reviews of the new (new to me) varieties I grew out

jennifer28 · July 11, 2012

I recently tasted some new open pollinated Ukranian varieties I grew out and one family heirloom from Turkey.

The family heirloom from Turkey, I don't know what to call it. I grew it out on a whim. It is a large red beefsteak, very very early, and nice thin skin. I got it from one of my student's parents. They brought it with them from Turkey. I will post pics of it. I saved seed from it. It was DELICIOUS! Nice, sweet, thin skin. Hardly any core. Juicy and a good balance of flavors. Good texture, not too mushy but not overly firm either. The family from Turkey didn't have a name for the tomato, they just told me they always grew it in Turkey and saved seeds. I didn't expect it to be this good, mmmmm! I saved seeds for next year.

Ukranian varieties:
1. Midshipman. Terrible, I consider it a spitter. Very pretty to look at, but extremely thick walled fruit and very little taste. Seems like it would be a long keeper but I couldn't stand it. I'm contemplating yanking the plants.

2. Northern Queen. HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE. Resistant to cold. Seems disease resistant, it's one tough plant. I abused it on purpose, putting it out early when we still had light frosts, and it was fine. Didn't even wilt. The fruits are beautiful, they look like they were grown in a greenhouse. Sadly, the taste is only so-so. Well, it has a decent tomato flavor but the problem I have with it is that I would like it to be sweeter. If you prefer less sweet tomatoes, you may really enjoy this. It isn't quite a spitter but I will probably only grow 5 plants of it next year.

3. Balcony miracle, Balkonnoe Chudo. GROSS. It has a weird funky taste. I've yanked the plants. This is available through seed savers. Why, I don't know. Small, nasty, funky red cherry tomato sized fruits.

4. Fighter AKA Brawler tomato. MY FAVORITE so far. It has the shape and size of an Amish Paste tomato. Actually really resembles Amish paste. It is not dry like a typical paste tomato. Excellent for fresh eating. Very sweet and juicy. Excellent flavor in my opinion and highly productive. Disease resistant. A nice tough plant too. I put it in a crappy spot with less than optimal growing conditions (an area that occaisonally floods and doesn't get the most sunlight) and it is growing like crazy. I bagged some blossoms and I will offer seed. I plan on having at least 20 of these next year. ALSO EARLY FOR A PASTE SIZE TOMATO. HAD MY FIRST RIPE ONE YESTERDAY HERE IN ZONE 6.

OneDahlia · July 12, 2012

Thanks for the reviews! Later in the season, if you're interested in a trade, I'd love to trade for a few seeds of the Turkish tomato. My husband is Turkish and it makes him like my garden more when I grow Turkish varieties.

I have 20 varieties out there -- need to start saving seeds.

jennifer28 · July 12, 2012

I saved seeds from some bagged blossoms. I will offer them here, and I will offer them to you

OneDahlia · July 12, 2012

Thank you!

Worth1 · July 12, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by jennifer28

Ukranian varieties:
1. Midshipman. Terrible, I consider it a spitter. Very pretty to look at, but extremely thick walled fruit and very little taste. Seems like it would be a long keeper but I couldn't stand it. I'm contemplating yanking the plants.

That describes a midshipman to a tee.

Worth

Tania · July 12, 2012

Jennifer,

What are the real original names of the Ukrainian tomatoes? Yours sound like some sort of translations...

The Turkish one sounds like a real winner, I am glad you are going to be a seed keeper for this one!

lakelady · July 12, 2012

Jennifer, thanks for posting reviews! Especially in zone 6, I'm always concerned that I won't get much fruit by the first frost. Make that by end of September because nothing seems to ripen for me after that with lower sunlight and cooler temps.

Hopefully by end of the season I'll post my results too because some that are supposed to be early, were definately not early for me!

jennifer28 · July 12, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tania

Jennifer,

What are the real original names of the Ukrainian tomatoes? Yours sound like some sort of translations...

The Turkish one sounds like a real winner, I am glad you are going to be a seed keeper for this one!

Tania

Here are the names in Russian

гардемарины Tomat
северная королева Tomat
балкон чудо
боец Tomat
They are all commercial open pollinated varieties.
The last one,

боец Tomat is my favorite. I will be growing a lot of these next year.
The Turkish tomato, I will offer as much seed as I can.

Jennifer

Deborah · July 12, 2012

Worth, LOL.

jennifer28 · July 12, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

That describes a midshipman to a tee.

Worth

In all seriousness I think it was bred for the Russian Navy. It was meant to keep on longer sea voyages.

lakelady · July 12, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

That describes a midshipman to a tee.

Worth

LMAO! I just got that!

Worth1 · July 13, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakelady

LMAO! I just got that!

Do you all think I could get serious about a tomato.

I just grow them and eat them.

Way too scatter brained to keep records.

My mind is a steel trap.

Worth

pdxwindjammer · July 13, 2012

Thanks for the update! Wow! You are already getting a lot of ripe tomatoes in Connecticut!

I have been to Turkey and it is one of my favorite countries in the world! They have a sweet candy there called Turkish Delight. Since it is sweet, you may want to see if that is already the name of a tomato and if not, could be an option!

I would love to get my hands on some Turkish Tomato seeds, too! Trade when I get ripe tomatoes in August, perhaps? I am growing over 30 varieties.

Cheers!

tjg911 · July 13, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by jennifer28

Ukranian varieties:
1. Midshipman. Terrible, I consider it a spitter. Very pretty to look at, but extremely thick walled fruit and very little taste. Seems like it would be a long keeper but I couldn't stand it. I'm contemplating yanking the plants.

thick walled may mean a good tomato for sauce. i grew palla di fuoco a few years ago and it was the worst eating tomato i ever encountered along with yellow pear. it was HARD and crunchy but it made the best spaghetti sauce! i've found that any tomatoes that don't taste good can be made into sauce and actually it turns out surprisingly good. before you yank it try making sauce from it.

tom

Tania · July 13, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by jennifer28

Tania

Here are the names in Russian

гардемарины Tomat
северная королева Tomat
балкон чудо
боец Tomat
They are all commercial open pollinated varieties.
The last one,

боец Tomat is my favorite. I will be growing a lot of these next year.
The Turkish tomato, I will offer as much seed as I can.

Jennifer

Thank you Jennifer! Actually, Boets tomato is known in NA under its native name 'Boets' (http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Boets ) - this is precisely why I recommend to use the native names, to avoid possible confusion - many folks may assume that your 'Figher' tomato is different from 'Boets' that I have been offering in my seed catalog since 2009, but in fact they are the same tomato. Also, Boetz is not a Ukrainian tomato, it was bred by Siberian Research Institute of Plants and Breeding. I understand the seeds may have been sold by a Ukrainian seed vendor, but nevertheless it has Russian origin. I bet the same may be true of the others you listed, but I have to look them up.

Basically, I'd strongly recommend to use their native names:

- Gardemariny
- Severnaya Koroleva
- Balkonnoe Chudo
- Boets

I understand that some commercial vendors from the former USSR republics are selling seeds on eBay or can ship to NA, and they offer translated names for convenience of their foreign customers - but I wish they would not do that.

Tania

July 11, 2012	#1
jennifer28 Two-faced Drama Queen Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital Posts: 955	reviews of the new (new to me) varieties I grew out I recently tasted some new open pollinated Ukranian varieties I grew out and one family heirloom from Turkey. The family heirloom from Turkey, I don't know what to call it. I grew it out on a whim. It is a large red beefsteak, very very early, and nice thin skin. I got it from one of my student's parents. They brought it with them from Turkey. I will post pics of it. I saved seed from it. It was DELICIOUS! Nice, sweet, thin skin. Hardly any core. Juicy and a good balance of flavors. Good texture, not too mushy but not overly firm either. The family from Turkey didn't have a name for the tomato, they just told me they always grew it in Turkey and saved seeds. I didn't expect it to be this good, mmmmm! I saved seeds for next year. Ukranian varieties: 1. Midshipman. Terrible, I consider it a spitter. Very pretty to look at, but extremely thick walled fruit and very little taste. Seems like it would be a long keeper but I couldn't stand it. I'm contemplating yanking the plants. 2. Northern Queen. HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE. Resistant to cold. Seems disease resistant, it's one tough plant. I abused it on purpose, putting it out early when we still had light frosts, and it was fine. Didn't even wilt. The fruits are beautiful, they look like they were grown in a greenhouse. Sadly, the taste is only so-so. Well, it has a decent tomato flavor but the problem I have with it is that I would like it to be sweeter. If you prefer less sweet tomatoes, you may really enjoy this. It isn't quite a spitter but I will probably only grow 5 plants of it next year. 3. Balcony miracle, Balkonnoe Chudo. GROSS. It has a weird funky taste. I've yanked the plants. This is available through seed savers. Why, I don't know. Small, nasty, funky red cherry tomato sized fruits. 4. Fighter AKA Brawler tomato. MY FAVORITE so far. It has the shape and size of an Amish Paste tomato. Actually really resembles Amish paste. It is not dry like a typical paste tomato. Excellent for fresh eating. Very sweet and juicy. Excellent flavor in my opinion and highly productive. Disease resistant. A nice tough plant too. I put it in a crappy spot with less than optimal growing conditions (an area that occaisonally floods and doesn't get the most sunlight) and it is growing like crazy. I bagged some blossoms and I will offer seed. I plan on having at least 20 of these next year. ALSO EARLY FOR A PASTE SIZE TOMATO. HAD MY FIRST RIPE ONE YESTERDAY HERE IN ZONE 6.

July 12, 2012	#6
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	Jennifer, What are the real original names of the Ukrainian tomatoes? Yours sound like some sort of translations... The Turkish one sounds like a real winner, I am glad you are going to be a seed keeper for this one! __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase

July 12, 2012	#7
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	Jennifer, thanks for posting reviews! Especially in zone 6, I'm always concerned that I won't get much fruit by the first frost. Make that by end of September because nothing seems to ripen for me after that with lower sunlight and cooler temps. Hopefully by end of the season I'll post my results too because some that are supposed to be early, were definately not early for me! __________________ Antoniette

July 12, 2012	#2
OneDahlia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: 7a NO. VA. Posts: 202	Thanks for the reviews! Later in the season, if you're interested in a trade, I'd love to trade for a few seeds of the Turkish tomato. My husband is Turkish and it makes him like my garden more when I grow Turkish varieties. I have 20 varieties out there -- need to start saving seeds.

July 12, 2012	#9
Deborah Riding The Crazy Train Again Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: San Marcos, California Posts: 2,562	Worth, LOL.

July 13, 2012	#13
pdxwindjammer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 625	Thanks for the update! Wow! You are already getting a lot of ripe tomatoes in Connecticut! I have been to Turkey and it is one of my favorite countries in the world! They have a sweet candy there called Turkish Delight. Since it is sweet, you may want to see if that is already the name of a tomato and if not, could be an option! I would love to get my hands on some Turkish Tomato seeds, too! Trade when I get ripe tomatoes in August, perhaps? I am growing over 30 varieties. Cheers!