Friday, August 30, 2013

Heirloom Tomato Review

Late August is a time of the year when you can enjoy tomatoes fresh from the garden. This year, I have tried different varieties, all of them open-pollinated, some determinate, some indeterminate. Here is an evaluation of these new-for-me varieties.







The first one to ripen was Galina, a yellow cherry tomato apparently from Siberia. It has a sweet taste and is a good indeterminate producer. Indeterminate means that it continues to produce until frost and does not all ripen all its fruit at the same time (as you can see on the photo). This is a plus for the home gardener. Mine was a rather large "cherry" tomato, which I do not mind. Apparently it also does well in containers.



Scotia was the first full size tomato to ripen. They are slightly more acidic than Galina. I like having at least one variety that is more acidic. They are supposed to mature about 60 days after transplanting, which is fast. I would say mine took longer than that (75 days?). Scotia is supposed to set fruit in cold weather. They are determinate, so the fruits ripen over a couple of weeks, and then the plant dies. They are medium size and well-formed some of them with a green shoulder.


Striped Marvel tomato
I grew two varieties of very large tomatoes. The first one is Marvel Striped. They are sweet, good tasting and enormous. Apparently, each fruit can weigh 2 lb. I was expecting the skin to be striped, but in fact, although it is two colored, it is more the inside that is striped.  They are very attractive and quite tasty, but I am not fond of giant tomatoes as the size is awkward. Some of them were misshapen because of the size. They are indeterminate and best eaten fresh.


Cherokee Purple tomato
The other big one I grew is an heirloom called Cherokee Purple which is also indeterminate. It is not a prolific bearer. I suppose the size of each fruit compensates. They are a very dark red. Like Marvel Striped, I find it quite tasty but do not consider the huge size to be an asset. They look nice sliced on a plate, but are not practical to use in other ways.

Boxcar Willie tomato


Perhaps the best among the new tomatoes I tried this year is Boxcar Willie, a very productive indeterminate variety. The fruits are of a uniform size, none were misshapen and there was no cracking. They are very tasty, slightly acidic. They would work well in tomato sauce or for canning. They are also attractive. It is a variety I will most certainly grow again. They are slightly slower to ripen. Supposed to mature in 80 days, they took longer than Marvel Striped and Cherokee Purple, which are both supposed to mature in 90 days.

Chadwick's tomato

 Finally, another I will grow again is Chadwick's. It is also vigorous and indeterminate. I see that it is described as a cherry tomato, but it is a large cherry tomato. In fact, mine were rather plum size. It is a good thing they are very productive, as a lot of them get eaten in the garden, directly off the vine. They are supposed to be very cold-hardy, so they should remain productive for a long time.

As I said, all of the above are open-pollinated, which means that you can keep the seeds to plant in following years. They are also all disease resistant.

12 comments:

  1. Looks like a great selection of tomatoes.

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  2. Beautiful tomato crop! I see you and I grew a few of the same varieties (including that crazy Striped Marvel!) :)

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  3. Lovely, Alain. I am growing some green zebra "modern heirlooms" that are supposed to develop stripes while they are still green (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Zebra). Mine have all just gone from green to red, without developing stripes. Any idea what, if anything, I could be doing wrong?

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  4. Lovely, Alain. I am growing some green zebra "modern heirlooms" that are supposed to develop stripes while they are still green (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Zebra). Mine have all just gone from green to red, without developing stripes. Any idea what, if anything, I could be doing wrong?

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    1. Hi Mike,
      I am sure you are doing nothing wrong. I would think it is entirely genetic. Marvel Striped is illustrated with stripes on the outside. Mine don't have them. It is like two blond parents having a brown hair child.

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  5. Thanks for the review! I haven't grown any of these but will put Boxcar Willie on my list... There's nothing like tomatoes fresh from the garden!

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  6. Are open pollinated resistant to blossom End Rot?

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    1. I had one Scotia with Blossom End Rot. I think BER has a lot do to with the weather (excess dryness or rain). Here the pH is quite high so I would think they have all the calcium they need (apparently BER is due to a lack of calcium).
      Heirlooms are reputed to be less productive and more prone to diseases. I would say that several are less productive.

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  7. All of my tomatoes are grown in containers but I think my big heirloom Yellow Brandywines would rather be in the garden. I think they're probably pot bound by now. I love the name of Boxcar Willie. My Brandywines aren't super productive either but their taste makes up for it. I'll add yours to my list of possibilities for next summer. Excellent review. :o)

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  8. What a nice report. I love growing tomatoes as I get amazed that such tiny seed can produce such big plants with so many fruits. I also love eating them. I will have to try those.

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  9. I am limited in the space available for my garden, but love tomatoes so have been trying different ones for container growing. I found a great new cultivar this year in "Red Robin". It is open pollinated and determinate. The plant grows only 12 to 14 inches and is a lovely pyramidal shape, very compact and sturdy. It produces a huge number of tomatoes for its size. One of mine had 25 tomatoes on it. Since they tend to come ripe at the same time, the plant could double as a tiny Christmas tree. It is a cherry tomato, but the fruit is a good size, slightly larger than my "Little Sweetie" variety. I will be growing it again. The other one that I have grown in hanging baskets is "Tumblin' Tom". It gave a heavy crop as well. All these varieties are resistant to many of the tomato afflictions.

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    1. Thank you for the info Helen. Red Robin sounds quite interesting. Are you going to keep seeds? If so, put a few aside for me and I will pick them up when we meet this winter.

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