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Petronius_II · February 17, 2012

Hi George, I'm wondering if you can tell us more about the two types of Santorini tomato.

My perception about these is, probably the reason for their famous flavor is really due to the way they are grown, slowly and with as little irrigation as possible, almost like a wild plant that has to depend on rainwater alone. If I had to guess, I'd guess the genetics of the Santorini tomatoes aren't really all that special. That is, if grown differently, they'd probably turn out to be about the same flavors as any other very small-fruited tomato. But I could so easily be wrong on this. Do you have any experience with them?

On another board in a different forum, some Americans have been very enthused about a variety they call Thessaloniki Oxheart. Somebody saved seeds from a big heart-shaped tomato they picked up at a market in Thessaloniki, and they've been raving about how wonderful it is ever since. These are quite different from the medium-sized round red Thessaloniki, which has been popular among some American gardeners for decades. If you have access to seeds of a tomato like this beloved oxheart tomato, you might want to consider making them available.

Two very similar big red Italian pear tomatoes are also popular among American gardeners, the better-known being usually called Red Pear Franchi:

http://www.growitalian.com/products/...-Red-Pear.html

...and the other being Bavicchi's Red Pear Abruzzese:

http://www.gourmetseed.com/product/T...Abruzzese.html

Do you have anything like these in Greece?

As an aside: I've sold a lot of things on Ebay in the past, and last year for a few months I tried selling garden seed. Did pretty well, had to drop the project for now because I'm severely undercapitalized. So anyway... I was pretty impressed by your Ebay pages. Ebay is, shall we say, a really interesting market. Very competitive, very unpredictable.

February 17, 2012	#21
Petronius_II Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Albuquerque, NM - Zone 7a Posts: 209	Hi George, I'm wondering if you can tell us more about the two types of Santorini tomato. My perception about these is, probably the reason for their famous flavor is really due to the way they are grown, slowly and with as little irrigation as possible, almost like a wild plant that has to depend on rainwater alone. If I had to guess, I'd guess the genetics of the Santorini tomatoes aren't really all that special. That is, if grown differently, they'd probably turn out to be about the same flavors as any other very small-fruited tomato. But I could so easily be wrong on this. Do you have any experience with them? On another board in a different forum, some Americans have been very enthused about a variety they call Thessaloniki Oxheart. Somebody saved seeds from a big heart-shaped tomato they picked up at a market in Thessaloniki, and they've been raving about how wonderful it is ever since. These are quite different from the medium-sized round red Thessaloniki, which has been popular among some American gardeners for decades. If you have access to seeds of a tomato like this beloved oxheart tomato, you might want to consider making them available. Two very similar big red Italian pear tomatoes are also popular among American gardeners, the better-known being usually called Red Pear Franchi: http://www.growitalian.com/products/...-Red-Pear.html ...and the other being Bavicchi's Red Pear Abruzzese: http://www.gourmetseed.com/product/T...Abruzzese.html Do you have anything like these in Greece? As an aside: I've sold a lot of things on Ebay in the past, and last year for a few months I tried selling garden seed. Did pretty well, had to drop the project for now because I'm severely undercapitalized. So anyway... I was pretty impressed by your Ebay pages. Ebay is, shall we say, a really interesting market. Very competitive, very unpredictable.