Need suggestions for sweet, thin skinned tomatoes.
 

[FONT=Times New Roman]I’ve searched the forum and came up with about 12 that were sweet (I gave up after reading about 100 threads). I have Carolyn’s book and I believe she has about 25 listed as sweet. Unfortunately, I found no description of skin thickness. I do know that taste is subjective and that growing conditions are a variable. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]In addition to being sweet and thin skinned, I am looking for these characteristics:[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Medium to large size, 6 to 8 ounces and up (no cherry)[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]OP[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Indeterminate[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Days to maturity- any, but prefer mid-season[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Color- any[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]PL preferable[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Thanks in advance.[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]P.S. Thanks to you all, before I joined this forum I had no idea what OP, Indeterminate or PL mean't:lol: [/FONT]

oh boy- have you opened up a can of worms

You will usually get the same standard line that tastes vary and you will have to judge sweetnes for yourself.
I love sweet tomatoes and have been growing several varieties in search of a sweet tomato.

As of right now-nothing beats a sungold picked at full ripeness. super sweet.

some tomatoes listed as sweet end up tatsing bland. They are not so much sweet as lacking an acidity. That is why it gets tough to describe sweetness in other types. For instance momotaro is often described as sweet but for me it just tasted bland. other varieties are like that too.

Brandywine sudduth has a nice complex flavor that is not too sweet not too acid.

good luck

WWA

:lol: Opening a can of worms is not my intent:lol:

I know of the subjectiveness of taste, soil variables and the weather variables from year to year. I'm just looking for suggestions from personal experience. And, thanks for your suggestion where_with_all:D

[FONT=Times New Roman]I’ve searched the forum and came up with about 12 that were sweet (I gave up after reading about 100 threads). I have Carolyn’s book and I believe she has about 25 listed as sweet. Unfortunately, I found no description of skin thickness. I do know that taste is subjective and that growing conditions are a variable. [/FONT]


*****

I'm answering b'c you've mentioned my name.:lol:

Not only is taste subjective but so is the individual perception of skin thickness in my opinion, so no, I made absolutely no mention of skin thickness in my book for any of the varieties.

My own experience is that only ONE of all the varieties I've ever grown, of the OP type, had thick tough skin, and that was Roi Umberto, a pre-1800 variety.

Other than that a few of the hybrids Iv'e grown have had somewhat thick skins, but then they're bred for that for shelf life and shippability. I exclude the Harris varieties Moreton Hybrid, Supersonic and Jet Star, especially, since I've never had thick skins with them/

But thru all the years of posting online about tomatoes, since about 1989, it's also become clear to me that weather can toughen skins for some folks. That's tomato skins, not human skin.:roll: No, I don't know what specific weather does that any more than I know what kind of weather can also lead to mealiness, exherted stigmas and yellow shoulders.

I'd be glad to pick out some sweet ones and list them here, but again, as well you know by now, what's sweet to me many not be same to you.:)

Carolyn, of course I would like to see some of your suggestions:D I love your book, I received it as B-day gift:D

have you tried Momotaro?

Yeah, I can recommend Momtaro as well. It's a sweet tomato that really appeals to my taste buds.

Thanks Bully and Bigdaddy. I have not tried it yet, but it is on my list for next year.

Rose de berne.:D :D :D :D :D

I'm growing many varieties from Bill Malin this year. Here's Olive Hill--maybe somebody else can comment on it, but it meets all your criteria: thin skin, PL, large, midseason, very productive, very good taste, indeterminate, etc. It is a little bigger than you wanted though--10-12oz. Production is pretty high for me--some clusters have 3 to 5 fruits.

Thanks Rena, I did a Google and the description sounds perfect.

[quote=korney19;73067]I'm growing many varieties from Bill Malin this year. Here's Olive Hill--maybe somebody else can comment on it, but it meets all your criteria: thin skin, PL, large, midseason, very productive, very good taste, indeterminate, etc. It is a little bigger than you wanted though--10-12oz. Production is pretty high for me--some clusters have 3 to 5 fruits.[/quote]

Korney, the size is what I'm looking for, 6-8 ounces and UP. Your description also sounds perfect. I tried to Google Olive Hill and came up empty. Any commercial sources for it? Thanks for the reply and I hope you guys are having a great time today at the taste fest.

Hahaha! You're only a 3 hour drive from the Tastefest and Olive Hill seeds! That's much closer than many others coming...

[URL]http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=CLEVELAND+OH&daddr=Buffalo,+NY&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=54.401733,102.128906&ie=UTF8&z=9&om=1[/URL]

If you can't make it, I should have more seeds available next month.

Bill said "An old variety not grown much anymore and is somewhat rare." No commercial sources I'm aware of.

Unfortunately I can't make the trip today:( But I'll try to make the second annual next year.

Hope you all have a great time and I hope you all travel safely:D

Faux is thin skinned [easy to peel] with balanced taste, not sweet per se, and a number of people consider it their favorite of the types.

Granny Cantrell's is a large sweet pink with thin skin that's easy to peel. Very large plant too.

Lucky Cross and the related Little Lucky meet all your criteria. I grew both this year ... they were both excellent; but, I think I liked Little Lucky more. I also grew Momotaro ... quite sweet but not OP and not PL.



- Bitwise

Earl, thanks. I have both on next years grow list. A kind soul north of the border is sending me seeds of both.

Bitwise, thanks, I've added both to my list.

Given that sweetness is in the mouth of the beholder, here are a few that I think are sweet:

Pink Sweet
Gogosha, PL
Sandul Moldovan
Eva Purple Ball
Ashleigh
OTV Brandywine, PL
Tsar of Bells, pink heart ( new one, will be listing)
Scott's Heart, new, pink ( tentative name, will be listing)
Brianna, pink PL
Bulgarian #7
Large Pink Bulgarian
Omar's Lebanese

....for starters, some new, some old. Can rate them on sweetness if you wish.

Carolyn, thanks for the sweet suggestions:D But, I don't see any chocolate on the list:lol:

[quote=neoguy;73220]Carolyn, thanks for the sweet suggestions:D But, I don't see any chocolate on the list:lol:[/quote]


Correct:!:

My dark bittersweet chocolate stash is to my right on the floor in a large box. I've been accessing it almost daily while the US Tennis Open has been on.:)

But I'm down one large bar of Scharfen Berger for the following amusing reason.

Last year Richard, my surgeon, told me that at the duty free shop on the Canadian border that he and his son come back through from fishing in Nova Scotia that they had some choco with 95% cacao and I didn't believe him.

But thanks to online tomato friends one good friend is Barkeater who just happens to work as a Customs Agent, which many folks already know b'c at least at GW he was always being asked about what's legal and what isn't, re border veggies, fruits and seeds,:lol: so I emed Bark and asked him to look into it.

OK, he found these Lindt bars with 99% cacao and sent me down three bars.

I proudly presented one of those to Richard and I nibbled at the other one and just found the third one hidden away yesterday.

I have never in my life eaten such horrible chocolate.:) Tasted like sour mud, toe punk,something that died in the fridge, I think you get the picture.

Of course I claimed being the winner b'c there was no 95%, just the 99% and of course the regular Lindt Excellence bars at a lower cacao content were also at the duty free shop.

So I thought I'd make up for it and took some thank you gifts to Richard and his PA Rich who did all the followup after I got home from rehab, and since Richard is one of the most aggressively competetive persons I've ever met I know how much he hates to lose any contest, any bet, and anything.

So I gave him my only large bar of Sharfen Berger, well I left it for him b'c he had a full schedule and his nurse said I'd have to wait two hours until he was through, and I didn't want to, so left so I could get back to town for Book Club.

So there's your chocolate story for the day.:lol:

But I still have:

Becolade from Belgium
Guittard
Merkens
Peters

Thank Heavens.:lol: They were out of Valrhona which is one of my faves, so I'll have to reorder soon.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Carolyn, you have to write a book, your 100 favorite chocolates.:D

[quote]Tasted like sour mud, toe punk,something that died in the fridge, I think you get the picture.[/quote]

Toe Punk [IMG]http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_11_6.gif[/IMG] That was my laugh for the day.

This is one of the best sources for extreme chocolate on the net. [url]www.chocosphere.com[/url]. They carry all the finest brands, estate chocolates and in all sizes and shapes. They'll ship during the summer but you pay for the dry ice/special packing.

[quote=lumierefrere;73299]This is one of the best sources for extreme chocolate on the net. [URL="http://www.chocosphere.com"]www.chocosphere.com[/URL]. They carry all the finest brands, estate chocolates and in all sizes and shapes. They'll ship during the summer but you pay for the dry ice/special packing.[/quote]


Ah ye of little faith, you think I don't know about chocosphere?:)

Fact is, I get a goodly amount of my eating chocolate from King Arthur Baking Company where the prices are superb.:lol: But they've stopped carrying Valrhona, so I have to go elsewhere.:(

And there's a local place near Albany that I also order from and their prices and choco are excellent; that's Krauses, and I've known Tom Krause and his excellent products for many years. Also local is the Peanut Principle for all sorts of nuts and much more. For either of these two places if I call before noon UPS is here with the stuff the next day. Near the small village where I live there's also an excellent chocolatier but I hate paying Xavier's prices.

Problem is, come about Oct 1st I've decided I have to go back on my diet b'c I want to olose another about 60 lbs by next July 1. That will make a total loss of a bit more than 100#. And towards that end I've been buying some clothes in sizes I aspire to.:lol:

But if I want to get something a bit further out, for maybe $6/3 oz bar, then chocosphere is the place.:)

King Arthur is a wonderful resource. Their own cocoa is fantastic. Makes the perfect brownie if you use the King Arthur On-The Fence Brownie recipe. They also carry every kind of flour you could want or dream of including an equivalent to Italian 00.