Tomatoes 1-8 - Indeterminate heirloom X indeterminate heirloom F1 hybrids
1 - Cancelmo Family Heirloom X Don’s Double Delight F1 - First ripe 75 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with medium to large slightly heart shaped scarlet tomatoes with faint gold stripes. The coloring was predicted, the heart shape not. Very dense interior, soft light red flesh, flavor somewhat flat - varied a bit depending upon ripeness, but I rated it a 6 to 6.5 out of 10 for flavor. The very soft flesh of Don’s Double Delight negatively impacted the fruit quality. Saved seeds will be fascinating to grow out, with some lovely discoveries, given the leaf and fruit shapes and color options. I expect that the flavor of the offspring will be better than that of the hybrid.
2 - Ferris Wheel X Striped Sweetheart F1 - First ripe 77 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with medium to medium large flightly heart shaped pink tomatoes with faint gold stripes. The coloring and leaf shape was predicted, the heart shape was not. The flavor was sweet and delicious, rated 8 out of 10, reflecting well both parents. This is another that will be interesting to grow out, as the leaf and fruit shape options and presence of stripes will lead to some nice discoveries.
3 - Cherokee Chocolate X Stump of the World F1 - First ripe 80 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with medium large to very large smooth oblate scarlet red tomatoes. The coloring, size, leaf and fruit shape were all predicted. The flesh was relatively firm in comparison with the parents, and the flavor was well balanced and delicious, reflecting the excellence of the parents, and I rated it an 8.
4 - Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom F1 (pictured above) - First ripe 91 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with medium to very large smooth to irregular oblate pink tomatoes. The coloring, size, leaf and fruit shapes were all predicted. The flavor was simply outstanding, combining the best elements of each parent, resulting in one of the best flavored tomatoes of my experience, easily a 9. Exploring the results from saved seed will be a lot of fun.
5 - Blue’s Bling X Little Lucky F1 - First ripe 77 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with medium to medium large smooth round to slightly oblate pink tomatoes. The coloring, size, leaf and fruit shapes were all predicted, and confirmed that Little Lucky has clear skin (otherwise the color of this hybrid would be scarlet red). This was another solid 8 in flavor, with great balance, intensity and texture. Saved seed will be fascinating to see how the variegation and bicolor swirls and purple coloration of the parents play out with the leaf shape options.
6 - Blue’s Bling X Polish F1 - First fruit 80 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with large to very large smooth oblate pink fruit. The coloring, size, leaf and fruit shapes were all predicted. Yet another of my new hybrids that gave excellent flavor, 8 out of 10, and lovely texture. There should be lots of interesting discoveries from saved seeds.
7 - Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe F1 - First fruit 82 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with medium to large smooth round to slightly oblate fruit, which were scarlet red with faint gold stripes. Leaf and fruit shape and size and coloring were all predicted. The flavor was very good, just short of excellent, rating 7.5 for my palate, lacking just a bit of intensity, and the texture on the firm side. Loads of fun await grow out of saved seeds, given the presence of potato leaf, bicolor and green flesh in the mix.
8 - Cancelmo Family Heirloom X Green Giant F1 - First fruit 75 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plants with medium large to very large smooth round to slightly heart shaped tomatoes which were pink with some faint yellow marbling. Leaf and fruit size and color was predicted, the heart shape and slight yellow mottling were a surprise. The flavor varied throughout the season, from very good to superb, and my average flavor rating is 8. This is yet another treasure box of possibilities, making growing of saved seed sure to be fun and full of nice surprises.
Tomatoes 9-16 - Indeterminate Heirlooms X Dwarf Tomato Project varieties F1 hybrids- new dwarf families
9 - Blue’s Bling X Dwarf Mocha’s Cherry F1 - Blingy Family - First fruit 71 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with golf ball sized, round fruit showing some antho coloring when exposed to the sun. Leaf shape, fruit size and shape and color were predicted, but the antho shading was a surprise. The flavor was quite good - balanced, mildly sweet, rating 7.5. Dwarf hunting from saved seeds will provide some interesting options, with both variegation and anthocyanin coloring in the mix.
10 - Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Speckled Heart F1 - Lilly Family - First fruit 64 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with medium to extremely large smooth fruit ranging from round to slightly heart shaped. The tomatoes were scarlet with faint gold striping. The size and shape of the fruit were both surprising. Flesh was firm and meaty, light red with some yellow mottling, and some harder white patches in the larger fruit. The flavor was very good and somewhat variable fruit to fruit, meriting a flavor rating of 7.5. The objective of the indeterminate X dwarf crosses is not the fruit quality of the hybrid - the real fun begins with dwarf hunting, and this one should be such fun to play with.
11 - Lucky Cross X Dwarf Buddy’s Heart F1 - Lucky Family - First fruit 64 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with medium to large smooth fruit ranging from round to slightly heart shaped. The tomatoes were scarlet red, and the flesh light red with some yellow mottling. The flavor was very good to excellent, slightly variable fruit to fruit, but overall rated an 8. This is another that will be really enjoyable for dwarf hunting work.
12 - Cancelmo Family Heirloom X Dwarf Moby’s Cherry F1 - Moby Family - First fruit 62 days from transplant. Very heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with 2-3 ounce plum/heart shaped scarlet red fruit, with light red interiors with a bit of yellow mottling. It really was a tomato machine and lots of these ended up canned or slow roasted. The flavor was very good, rated 7.5. All sorts of interesting things should pop out of the future dwarf hunting work.
13 - Don’s Double Delight X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F1 - Donny Family - This and the next two tomatoes were all very similar in size, shape and productivity, which is not surprising given the same female dwarf used as a breeding partner. First ripe fruit 69 days from transplant. Extremely heavy yielding indeterminate regular leaf plant with 3-4 ounce smooth plum or pear shaped tomatoes. Color was scarlet red with gold stripes with distinct antho coloration on the shoulders where exposed to full sun. The flesh was light red and firm with good balanced flavor, rating 7.5. This and the next two varieties ended up in lots of my canning jars given the extreme yield. This cross should yield up a treasure trove of interesting possibilities when growing out saved seed, with interest in both dwarf and indeterminate selections.
14 - Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F1 - Mokey Family - First ripe fruit in 71 days from transplant. Everything stated for the tomato above goes for this one in terms of size, shape and yield - regular leaf indeterminate, 3-4 ounce smooth plum shaped fruit. The color was pink, with some yellow on the shoulders and distinct antho tinting on the exposed shoulders. Flavor was slightly better, with more sweetness, rating an 8. Oh, the fun that this will be to explore from saved seeds.
15 - Lucky Cross X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F1 - Crossy Family - First ripe fruit 69 days from transplant. Essentially the same in coloration, size, flavor and all other plant attributes when compared to tomato 14, above. This will be equally rewarding to explore. Summarizing - regular leaf indeterminate plant with tons of 4 ounce plum shaped pink tomatoes with some yellow, and some antho, with a flavor of 8.
16 - Dwarf Mr. Snow X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F1 - Misty Family - First ripe fruit 72 days from transplant. This is (I think) actually a dwarf X dwarf hybrid. The plant is dwarf, compact, regular leaf, producing an enormous yield of slender paste type purple tomatoes with heavy antho shoulders were exposed to full sun. The flesh is very firm, flavor fair, rating 6. This is a bit of a mystery. Being a dwarf X dwarf, all seedlings are dwarf, so there was no way to confirm the cross on that basis. Fruit size indicates it is indeed a hybrid (about 3 times larger than Dwarf Mocha’s Plum). However saved seed didn’t yet show the expected small percentage of potato leaf seedlings (given a limited sample). This, therefore, is either the expected hybrid, or just a larger fruited selection of Dwarf Mocha’s Plum. Work with saved seed will reveal the answer.
Tomatoes 17-20 - New Indeterminate Family Heirlooms
17 - Bing - First ripe 88 days from transplant. Seed for this family heirloom was sent to me by Josh Branstetter. Josh’s grandfather (Grandpa Bing) settled in Iowa after serving in Europe in World War II and had large gardens, from which Josh remembers eating wonderful tomatoes. Josh found seeds of the Bing tomato when cleaning out his house following his death. Given the location of the family, my hope was that this variety could be related to the lost (as initially described in 1923) Abraham Lincoln. The regular leaf plant was quite unusual in being more spreading/compact, less tall/upright/slender that is typical of indeterminate heirlooms. It also struggled, contracting what appeared to be Fusarium wilt mid season. Despite this, the yield of fruit was impressive, and the large tomatoes that approached (a few exceeded) one pound were nearly round (also unusual for an heirloom type) and scarlet red in color. The flavor was simply outstanding, a solid 8 (at least). Suffice to say that aside from the plant health difficulty, this was a very impressive tomato. I will certainly work to see if this can be a seed company release.
18 - Aunt Gladys - First ripe 77 days from transplant. Seeds for this tomato were shared with me by Tennessee master gardener Jack Melnick. It is a family heirloom dating back to at least 1928, and Jack wishes the name to be Aunt Gladys, in honor of his aunt. The vigorous potato leaf plant yielded relatively early for this type of heirloom, producing smooth oblate pink fruit that occasionally reached one pound in size. Alas, my high hopes were dashed a bit when tasting the tomatoes, which were consistent in flavor throughout the season. I rated them a 6.5, having a peculiar flavor characteristic that I’ve found in quite a few pink fruited heirlooms in my gardening experience. I likened the flavor to the variety German Johnson, which is not a favorite of mine. Yet there will certainly be those that simply love this variety (German Johnson is a very popular heirloom), and I believe it merits release from a seed company.
19 - Fulk’s - First ripe 87 days from transplant - I received seeds of this tomato from a fellow named Parker Smith. He received the variety from his friend Donnie Fulks from Tullahoma, TN. The tomato originated with Donnie’s family, and the journey was Europe to South Carolina to Athens, Alabama. This tomato had a growth habit, fruit size, shape and color very similar to that of Aunt Gladys. The vigorous, heavy yielding potato leaf plant produced smooth oblate pink fruit, a few of which reached one pound. The flavor varied a bit, and I found it a bit mild for my taste buds, and rated it a 7. Some fruit had small dark lines or areas in the flesh that detracted from the quality. I am on the fence for what happens next for this, and will know more once I reexamine the info that accompanied the seeds. Again, it is reminiscent of German Johnson in flavor.
20 - Earl - First ripe 88 days from transplant - I received this variety from Emily Chitwood. She received the seeds from a mother of a friend. Earl Sartain from Danielsville, Ga was serving in the military in Germany during the second World War. When he came back to the states he brought with him seeds from a tomato he had collected during his time stationed in Germany. It is this variety that Emily shared with me. This is simply one of my tomatoes of the season in flavor. It reminded me very much of authentic Brandywine. The potato leaf plant was not as vigorous as some of the others I grew this year, but it had staying power and really cranked out tomatoes throughout the summer, right until the end of my harvesting. The tomatoes varied in size from 6 to 16 ounces, were oblate, pink, and relatively smooth. The flavor was everything I look for in a great tomato - balanced, intense, complex and simply delicious, receiving a rare 9 rating. I will certainly be working to get a better idea of the history, as well as encouraging my friend Mike to offer it in his Victory Seed catalog in the future.
Tomatoes 21- 57 - Favorite Indeterminate or Determinate Varieties
21 - Cherokee Purple - First ripe 86 days. This was not the best year for Cherokee Purple in my gardens. The fruit were appropriate in color, size and yield, but fruitworms seemed attracted to it more than other varieties, and its location (toward the rear of the garden) led to less yield than I had hoped. Still, it was typically wonderful, with lots of 8-12 oz (with a few approacing a pound) oblate purple fruit with that perfectly balanced flavor I’ve come to crave since first growing it in 1990. I rated it an 8 out of 10.
22 - Cherokee Chocolate - First ripe in 86 days. Cherokee Chocolate was too successful in a way this year, as the heavy fruit set caused the plant to collapse downward, necessitating placement of a stack of web flats behind the bale to prevent breakage of the main stem. It also was the plant most impacted by Septoria. Still, yield and flavor were typically excellent with lots of 8-16 ounce oblate chocolate fruit with that perfectly balanced flavor and great texture, a solid 8 for flavor.
23 - Cherokee Green - First ripe in 86 days. Always a pleaser, this year Cherokee Green did not disappoint, with an excellent yield of 8-16 ounce oblate green fleshed fruit with a yellow skin. The flavor was balanced, intense and delicious, and rated a solid 8.
24 - Green Giant - First ripe in 91 days. Coming in with the glut of many varieties, I tended to overlook Green Giant this year. It certainly was delicious as always, with a heavy yield of 12-16 ounce or larger oblate tomatoes with green flesh and clear skin, but for whatever reason, I ended up rating it 7.5 in flavor, perhaps due to poor attention paid to when I picked and ate it. It certainly was typically impressive in size and yield.
25 - Lucky Cross - First ripe in 93 days. I just love this tomato. It had a very good season, with an excellent yield of large (12-16 ounces with a few larger) oblate smooth bright yellow tomatoes with red swirling in and out. The flavor was typically excellent, rating an 8 - and the contrast with the fruity bicolors such as Pineapple reaffirmed my preference for this similar looking variety.
26 - Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom - First ripe in 94 days. Lillian’s simply never disappoints, and I am surprised with how well it yields here in Hendersonville, when compared with Raleigh. Pale yellow large tomatoes on a potato leaf plant, lots of of them, some with just a hint of pink at the blossom end and the very core, were among the best tasting of my garden this year (or any year, for that matter).
27 - Ferris Wheel - first ripe in 80 days. I think that I grew this from a different seed source, the one used for the Seedlinked trials. It was a bit different from my own selection (that dates back to my acquisition from the USDA collection) - not quite as large, earlier, a bit rounder. However, the yield was excellent - among the heaviest of my indeterminate heirlooms - and the flavor just a tad less than the typically superb taste I typically experience from this. I will return to my own saved seeds from prior grow outs next year. My records indicate a flavor rating of 7.5, when Ferris Wheel typically is at least an 8.
28 - Yellow Brandywine - first ripe in 90 days. Given a relatively poor location at the back part of my bale array, it still performed very well, producing lots of medium to large smooth oblate bright orange tomatoes. This is a very meaty tomato, with less seeds than many. What I love about the flavor is the distinct element of tartness. Yellow Brandywine really excelled in flavor, achieving an 8.5.
29 - Yellow Oxheart - first ripe in 89 days. Poor Yellow Oxheart; it seemed to be THE magnet for tomato fruit worms. It also was at the back of my garden, yet the plant ended up monstrous and healthy, with the best fruit set I’ve ever experienced with this variety, first grown in 1990 in Pennsylvania I didn’t get to sample many of the large, pale orange heart shaped fruit that didn’t have issues from rot due to worms. My records indicate 7.5, which is about right for this variety. I consider it a superb sauce tomato and a very good eating tomato, lacking the intensity of the very best.
30 - Yellow Bell - First ripe in 83 days. Few plants were as viney/complex as this rather rare variety that I was happy to return to after a long absence from my gardens. Unique in being an indeterminate paste tomato with a bright yellow color, they really came on late. The fruit were a bit puffy, with spaces between the seeds and walls. The flavor is very good, but for me this variety really shines when used for slow roasting. I was pleased to grow it again, and gave it a 7.5 for flavor.
31 - Dr. Wyche’s Yellow - First ripe in 71 days. This variety always grows well for me, starting from rather sickly looking, weak young seedlings to produce very vigorous, heavily yielding plants. The 6-12 ounce (wht a few reaching one pound) tomatoes are a nice medium to pale orange color, smooth and oblate in shape. The flavor, alas, doesn’t thrill me, garnering a 7 rating (not too bad, though!). I feel the same about Kellogg’s Breakfast (which I’ve grown off and on through the years). For an orange indeterminate tomato, Yellow Brandywine is my variety of choice. I find Dr. Wyche just a bit too sweet/mild for my liking.
32, 33 - Pineapple plants 1 and 2 - planting dates not noted, but definitely in the 90 day from transplant area. These two plants were left behind by Joe Lamp’l when he had his first visit to my garden. He started them from seed, and I used them to demonstrate grow bag and straw bale tomato growing for our tomato course, Growing Epic Tomatoes. They were quite abused, dug out of the bale and bag and potted together in a 5 gallon container and largely ignored. I eventually gave each of them a 2 gallon container and placed them near the fence leading to my driveway, hoping to get a fruit or two off of each plant. Despite the way-too-small container and relatively lack of sun (only a few hours daily), the plants grew well and each provided several large (one pound or more) lovely red/yellow bicolored oblate fruit. The flavor was very familiar to me having grown it way back in 1988 as among the first heirlooms of my gardening experience. Then, as with this year, I find these types of tomatoes just too peachy/fruity-sweet for me, lacking balance, and I rate them 6.5 on the 10 point scale. They are certainly beautiful and are very useful when the flavor is not the key feature (grilled cheese, burger topper), but give me Lucky Cross for my primary excellent eating red/yellow bicolor.
34 - Blue’s Bling - First ripe 88 days. It is remarkable to see how much the growth habit, fruit color, and flavor are so much like Cherokee Purple (from which this was selected by a gardening friend, apparently as a foliage color mutation from green to green/white variegated). It is a superb variety with a gorgeous plant and heavy yield of large purple tomatoes, rated 8 in flavor and to me essentially the same as Cherokee Purple.
35 - Winsall - First ripe 82 days. What a historic variety (Henderson Seed Company, 1924), and those who watched the Growing a Greener World episode that was really the first collaboration between Joe Lamp’l and I know, it is involved in a very nice story that unfolded when we first started selling tomato seedlings at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh. I’ve not grown it in quite a few years, but was delighted with its performance here in Hendersonville. It was pretty much a tomato machine, producing lots of smooth oblate pink fruit in the one pound range. Though it is not in the absolute best flavor category, it is just fine, with a mild, sweet well balanced flavor and meaty interior. It also allows a peek into what gardeners were enjoying in the late 1800s, being an improvement on the most widely grown large pink tomato of that time, Ponderosa. It rated 7.5 for me.
36 - Mortgage Lifter, Estler - First ripe 75 days. This is one of my few disappointments in the 2021 garden. Last year I learned more about the two great Mortgage Lifters, Radiator Charlie (from Logan West Virginia in the 1940s, created by amateur breeding), and Estler (from Barboursville West Virginia, as a lucky find among another variety, in the late 1920s). It isn’t an easy variety to find, so I contacted the Seed Savers Exchange and they sent a sample from their collection. I was surprised to find it ripening so soon, and so small - in the 8 ounce range, rather than the expected 24-32 ounce range. The flavor was pretty average, and resembled German Johnson in being a bit mild and bland for my liking - I did rate it a 7. I am going to continue my search for the real Estler’s Mortgage Lifter.
37 - Hugh’s - First ripe 94 days. I’ve always loved Hugh’s since first growing it in 1990 in Pennsylvania. The enormous bright yellow tomatoes are produced on an enormously tall plant in enormous quantity. One of two varieties that snapped its metal core stakes in this year’s garden, it performed just as I hoped. The tomatoes were delicious - even better than I remembered - rating an 8. I definitely tend to underrate this tomato, but never again.
38 - Anna Russian - First ripe 81 days. I loved some tomatoes when first sent to me, and Anna Russian was a real star in my 1989 garden in Pennsylvania. Raleigh was not particularly kind to the variety, being hotter and more humid than the variety appreciated. I am so excited to report that it loved growing here in Hendersonville. The yield of uniform, smooth, perfect 6-10 ounce pink hearts was truly impressive. I loved the flavor as well, and it garnered an 8 rating.
39 - Nepal - First ripe 93 days. Here is another example of a superb tomato that just struggled to grow well in Raleigh. It is a special tomato for me, as it is the variety that changed my tomato selections from hybrids to heirlooms back in 1986. For whatever reason, Fusarium wilt seemed to afflict the variety often. I decided to give it a go here in Hendersonville, using seed from my friend Charlie (who got the seeds from me!). I am pleased to say that I am once more smitten with Nepal. This is the other variety that set fruit so heavily that it snapped 2 metal core stakes (and was propped up by a saw horse!). I am always surprised at the density of foliage and relative lateness of a variety that is not huge. The fruit were uniform, smooth, round and in the 6-12 ounce range. The scarlet tomatoes had all of the flavor that I remember from those early successful years, and it received an 8.5 rating. For an pretty ordinary looking red tomato, this one is just stellar.
40 - Dester - First ripe 83 days. Dester is another of the very few relative failures in my 2021 garden. The plant never did look entirely happy and healthy, and showed signs of Fusarium Wilt quite early on. It was also setting fruit, so I grew it on to harvest several somewhat misshapen oblate pink tomatoes. The few parts I did taste were superb, a solid 8, but this just was not Dester’s year. It will definitely get another shot. Sometimes bad things happen to good plants!
41 - Large Lucky Red - first ripe 86 days. This is quite an interesting variety, emerging as a solid scarlet off-color selection from Lucky Cross. I’ve grown it but a few times and I decided to revisit it for this year’s garden. It didn’t get a prime spot, situated toward the back of my garden, but the yield of quite irregular scarlet fruit was surprisingly good. Fruit size averaged a pound. Tomato fruit worms were quite enamored with the variety. Though it wasn’t in the top tier in flavor, it still scored a solid 7.5. It ripened during the midseason glut of varieties and really didn’t receive my undivided attention, so I may have underrated it.
42 - Brandywine - First ripe 92 days. Brandywine had a struggle in my garden, exhibiting a failure to thrive from about the 3 foot height point. I suspected bacterial wilt, because the plant, despite having proper green colored foliage, visibly wilted in the sun, even when well watered. Yet it hung in there, didn’t yield particularly well but did provide some pink medium sized tomatoes with the typical outstanding flavor, at 8.5. Brandywine sets a high standard for tomato flavor, so it will certainly get future chances in my gardens.
43 - Giant Syrian - First ripe 80 days. One of the main themes of this year’s garden was a return to favorites past to see how they do when grown in Hendersonville. This variety joins Anna Russian, Hugh’s and Nepal in the “welcome back” party! Aside from producing the largest tomato of the year (2.5 pounds), productivity, health and flavor were all outstanding. The scarlet tomatoes were prominently heart shaped, meaty and scored a solid 8 in flavor. I loved it! It is a variety I’ve had in my tomato collection since being sent to me by Charlotte Mullens of WV back in 1990.
44 - Polish - First ripe 84 days. Wow! Polish really cranked out the tomatoes. It is an especially vigorous, distinctive potato leaf variety. The oblate pink tomatoes are quite smooth. It receives a rare 9 in flavor. Another I’ve had since 1990, it deserves to be in my top 5 varieties. There are quite a few tomatoes with “Polish” in the name. This is the one to grow, sent to me in 1988 by Bill Ellis of PA.
45 - Aker’s West Virginia - First ripe 89 days. I try to LOVE this variety, and decided that it is not quite at that lofty level, but very very likeable. It is a very large scarlet red tomato that as an unripe fruit does not show green shoulders, and is more round than oblate. The tomatoes easily reach one pound and can go larger. It is a solid 7.5 in flavor.
46 - Andrew Rahart’s Jumbo Red - First ripe 88 days. Lots of what I said for Aker’s West Virginia applies to this variety. The dense fruit set led to the main stem slipping downward, so a stack of web flats was needed to support his one as well. The oblate scarlet tomatoes ranged from 12-16 ounces and rated 7.5 in flavor. This and Aker’s, above, are two perfect varieties for those looking for old fashioned red beefsteak types.
47 - Magnus - First ripe 91 days. This is yet another triumph that far exceeded its performance in Raleigh. Always a favorite because the first seed catalog I collected, a 1900 Livingston Seed Company, had this variety as its new release cover variety. I searched for many years, considering it extinct until I found it in the USDA collection. Unique in being a potato leaf variety whose fruit is not huge and irregular, it is actually a lovely pink smooth nearly round tomato of medium size (6-8 oz, with a few as large as 10 oz). I grew it in a cage this year and only minimally pruned it, resulting in huge yield. I rated the flavor as 7.5, and likely underrated it a bit since it came in with the mid season tomato glut.
48 - Taxi - First ripe 63 days. This is one of two varieties I grew to demonstrate determinate varieties for our tomato course. Taxi will never be the best flavored tomato in the garden, but it will be among the earliest non-cherry tomatoes, and produces heavily over a short period of time. The bright yellow firm tomatoes are in the 4 ounce range, are perfect for canning, and it really never tasted better for me, at 7.5 out of 10. It is a great way to start off the tomato harvest.
49 - Martino’s Roma - First ripe 73 days. This is the second of the determinate varieties grown this year. It is simply a tomato machine, ripening the heavy crop of scarlet 3 ounce classic plum shaped tomatoes over a short period of time. For sauce making or roasting, this is THE variety to grow. It actually tasted pretty good, too - rating 7, which is fine for a paste type.
50 - Sungold F1 - planting date not noted, but quite early. With my recent disappointments with this variety, I returned to the source that first offered it in the US - Johnny’s Selected Seeds, back in the late 1980s. Success! Sungold tasted just like it should - exquisite. It’s 9 rating is no surprise.
51 - Tiger Tom - planting date not noted, midseason. I made a very late decision to include one of the first heirlooms I collected in my garden, situating it in a large container against our side fence, where it really didn’t receive very much sun. I really just wanted some fresh seeds and a chance to taste it again. It really did very well, producing lots of golf ball sized tomatoes that were scarlet with gold stripes and a flavor with a lovely kick of tartness - a sure 8 to my palate. What a joy to return to an old friend and find it still wonderful.
52-55 Mexico Midget, 4 plants - planting date not noted, typically early. I had seedlings from four different seed lots and decided to plant them in large pots against the fence in my low light area, just to get some saved seed and throw handfuls into our salads. All plants were from seeds that I specially treated during fermentation, leading to excellent, quick germination. All plants produced delicious pea sized scarlet tomatoes. What a delicious tiny variety this is, and anyone who tastes it just loved it - solid 8, of course.
56 - Egg Yolk - planting date not noted - midseason. I planted Egg Yolk and Fruity together in a large pot quite late in the spring just to get some fresh seeds. It was a pretty awful placement, with hardly any sunlight. To make matters worse, the neighbor sprayed his side of the fence with herbicide, so poor Egg Yolk was quite doomed. I only harvested a few tomatoes and didn’t taste any - just saved a few seeds.
57 - Fruity - planting date not noted - early. I planted Fruity in the same container as Egg Yolk (see above). It actually handled the abuse better than Egg Yolk and provided quite a few nice small scarlet red cherry tomatoes whose flavor does quite approach Sungold - probably an 8.5.
Tomatoes 58 - 91 - Dwarf Tomato Project Varieties, released
58 - Dwarf Walter’s Fancy - First ripe in 90 days. This is one beautiful plant with the dark bluish green potato leaf foliage streaked with pure white. It seems to be a variety that takes its time to set fruit, but a bit of patience led to a fine yield - some midseason, some later season. The pale yellow to ivory tomatoes were in the 6-8 ounce range, smooth skinned and oblate in shape. The nice tartness of one of the parents, Dwarf Mr. Snow, came through - this is a solid 8.
59 - Dwarf Gloria’s Great - First ripe in 85 days. One of my tomatoes of the season, the yet to be released Dwarf Gloria’s Treat was a total monster (I think Victory will be selling it next year; it did great for them too). The tomatoes varied a bit in shape, but tended to be heart shaped and quite large - up to one pound - bright yellow with red streaks, and simply delicious…intense, well balanced, and a real winner. I rated it 8.5.
60 - Dwarf Summer Sweet Gold - First ripe in 84 days. I grew this because it was part of the Seedlinked slicers trial. I’ve not grown it in several years, and was delighted with how it did. It was a late addition and planted toward the rear of the bale area, so provided some tomatoes later in my season. The medium to medium large bright yellow tomatoes are simply delicious, and I give it a well deserved 8 on my 10 point scale.
61 - Sweet Scarlet Dwarf - First ripe in 88 days. I’ve had mixed luck with this, one of my favorite flavored of our project dwarf varieties. Giving it a straw bale location and cage did the trick. On occasion I’ve gotten yellow, rather than red, tomatoes (red being the most challenging color to stabilize). This year the color worked out just fine, and I got lots of 8-12 ounce oblate scarlet tomatoes with a full flavor that is on the tart side, rating a solid 8. The plant did get Fusarium wilt later in the season.
62 - Loxton Lad - First ripe in 75 days. I had a request for this variety from a gardening friend and noted how low my seed supply was, having grown it and the following closely related variety only a few times, and some years ago. My record keeping was not very good later in the season - between Loxton Lad and Loxton Lass, but in general Lad was more oblate and a bit larger, topping out at 10 oz, most in the 6-8 oz range. I was delighted with the yield and health of both of these fine orange tomatoes. They are medium sized, and very flavorful - solid 8 ratings - with a bit more sweetness than some of the other orange tomatoes from our project.
63 - Loxton Lass - First ripe in 73 days. Please see the entry above for Loxton Lad. These 2 tomatoes are quite similar. This tends to be a bit rounder and smaller, in the 6 oz range. Both are well worth growing.
64, 65 - Dwarf Purple Heartthrob, 2 plants - planting date not noted. I planted two plants, in 5 gallon containers, in the same gravel driveway area with plans to test the impact of epsom salt application (to just one of the plants). The findings were inconclusive, mostly due to my lack of discipline late in the season. Both plants produced medium sized purple heart shaped tomatoes with distinct green vertical stripes, with a deep crimson flesh. Flavor is very good - well balanced, and I rated each 7.5. By no means were these optimally grown, and I want to return to them soon to get a better idea of their quality.
66 - Dwarf Goldfinch - planting date not noted. This is a variety that is a recent release, but not yet grown in my garden. Including it was a bit of an afterthought, giving it a 5 gallon grow bag quite late in the season. It, and Dwarf Grinch, below, were the last two tomatoes to ripen, and the plants were not particularly healthy (nor the tomatoes in very good shape). The medium sized bright yellow tomatoes were used as seed saving only, not tasted.
67 - Dwarf Grinch - planted date not noted. Read the entry above for Dwarf Goldfinch - the same situation applied for Dwarf Grinch. The medium sized clear skinned, green fleshed tomatoes were oblate and medium sized, and used for seed saving only.
Tomatoes 68-88 - Dwarf Tomato Project varieties, works in progress
68 - Dwarf Awesome - planting date not noted. This is a fairly recent release that people seem to love. I thought it deserved a shot as a late planting, but it didn’t work out too well. I did get a few medium sized oblate red/yellow bicolored tomatoes for seed saving only, not tasting.
69 - Dwarf Sonrojo Monster - planting date not noted. This variety is yet to be released. The objective is a large pink heart shaped tomato on a regular leaf dwarf. This was clearly an incorrect selection, giving me oblate medium sized scarlet tomatoes, not tasted but used for seed saving. The red color indicates that the seed was crossed in Bill Minkey’s garden.
70 - Suzy family, F2, regular leaf - planting date not noted. Though flavorful and productive, this was a smaller and rounder pink tomato than the potato leaf selection, below. My two attempts at getting a fuzzy fruited dwarf didn’t pan out this year. I don’t consider this a major lead, but it is a nice tomato. It rated 8 in flavor with its nice sweet complete taste.
71 - Suzy family, F2, potato leaf - First ripe 75 days. What a delightful surprise this one was! I didn’t get a hoped for fuzzy/matte skinned dwarf, but I did get a pretty spectacular medium to large oblate pink variety with an excellent flavor and outrageous yield. It is a solid 8 in flavor, and is very promising. I have an idea of who to send it off to for continued selection and naming.
72 - Blazey family, F2, yellow regular leaf - planting date not noted. This is one odd variety, but I bred it to be so. The yellow foliage is very distinct, and unripe tomatoes are nearly pure white. The regular leaf selection produced oblate scarlet tomatoes topping out at 8 ounces, with a very good flavor I rated at 7.5. My hope was to find orange fruit, so it will be back to the drawing board.
73 - Blazey family, F2, yellow potato leaf - planting date not noted. Similarly yellow leaf by breeding design, the tomatoes on the potato leaf selection were also scarlet (as in the variety above), but smaller, coming in at about 3 ounces, but also better flavored, reaching a rating of 8.
74 - Dwarf Big Valentine - planting date not noted. This is a large heart shaped, pink fruited potato leaf selection from the Ivalde family. I planted it late and in a poor location, so the pink heart shaped fruit were not tasted but used only for saving some seed from. This promising variety is a work in progress.
75 - Dwarf Chocolate Heartthrob - planting date not noted. Yet another late planted grow bag variety, I harvested a surprising number of heart shaped, medium sized chocolate colored tomatoes with greenish stripes. The flavor is very good, 7.5. I think we are very close with this one, from the same family as Dwarf Purple Heartthrob (which is released).
76 - Dwarf Oriole - First ripe 71 days. From the Fancy family, this very promising selection did very well again this year. Though the ripe fruit didn’t have a strong central pink blush in the orange flesh, it produced very well, yielding very large pale orange tomatoes with a delicious flavor, rating 7.5 or better. The Fancy family led to Dwarf Tanager, a potato leaf orange. This will be another fine release, the larger fruited regular leaf orange partner to Tanager.
77 - Dwarf Great Scott - First ripe 72 days. This was a bit of a disappointment. My hope was a medium sized pink heart shaped tomato with gold stripes and an excellent flavor. My plant this year gave me the proper color, an excellent yield and fruit size, but the heart shape didn’t show up and the flavor was not all that impressive, a solid 7 but my expectations were higher based on last year’s result. Back to the drawing board for this one.
78-81 - Dwarf Great Scott, yellow leaf, 4 plants - planting date not noted. When I planted seeds of Dwarf Great Scott, I noted that some of the seedlings were going to have yellow leaves (not unexpected from the Scotty family). I planted four of them in grow bags and they all grew pretty much the same. The very vigorous plants all had yellow leaves. The unripe fruit were nearly white, clearly heart shaped, in the 6 ounce range, with distinct stripes. The fruits ripened to pink with gold stripes, with fairly good flavor of 7 or perhaps a bit better. Having a yellow leaf, pink and gold striped heart sounds fun, so more work awaits to further refine the best selection.
82 - Beauty selection T20-78- First ripe 92 days. The Beauty family provided a lot of new dwarf varieties, but one bit of work remained - finalizing a light and dark green striped, green fleshed selection that I’ve been chasing for years. This particular selection is more reminiscent of a future selection called Dwarf Beauty’s Kiss - a green/crimson bicolor, in and out. The medium large tomatoes had good flavor, coming in at 7 or a bit better - but not exactly what I hoped for.
83 - Beauty Selection T20-68 - First ripe 99 days. Bingo! This selection gave me what I hoped to see - medium to medium large oblate fruit that had light and dark green external striping, with a green fleshed interior with just a hint of pink, and a very good flavor - 7.5-8. This is my lead for taking forward.
84 - Dwarf Mocha’s Cherry - planting date not noted. I tucked one seedling of this variety into my standing raised bed then pretty much forgot about it. Late in the season I noted that it was producing well, a large purple cherry with distinct dark antho shoulders. I didn’t taste it but used it for seed saving. I grew it to confirm size, shape and color - mission accomplished.
85 - Dwarf Mocha’s Plum - planting date not noted. The main difference between this and the one above is shape - this should be a smaller purple plum with dark antho shoulder coloring. I tucked one plant late into my raised bed - late in the season it provided a few appropriate tomatoes that were used for seed saving only. I did confirm the desired size, shape and color for this variety.
86 - Dwarf Johnson Cherry - planting date not noted. Yet another that I tucked into my raised bed late in the spring, it produced lots of slightly variably sized pink cherry tomatoes with very good flavor, rating at 7.5 or better. It is a really nice pink dwarf cherry tomato.
87 - Dwarf Mary’s Cherry - planting date not noted. As with those above, this late spring addition into my raised bed was planted to get a confirmation of fruit size, shape and color and some seeds. Mary’s Cherry was quite variable in size, up to 4 ounces, and I did get to taste a few….delicious - a nice 8 rated purple smaller fruited dwarf.
88 - Dwarf Liz’s Teardrop - planting date not noted. Also tucked into my elevated raised bed, this astounding variety has the cutest small teardrop shaped pink cherry tomatoes with a nice sweet flavor. The main issue is that it produced hardly any seeds at all! We need to solve that mystery before this one can become seed company available.
89 - Dwarf Eagle Smiley Yellow Cherry - First ripe 63 days. This is one special dwarf cherry tomato, and my garden friend and Dwarf Tomato Project contributor Justin should be proud of his work on this variety. It is super prolific and simply delicious, right up there with Sungold for flavor. I rated it a solid 8 or slightly better for flavor. If all goes well, Victory Seed company will be selling it soon.
90 - Teensy Pink cherry - First ripe 67 days. An offspring of Mexico Midget, this is the latest selection sent to me by a Raleigh gardening friend Ann. Last year I didn’t care for the pink cherry from the Teensy family. Growing her latest selection, this year I found it very, very good and extremely prolific. It won’t be the absolute best flavored cherry tomato in the garden, but is mighty fine. Lots of these made it into cherry tomato pesto. Flavor ranking is 7 or slightly better.
91 - Capri Show Stopper - First ripe 76 days. This is a rather interesting story. Patrina (my Australian friend and co-leader of the Dwarf Tomato Breeding project) selected and named this out of the Pesty family. She sent me just a few seeds and I distributed them here and there. Somehow, the variety ended up indeterminate (Patrina may have sent me a mixed sample). I was down to 1 seed and decided to see if it would germinate. It certainly did, and the seedling was dwarf. It really was a lovely surprise, producing lots and lots of large oblate pink tomatoes, up to one pound, with a nice balanced flavor on the sweet side - not quite an 8, but certainly a 7.75 in flavor rating. Patrina doesn’t like the name, so this will be a tomato in search of a new name - and I have a good idea of how to proceed!
Tomatoes 92 - 109 - selections from a Micro X indeterminate family and Fuzzy X indeterminate family, and a volunteer. Planting date was not noted for any of the following varieties. Also a very few surprise volunteers to round things out.
92 - Micro 1 - very short microdwarf, rugose foliage, white variegation, 1 ounce round scarlet tomatoes, fair flavor. Best attribute is variegated foliage.
93 - Micro 2 - taller plant, either a dwarf or a compact indeterminate, regular foliage, 3 oz round scarlet fruit, fairly good flavor flavor. No particularly redeeming qualities.
94 - Micro 3 - taller plant as with Micro 2, regular foliage, 2 ounce round chocolate tomatoes, possible faint stripes, fair flavor at best, high yields. Nice color, but not a micro and not tasty.
95 - Micro 4 - very short, compact microdwarf, regular leaf rugose foliage, 1 oz round scarlet tomatoes, crack prone, only fair flavor. Nothing special here.
96 - Micro 5 - essentially the same as Micro 3 - taller, small round chocolate tomatoes with fair flavor at best. Colorful, productive, but that’s it for positives.
97 - Micro 6 - essentially the same as Micro 4, above - ho hum.
98 - Micro 7 - short, compact rugose foliage microdwarf, was shaded and got diseased prior to flower or fruiting, no results. This is the only tomato that I didn’t get seed saved from - not bad!
99 - Micro 8 - essentially the same as Micro 4, above - another ho hum.
100 - Fuzzy 1 - slightly fuzzy foliage, fairly tall - not determinate, good yield of 3 ounce round scarlet fruit with a slight fuzz, flavor fair at best.
101 - Fuzzy 2 - plant the same as Fuzzy 1 - fruit a bit smaller, 2 ounces, no better in flavor.
102 - Fuzzy 3 - very fuzzy dusty miller foliage, not very compact, lots of nice smooth 3 ounce round pink fruit with a slight fuzz, pretty good flavor - an interesting lead to further explore in terms of flavor, foliage and fruit color.
103 - Fuzzy 4 - very fuzzy foliage, lots of round red 2 ounce scarlet fruit, flavor OK at best, most redeeming quality is yield and foliage fuzz.
104 - Fuzzy 5 - only slightly fuzzy quite tall plant, largest fruit of all - up to 5 oz, smooth oblate scarlet, flavor not particularly good. Large fruit size interesting, relative lack of fuzz, flavor or color interest not.
105 - Fuzzy 6 - very fuzzy plant, quite tall, 2 ounce round smooth fruit that are purple!, flavor quite good - this is the most interesting result and indicates that Fuzzy was crossed with Cherokee Purple. Worth playing with going forward.
106 - Fuzzy 7 - very fuzzy plant, fruit to 6 ounces and lots of them, round to oblate pink, quite good flavor - this is the second most interesting of the Fuzzy project.
107 - Fuzzy 8 - only a slight amount of fuzz, quite tall plant, lots of 2 ounce round scarlet fruit with fair flavor at best, nothing particularly exciting here.
108 - driveway volunteer - this plant emerged among the gravel. The plant flowered and fruited, giving pink flat lobed mini beefsteak type fruit with good flavor. The closest thing I can think of is that it is a Teensy pink selection. Quite interesting and showed great stamina!
109 - garden volunteer - this plant emerged where Mexico Midget grew last year in one of our flower gardens. Fruit size, shape and color - and flavor - identify it as Mexico Midget.
