I prefer as few seeds and gel as possible, and no "mealy" texture.

here's what I'm looking at now - if any of you have first-hand experience with any of these (and some are common) I'd love to hear what you have to say! Thanks!

Giant Belgium
Ponderosa Pink
Mortgage Lifter
Beefsteak
Bradley

I will say what's gotten me on this path - my grocery store is selling some kind of heirloom-looking tomato right now that is flattish, deeply ribbed, medium to large (4" to 6+" in diameter) and has the delicious old-timey flavor I remember as a kid. I forgot how good tomatoes could taste! The meat is smooth and juicy, but some are a bit seedy/gel. I think it might be Beefsteak. Whatever it is, it doesn't look like one that would hold/ship well, so I think it is locally grown. Anyhow, it got me looking at heirloom tomatoes for my garden this year. I really only have room for 2 or three varieties - so far I'm leaning towards Beefsteak, Giant Belgium, and Bradley or Mortgage Lifter (only because I read about it all the time)

Thanks again!

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And I'm assuming that you were referring to the 5 varieties you then listed. Right?

I've grown the first three you listed but compared to many other varieties that I've grown those would be wayyyy down on my list to grow again.

But If I have to pick one from your list, I suppose it would be Ponderosa, aka Ponderosa Pink, and that b/c Ponderosa was used by the Henderson Seed Co to develop Wins All , released in 1924.

There was a naming contest they held and the winning name was Wins All, although many spell it, wrongly, as Winsall.

I've grown Ponderosa but I much prefer Wins All which does have some Ponderosa genes in it.( smile)

Carolyn

As has been mentioned numerous times, taste is a "Subjective thing", while one person might rave about "X Tomato" another might say it was too bland or too acid or whatever. So odds of getting something You like are "probably better" with the tomatoes you see mentioned the most in that post.

Giant Belgium is always in my garden, nice big great tasting fruit, and the first year I planted it, the plant was huge and produced well into the fall.

I know how hard it is to make the decisions.
My wife insisted on giving one of my green tomato plants that I just bought to her Twin Sister.
Now which one, Aunt Ruby's German Green or Green Giant, do I keep? After an hour or so of reviewing them both, I kept the Green Giant, and that's just 2 maters (LOL)!

Gary

My list is pretty long because I got seed crazy. But I'm looking forward most to Costoluto Genovese, Cuostralee, and Gildo Pietroboni. I like the red ribs too! Hopefully I'll like something on the list, and can use that as a benchmark for the future.

And, ultimately, I decided to freeze instead of can anyway!

(eta spelling)

anyhow, I appreciate all the names to check out. Someone steered me to San Marzano for paste, I think I'll give that a try.
I've read a lot of negative reviews on Costoluto Genovese, that's one I almost ordered too. I hope it works out for you!
I'll look up Momotaro tonight, too. I've decided against Mortgage Lifter, Beefsteak, and Bradley based on many reviews I've read today, but I have to say I like the sound of Giant Belgium, so that's staying on the list for now. I'm going to see if I can find out from my grocer what I've been buying lately, I really love the taste of it. I'm 99% sure they don't know and they won't tell me the source though. of course I don't know what conditions they were grown in, either...

I found the "tomatoes for 2013" thread earlier and I'm going to give it another good look-over. I need to order my seeds by the end of next week to get going so I don't have much time left! lol

Thanks everyone : )

I definitely heard mixed reviews on the Genovese, but I couldn't resist the ribs, and the people who like it, really like it.

Oh, also, be sure to take into consideration where people are growing -- some of the tomatoes I've had terrible luck with have been winners in other climates. I look everything up in the database and hope for a southern recommendation.

I may go grocery shopping again tomorrow, if I do I'll be getting more and I'll post a pic of them here, but so many tomatoes look identical - at least to my untrained eyes! Thanks for the sadly obvious idea of trying the seed from the tomatoes, I'm still chuckling over that! ; )

And just an odd note on constoluto genovese -- it is grown at Monticello, where they have tomato tastings every Saturday in August. Jefferson started growing tomatoes in 1809. There's a good book by Peter Hatch, the director of Monticello's gardens, called "A Rich Spot of Earth." It's hard to believe that before the 19th century tomatoes weren't at all appreciated. Hatch quotes some northern european opinions of tomatoes as having "a ranke and stinking savour" and "slimy juice and watery pulp." I'm guessing no one on here shares that opinion. :)

And later this summer there's the annual large event at Monticello with many speakers/workshops, etc. You might check out Monticello's webpage for the dates and times.There are many so called historic varieties, such as the various Costoluto's such as Genovese, Fiorentino, etc., that I think have lost a lot of the taste, etc, that they used to have having passed down through many hands over time. Maramande, a French heirloom, has suffered equally..

Costoluto means "ribbed" in Italian and the various ones just indicate geographically where they came from, in a generic sense.

Genovese from Genoa, fiorentino from Florence, etc.

Not all varieties grown at Monticello these days are historic ones and last Iknew Southern Exposure still had a seed rack in the gift shop.

Carolyn

Thanks for the info on Monticello. I've never been, but would like to visit this summer. I'll check the page for which event is worth the drive.

Caryl

I almost went to Monticello last summer but it was too far from the hotel. Now I'm even sorrier I missed it.

Two more to look up, Kosovo and Tsar Kolokol. I'm not ordering any more until fall but are both on my short (hah!) list.

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Not a problem at all since I noted above that not all that's grown at Monticello now are heirlooms and should have added that I don't think that Jefferson grew it either,

I'd have to go back in thoe Jefferson garden books to check, but no way amI going to do that. LOL

Jefferson brought back many varieties from France and grew them, that I remember.

And yes, I've interacted with Peter Hatch before, sharing info about varieties of old.

Carolyn

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You've made my day by mentioning two varieties that I was the first to SSE list and also spread them around for trial at the several seed places where I do send seeds for trial.

You must like pink heart varieties to chose those two, I'm a fan of hearts as well and have grown lots of different varieties.

Links for both of them from Tania's wonderful tomato data base, with basic traits,comments from others, and click on seed availablity to find which seed vendors list them. Tania herself sells seeds for over 600 varieties, and I almost forgot, pictures as well.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Kosovo

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Tsar-Kolokol

Carolyn