THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503100089
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G10 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: WEEDER'S DIGEST
SOURCE: BY ROBERT STIFFLER, GARDENING COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
THE TOMATO REMAINS America's favorite fruit - or vegetable. For those who want to argue, it's both. And if you're satisfied with Jet Star, Big Boy, Supersonic or Whopper tomatoes, this report is not for you. But if you want to try out new and different tomatoes in 1995, here's what seed producers offer. Unless noted, catalogs are free.
Burpee lists 32 tomato varieties, three of which are new and Burpee exclusives. Winter Red bears heavily during a very long growing season. Italian Gold produces Roma-shaped fruit and is great for canning or making a unique ``golden'' sauce. According to the Burpee catalog, Super Tasty is ``absolutely the best home garden tomato in the company's history. We have found no other tomato in the world that tastes this good.''
W. Atlee Burpee & Co., 300 Park Ave., Warminster, Pa. 18991. Telephone: (800) 888-1447.
Monte's Gold is one of 43 tomato varieties offered by DeGiorgi Seed. The meaty fruit ripens to a rich orange and the plant is prolific.
DeGiorgi Seed Co., 6011 N St., Omaha, Neb. 68117-1634. Telephone: (402) 731-3901.
Black Krim, from the Black Sea region of Russia, appears black but is more a mixture of dark purple and a little green. Sochuiak from Italy is an early pink and Grandma Mary's is a wonderful sauce maker.
Fedco Seeds, P.O. Box 520, Waterville, Maine 04903. Telephone: (207) 873-7333. Catalog $2.
Chello is a yellow cherry tomato from Harris Seeds. It is sweet and mild, much improved over other yellow cherries. It also is very early (56 days) and yields well.
Harris Seeds, 60 Saginaw Drive, Rochester, N.Y. 14692-2960. Telephone: (716) 442-0100.
Italian Giant Paste is for making sauce and paste, while Arkansas Traveler is an old pink-fruited heirloom, more dependable than many of the pinks around today. Heirloom Seeds also offers all three varieties of the legendary Brandywine tomato: pink, red and yellow.
Heirloom Seeds. P.O. Box 245, West Elizabeth, Pa. 15088-0245. Catalog $1, refundable with order. Company requests no phone orders.
Liberty Seed offers 40 hybrids and heirlooms and has a ``plants by mail'' program, offering 14 varieties of plants. These include Celebrity, Delicious and Viva Italia. Available only as seed, Mountain Fresh is a new offering with superior ripening characteristics and taste, compared to Mountain Spring, which has good flavor.
Liberty Seed Co., P.O. Box l806, New Philadelphia, Ohio 44663-0806. Telephone: (216) 364-1611.
For a tomato even earlier than Early Girl, try Oregon Spring, consistently 10 days earlier than Early Girl. Oxheart Giantissimo often weighs 2.5 pounds.
Nichols Garden Nursery, 1190 N. Pacific Highway N.E., Albany, Ore. 97321. Telephone: (503) 928-9280.
Park Seed offers 72 different tomato varieties for 1995, including these four new ones: Better Bush Improved, Enchantment, Park's Whopper Improved and La Rossa.
Park Seed, Cokesbury Road, Greenwood, S.C. 29647-0001. Telephone: (803) 223-7333.
Seeds of Change is the only national source for 100 percent organically grown vegetable, flower and herb seeds, including more than 30 tomato varieties. Yellow Perfection is one that comes from a British seed company.
Seeds of Change, P.O. Box 15700, Santa Fe, N.M. 87506-5700. Telephone: (800) 95-SEEDS.
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange offers more than 70 tomatoes, none of which are hybrids. New additions include German Red Strawberry, a tomato resembling a strawberry; Druzba, an heirloom from Bulgaria with juicy, sweet flavor and Jointless Pope, recommended for pickling. The most famous from this supplier is Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter.
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, P.O. Box 170, Earlysville, Va. 22936. Telephone: (804) 973-4703. Catalog $2, refundable with order.
Stokes Seeds offers 100 varieties, mostly hybrids. Varieties are neatly organized by growing conditions and plant types.
Stokes Seeds, Box 548, Buffalo, N.Y. 14240-0548. Telephone: (716) 695-6980.
Tomato Growers Supply Co. is a specialized tomato seed company that offers 250 varieties, plus some 90 different peppers. Their 1995 catalog offers 35 new varieties. Polish is a big 1-pound beefsteak with extraordinary flavor.
Tomato Growers Supply Co., P.O. Box 2237, Fort Meyers, Fla. 33902. Telephone: (813) 768-1119.
Totally Tomatoes offers 218 varieties, including 15 new ones, plus 84 peppers. Among them are Nebraska Wedding, an old heirloom, Amish Paste, Kentucky Beefsteak and Crimson Fancy Hybrid.
Totally Tomatoes, P.O. Box 1626, Augusta, Ga. 30903-1626. Telephone: (803) 663-0016. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
JOIN TOMATO CLUB
Want to learn more about tomatoes? Join The Tomato Club, which
offers a gardening newsletter six times per year, with advice from
the best tomato gardeners in the country. Cost is $12.95 per year
and you receive a free packet of six Brandywine tomato seeds.
Checks should be mailed to The Tomato Club, 114 E. Main St., Bogota,
N.J. 07603.
by CNB