"Homestead" - A pleasant surprise!
 

After losing most of my "grown from seed" seedlings this past spring in a late frost, I purchased most, but not all; of my varieties from nurseries. Since I couldn't find all of the open pollinated varieties I was growing, I bought a few varieties which had familiar sounding names and used them to fill some empty spaces. One variety I planted was simply labeled "Homestead". My memory of the variety indicated it is a determinate, commercial variety. Known commercial varieties normally are not something I want to grow, but I had a space to fill. I had very low expectations for the variety so I didn't pay a lot of attention to it after I planted it.

The plant turned out to be a semi determinate which retained a low growth habit and while I attempted to train it to a trellis, it seemed determined to simply sprawl. It produced a huge number of medium sized fruit which were almost all blemish free with a rich, slightly acidic, flavor. As most determinates do, it ripened almost all of it's fruit within a week of each other. I expected the plant to die in the early heat, but it didn't. It started growing again and even bloomed again setting a few small fruit in the heat. Right now, it is waiting for the severe heat to pass and seems ready to bloom and fruit in the cooler fall. It also seemed to possess good disease resistance and never had a problem while plants around it were dieing.

I did a little research on the variety and found that "Homestead" has a few variations such as Homestead 24 and Homestead 240. I have no idea which variety I actually grew and I thought so little of it that I didn't save any seed. I'm hoping to be able to save some seed from a fall fruit. I don't want this variety to be one of those I really like, but can never find again.

Has anyone else found the variety to be as good as I think it is?

Ted

I grew a Homestead from seed last year in a container. You are right, it was described as a determinate on the seed packet but it was more like a semi-determinate. I remember it was recommended as a good performer in very hot climates. I'm not much of a container grower of tomatoes, but that variety did very well for me and had good flavor.

Pics from last year of that plant on August 17th.

I also grew from seed and in a container and had quite good results also.