When I wrote last month about the heirloom tomato varieties that I plan to grow this year, the white tomatoes got the most attention. I had several emails and comments about White Tomesol in particular. I think it drew the most interest because it is really white. Many other white tomatoes are more of a pale green. I picked White Tomesol specifically because it is so white in color and I was excited to see how it grows.
Finally I got my seed order from Baker Creek and wouldn't you know, there was a note that they were out of White Tomesol! They did give me my money back AND a free pack of Furry Yellow Hog tomatoes. Has anyone ever heard of Furry Yellow Hog?
Anyway, what would I do about this? I already told everyone that I would be growing White Tomesol! After searching the net a while, I finally found another seed company in the US that had it - Amishland Heirloom Seeds. I placed the order and waited impatiently. Today, they arrived!
In addition to the White Tomesol, I bought Glick's Brandywine from them. They also included a free pack of tomato seeds - Pink Flamingo Ukranian heirloom tomatoes. Of course I have to plant them too, but this is getting ridiculous! To recap, here is the list of the heirloom tomatoes I will be attempting in 2008 (in alphabetical order so as to not indicate favoritism):
Aunt Ruby's German Cherry Aunt Ruby's German Green Black Cherry Black Krim Brandywine Brandywine (Glick's strain) Caspian Pink Delicious Dixie Golden Giant Egg Yolk Furry Yellow Hog Great White Green Moldovan Green Zebra Kellogg's Breakfast Kentucky Beefsteak Pink Flamingo Ukranian Principe Borghese Prudens Purple and of course, White Tomesol!
To make my tomato growing production even more crazy, I will also be growing a number of hybrids. I love the heirlooms, but since there are pros and cons to growing them, I want to include some excellent hybrids too.
To make the list complete, here are this year's hybrid tomatoes:
4th of July Burpee's Supersteak Celebrity Early Girl Golden Girl La Rossa Lemon Boy New Girl Orange Blossom Park's Whopper Roma Siletz Sub Artic
In case you weren't counting, that's 33 different tomato varieties. Yikes! I know I should edit some out, but I could tell you a good reason for all of these. I wrote about why I grow so many different tomatoes last year when I thought 20 varieties was a lot. In a nutshell, some of these are early types, some are cherry types, some regular types, some beefsteaks, some paste types, and of course we have the many different colors to aim for.
I know, I know, call me obsessed. I wonder what my wife will say when I tell her that we are doubling the size of the vegetable garden to accommodate over 60 tomato plants.
It's an addiction, I know - but won't the White Tomesol tomatoes be cool? (the original reason for this post)
Holy cow dude! 33 tomato varieites?! I think that's the highest number I've seen yet this year. Do you eat them all? Can them? Wow.
There must be some kind of competition I don't know about. Me and my 5 tomato plants will not apply. :0)
Posted by: March 19, 2008 at 12:51 AM
33! You've got a fantastic variety--I can't wait to see the mountains of tomatoes you get when the harvest starts to come in. Somewhere I saw a recipe for herb and spinach pasta (so the noodles were green) with white tomato sauce on top. It looked odd, but sounded delicious!
Posted by: March 19, 2008 at 01:22 AM
What will you do with all of your bounty? I wish I lived nearby. Do you start them in pots, or just outside? I've grown several of those varieties, but not the yellow foggy or the white. Can't wait to see them.~~Dee
Posted by: March 19, 2008 at 01:36 AM
Wow---and here I thought I was going to be in tomato heaven with my 16 varieties! And I'm not growing any white tomatoes....I've got nearly every other color. Maybe I need to go through the catalogs again....
You are an inspiration to tomato fanatics everywhere. Can't wait to read about your experiences growing and harvesting all of these awesome varieties!
Posted by: March 19, 2008 at 02:12 PM
BTW----if you've got a minute, I have a reader question posted on my blog that I have a feeling you'll be able to help with. Please? Pretty please? ;-)
Posted by: March 19, 2008 at 02:30 PM
wow, thanks for the comments everyone.
Katie, - 5 tomato plants are enough but couldn't you find room for one or two more? Seriously, you're lucky you don't suffer from tomatoitis.
Meg - that dish does sound interesting and delicious. I have looked into making "white" spaghetti sauce like that.
Dee - I hope there is a lot of bounty. First we eat them fresh until our cold sores won't let us eat any more. Then we make a lot of salsa and can some. We give many away and my daughter wants to sell at the Farmer's Market this year. Also, since there are so many different varieties, they don't all ripen at the same time. I'm hoping for a steady "bounty" from late May to late October!
Colleen - I'm glad you are a fellow fanatic! 16 is a more realistic number. Last year I capped my selection at 20. 33 is probably too many. I will have to think about how I would answer your question as to what the sweetest non-cherry tomato is. Hmmm... I will comment on your blog after I give it some thought.
Posted by: March 19, 2008 at 05:02 PM
I didn't even take the time to see where you are writing from but I got excited by the topic I had to write in right away. I know it says your white seeds arrived, but I have "Italian Ice" seeds from Burpee that are a white cherry variety and I'd be happy to send you a few if you'd like to have them. The description for them is what sold me (and the veggie porn) - it says they're best eaten chilled and I imagined them like little tomato sorbet balls in a bowl on a hot day.
This is my second season as a community gardener and I'm ambitiously trying to start pretty much the entire garden from seed this year, but also 14 kinds of tomatoes - some saved from last year and some shared and the rest purchased from the seed catalogs.
Anyway, you're more than welcome and I look forward to watching your garden grow.
Posted by: March 24, 2008 at 07:50 PM