If you could only grow one variety.....

[Ricky Shaw]

With only one variety I would alternate every other year with Sungold and Crnkovic Yugoslavian. Both have exceptional flavor, grow well in containers, and are outstanding producers.

[bigpinks]

I have heavy clay soil. With a lighter loamy one I might go with Cherokee Purple.

[HudsonValley]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

Pls tell us more .

Linda

Glovel is a sibling variety to Marglobe -- it has the same parentage, with genders reversed, and was introduced in 1936. It reportedly has some blight resistance (per a USDA publication of 1936) and holds well off the vine for a few days. The fruit is medium, pink, and (to my palette) the perfect flavor for an all-purpose tomato. The plant is a productive indeterminate, but I found it easy to grow and well-behaved -- it doesn't sprawl like Marglobe. In my garden, it was far more productive than Eva Purple Ball, Caspian Pink, Brandywine, and Brandy Boy. I originally got seeds from Victory, and sent a bunch to this year's MMMM as my "desert island" pick. The fruit are described on the Victory Seeds website as mild in flavor, but I thought they had a balanced sweet-tart taste. They were well-reviewed on Heritage Seed Market's site for a while, but are no longer listed there. If I had more seeds left, I'd make a "seeds available" post.

This year I'll grow Glovel again, alongside some other older pink and red varieties like Arkansas Traveler, and see what happens...

[Labradors2]

Sounds like a glowing recommendation Hudson Valley. Many thanks

I'll be interested to hear how well Glovel stacks up against Arkansas Traveler since I've grown that one.

Linda

[walt456]

Big Beef. It has the production, taste and disease resistance I wish I could find in more heirlooms. Sadly most seem to have one or two of the three.

[Cole_Robbie]

Mat-Su Express

[CamuMahubah]

Originally Posted by walt456

Big Beef. It has the production, taste and disease resistance I wish I could find in more heirlooms. Sadly most seem to have one or two of the three.

I agree I've tasted Big Beef vs Big Boy vs Better Boy vs Park's Whopper(close second place, so sweet!) vs Early Girl vs Roma vs any heirloom and it still has something that most don't. Peeps are gonna cry foul that heirlooms trump Big Beef but it's more of a tomato taste that I expect from a red tomato. I've met brandy and krim and quite a few others(and yes I know they aren't reds) but none of them have the balance of sweet and acid that Big Beef has...that said I will take Early Girl over all others based on my climate and and I can always starve EG for water and get surreal flavor. EG will never quite match Big Beef because she has too much "twang".

I recommend you try Beefmaster. It is the only hybrid that beats Big Beef but you will never get the production or earliness that Big Beef has.

Big Beef is way good for all the resistance and earliness bred into it. If I were a betting man I bet that big beef has the same parents as Celebrity with some good ol'Crimson Cushion thrown in the mix. OFC I don't gamble.

[bigpinks]

No doubt a wonderful cultivar.

[PaulTandberg]

CamuMahuba,

From your experience, have you noted if the Whopper is earlier than Big Beef?

I'm planning on growing Park's Whopper next to my Big Beef this year. I am primarily interested determining if the Whopper is indeed earlier. Per Park's description, the Whopper's maturity rating is 65 days (vs. Big Beef's 73). I'm aware of the caveats, but if by chance the Whooper really is a week or so earlier than Big Beef, that will earn it a place at the table.

[walt456]

I plant 40-50 varieties of heirlooms every year and love the experience but very few of those varieties make a return. I have around a dozen tried and true heirlooms that make the list yearly. I can't imagine my garden without the Big Beefs though. They are my failsafe tomato. They are the variety that lets me be ok with the other's misbehaving. I've grown Beefmaster from the local nursery and it was a great tasting tomato but as you said it lacks in other ways.

I'm afraid I don't appreciate the "zip" that Early Girl offers. It is a workhorse though.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Big Beef out-performed Park's Whopper in every way last year (the only year I grew PW). PW was late, stingy, and tasteless for us. YMMV

Nan

[CamuMahubah]

Originally Posted by PaulTandberg

CamuMahuba,

From your experience, have you noted if the Whopper is earlier than Big Beef?

I'm planning on growing Park's Whopper next to my Big Beef this year. I am primarily interested determining if the Whopper is indeed earlier. Per Park's description, the Whopper's maturity rating is 65 days (vs. Big Beef's 73). I'm aware of the caveats, but if by chance the Whooper really is a week or so earlier than Big Beef, that will earn it a place at the table.

I grew one Whopper and it was prolific but I don't remember it being early. My neighbor grows nothing but Whoppers and she always has big tomatoes before I do but she buys garden soil and mixes with her soil which I plan to do this year.

Whopper has a sweeter taste that I remember from childhood and it does indeed rival BgBf.

[PaulTandberg]

Thanks, both of you.

I guess I will find out what happens in my garden this summer, but there are enough vagaries involved, I am interested in what others have noted (every year and every garden are a little different... often, a lot different).

I will be growing Jet Star, Whopper next to my Big Beefs this year, and I will see what I see.

[sic transit gloria]

It's too difficult to pick. Maybe Earl's Faux. Maybe KBX.

[decherdt]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

Something black. Deep, earthly favor, juicy and sweet.

...and productive...Black Altai