BTW, T&M catalog claims that their BR is 105 days compared to a smaller version I googled up at 75 days. Here's the T& M photo, looks nicely colored and of good size :

105 days? Really? I didn't know there were such unfashionably late varieties. You'd think someone would've selected for some more punctual production by now!

Sorry, I haven't grown it, probably couldn't in Z5.

Black Russian is medium to good. If I were rating black tomatoes, I would put J.D.'s Special C-Tex and Black Cherry as the two best flavored with Black From Tula and Paul Robeson next. Black Russian would come in very close behind those. It is a good tomato and worth growing.

Fusion

instar, yes I thought that was rather long too (105 days) but that is what it states in the catalog.

Thanks Fusion, it seems interesting enough to get for free :)
Oh, and I was wrong about the other tomato's name. It's not Tomato Country, but called "Country Taste", an F1 Hybrid.

When in doubt go for the heirloom... :) I'd shoot for the black russian - it looks lovely.

ALSO, 105 days in the T&M catalog (I believe) refers to FROM SEED, not from transplant.

Well, I went ahead and ordered both tomato varieties. I'll try to remember to post the results I get from them here next summer.

Fusion, where can someone get J.D's special C Tex seed??
Winemaker

I am also interested in where someone could get J.D.'s special C Tex seeds. It doesn't seem to be sold in any of the catalogs I currently have.

Happy New Year all

Hello Fusion
I would like to know is the J D Special and C Tex Seeds are Heirlooms?

Hello Vgkg From Virginia

I am enjoying Brandywines Tomatoes Stored in my Garage at this present date, with supply to last one more month, and i am making good old fashion Brandywine soups my family.

I was able to save my Heirloom Tomato Crop, but ended up being the poorest Farmer in Virginia, Amen!!

Well, I did Learn much Knowledge of saving a crop during a drought season and proper storage of Tomatoes for winter months.

Take Care

Bumping up to update ---

Well I planted both the Black Russian and Country Taste last week and both plants look strong and healthy so far. I expect blooms with 2 weeks and will update as the season progresses. I planted both varieties in 3 different plots around the yard so as not to be biased on soil conditions, lighting, etc.

I've been growing Black Russian for about five years now. Not only is it a wonderful, flavorful tomato but my friends drive me crazy trying to get me to give them all away. That beautiful chocolate brown color would be enough, but I honestly think they're my favorite tomatoes just for the taste alone. I hope yours do well!

That's good to hear Caseyst!
Both varieties (Black Russian & Country Taste) are now in bloom and the plants are very robust and strong. The blooms on the B Russian are rather large so I'm hoping for rather large tomatoes too. I look forward to comparing BR's qualities to the Cherokee Purples I've been growing for several years now. Updates to follow....

Update :
Both varieties are still looking good with robust, strong plants. Both are producing a nice crop of tomatoes though the Black Russians are more irregular in shape with a few catfacings that I removed. The Country Taste tomatoes lack any catfacing and are more rounded and smooth (no ribs) and have set more tomatoes than the BRs, but it's easy to see that the BRs will be larger in size once ripe. Still a bit early to get a sign of BER, no sign of it yet on any of my varieties and I usually get some BER. I'm shooting for a July 4th harvest.

I'm just north of you in Gloucester, growing Black Russian for my second year. I grew one plant last year, the fruit was medium in size and had a good black tomato flavor. The production was low, but I think there were lots of contributing factors so i decided to put in a few plants again this year in a better location. I have several fruit, it was starting to set fruit well when that brutal heat wave hit. I've got my fingers crossed for July 4 as well, but a week or so more might be more realistic. I think the Cherokee Purple will be there, though:) Also growing some other blacks -- Black Krim, Black Seaman, Black Cherry, Black from Tula, Paul Robeson, Roger's Best Black, and Carbon. Last year the Robeson and Tula, and of course the Black Cherry were my favorites, but the BR compared well to those. Counting the days:)

Cheers!
JP

So is Black Russian RL or PL ?

We are HUGE Black from Tula fans - I have seed for Black Russian but haven't heard much about it to try.
Looks like 2009 will be the year for it ;)

~ Tom

Here is a link that might be useful:

tomstrees, the Black Russian seed I obtained thru T&M have produced Regular shaped leaves.

UPDATE :

I like Black Russian :)
It's color is similar to Cherokee Purple but the plants are 7' tall now (semi-suckered/staked) as CPs are usually 5' tall max before fading away. The BR is still kicking out new tomatoes and it has thin deep green veins spaced where lobes might be (not a lobed tomato) running from top to bottom thru it's crimsom/purple color (you can see this in one from the top post above with pic, not all of them have this, maybe 30%). Green shoulders and several have belly buttons on the bottom. Not perfectly round but a slightly semi flattened shape. Taste is very good, juicy, and tomatoie. I still need to do some more precise comparisons between it and CP overall but BR is more productive for me and produces larger tomatoes. No sign of disease or blight so far.

As for the Country Taste - It's color is the same as typical hybrids with an orangy-red hue. Very nice strong plants, very productive, good tomatoes as vine ripened. Sizes vary from Med to Large.

I'll try to update BR as the season continues, am curious to see if it goes all the way to first frost unlike CPs which peter out by Sept for me.

Now that the season is over (frost hit) I have to add that the Black Russians didn't make it past mid-Sept, nor did the CPs. But the Country Taste did. Overall it was the Pink Brandywines as the best performers all the way to frosting. In fact we just made 16 Qts of Chow-Chow from the green Brandies and what other few plants were hanging on. Hard to top BWs here but will keep the B.Russians next year, as well as my CPs, Old Flames & Kelloggs Breakfast. Eating last ripe ones this week :(

BR was one o the few tomotoes to ripen naturally
for me this year.

I also think 105 must be from seed, not transplant.

I've grown BR also this year. They are delicious. I think elskunkito is correct, 105 days is from seed planting.

I grew BR last year and was surprised. The tomato was hardy, prolific and tasted great. The nursery where I obtained the plants grew them out of curiosity and they sold well. My only suggestion is to grow them where no other tomato plant has grown. This is standard advice on any tomato plant! I did not canned but froze instead and they freeze well. They did not seemed to be bothered by insects. I hope the nursery grows them again!

I grew Black Russian last year and had tomatoes about 75 days from planting. I personally did not like it at all. It was very prolific but did not hold up well and it just had no taste or texture compared to black from Tula. I'm not growing it again. Too many better varieties out there.