Would you love to grow large tomatoes, but wonder which good-tasting varieties do well in Tasmania? This blog post shows the varieties that Food Garden Group members put forward for the 2024 Golden Tomato Award, a description of the variety, and where to get seeds and seedlings if commercially available.
 |
| Ross T. picked this 560 gram fruit in his garden on 18Feb24 |
Here are the tomatoes Food Garden Group members put forward:
Thank you, everyone, for taking part in the 2024 Golden Tomato Award, and providing your pictures for the competition and this blog post!
A big congratulations to Roslyn M. for growing the heaviest tomato of the season. With her amazing 1205 gram Rebel Starfighter Prime tomato she won the 2024 Golden Tomato Award.
This tomato variety and all the others (in alphabetical order) are described below.
Ananas Noire - quite large, vine
About this tomato
On 31 January Ruth S. put on our Facebook page a photo of an Ananas Noire weighing 609 grams that she had picked in her garden at Molesworth. A week later Roslyn M. showed us an even more amazing Ananas Noire weighing 890 grams (see photos above). Roslyn grew it in her hothouse at Lymington. Roslyn described its taste as 'smooth and sweet'. Both Ruth and Roslyn bought their Ananas Noire seeds at The Diggers Club.
About this variety
Ananas Noire is French for black pineapple. It is an unusual variety that was developed by Pascal Moreau, a horticulturist from Belgium. The flesh is bright green with deep red streaks. Its flavour is both sweet and smoky with a hint of citrus. More info can be found at Smart Gardener and seed can be bought in the Diggers Club catalogue listed here.
Black from Tula - very large, vine
About this tomato
On 25 February Roslyn M. picked in her garden an absolute whopper called Black from Tula weighing 1017 grams. It takes quite some time for a tomato to grow this big (80 days descriptions say). It would have started forming early in the season when temperatures were not very high and that is why this specimen is somewhat misshapen ('cat-faced' - see blog post Tomato Care & Repair on our blog). In warm conditions this tomato would be very large, somewhat flattish and round.
About this variety
Black from Tula is a heirloom tomato from the area around the city of Tula, south of Moscow. Plants can become 1.8 metres high with dense foliage. Tomatoes can weigh up to 1.2 kilograms. The fruits have a rich, sweet, salty, smoky flavour. Black from Tula prefers warm weather, but as Roslyn proved, it can do well in Tasmania. Good photos of this tomato can be found on the Rare Seeds website here. Roslyn bought Black from Tula seeds from Seed Freaks here.
Black Russian - medium size, vine
About this tomato
Black Russian is a medium-size well-known and much-loved heirloom variety that most people don't manage to grow to the size that Wade B. did in his hothouse at St Helens. Wade put this photo on our Facebook page on 14 January.
About this variety
It is not surprising to learn that this Russian variety makes the most of short seasons with its heat-absorbing black skin. In areas which are not subject to a lot of cool weather they will produce a reasonable crop outside, but the more protected and warmer the position the better. Black Russian tomatoes are medium sized with a dark skin and red flesh inside. They have the most delicious flavour. Seed is widely available, for instance at The Diggers Club here. Most years seedlings are available at the Hobart Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens tomato sale.
Brandywine - large, vine
About this tomato
This tomato was picked by Sue M. in her garden at Lenah Valley on 12 February. She grew it from a seedling bought at the Hobart Botanical Gardens tomato sale. Brandywine is an old style heirloom variety that you don't see very often, but that deserves to be grown widely.
About this variety
Brandywine is an American heirloom beefsteak variety dating back to 1885. It is named after the Brandywine River in Pennsylvania. Seed can be purchased from The Diggers Club here. Most years seedlings are available at the Hobart Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens tomato sale.
Cherokee Purple - medium size, vine
About this tomato
Compared to some varieties that were put forward by members later, this hothouse grown Cherokee Purple was not particularly large, but I decided to enter it in the contest because it was relatively early (12 January), its colour was terrific, and its taste really good. I had a few more big ones on the same bush a week or so later.
About this variety
According to some sources Cherokee Purple originates from the Andes and was cultivated in Central America. Other sources claim that Cherokee Purple is a heirloom variety from the Cherokee Indians that was taken up by settlers in the 1890s. Could both be true? Cherokee Purple is a big ‘beefsteak’ tomato, ripening to a dusky purple-pink, with superb sweetness, dense juicy texture, large fruit and beautiful colour. Seed can be obtained at Southern Harvest here.
Costoluto Genovese - large, vine
About this tomato
The really big tomato in the photo (597 grams) was picked by Grant B. in his hothouse at Gardners Bay on 25 January.
About this variety
The famous large-fruited Costoluto Genovese (translates as “ribbed one from Genoa”) comes from Piedmont, just northwest of Genoa, Italy. Costoluto Genovese was most likely cultivated in the 18th century and has survived, and thrived, in gardens to this day. It is very tasty, hearty, and with high acid content. This beauty is a real allrounder in the kitchen for canning, cooking, and juicing, and it tastes delicious in salads and on sandwiches, too. Seeds can be purchased from Seed Freaks here or The Diggers Club here.
German Gold - large, vine
About this tomato
What an amazing tomato! Never seen this variety before! This 638 gram German Gold was picked on 11 February by Tracey C. in her garden in the West Tamar area. This variety has been in her family for over a decade. I can see why you would want to grow this variety year after year.
About this variety
Not surprisingly, this variety came from Germany, and it comes with a long history. It was taken by a group of Christians called the Mennonites from southern Germany to the USA, saved from extinction, and cultivated in Virginia in the 1880s. Large, golden coloured, sweet-flavoured fruit with red blossom end and red streaks radiating up sides to stem end. Seed can be purchased from The Lost Seed here.
Giant Tree - large fruits, vigorous vine
About this tomato
On 20 January Olesja L. picked a whopper of a tomato (768 grams) called Tomato Giant Tree in her hothouse at Grindelwald.
About this variety
Giant Tree is a high-yielding vigorous heirloom variety that can grow 3-6 metres in height. The fruits are large and have excellent flavour with few seeds. Plants can be pruned to look like a tree. Giant Tree produces fruit after around 90 days.
Granny's Throwing - large, vine
About this tomato
Three Granny's Throwing tomatoes were put forward, two by Rachel Elizabeth (picked in her hothouse 2 February) and one by Erika A. (picked outside 10 February). All very impressive. The heaviest one was 543 grams. Seeds came from The Diggers Club.
About this variety
A strange name for a great tomato! Granny's Throwing is actually a favourite Italian heirloom tomato with a voluptuous shape, heavily ribbed fruit and excellent flavour. I will leave it to The Diggers Club here to explain how this Italian variety got its Australian name.
KY1 - early, medium size, bush
About this tomato
This 101 gram tomato was picked by Shannon G. in her hothouse. It is not a large tomato compared to those that came later, but it is remarkable just the same, because it was the first tomato put forward for the Golden Tomato Award 2024. This was on 12 December! That was after Shannon couldn't stop herself eating her first KY1 of the season on 5 December before thinking of putting it on the scales and taking a photo. At that point in the season everyone else was not anywhere near producing any ripe tomato, let alone one that was 101 grams heavy. It did help that Shannon grew this tomato in her hothouse.
About this variety
KY1 is a very popular bush-variety Australian heirloom that originated in Victoria. It is also known as Scoresby Dwarf. Loved for its flavour and being a good all-rounder, it produces medium, smooth round red fruit that does not need lots of attention.
KY1 seeds are available at Southern Harvest here, Seed Freaks here, and under the Mr.Fothergill's Seeds label at hardware stores. Seedlings can be purchased most years at the Hobart Botanical Gardens tomato sale.
Mortgage Lifter - later season variety, large, vine
About this tomato
On 14 March 2024 Belinda R. showed us a nicely-shaped Mortgage Lifter tomato of 450 grams that she had grown in her garden at Dynnyrne. One day later Denby B. picked an even heavier one in her garden at Kings Meadows.
About this variety
Mortgage Lifter is a well-known beefsteak heirloom variety that produces lots of fruits with few seeds and a sweet flavour. Used on sandwiches, in salads and to make pasta. Mortgage Lifter was bred in the 1930s from Italian, German and English 'beefsteak' varieties by a West Virginian mechanic and plant breeder who reportedly sold its fruits that can weigh up to one kilo for $1 each and managed to pay off his mortgage.
Mortgage Lifter seed is sold by many seed companies, for instance The Diggers Club here, Mr Fothergill's here and Southern Harvest here .
Olomovic - early, medium size, bush
About this tomato
On 18 December Robyn P. picked a ripe Olomovic tomato weighing 93 grams in her garden. That is so early! She bought an Olomovic seedling from Eve's Garden at West Hobart - look for Eve's Garden on Facebook. Robyn sent me a photo of the tomato on scales, but I can't find it now.
About this variety
Olomovic is a bush variety tomato that is remarkable, not because of its size, but because it produces good-size ripe tomatoes very early. It is an old heirloom variety that was developed in Czechia (part of the former Checoslowakia) to produce early tomatoes in their local mountainous cool environment. It is brilliant at doing this, as Robyn proved. Seeds are available from Southern Harvest here. Most years seedlings can be purchased at the Hobart Botanical Gardens tomato sale.
Rebel Starfighter Prime - large, vine
About this tomato
On 1 March 2024 Roslyn M. picked this 1205 gram tomato in her garden at Lymington. It looks like three tomatoes, but it is one fruit. This tomato won her the Golden Tomato Award 2024. On the internet I found more conventional looking Rebel Starfighter Primes - see below.
About this variety
Visually stunning Rebel Starfighter Prime is a rare variety. It has very attractive heart-shaped fruits with with deep brown-red flesh and deep and mildly-sweet rich flavour. Rebel Starfighter Prime is very productive in cool climates with adverse weather conditions. Seedlings are thin at first, but will grow into sturdy plants if cared for when young. Plants produce fruits over a long period of time. The more sunlight these plants receive, the darker the fruits become. Roslyn M. bought Rebel Starfighter Prime seeds from Seedfreaks here , but when I checked (May 2024) they were no longer on their list.
Taiga - large, very hardy, vine
About this tomato
This nicely shaped and colourful 579 gram tomato was picked on 2 February by Roslyn M. in her hothouse at Lymington. Roslyn bought the seeds from Urban City Gardener on Instagram.
About this variety
Mid-season tomato variety Taiga was created by a Canadian Tomato breeder. The plants are tall vines with potato leaves.The fruits are beautifully multi-coloured and heart shaped. They have dense flesh, few seeds and a complex flavour. Taiga is a word used for the Northern forests that cover much of Canada. Not surprisingly, Taiga is a very hardy tomato. I found more info about the Taiga tomato on a Canadian site here. Roslyn bought Taiga seeds from Urban City Gardener (look for Urban City Gardener on Facebook).
Postscript
There is a wide-held belief among food gardeners that cherry tomatoes are a lot tastier than large tomatoes. That might be true for some shop-bought tomatoes, but the varieties covered in this blog post are great examples of delicious large varieties.
Tomatoes are incredibly popular world-wide. Originally from Southern America, new tomato varieties have been created over many centuries from Greece to Germany, from Belgium to Canada, often with specific local climates in mind.
While writing this blog post I shopped around quite a few seed companies to find where you can get the varieties shown above. As I did so, I realised that, if you are after a particular variety, depending on the seed company, you do not always end up with the same tomato. Nothing stops people from renaming a variety or using the wrong name. Quite confusing! Collecting seeds from heirloom varieties that you tried and liked is the way to go, I feel.
May your tomatoes be large and delicious!
Max Bee
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.