Recommend me a GWR

[Cole_Robbie]

If GWR makes a good salsa or enchilada sauce, would it not possibly make a good tasting pasta sauce or ketchup too?

Sure. But it's going to be easier if you use a GWR with a lower water content that is more like a paste tomato.

[Worth1]

I'm sorry but to me sauce and salsa mean the same thing.
One is Spanish and the other is English.
A green spaghetti sauce would be a total turn off to me as well as ketchup.
Worth

Originally Posted by seaeagle

Does a GWR tomato have the lycopene and other important cancer fighting antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin?Did a really quick search and got conflicting views on this.Will research a little more maybe later.It may not matter to some, but I think it is an important question.

I don't know for sure, but my impression was that they didn't have lycopene in significant amounts, but rather chlorophyll instead. I think mostly only red tomatoes have lycopene in significant amounts.

Originally Posted by imp

Okay, dumb question here as it pertains to taste and I know a lot of factors affect how a fruit tastes.

But, having never eaten a green when ripe tomato, what do they taste like?

Do they taste like a ripe red or other color tomato? ( Such as I know many of the bigger yellos have a sweeter maybe a fruitier taste in general.)

I've only eaten two kinds, so far: Green Giant and Green Zebra.

Green Giant tasted rich (in a good way), but not sweet, to me. My mom thought it was sweet, however (I'm not sure I understand that; it didn't taste particularly sweet to me). It was not sour or acidic (my mom agreed with me there, and was very surprised and weirded out by this, since it was green). Anyway, it tasted very much like a tomato (not a cantaloupe or any other fruit). However, it tasted like a really, really, really good tomato. The juice (it was very juicy, and fairly soft) was very flavorful. The tomato was not smokey-flavored. The smell of the tomato didn't linger after I ate it (some tomatoes are kind of like garlic there, although it's sometimes a pleasant lingering). It was a clean taste.

The Green Zebra tomato I first had tasted like normal tomato (but mine had nitrogen soon before I ate the first one, which probably spoiled the taste). One or two I had later tasted better (and had unique qualities), but I don't remember what they tasted like, although I do remember that they didn't taste like Green Giant (although they were reasonably good, I preferred Green Giant, which is one of my favorite-tasting tomatoes). Green Zebra didn't seem juicy, but it did have a significant amount of gel on the seeds. Green Zebra tomatoes seem to keep well and hold together well (they're firm). These tomatoes are normally supposed to be prolific, but I've read they don't like drought, and I gave it plenty of drought. So, I only got a few tomatoes (although I'm happy about that, because the next generation should hopefully be at least a little more drought-tolerant).

This year, I want to grow the following GWR tomatoes (with links to where I got the seeds):

* Cherokee Green Pear
* Green Pear (I'd love to hear people's experience on this one, especially with regard to drought-tolerance, hang-time, storage life, and such)
* Green Tiger
* Malachite Box—I don't know if these are heat-tolerant, but I suspect they are.
* Maybe Aunt Ruby's German Green—I don't know if these are heat-tolerant. If anyone knows, please let me know.
* Maybe Lime Green Salad—I don't believe they're heat-tolerant, though.
* If I have room, I'd like to plant Green Giant and Green Zebra again, from saved seed. I'd like to see how they do after they adapt to my area for more generations. Green Giant wasn't heat-tolerant. Green Zebra could have done better in better conditions, but I think it was heat-tolerant (although I didn't give it much of a chance to prove that it was).

[Worth1]

Not to put a damp rag on things but people could do a lot worse than Lime Green Salad Emerald Ever Green and Aunt Ruby's German Green.
These are very good tomatoes.

To me Green Zebra is a poor way to start out on green when ripe tomatoes.
Worth

[Cole_Robbie]

I wasn't a fan, either. I'm trying Zebra Rita in 2016.

[walt456]

For me Humph is the best GWR. I've tried Aunt Ruby's, Absinthe, Cherokee Green and Green Giant Absinthe and Green Giant I didn't really care for. Aunt Ruby's and Cherokee Green were both good tomatoes, but Humph really stood out. It's one of the two varieties I plant every year.

[imp]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I'm sorry but to me sauce and salsa mean the same thing.
One is Spanish and the other is English.
A green spaghetti sauce would be a total turn off to me as well as ketchup.
Worth

For me, sauce is mostly smooth in texture and a salsa is chunky and with very different seasonings.

Alternating layers of green sauce and red sauce for a christmas lasagna might be good, too, depending on the taste.

Thanks for all the thoughts on varieties- guess I shall have to try a bunch and see what spins it for us.

Oh lord, more seeds!!! LOL.

[Deborah]

Zebra Rita! My precious Mom's name is Reda! I HAVE TO GROW THIS ONE!

[Cole_Robbie]

I have about ten seeds of it, Deborah. PM me your address and I can mail you a few seeds.

[imp]

Originally Posted by shule1

I've only eaten two kinds, so far: Green Giant and Green Zebra.

Green Giant tasted rich (in a good way), but not sweet, to me. My mom thought it was sweet, however (I'm not sure I understand that; it didn't taste particularly sweet to me). It was not sour or acidic (my mom agreed with me there, and was very surprised and weirded out by this, since it was green). Anyway, it tasted very much like a tomato (not a cantaloupe or any other fruit). However, it tasted like a really, really, really good tomato. The juice (it was very juicy, and fairly soft) was very flavorful. The tomato was not smokey-flavored. The smell of the tomato didn't linger after I ate it (some tomatoes are kind of like garlic there, although it's sometimes a pleasant lingering). It was a clean taste.

The Green Zebra tomato I first had tasted like normal tomato (but mine had nitrogen soon before I ate the first one, which probably spoiled the taste). One or two I had later tasted better (and had unique qualities), but I don't remember what they tasted like, although I do remember that they didn't taste like Green Giant (although they were reasonably good, I preferred Green Giant, which is one of my favorite-tasting tomatoes). Green Zebra didn't seem juicy, but it did have a significant amount of gel on the seeds. Green Zebra tomatoes seem to keep well and hold together well (they're firm). These tomatoes are normally supposed to be prolific, but I've read they don't like drought, and I gave it plenty of drought. So, I only got a few tomatoes (although I'm happy about that, because the next generation should hopefully be at least a little more drought-tolerant).

This year, I want to grow the following GWR tomatoes (with links to where I got the seeds):

* Cherokee Green Pear
* Green Pear (I'd love to hear people's experience on this one, especially with regard to drought-tolerance, hang-time, storage life, and such)
* Green Tiger
* Malachite Box—I don't know if these are heat-tolerant, but I suspect they are.
* Maybe Aunt Ruby's German Green—I don't know if these are heat-tolerant. If anyone knows, please let me know.
* Maybe Lime Green Salad—I don't believe they're heat-tolerant, though.
* If I have room, I'd like to plant Green Giant and Green Zebra again, from saved seed. I'd like to see how they do after they adapt to my area for more generations. Green Giant wasn't heat-tolerant. Green Zebra could have done better in better conditions, but I think it was heat-tolerant (although I didn't give it much of a chance to prove that it was).

Thanks for the rec's and the in depth comments, too!

But, dang, you linked me to BC and that is such a baaaad place for me to go to- I have two saved orders there and oh my....

So many choices, will have to try the Green Giant for sure, and thinking over others still.

[imp]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I wasn't a fan, either. I'm trying Zebra Rita in 2016.

Originally Posted by Deborah

Zebra Rita! My precious Mom's name is Reda! I HAVE TO GROW THIS ONE!

Hmm, maybe make a green bloody mary with tequila instead of nasty vodka ...

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by imp

For me, sauce is mostly smooth in texture and a salsa is chunky and with very different seasonings.

Alternating layers of green sauce and red sauce for a christmas lasagna might be good, too, depending on the taste.

Thanks for all the thoughts on varieties- guess I shall have to try a bunch and see what spins it for us.

Oh lord, more seeds!!! LOL.

It is just a play on words and you are right we consider sauce to be smooth and salsa to be a little chunky.
If you buy the smooth sauce made in Mexico that is sold in Mexico it is called salsa.
The chunkier stuff is called salsa cruda.

This is why I am growing green when ripe tomatoes this year because I dont like tomatillos and I want to make green salsa.

worth

[natural]

My favorites from last year were (in order of preference):

Wild Thyme
Cherokee Lime Stripes
Glacial Zebra (a potato leaf version of GZ)
Cherokee Lime
Cherokee Green Pear
Esmeralda Golosina
Malachite Box


My all-time GWR favorites (non-dwarf, non-cherry) are:

Grubs Mystery Green
Wild Thyme
Green Giant
Spears Tennessee Green
Cherokee Lime Stripes

[Deborah]

Thank you Cole!