Marlin keeping squirrels away from our perennial garden a few days ago

Though this is part 10, there won’t be 10 tomatoes, as the awkward numbering I used early on gets in the way. In the next installment we can resume 10 at a time, until we get to another break for using numbers for saved seeds - we will actually end on #178. Then will be a summary post, then resumption at tomato #207 - it is then clear sailing up to #300 and beyond. (that may be the most boring paragraph I’ve ever written!). Let’s dive in!

Tomato #113 - Kotlas (formerly called Sprint) - it is hard to find historical info on Sprint (a variety I remembered in Stokes catalogs from the 1980s), but Kotlas was a new name given it by Johnny’s Selected Seeds for its sister city in the old USSR. It is very similar to the tomato Matina. I purchased the seeds from Johnny’s in 1989. I never did grow Kotlas, but it is described as a rather sparsely foliaged potato leaf plant with small, saladette sized scarlet tomatoes. It is also likely very similar to Siberian, Stupice and Kimberly - all potato leaf early small scarlet tomatoes.

Tomato #114 - Gold Nugget - this tomato was also purchased from Johnny’s, in 1989. I never did get around to growing it. The variety was bred by Dr. James Baggett of the University of Oregon and released in 1983. One of the parents he used was Yellow Plum. It is unusual in being a determinate yellow colored cherry tomato, a bit oval in shape, with what is described as a mild, somewhat sweet flavor. Determinate tomatoes are good for those in short season areas that need their tomatoes in a very concentrated harvest.

Tomato #115 - Taxi - This completes my trio of purchases from Johnny’s in 1989. Unlike the other two above, this one I grew, enjoyed, and return to often. Its history seems unknown. Even when I asked Rob Johnston, he was not at all familiar with its lineage. The plant is determinate, the yield very heavy and concentrated and quite early for a tomato of its size. The bright yellow round fruit are in the 3-4 ounce range, and their flavor is actually quite good - well balanced and tasty. Since they come in pretty much all at once, they are a great early season canning tomato. Before the dwarf tomato project started releasing varieties, Taxi was one of my top recommendation for a fine tomato that is compact and would be happy in a 5 gallon container. I grew it last year and was once again amazed by the earliness, the yield, and the excellent flavor for such an early variety.

Tomato #116 - Amish Paste - acquired as a SSE transaction from Jim Donovan of California in 1989, I finally got around to growing it in 1994 - and several times through the years, though it struggled mightily with disease in the hot Raleigh summers. The tomatoes are a bit mixed in shape, from nearly round to plum to nearly hearts. The plant is wispy and straggly, but the yield of fruit is adequate. The scarlet medium sized tomatoes are very tasty and certainly not just for sauce (as the paste name indicates). They are a fine slicing, salad and sauce tomato. The history seems quite convoluted - a late 1800s Wisconsin heirloom that made its debut via a Pennsylvania seed company. Thane Earl from Wisconsin first offered it through the SSE in 1987. It is a similar tomato in shape and use to Bisignano #2, though that one can run a bit larger. I will have to give it a try in Hendersonville, where diseases may not bother it so much.

Tomato #117 - Andrew Rahart’s Jumbo Red - I love this big red tomato because it seems to define the classic scarlet red heirloom “beefsteak” type. I acquired it from SSE member CA CO A in 1989 and squeezed it into that garden, despite receiving it quite late in the season. (data from 1989). It is supposedly an old Italian tomato collected by Andrew Rahart of New York. His son, John, living in Wyoming, was responsible for it being widely distributed through the SSE. The vigorous indeterminate plant produce lots of large oblate scarlet red tomatoes that have what folks would describe as a “full, old fashioned flavor”, probably because it allows its acidity to show through a bit. It is a somewhat late variety, with first ripe fruit 87 days from transplant. I harvested 10 tomatoes at an average weight of 12 ounces, so the late start led to only 7.5 pounds of tomatoes. I grew it last year and can affirm that it is a very heavy yielding variety. I enjoyed the flavor, and rated it A-.

Tomato #118 - Believe it or Not - I received this tomato from seed saver IN SU G in 1989. It seems that the first listing in the SSE yearbook is Dorothy Beiswenger of Minnesota in 1984. I wonder if it is the tomato that was offered associated with Ripley’s Believe it or Not in Sunday inserts. I first grew it in 1989, and was amazed at the size of the oblate scarlet fruit. For the size, it was quite early, with first ripe fruit in 71 days from transplant. I ended up picking 21 fruit from the plant at an average weight of 19.2 ounces. The plant therefore provided a bit over 25 pounds of tomatoes. I really enjoyed the full, old fashioned flavor with a nice tart bite, and rated it an A-.

Tomato #119 - Big Ben - Faxon Stinnett sent me seeds of this tomato in 1989. It is associated with Ben Quisenberry, he of Brandywine fame. Ben apparently received it from Bob Dyke of Kentucky in 1967. The Big Ben I grew was a large potato leaf pink. Some say that Big Ben is the original name for Stump of the World (which Bob Dyke didn’t care for). Big Ben was also offered by Ben Q as a three pink tomato seed mix, along with Brandywine and Mortgage Lifter. So we have a bit of a mess - is potato leaf Big Ben (and potato leaf Stump of the World) actually Brandywine? I grew Big Ben in 1989, and though it was a very good potato leaf pink variety, it was not as flavorful as Brandywine or Stump of the World. I don’t have the typical detailed information for this variety because it was grown in a friend’s garden, and I wasn’t weighing and counting tomatoes from plants in that garden.

Tomato #120 - Brown’s Large Red - I received this tomato from Don Sparks of Kentucky in 1989. I didn’t grow it until 1996, which was my third garden in Raleigh, planted in the ground on the side of my house. It was a regular leaf large oblate pink, not scarlet red, variety, with very good flavor, rated an A-. It was quite a late variety, first ripe fruit in 91 days from transplant. The plant was quite spindly, similar to the larger older Ponderosa type tomatoes dating from the late 1800s. I never did regrow it.

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So, we are now into the next one hundred. The next set is not the most impressive 10 of my collection, and I only planted a few of them. But let’s leave that for the next blog in this series.