Me next to the 'BEEFSTEAK' tomato plants on 7-15-09.
My experience with tomatoes goes way back! I love growing tomatoes as much as I do eating them! I am not sure which varieties my grandpa grew, don’t even know if he did because he saved his own seeds all his life. Sometimes he would be given seeds by someone else, and he would plant them, too. I don’t think it really mattered to him what cultivar they were, he just saved the seeds from the biggest ones he grew.
My dad, however, did have his favorite. It was mainly Rutgers, but he also planted Super Souix.
I had planted many varieties as far back as 1981. I can’t even remember all the varieties I grew! That was before the heirloom craze, though, so they were probably all hybrids. All I know, was that 1981 was a very good year for tomatoes. I grew so many, and had so many, and so did everyone else in town. I could hardly give them away!
The Tomato Wilderness on June 28, 2009.
Now, my experience with tomatoes in Mississippi so far had been a sad one! First, Suzanne bought some tomatoes from Wal-Mart that simply said “Beefsteak” on the tag. She bought them way back in late February I think, and there certainly was no where to plant them. I had them in the sun room off of my bedroom, along with the trees, strawberries, etc., she had already bought. Then when weather permitted, I put them in HUGE pots and put them outside. I finally dug up a spot big enough for them and they took right off. They must have already been 3 feet tall and in a desperate need of a good pruning. Well, I had learned a few years ago, that you can take a branch off a tomato and just stick it in the ground and it would take root. I sometimes wish I never found that out! I am not sure how many plants I wound up with. I was doing other work in the yard and in the house, PLUS the MOSQUITOES were absolutely insane, so I had a problem keeping them pruned properly. Then when I did have a chance to prune them, the branches I wanted to cut off had tomatoes on them so I just let them grow…
How about some "green maters". Picture taken on June 3, 2009. That stake in the picture is actually an old stalk from the Rice Paper Plant.
Needless to say, those weird ‘BEEFSTEAK” tomato plants grew like mad. They grew so much, and so tall, I ran out of 8′ stakes on them that I originally bought for the pole beans (of course, I had more than the original 3 plants that Suzanne bought after sticking all the prunings in the dirt). They bloomed like crazy and I had oodles of tomatoes! They had hard green shoulders, but they tasted O.K. otherwise. Problem was, it rained so much off and on that they split like crazy!
Blooms on one of the 'Mortgage Lifter" tomato plants on 9-8-09.
MORTGAGE LIFTER and CASPIAN PINK TOMATOES
There are MANY Heirloom tomato varieties I want to grow and choosing which ones was very difficult. I chose Caspian Pink because they had beaten the very popular Brandywine in many taste tests. I also chose Mortgage Lifter because of their claim to fame in paying off their originators mortgage. I ordered the seeds from Heirloom Acres, planted them, and they came up just fine. I set them out, and the next day, the plants were completely missing! Not so much as a leaf or even a stem! So, I had to start all over! This time, I planted the seeds in 3 inch pots so I could let them get bigger before I transplanted them. Problem is, the “days to maturity” don’t start until you transplant them… I just really can’t figure that out when sometimes tomatoes bloom before you transplant them… ANYWAY, the Mortgage Lifter did very well, but the 2nd planting of Caspian Pink did kind of lousy. They wouldn’t grow worth a darn! Then they got some kind of leaf curl and that played heck with them. I realize that sometimes heavy pruning can cause that, but I hardly touched them!
Still green and getting BIGGER by the day! Picture taken 9-8-09.
Also, even though Mississippi has a long growing season, I hardly got any tomatoes from the Mortgage Lifter and absolutely none from the Caspian Pink. Now, I mentioned Heirloom Acres as the source of these seeds, but they are in no way at fault for how the plants turned out. Heirloom Acres is a very reputable seed company and I would recommend them to anyone. Just remember, MANY heirloom tomato cultivars take around 90 plus days from “transplant to harvest”. If you buy them from a greenhouse, they may be blooming when you buy them, so I don’t think that “rule” applies. Also, while the Caspian Pink are said to have beat the famous Brandywine in taste tests, I didn’t get to even sample a single one! The Mortgage Lifter, as far as taste goes… Let’s just say they were shocking… Shocking because I was expecting something spectacular and they were far from it! I let them fully mature on the plant before I picked them because I thought they would taste even better. I usually plant red tomatoes, but I have eaten pink ones before, as well as yellow, orange and white. Sorry, Mortgage Lifter, as far as taste goes, you left me disappointed after waiting SO long for a taste! I will still plant them again in 2010, as I still have more seeds, and we’ll see if they do better! I better start them much earlier inside for sure!
The first of just a few 'Mortgage Lifter' Tomatoes on 9-22-09.
Now if you want to grow them for the heck it, and for the size of the fruit, then they are great! Watching those tomatoes grow and grow was pretty exciting!
You know, the story goes that M.C. Byles of Logan, West Virginia, developed the Mortgage Lifter by crossing different varieties together over a six year period in the 1940′s. He sold Tomato plants for $1.00 each and paid off his $6,000.00 mortgage…
Oh, yes, the cherry tomatoes! Picture taken on 8-7-09.
SOME KIND OF CHERRY TOMATO
Suzanne also bought seeds from eBay… The package said ‘Ponderosa Red.’ Well, folks, I have grown Ponderosa Red tomatoes before, and these definitely were not them! Ponderosa Red are a tomato that grows to almost 1 pound, nearly seedless, are very meaty and flavorful… I planted the seeds, and they really did great! They grew very well, and started blooming much sooner than I expected. But, I knew something was weird from the first “cluster” of buds. The clusters had anywhere from 8-10 buds… I knew they were cherry tomatoes from that point on! I had those little squirts running out my ears. I sure wish I knew what kind they really are, because they were some of the best flavored cherry tomatoes I have ever eaten! I am also sure I will have plenty coming up volunteer!
