Thread: Schilling Giant
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Old February 1, 2012   #3
carolyn137
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a
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The original name was Shilling Giant, no "c" in Shilling and seed was given to Craig L ( nctomatoman) by Tom Blose of PA in 1992 when Craig had just moved to NC.

I SSE listed it in 1993 as Shilling Giant, which is the original and proper name and with the seeds directly from Craig and I did not call it a heart.

Over time I have no idea how the name was changed or how it morphed into a heart, but here's a bit of what I wrote in my SSE listing for 1993:

75-85 days, very large indet plants with wispy foliage, excellent yield of 1.5 to 3 lb fruits, elongated fruit with green shoulders, some cracking at the stem end, fruit soft and juicy with excellent taste.

The above from the 1993 SSE YEarbook.

In 1994 Craig also listed it, noted he got the seeds from Tom Blose in 1992 and wrote the following from Tom's original seeds:

60 days (????, CJM),, indet, very vigorous, unusal shape, deep globe with a point, very large to 1.5 lb fruits, very soft and juicy, good flavor.

Bill Minkey also SSE listed it in 94 and breifly said, seeds from me in 93;

large elongated fruit, excellent taste, productive.

And trust me, all three of us had grown many different heart varieties by that time and would know one when we saw one.

One of my biggest disappoinments for my 2012 seed offer is that I didn't get enough seed for what turned out to be an Orange Minsk Heart, which is normally a beefsteak. The seeds had been sent to me by I think Big Daddy, altho I'd have to check, and I never thought that the seeds from the hearts he found on his OM plant would turn out to be hearts since weather conditions are known to change fruit shapes and in some cases make beefsteaks look like hearts,

So not only has the original spelling of the variety been changed by someone somewhere but it's entirely possible that someone saw a true heart saved seeds from that and that's how it came to be known as a red heart.

I think I still have a vial of those original seeds around somewhere and it might be amusing to see if Craig could wake them up, I could also try but he raises all my plants for me, so I'd let him do it anyway, he would also have seeds b'c like me, he's always saved seeds of anything he's grown, and confirm that it never did start out as a heart.

Well, it's been fun once more digging into the past to find out what once was and no longer is. And now time to go to bed, perchance to dream, of not having to pack tomato seeds tomorrow.
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