I was a kid, Yellow Pear grew wild all over my neighborhood. I knew nothing about tomato varieties and thought they were just weeds with fruit that tasted like tomatoes. They were pretty good, but I had nothing to compare them to.

The San Marzano tomato apparently has multiple strains but only one variety or strain is designated as the official San Marzano. I have no idea how accurate that is, but supposedly if it isn't grown in a specific region in Italy, it isn't a San Marzano. I would like to track down some of the "official" seed some day and see how they perform in North Texas.

http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-deal-14-16365

Ted

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

Yes, the shapes are similar on several of them. I went in search of elongated pastes a couple of years ago, and am slowly weeding out those I'm not happy with from a production stand point.

Here's some info on average weight so far, which is what I'm basing next year's selections on - Polish Linguisa and Olpaka are averaging about 3 ounces, and Jersey Devil only 2; George O'Brien is at 4 ounces, Ernesto and Nudi Family Heirloom are averaging 7 ounces, and my first Romeo is a solid 10 ounces. All that have ripened so far are meaty with little gel and few seeds. I've read that Romeo is the same way, but I'll find out myself tomorrow,

Wow 10 ounces? That's a good size for a paste tomato.
~Alfredo

[Alfredo]

Hey Ted,

Yeah the San Marzano Redorta variety isn't the original San Marzano, as its much bigger than the original San Marzano, but that's what I like about it, great for roasting.

I know San Marzano is quite popular for making sauces. I haven't tried it either to see how it tastes or how productive it is. I'm sure it's popular for a reason though. Maybe i'll get around to growing it sometime.

~Alfredo

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

Nothing was really productive this year, so I wouldn't base much on my results. Last year Opalka and Jersey Devil were equally productive which is why they both earned a spot in my garden this year. Polish Linguisa was new this year, and all three produced equally, and none of them ever grew notably large fruit.

Just for the sake of comparison, below are (l-r or top to bottom - depending on how photo loads), Romeo (the first ripe one), Ernesto, Nudi Family Heirloom (it feel off the vine early), George O'Brien (another that might be back next year), and what I've typically seen from Polish Linguisa.

Somewhere around here there's a thread about George O Brian and the originator of the variety on the SE Yearbooks says it's a pink heart, and then changed that to a red heart, but it's not a long red.

I e=mailed him about it after I bounced it off of Keith Mueller,who was the first to ask for it and grow it, but the OS never returned my e-mail.

As I said, one can search for that thread if one is really interested in the variety George O Brian and what it should be.And yes, I know that Fusion distributed seeds here for the long red.

Carolyn

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Somewhere around here there's a thread about George O Brian and the originator of the variety on the SE Yearbooks says it's a pink heart, and then changed that to a red heart, but it's not a long red.

I e=mailed him about it after I bounced it off of Keith Mueller,who was the first to ask for it and grow it, but the OS never returned my e-mail.

As I said, one can search for that thread if one is really interested in the variety George O Brian and what it should be.And yes, I know that Fusion distributed seeds here for the long red.

Carolyn

Oops! I guess I'm spelling it wrong.

Yes, I was following the other thread about this variety and was hoping you'd hear back from Mr. Mueller. And yes, my seeds did come from Fusion's seed offer here.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

Oops! I guess I'm spelling it wrong.

Yes, I was following the other thread about this variety and was hoping you'd hear back from Mr. Mueller. And yes, my seeds did come from Fusion's seed offer here.

I had already heard back from Keith M before I wrote to the originator of the variety in W NYS.

And I forgot to note that Neil L had also requested seeds from the original source and his were long reds and the OS listings said nothing at all about long reds.

Who I didn't hear back from was the OS and I outlined all that he had listed as to descriptions, what Keith got, what Neil L got,etc.

I don't know if I can find that e-mail in my sent box b'c it's probably scrolledoff, but I'll take a look sometime.

The fact that he never answered me indicated to me that the seeds he was offering were mixed from the get go and there was no true George O Brian as he originally described it in various SSE Yearbooks.

Carolyn

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

I had already heard back from Keith M before I wrote to the originator of the variety in W NYS.

And I forgot to note that Neil L had also requested seeds from the original source and his were long reds and the OS listings said nothing at all about long reds.

Who I didn't hear back from was the OS and I outlined all that he had listed as to descriptions, what Keith got, what Neil L got,etc.

I don't know if I can find that e-mail in my sent box b'c it's probably scrolledoff, but I'll take a look sometime.

The fact that he never answered me indicated to me that the seeds he was offering were mixed from the get go and there was no true George O Brian as he originally described it in various SSE Yearbooks.

Carolyn

Thanks for the additional info. And just to add to the confusion, most of the places I've found where it's discussed, it's typically spelled O'Brien, not O'Brian. So basically, all of us who have the elongated red tomato are growing an unidentified paste that's going by the wrong name? It's a great paste, so I'll probably keep growing it. Now I just don't know what to call it!

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

Thanks for the additional info. And just to add to the confusion, most of the places I've found where it's discussed, it's typically spelled O'Brien, not O'Brian. So basically, all of us who have the elongated red tomato are growing an unidentified paste that's going by the wrong name? It's a great paste, so I'll probably keep growing it. Now I just don't know what to call it!

My error on the spelling and it should be George O' Brien.

In the 2013 Yearbook the original source is still listing it in the red section as a red oxheart "type" and Neil L is listing it as a red 4-8 oz paste type ( implied not a heart, CM)/

I did find the e-mail I sent to Gary, the OS, but no time right now to cut and paste it to here.

I don't know what I'd call it,lets wait on that,since it's not what the OS says the variety should be.

Carolyn

[Mischka]

Two excellent paste type varieties that shouldn't be overlooked are Martino's Roma and Grandma Mary's Paste. Smaller fruits, but packed with flavor that many of the larger paste types lack.

Productivity is reliably high for both of these varieties, too. If you don't pick them fast enough, the ground beneath the plants will be covered with ripe fruit.

[travis]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

... my first Romeo is a solid 10 ounces. All that have ripened so far are meaty with little gel and few seeds. I've read that Romeo is the same way, but I'll find out myself tomorrow,

I used to grow Romeo tomatoes. The largest one I got was 24 ounces. But it was a "double" tomato.
Here is a photo of the double Romeo next to a Potato Top of the same weight (24 ounces).



Romeo is a very good paste tomato with next to no gel, very few seeds (about 25 or 30 at most per tomato), and a decent flavor for a dry paste tomato.

I got my original seeds from Peters Seed Research before that company went defunct.


And here is a photo of more typically sized Romeo tomatoes, most of which ran from about 8 ounces to 16 ounces consistently.

[Alfredo]

Originally Posted by Mischka

Two excellent paste type varieties that shouldn't be overlooked are Martino's Roma and Grandma Mary's Paste. Smaller fruits, but packed with flavor that many of the larger paste types lack.

Productivity is reliably high for both of these varieties, too. If you don't pick them fast enough, the ground beneath the plants will be covered with ripe fruit.

Thanks for those two reccommendations Mischka. I don't think I've ever grown any paste tomatoes that have been really productive for me, so I'm definitely going to check those two varieities out.

~Alfredo

[Father'sDaughter]

Wow, this thread has morphed into the tomatoes you should grow! I guess maybe that means there aren't enough varieties that fall into the "I'll never grow them again," category, and way too many on the "I can't wait to try them" list?!

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

Wow, this thread has morphed into the tomatoes you should grow! I guess maybe that means there aren't enough varieties that fall into the "I'll never grow them again," category, and way too many on the "I can't wait to try them" list?!

When I have time do you really want me to look at some past data books in order to list the varieties I'd never grow again?

Fact is, what I would never grow again would/could be on the list of some who say they never would be without some of those varieties,

And so it goes.

And in addition to Mischka's suggestion of Martino's Roma, which I also like, I'd add and put even higher are the varieties Heidi and Mama Leone.

But heaven knows there are enough threads around here on paste varieties, so I won't add any more. And fact is I'm not that enthusiastic about most paste varieties b'c they're so susceptible to both BER and Early Blight, and in general do not have the great tastes that many heart and meaty beefsteak varieties have, which is why I and many of my tomato friends switched away from paste varieties many years ago, for making sauce, etc.

Carolyn

[viewsaskew]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

...And fact is I'm not that enthusiastic about most paste varieties b'c they're so susceptible to both BER and Early Blight, and in general do not have the great tastes that many heart and meaty beefsteak varieties have, which is why I and many of my tomato friends switched away from paste varieties many years ago, for making sauce, etc.

Carolyn

Carolyn, I've been searching for posts regarding good tomatoes for sauce. There are many threads/topics that mention sauce here and there - I'm reading a lot of topics but haven't found a lot of info yet.

Do you have any recollection of where I might find some of the topics that discuss non-paste tomatoes for sauce? I've never much liked paste tomatoes for sauce because they aren't very flavorful, at least not to me.

I'll keep searching, but if you (or anyone else, please), remembers where some of the older threads are that discuss non-paste tomato recs, I'd be very happy to know.

Thanks in advance,
Anabel