Tomatoes - breaking my oath

I swore I was going to give up veg gardening; small family; buy organic produce. But prices so high, and taste not all that great, reconsidering.

No point in buying tomato seeds from local nurseries; they'll just produce more tasteless fruit.

So I'm taking "short cut" around research by asking NG members in similar climates (So. Calif coastal) for names of sharp, acidic tomatoes. Already OK to plant here so want to order seeds pronto)

Appreciate your experienced-based recommendations.

TIA

HB

Reply to
Hypatia Nachshon
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I'm not even in the same country as you but we get hot and dry summers and my SO says that California always reminds him of Aus, and especially the Napa Valley so perhaps......

I always plant Grosse Lisse. Every year without fail for decades they are included in the tomato mix even though we also plant other varieties. We like Grosse Lisse for the flavour in salads and fresh and, when I do manage to get a glut, which is not as often as I'd like due to the usual vagaries of the seasons, they are good for preserving too.

Grosse Lisse is now considered an Heirloom variety and I don't know where you might find it in the US even though I've recently read that it started life in the US and then went world wide (but then I've also read that it started it's life in France too and that it's now more grown in Australia than it is in France)

Failing Grosse Lisse, I also like Roma and the cherry tomatoes called Tommy Toe.

Reply to
Fran Farmer

In the uk.rec.gardening NG,. one of your upstate NY compatriots very recently suggested

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as a useful site for those interested in growing tomatoes.

Reply to
Jeff Layman

A web search came up with this company - California based ?

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John T.

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Reply to
hubops

Stop blaming others for your lack of discipline.

I would ask for recommendations from a few of the seed purveyers. However the quality and intensity of produce flavor has little to do with which seeds, it is primarilly dependant on the grower's physical efforts and expenditure of personal resources. Southern Cal is blessed with generally lousy soil, you will need to invest in improving your soil and do the sweat labor... in other words you'll reap what you sow.

Reply to
Brooklyn1

Grosse Lisse is apparently sold by

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which appears to be a Canadian company. I've not dealt with them.

Reply to
No name

Isn't anyone who lives in the same country going to tell him what tomatoes they grow and why they like them?

I've done my bit and I don't even live in the same country as HN.

Reply to
Fran Farmer

I second Gross Lisse. It's always been the standout variety (here in my northern New Zealand garden) to the point that this year it's the only variety I've planted.

Reply to
~misfit~

Hi Higgs,

This is my experience too. I would add "Vine Ripening" them too. Even a hybrid tomato tastes extraordinary if you grow them in healthy organic soil full of compost and worms!

You must taste good tomatoes again. They are a real treat!

-T

Reply to
T

Please let us all know what you finally settle on!

Reply to
T

I am not in a similar climate, but I've been growing my own plants from seed for many years. My choices are based on flavor mostly.

1) Cherokee purple, There seem to be different strains of this old heirloom. My favorite is from Park's Seed co. 2)tie for yellow toms Yellow Brandywine Russian orange 3) Pineapple, beautiful red/yellow striped, very sweet 4) sweet 100, small salad toms, highly productive. 1 plant per person will yield a glut of small toms for juicing.

Just my $.02 worth, Steve

Reply to
Steve Peek

What climate are you in Steve ? .. not that it's the prime factor .. The recommendations are always appreciated. John T.

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Reply to
hubops

Steve Peek wrote: ...

we usually have two sweet100s and when we have extras we'll throw them in with the juicing tomatoes (beefsteak), but the seeds are smaller and come through the food mill screen. oh well, they're still good and the added sweetness gives the beefsteaks a bump too.

i tried juicing them alone once and i could not really taste much tomatoey goodness so i never did it again. sweet yes, but otherwise bland. maybe i'm too used to the beefsteak flavor instead.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

I'm in Western NC, SE USA. We're frost free from mid-May through mid-October.

Reply to
Steve Peek

When I was in San Jose (not the same, but some similarities), I still had Celebrity as my standard, and it did just fine.

Beefsteaks aren't my thing this century, so the flavor is not easy to recall or comment on. And my climate these days (western Ohio) is nothing like yours, for which we are probably both thankful.

Just (about a month past intention) planted the tomato seeds today

-- Black Plum, Amish Paste, and Opalka.

I love Black Plum. Amish Paste (ox heart) is on it's 3rd year of probation, but those years have each had problems so I'm not ready to kick it out. Opalka (also ox heart) is a new one. I've read good things online, but not tasted them.

Cheapskate moment: While planting the seeds, I checked the packet dates (for the repeats). This is the 4th year of planting on one ($3) packet of Black Plum, and I've had 8-10 plants each year. Still have a few seeds left for next year as well. Last year, I think I had 19 sprouts from 20 seeds. Seed Saver's stuff does well, at least when stored in a refrigerator.

Reply to
Drew Lawson

Yaaaaaahhh! So nice to meet another fan online!

Reply to
Fran Farmer

My objection to all of the beefsteaks is that they have all seemed to have a large white section remaining in them up around the stem end for far too long. None of the Italo-Australian families round here will grow or use them because of that white patch. The Italo-Australians round here still do the HUGE Passata bottling day annually where hundreds of bottles are produced so the toms they use are always a good indicators for quality toms IME.

Reply to
Fran Farmer

ar climates (So. Calif coastal) for names of sharp, acidic tomatoes. Alread y OK to plant here so want to order seeds pronto)

Thanks, Fran. Appreciate all the input. Geographic boundaries matter less than climate/soil/water,etc. so shout-outs from Down Under always welcome.

My soil is pretty good, per T's comment, and I do amend several times a yea r when the City offers free compost.

Note that Fran said "hot, dry summers". Ours are dry, but not hot; fairly m ild, at least until climate change really became noticeable. With our wate r rates going WAY up (fierce citizen opposition to the Council's actions) I hope summer/fall crops don't need too much more water!

Still making up mind. Have been to Lisse sites; under active consideration .

A number of kind NG members have posted kudos for sweet, juicing, etc. All desirable qualities, but I emphasized SHARP, ACIDIC.

Drew Lawson in similar climate to mine mentioned Celebrity, a standard on S o. Calif coastal. I've tried it a few times; ok, but...I want to be advent urous this year, tomato-wise.

I'm not into BIG tomatoes, nor do I have much experience -- like zero -- wi th Heirlooms. Have read some mildly snarky comments on the "Heirloom mysti c" but have no experience to contribute.

One thing I WILL do this year, starting NOW is get my *** in gear so I don' t rush out & buy plants at the last moment instead of sowing seed.

Any more sharp-acidic recommendations welcome.

Thanks to all

HB

Reply to
Hypatia Nachshon

UPDATE: Earlier inquiry led to tomato "Hank" which led to database "Folia". Any of Hon. members dealt with "Folia"? Your experience?

TIA

HB

Reply to
Hypatia Nachshon

Search for sharp acid tomatoes ended in Canadian site

*****

"Tatiana's TOMATObase - Heritage Tomatoes - Tatiana's ... tatianastomatobase.com/ July 2011. We are a Garden Watchdog Top 5 Tomato Seed company. ... Please buy seeds from Tatiana's TOMATObase Seed Store to support our mission."

*****

After extensive email corresp. with patient Tatiana, (I emphasized my local growing conditions) I ordered 3 varieties with such charming names!

  1. Grosse Lisse, (also recommended by some NG members)

  1. Bulgarian, Tozala Egpu

  2. Costuluto Fioretino Novoli

Will be fascinating to see what develops, providing enough germinate and all goes well. Due to my chronic dithering, it is late in our season (So. Coastal CA) to sow seeds instead of putting in plants from nursery, but whatthehey, live dangerously!

Question: I was suprised to see following envelope labels:

#1 from 2014 crop #2 from 2013 crop #3 from 2012 crop

Wondering if that means that #2 and #3 were unsuccessful so they're still selling "older seeds.

HB

Reply to
giborah2015

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