# Heirloom Tomatoes



## danbono (May 16, 2012)

Hi All

Last year was the 1st time I planted Heirloom Tomatoes, my wife picked them out.They were some of the best tasting tomatoes, I ever had.Plants were huge so  were the leaves..Went to the garden center today, to pick out my tomatoes plants for this year, and to my surprise I didn't see any Hierloom plants, bummed me out, big TIME!!!.
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Now I will have to search the other garden centers, to see If I can spot any Heirloom plants.I wish I new the name of tomatoe plant. I'm thinking Brandywine...Wish I could start from seed, but is way too many seeds for my 12 x 12 garden

I did pick up some Supersonics/Beefmasters/Roma's/Cherry 100's

Thanks Dan


----------



## michael ark (May 16, 2012)

If you find them again . Scoop out seed goo with spoon then put in water over night. The next morning scoop off top of jar repeat till seeds are free. Once free dry on paper towel. Then you will always have them. They will develope traits that will help their growth in your yard,yes plants have a memory sort of.


----------



## diggingdogfarm (May 16, 2012)

You should certainly be able to find Brandywine plants somewhere, it's probably the most popular heirloom in most areas.
If you can't find it somewhere, I'd be happy to send you some Brandywine seeds for next year....I have the Sudduth strain which is arguably the best as well as a few other Brandywines.




~Martin


----------



## danbono (May 17, 2012)

Hi Martian I will look around at the other garden centers, and see if I could find the Brandywines. Some place should  have them???

IF not I might have too take your seed offer for next year..The Heirloom tomatoes, that I had last year were BIG plants with LARGE leaves, and great tasting tomatoes.

Thanks Danb


----------



## alelover (May 17, 2012)

I always save my San Marzano seeds. I'm on 5th generation now.


----------



## ritamcd (May 17, 2012)

michael ark said:


> If you find them again .scop out seed goo with spoon then put in water over night. The next morning scoop off top of jar repeat till seeds are free. Once free dry on paper towel. Then you will always have them. They will develope traits that will help their growth in your yard,yes plants have a memory sort of.


Yes Do what Michael says .. its quite easy and you will always have seeds .. Only thing I do different is dry them on a Styrofoam plate .. they don't stick

I only grow heirlooms .. I have a pile of seeds .. Brandywine , Mortgage lifter , Golden Queen , Lemon Boy , Big Rainbow , Amish Paste , the list goes on ..

I would be happy to share as well .. I don't have San Marzano if anyone wants to make a trade tho ..Please message me ..


----------



## pineywoods (May 17, 2012)

Put the seeds in a fridge and they will stay good for years. One of the researchers at the University of Florida Research center here has had tomato seeds in the fridge for over 10 years and they still germinate very well


----------



## ritamcd (May 17, 2012)

quite honestly you don't need to fridge tomato's or pepper seeds .. they will last that long all on their own .. I have some that are that old from my garden forum .. they have a great germination rate .

The biggest Key to them is to keep them dry .. after I dry my seeds I put a few in a zip bag .. if there is no condensation I will put the rest in there .. label and they go into my filing cabinet till I decide to plant them


----------



## smokeamotive (May 17, 2012)

Around here if you don't get to the garden centers as soon as they put out the bedding plants, the hierloom tomatoes are soon gone. I picked mine up in the second week of April. I went back a week later to get peppers and they were out of All heirloom tomatoes.


----------



## ritamcd (May 17, 2012)

This is a great tutorial on how to save your own Tomato seeds if you find one you just Love .. No I still don't keep mine in the fridge or freezer and they still have 98% germination rates

http://pharmerphil.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cotyln&action=display&thread=13401

If you can't see it let me know and I will get it unlocked


----------



## sparky13062 (May 19, 2012)

I got Brandywine tomato plants from Burpee last year and they were very good. I was so thrilled with them I got three plants this year. Every plant I bought direct from Burpee was healthy and productive.

I found Oxheart plants at a local farm store/grower two weeks ago. It's a little too early to put them in the ground yet here in the mountains but they'll be going in on the 25th. I've never grown Oxhearts but I've heard good things about them.

I don't have a good spot anywhere around here to start my own plants from seed and I don't have a greenhouse.


----------



## danbono (May 23, 2012)

Hi All

Went to one my local garden centers, looking for Brandywine tomatoes. Came home with a 4 pack of Heirlooms,the sticker in the pack just said Heirlooms, 6-32 oz fruit,32/60 maturity no one there knew what variety they were..I was told by one employee they are good slicing tomatoes, not a lot of help there.. So I now have a total of 16 tomato plants.

They did have the Brandywines at $3.99 for each plant. I didn't want to spend $16.00 for four plants..I'll just have to wait and see the what the Heirlooms turn out to be.

Next year I'll start looking sooner for the Brandywines. I didn't know there were different varieties of the Brandywines.

DanBono

PS Will post a pic of my garden once the plants are in..


----------



## diggingdogfarm (May 23, 2012)

Most Brandywines have a potato looking leaf rather than a leaf that looks like most tomatoes.
But, other heirlooms have a potato leaf, as well.

Here's you can see the difference......








~Martin


----------



## danbono (May 24, 2012)

Hi Martain: The Heirlooms I had last year had large  potato leaves and grew really tall. That is why I'm thinking they were the Brandwines.

Thanks Dan


----------



## danbono (Jun 3, 2012)

My Tomato Garden all 18 plants in ..now the wait.


----------



## ritamcd (Jun 3, 2012)

Looks great DanBono ... I got about the same .. I have blooms on a few .. Cherokee purple and Mr stripy

Are you looking for seeds or strictly plants ? I am growing some if you want me to save you some seeds...


----------



## ritamcd (Jun 3, 2012)

B for sure is the date of bloom set or fruit start to the time the fruit is ripe .. 32/60 Did the labels tell you anything else such as what type of heirlooms they were ? Nope re read did it say if they were

Determinate and Indeterminate ?


----------



## danbono (Jun 4, 2012)

Hi On the Heirlooms the only info was, fruit size 6 oz-32 oz, matures in 52-100 days. I'm thinking maybe a combination of 4 different plants. What I really was looking for were the Brandywines.

had them last year, and they were awesome...

Dan

PS I was looking for plants in my area garden centers. Too late to start seeds..Thx anyway


----------



## sam3 (Jun 6, 2012)

Looks good Dan. I'm waaay behind. Getting tomato's in this weekend is my No.1 job for the weekend.


----------



## danbono (Jun 10, 2012)

Hi Sam The plants will catch up to rest of us in NJ, once it warms up and stays that way..Have NO fear Tomatoes will appear.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Dan


----------



## danbono (Jun 11, 2012)

Sam3 Just read your thread on making Italain sausage. I'm going to try and make my own Italian sweet sausage. How was the TSM seasoning? I was thinking for sweet sausage salt-black pepper and fennel seeds. Just need a starting for point for  5lbs.

Any tips/hints for a newbee sausage maker. I'm thinking 5 lbs at a time, for starters. Looking at LEM grinders, geting ready to make a purchase.

Thanks Dan


----------



## sam3 (Jun 13, 2012)

Dan, The LEM is a good grinder and stuffer. Look at it as an investment you'll have forever. I bought the #1112 vertical stuffer being I do 10+lbs at a time. I also bought the #22 grinder. Grinding Venison is a breeeeze!

The TSM is a good mix to start with. I use 29-32mm hog casings for fresh sausage.

Check your inbox, I just sent over a recipe.


----------



## danbono (Jun 16, 2012)

Hi Sam I went with TSM meat grinder. I couldn't see paying $150.00 for the Lem, when I'm only doing small 5 lb batches sausages.

The problem with the TSM it doesn't come with a Kidney/stuffing plate, I sent an E-mail to Co. where I ordered it from and here is their reply:

No, it does not come with a spacer, but you would put in the largest grinding plate in and stuff with that.

The largest grinding plate is 5/16, so then I would have ground the meat twice, that is a bummer, cause I like coarse sausage.

Thanks Dan

PS My tomato plants look great, so far.


----------



## danbono (Jun 21, 2012)

Hi My first time making sausage, I tried to use the 5/16 largest grinding plate to stuff with, was MAJOR "PIA".The grinder did not come with either a spacer or a kidney plate for stuffing.

 I cut the Kubbe part which I was NEVER going to use(read about IT on the net), worked wonders. The meat just flowed out of the grinder.

Dan the sausage man
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






                                   Sweet Italian sausage with green peppers & white onions


----------



## danbono (Jun 25, 2012)

HI All Here is a pic of the Tomato garden after 1 month.I'm going to have to extend the stakes some how...
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





So far best looking plants I've seen in aloooong time...

Dan


----------



## danbono (Aug 15, 2012)

Hi All New pics of my tomato garden.. Things are going good after the leaf curl scare..One of my better crop of tomatoes in awhile, making the neighbors very happy.. Plants are way over grown, need taller and stronger stakes for next year.

Thanks Dan













DSC01180.JPG



__ danbono
__ Aug 15, 2012






PS The fence is 6' tall.


----------



## michael ark (Aug 15, 2012)

Looks great!


----------



## big lew bbq (Aug 15, 2012)

I can't wait till I can have an actual garden. Looks good.

Big Lew BBQ


----------

