It's that time of the year again, the new seed catalogs are arriving daily, It reminds us of the growing season to come, even though at this point it seems so far away.
If you notice, many of the catalogs feature tomatoes on the cover. Usually the seed companies will showcase a new variety, as an attention grabber. It just goes to show how popular tomatoes are among gardeners.
In the past few years, I have focused mostly on heirloom tomatoes, since I have come to love the taste and beauty of these gems. For example, I talked about heirloom tomatoes in my post on January 24, 2015 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2015/01/talking-heirloom-vegetablestomatoes-and.html.
However, there are many good hybrid varieties also. In this post, I will showcase some new hybrids along with a relatively new concept in tomatoes, heirloom hybrids. Yes, heirloom hybrids.
So what exactly is an heirloom hybrid? Growers have discovered that by hybridizing heirloom tomatoes, the best of two worlds can be achieved. Since they are hybrids, they will tend to produce more uniform and numerous fruits, while being more resistant to diseases. However, they will retain the wonderful heirloom flavor.
For a great article regarding the development of better tomato varieties, see this article from the Washington Post : (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/the-perfect-tomato-is-just-around-the-corner/2015/09/15/70909c22-57d4-11e5-b8c9-944725fcd3b9_story.html),
First from Burpee (www.burpee.com), the Madame Marmande hybrid, which is an heirloom hybrid:
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| Madame Marmande Hybrid -72 Days |
From the Burpee catalog:
Gourmet tomato with a French accent. Juicy. Succulent. Extraordinaire! A culinary star in France, where a favorite instant feast is a scooped-out Marmande brimming with a mild cheese. Hefty, broad-shouldered, scarlet and light-ruby, Madame Marmande’s 10 oz. fruits are loaded with rich flavor. Fruits won’t crack like other Marmande varieties. Indeterminate.
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From Park Seed (www.parkseed.com), the Sugar Rush hybrid, a new grape variety:
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| Sugar Rush Hybrid -53 days |
From the Park Seed catalog:
Though classified as a grape tomato, Sugar Rush actually looks like a cherry and grape combination, with plump, rounded fruit in long, elegant trusses all over very vigorous plants. It is indeterminate, so it keeps going all season long, but the plant is more stocky than vining, reaching 5 to 7 feet high and perhaps 3 to 4 feet wide. You will be astonished at its productivity over a long summer!
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From the Burgess catalog:
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From Johnny's Selected Seeds(www.johnnyseeds.com), the Cherry Bomb cherry tomato:
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| Cherry Bomb Hybrid - 64 Days |
From the Johnny's catalog:
Cherry Bomb is perfect for the organic grower who needs strong late blight protection. Vigorous plants produce high yields of uniform, vivid red fruits with ideal cherry size (15-20 gm.) for harvest and snacking. Classic cherry tomato flavor - firm, sweet, and well-balanced. Unique calyx makes an attractive display when left attached to fruit. High resistance to late blight. Indeterminate.
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Finally, from Jung Seed (www.jungseed.com), the Cherokee Carbon heirloom hybrid. This is another example of the new heirloom hybrids:
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| Cherokee Carbon Heirloom Hybrid - 76 Days |
From the Jung catalog:
Large, 10 to 12 ounce beefsteak-type fruits deliver a rich, robust flavor perfect for sandwiches, salsa, sauces and more. A cross of Cherokee Purple and Carbon.
Thanks for reading my blog. In future posts, I will research blight resistant tomato varieties.
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