Late August picked tomatoes awaiting tasting, using, seed saving and/or canning

It has been a few months since my first 2020 garden report, and I finally got part 2 finished. I am so sorry for the delay. Blogs will come more frequently from now on (yes, you’ve heard that before from me, but this time I mean it!).

These review posts are like mini-books, or at least a magazine article. They are fun to write, and a bit of work, opening up a number of spreadsheets and notebooks to get at the genealogical data. In fact, there has been quite a lapse between part 1 an part 2…but better late than never! Hopefully, they are worth it - I hope you all find value in them; I surely do, as they are a great way to consolidate my experiences and data.

Let’s carry on - this is the other grouping of indeterminate varieties grown in straw bales (there are 24 plants in all - the first 12 were described in part 1).

Cherokee Chocolate - saved as T20-13, which was from vial T18-6, which came from T17-8, which was from T16-120, which was from T03-21, which goes back to the original selection, T95-47, a skin color mutation of Cherokee Purple that occurred in my Raleigh garden. I’ve grown it loads of times and it never disappoints. In comparison to Cherokee Purple, it seems to be an indeterminate that "stretches” upward and outward a bit more, a tiny bit larger (on average) and more oblate - but equals it in quality, beauty, and productivity.

Pretty much everything I’ve said in part 1 about Cherokee Purple applies to Cherokee Chocolate. It is simply one of my favorite tomatoes, one to grow every year. The flavor just defines perfection in tomatoes for me. Fortunately, it is quite widely available from various seed companies.

Casey’s Pure Yellow, saved as T20-14, planted T19-7, which came from T11-78, which is from T09-24, which came from a tomato sent to me by Susan Anderson of Texas that year. The variety was first sent to me by he who discovered and named it, Jeff Casey, of Canada. Jeff found it when growing out Green Giant, and it has bred true (so could have been a flesh color mutation).

Casey’s Pure yellow is, to me, an option for Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom when that variety doesn’t do well in a given climate/zone. It is a potato leaf plant with medium to large bright yellow tomatoes possessing a wonderful, rich intense flavor. It is, in all respects equal to Green Giant - it is simply a bright yellow alternative. Small seed locules, heavy yield, good ability to tolerate common tomato diseases - what’s not to love!

Cancelmo Family Heirloom, saved as T20-15, planted T17-13, which was from T16-98, which is from #5557, a family heirloom sent to me in 2016. The story of this tomato is told in the Victory Seed Catalog, which introduced it after I made introductions between a gardening friend, Walt Swokla, and Mike Dunton.

I simply love this tomato, and feel quite honored to play my part in ensuring that this tomato lives on and is available to gardeners everywhere. It grew well in Raleigh, but was one of my best performers here in Hendersonville, clearly happy in a straw bale. The lanky, tall, vigorously suckering plant sets fruit early, and heavily. The smooth, perfect pink hearts range from 8 to more than 16 ounces. Unlike many pink heart varieties (typified by Oxheart), which to my palate are dry and somewhat flavorless, Cancelmo Family is simply delicious as well as versatile, its meatiness lending itself to sauce preparations but perfect as a slicing tomato as well.

I saved lots of seeds and will ensure that local gardeners will have an opportunity to give it a try in their gardens next year.

Brandywine (on the right, showing smooth shoulders

Brandywine - saved as T20-16, planted T18-4, which came from T17-25, which is from T16-106, which is from T11-60, which is from T01-5, which is from T97-27, which is from T93-58, which is from T88-9, which is from vial #29 - shared with me in an SSE trade with Roger Wentling. Roger obtained the seed from Ben Quisenberry himself in the early 1980s. This, therefore, is the real deal - THE Brandywine that in flavor stands perhaps above all others.

Brandywine can give gardeners fits with its erratic performance year to year, but it really loved growing in the straw bale in my Hendersonville yard. The vigorous potato leaf plants set loads of smooth shouldered, pink, oblate tomatoes in the 12-16 ounce range.

A perfectly ripe Brandywine is the essence of perfectly balanced, intense tomato flavor. I fell in love with it in 1988, and now, in 2020, 32 years later, it still ranks as the best large tomato I’ve eaten.

Shackelford Family Heirloom - saved as T20-17, planted 7062. This family heirloom was shared with me by Philip Shackelford. Phil indicated that they could have been German in origin, and his family has grown them for three generations. I planted one seed - got one plant, and it took over its straw bale. It produced the largest tomatoes of my 2020 garden, and is right up there with the largest tomatoes I’ve ever grown, approaching 2 lbs.

The shape is irregular, fruit set came on late, and early set tomatoes were among the few that had some blossom end rot. The vines were simply enormous, taking the term “indeterminate” to a whole new level. The tomatoes were medium pink (red flesh, clear skin) irregular in shape, some oblate, some nearly heart shaped, some oblate. The flavor, for such a huge tomato, was just fine - on the sweet side, very pleasant. As with other monster types I’ve grown, the flesh is very meaty, with few seeds.

I will definitely be sharing this with Mike Dunton in hoping that it winds up in his seed catalog before too long. It is truly something to behold.

Pic from 2019 - didn’t take a good picture of the variety this year

Little Lucky - saved as T20-18, planted T17-2, which was from T16-68, which was from T13-10, which was from T12-9, which was from T11-20, which was from T03-26, which is from T02-54, which is from T01-23, which is from T00-23, which is from T99-46, which is from T98-66, which is from T97-21, which is from Brandywine T93-58. T97-21 is the Brandywine X Tad hybrid that set off the Lucky Cross and Little Lucky work - T98-66 was the F2 selection with the Little Lucky sized tomatoes.

Along with the large fruited sister tomato Lucky Cross, Little Lucky is the best flavored of the yellow/red bicolor types. Little Lucky sets fruit better, is heavier yielding, but just as tasty - its smaller size may render it a bit less attractive for some tomato enthusiasts. It is perfect for salads and canning and grilling, however.

Gerald’s Mystery - saved as T20-19, planted T19-136, seeds from a tomato given to me by a Raleigh area tomato friend Gerald Adams. The tomato he gave me was purple with green stripes. Look what I got from growing out the saved seeds!

My feeling is that the tomato was crossed, and that I am growing out a new F1 hybrid. The regular leaf indeterminate plant was wildly prolific, with seemingly endless supply of medium sized, smooth bright yellow tomatoes with a bright red center in most fruit. It was somewhat firm, with a very good flavor but the texture making it just short of excellent. No matter - the most interesting part will be in seeing what saved seed produces next year. I hope to entice a few tomato friends to give it a try and report back on what they get.

Green Giant - lower left - perfectly ripe (note barely a hint of color change from an unripe tomato)

Green Giant - saved as T20-20, planted T19-6, which is from T14-11, which is from T07-13, which is from T05-13, which is from #1488, seed sent to me in 2004 by Reinhard Kraft, in Germany. I was perusing his web pages when I noted what appeared to be a green fruited potato leaf tomato. I asked, he sent (he actually has sent me loads of great tomatoes over the years). Reinhard indicated it arose in a different regular leaf green variety.

Several characteristics set this wonderful tomato apart from many others. It is unusual in being a green fleshed when ripe variety in that the skin color is clear, not yellow. Deciding when they are ripe takes a bit of practice, but I find that the blossom end typically shows a pale pink blush. The tomatoes are very meaty, with small seed locules. Fruit set is excellent, yield is excellent, but…the flavor! It is definitely top 10 material - intense, rich, simply outstanding.

I’ve grown it often and it has become quite widely available. I find that it in a way resembles Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom in shape, internal structure, and flavor. It truly belongs in every tomato lover’s garden. Its performance in a straw bale in my 2020 garden was superb.

Ferris Wheel, regular leaf, bright yellow - right

Ferris Wheel, yellow, regular leaf - saved as T20-21, planted 7154, which is seed shared with me by gardening friend Melissa Plank. I sent her seeds of Ferris Wheel, a large pink regular leaf tomato. She got one of the correct, and one that had bright yellow tomatoes on a regular leaf plant - seeds from that are designated #7154, which I planted this spring.

I got some potato leaf seedlings, regular leaf seedlings, and dwarf seedlings. I chose to grow out one regular leaf plant (this one - in a straw bale), and one potato leaf plant (in a grow bag - part of my next update). I was delighted to see bright yellow, medium large tomatoes (pictured above) with a full, delicious flavor from the regular leaf plant.

My assumption is that the Ferris Wheel I sent to Melissa was crossed with a yellow variety - perhaps a yellow potato leaf variety - perhaps a dwarf (such as Dwarf Sweet Sue or Summer Sweet Gold). The seed saved this year - T20-21 - will likely not be stable yet, so when that seed is planted I may still get potato leaf, regular leaf and dwarf seedlings. Additional work will be needed to ensure it is stable and its merit - does it deserve to be named and released? I will probably be sharing seeds with a few interested people who want to participate in untangling this most delightful tomato mystery!

Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe, two tomatoes on the right

Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe - saved as T20-22, planted 6074, which came from Bill Minkey’s grow out of T16-74, which came from 4392 (also from Bill), which came from T09-44, which is from T08-155, and this is where the unusual striped version of Little Lucky appeared, in a plant growing on Coon Rock Farm from a plant they purchased from me that came from T05-50.

This variety is actually somewhat of a mystery. The fruit that gave seed T08-155 was a medium sized round yellow tomato with very thin pink stripes. Over the years and grow outs, we now have a medium to medium small round tomato that is pink with greenish/golden stripes and pink flesh. Victory Seeds sells the variety. The medium sized mostly round tomatoes are quite delicious, with a very rich flavor and a perfect size for salads and canning.

I would love to find the yellow with light pink/red striped selection again, but I no longer have seed stock T08-155. One possibility would be to return to Little Lucky T05-50, the other to grow out some of the samples Bill Minkey sent me over the years. The Lanky potato leaf plant is a tomato machine, and the smaller fruit sets well even in hot, humid conditions. I underrate tomatoes of this size in my love of the really large varieties, but this is a great tomato, named for my daughter Caitlin.

Nolan’s Family Heirloom - meaty pink heart, bottom

Nolan’s Family Heirloom - saved as T20-23 , planted 6888. This tomato was sent to me in 2019 by Tim Nolan. I planted two seeds - one came up regular leaf (checking with Tim that was not the correct one) - the other potato leaf. It was that plant that had a home in one of my straw bales. It is a variety that Tim’s father got from an Italian neighbor more than 50 years ago.

Potato leaf, heart shaped tomatoes are quite rare. This particular one was quite unique in so many ways. The plant itself was very spindly, with the large potato plant-shaped leaves quite “floppy” and weak looking (the plant itself turned into a monster…the relative limpness is quite indicative of heart shaped varieties in general). The tomatoes ranged from medium large to huge, approaching 2 pounds, with a shape like a top; more of a “fat” variation of heart shaped tomatoes when compared to those that are more typical, such as Cancelmo Family Heirloom. Fruit set and yield were excellent. The ripe color is a lovely medium pink (light red flesh, clear skin).

Another attribute that sets this variety apart is the excellent flavor and texture for one so dense and meaty. Seed count is quite low. The flavor is delightfully balanced, slightly leaning toward the sweet side, and it, along with Cancelmo, are among my very favorite heart shaped varieties. I suspect that within a few years it will be available commercially, via Victory Seeds (Mike will get a sample of seeds and will get in contact with Tim to flesh out the back story). Tim’s suggestion is that this be called Joe’s Jubilee.

Blue’s Bling, on the way to ripening, showing the variegation in unripe fruit

Blue’s Bling - saved as T20-24, planted T19-48, which came from 6094. This is a variety shared with me by a gardening friend, Blue Dingman, someone I communicated with on Facebook, and now on Instagram. This variety appeared in their garden out of Cherokee Purple, and there was some thought it was a dwarf. The plant that T19-48 was saved from is definite ly indeterminate.

It certainly is a beautiful plant, with strong variegation of its regular leaf foliage. The growth characteristics are quite like Cherokee Purple, with initial flower clusters containing lots of flowers, and a bit more compact growth than most heirloom indeterminate types. The fruit size ranges from 6 to well over 16 ounces, and immature tomatoes show distinctive stripes (as shown in the picture above). The striping goes away as the tomatoes ripen, resulting in gorgeous dusky rose fruit that make for Cherokee Purple look-alikes in terms of color. The flavor is also excellent, and internal structure is that which I enjoy, with small seed locules.

Mike at Victory Seeds could very well be introducing it on their website this year. I think people will really love it, with the biggest difference from Cherokee Purple being the distinct green and white foliage, making it quite ornamental. I also used it in a few crosses, as working the good fruit set and yield, large fruit size, fruit color and foliage color into new varieties will be worth exploring. I am not sure it will be something that I grow every year, but I am pleased that it is in my collection.