Offering Estler's Mortgage Lifter seeds for free.
 

In 2020, Edie James sent me her last few seeds. Edie is William Estler's granddaughter, and she received the seeds from her uncle Robert, William Estler's son. I grew these out this year. I grew 8 plants of only this variety. Four plants from bagged blossoms from 2020, and four plants from Edie's original seeds. This is the only variety I grew this year, to prevent cross pollination. A SASE is all that's required. Just pm me if you are interested, and I'll give you my address. The reason I'm doing this is because I became interested in this tomato a couple of years ago, and found it somewhat difficult to get the seeds. So I'm hoping to increase the population.

Well done edweather. This is how these old seeds stay in the system.

I love that you are doing this! Saving the oldies but goodies are important. I have never grown Estler's before, so I will give it a whirl next year. Thank you for your offer!
Heide

I found a nice article and there is an audio interview with Mary Lou Estler.


[B]A Family Cultivates Tradition With A Nearly-forgotten Tomato [/B]



When Mary Lou Estler married her late husband Bob in 1960, it wasn’t long before she was introduced to a priceless family heirloom — an heirloom tomato.
“They had beautiful dinners,” Mary Lou said. “And Mrs. Estler owned a Blenko piece of glass. All the way around would be these gorgeous slices of mortgage lifter tomatoes. So that was always a favorite.”




These weren’t the so-called “Radiator Charlie” mortgage lifter tomatoes you find in lots of seed catalog nowadays. That’s a completely different plant that originated in Logan, West Virginia sometime in the 1930s.
The tomatoes on that Blenko serving dish was a breed developed by Mary Lou’s father in law William Estler. It first showed up back in the mid-1920s—years before Radiator Charlie brought his tomato to market.


“Mr. Estler had two tomatoes that he was raising," Mary Lou said. He was on a quest to develop a low-acid tomato. “Evidently he put those two tomatoes together and came up with this one very special tomato.”


[url]https://www.wvpublic.org/section/arts-culture/2020-11-20/a-family-cultivates-tradition-with-a-nearly-forgotten-tomato[/url]

Thanks @seaeagle for sharing! I always love to know histories of what I am growing.

[QUOTE=hl2601;768654]Thanks @seaeagle for sharing! I always love to know histories of what I am growing.[/QUOTE]


You are welcome


Here is another article with more information



[url]https://www.wvpublic.org/section/arts-culture/2021-05-20/a-new-generation-takes-up-a-tomato-tradition[/url]


The cross - Ponderosa and Pritchard tomatoes

How interesting! Thank you for posting these and I think It’s great what you are doing.
KarenO

nothing like the plants I have been buying lately
3 of the plants didn't even look like mortgage lifter.
2 had wispy leaves and the third has tomatoes that don't look familiar.

seaeagle, thanks for the articles. I bumped another article I posted a while back. Yes, it is a low acid tomato. Personally I like a little more acid, but it has a nice flavor.

I responded to the requests I received. Here's a few pics from this year. My largest one was a little bigger than a pound, but my friend grew a plant I gave him, and got one a pound and a half. He grows in containers also. The other photo was taken when the plants were about 8' tall. They ended up at about 12'. Six out of eight plants are still doing surprisingly well. We have canned over 100 lbs. The plants can be a little fickle when young. I have had some weird leaf issues, but they worked their way through. This year was the best growing year. They grew best not grown with other varieties. Was also pleased how they continued to set some fruit in the hot, humid weather. I am anxious to see how others plants grow. Please post some pictures.

Helo edweather
I have been growing The Mortgage Liter discovered by Radiator Charlie from 1930's.

What are the difference, Amen???

Not sure, have only grown this one.

Tatiana's TOMATObase lists about 16 "Mortgage Lifter" varieties. Like "Brandywine" in a variety's name, Mortgage Lifter is often used.

Hello "Tomato"

How is Tatiana doing these days, because I miss her here at Tomatoville. I will look-up her Data Base for more information.

Hi Ed, I’ve been debating about asking for seeds, but I think I might wait. So many seeds, not enough time. How would you describe the taste of this variety? You’ve moved a long way from Syracuse and I’m from there originally. But the growing season in Syracuse and Montreal are probably closer vs where you are now. How do you think ML would do in a more northern clime?