Anney, the Hat one ( too lazy to spell the first word, LOL) is said to be a paste tomato? I know many who have grown it, some list it in the SSE YEarbook and no one has called it a paste tomato. I was wsent some fruits and I sure wouldn't call it a paste tomato, actually far from it. ( wink)

it looks like your Goose Creek fruits are going to be red. About two months ago I got into a friendly debate with several others about what Goose Creek should be as it was originally described, and lots of online research went on, what it is now, and I think the best way to summarize it is that there's seeds for both pinks AND a reds circulating.

What was the source of your GC seeds? Just curious.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: M Hat from Tania's T-base

Well, hell, Carolyn. You're right. The Monomakh's Hat is considered to be a heart, and the hat was not a bishop's hat but the hat that Russian tsars (or czars) wore! I cannot trust my memory any more, though I suppose it has always been questionable about some things... :-)

And I cannot remember the pronunciation OR spelling of that tomato -- I call it Mahock-Mahooty's Hat to myself. Ridiculous, I know. In an effort to get it right, I've gone over the name again and again while looking at the spelling and STILL can't get it right if I have to rely on my memory. :-)

Anyway, I was sent the Goose Creek seeds in a trade by a GW member, and she had purchased them from a reputable source. She also said they were red, and after that discussion you mentioned, I was satisfied that these would be the correct version, or at least the one I wanted!

Carolyn, I was wrong again. I checked my emails, and the GWbber who sent them to me said she'd gotten them from Gleckler's and they listed their Goose Creeks as pink.

But I agree that these look like they'll be red instead of pink. I'll check the skin color when they're ripe to be sure.

Carolyn, I was wrong again. I checked my emails, and the GWbber who sent them to me said she'd gotten them from Gleckler's and they listed their Goose Creeks as pink.

****

that is true that Adam Gleckler lists it as pink and that's actually how the discussion I referred to above came about b'c someone emed him and said that GC was Red, not pink, but as I said, if one goes way back and takes a look at what Jimmy Williams first said about GC, he the ultimate source of that variety, one finds that it WAS pink at one time.

Are you growing the Gleckler seeds or the seeds that your seed source saved from the Gleckler seeds? I ask b'c the pink alone is jsut as stable as the red alone and I'ts unusual to see a pink go red ASAP with out an epidermis muation as opposed to a crossed variety.

Many sites and internet searches were done to confirm that there are both pink and red versions that are circulating so I told Adam to keep his original blurb which is just as correct as if it was the red version that he listed.

BTW, have you checked out Glecklers?if not you might want to do that. When Adam restarted the company there were many of us at a different message site who sent many hard to find, unique varieties to him b'c that's what he needed to compete with others. And again this past Spring several of us did it again.

he calls me from time to time and did so a couple of days ago and everything germinated fine and there's lots of new great varieties that should be listed for 2011.

Carolyn

Carolyn
Are you growing the Gleckler seeds or the seeds that your seed source saved from the Gleckler seeds?

I don't know which she sent, but I got the impression they were from the packet she received from Gleckler, not from seeds she'd saved herself.

As I say, I'll check the skin color after it ripens and post that here. Maybe by then I'll be able to contact the person who sent the seeds to verify that they were from the Gleckler pack and not seeds she saved from that pack.

I've been growing Goose Creek for 5 seasons now and mine are always bright pink. I was given the seeds by Michael Johnson years ago.

That's Michael Johnson in the UK and his seed source was what?

As I said, GC seeds are out there in both red and pink versions but the first ones that I and several others knew were pink, as described by Jimmy Williams himself. And that was way before Laurel got the seeds for GC and started seeling plants and I don't know through whose hands the seeds went before she started selling plants.

Jimmy Williams tried to patent GC and the patent application is online and makes for interesting reading. But no patent was given, for several reasons I'm sure.

Well, I might as well tell you the rest of the story here. I was contacted by a fact checker from a magazine that was doing an article on Jimmy Williams and wanted my opinion of the claims he made for the variety. And that's when I first started looking into it really seriously b'c at the time that Jimmy said the seeds came from the Caribbean there were no smooth looking tomatoes anywhere and that didn't happen until maybe 70 years later when the first smooth, not bumpy lumpy ones of previous years existed.

I checked with my friend Andy Smith who wrote the best book on the History of the Tomato that I know of and he agreed with me.

I have no idea if that article ran or not.

Carolyn

Thanks, Carolyn. I love it when you tell the story/history of a particular tomato variety! I'm growing Goose Creek for the first time this year - obtained seed from a GW member. I think he got them from Laurel, so mine will probably be red. -JoAnne

Hey Annie (and Carolyn),

Annie if you are growing the Goose Creek seeds I sent you, they came directly from the Gleckers package when I mailed them out. I would be interested in knowing how they turn out since I ran out of time and space (in my seed starting set up) and decided not to plant GC this year.

I'll have a lot more space next spring since they won't have to stay in the house until the weather is warm enough to plant outdoors.

Betsy

Betsy

I know you sent me some Monomakh's Hat seeds and I think some Goose Creek seeds as well -- it appears you did. I do know that I made a trade for Goose Creek with another GWebber, too.

At any rate, I'll check the epidermis of the Goose Creek tomatoes later when ripe to see if they're red or pink and post it here.

I think the discussion about what color Goose Creek is to which Carolyn 127 was referring is linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Question re Goose Creek tomato

OK, Anney's pics show bigger toms than Lee's in the previous post linked above by Betsey. I'm growing for the first time. Seeds from a GW member and I think they are supposed to be pink. At this stage my plant is HUGE and covered in green fruit and they look like they will top out at Lee's size...final results about two weeks away.

Carolyn, That's the correct Michael Johnson but I don't know where he got his seeds. As I recall the ones he sent me were just dried on a paper napkin. He must have saved them but from where, who knows??

I think the discussion about what color Goose Creek is to which Carolyn 127 was referring is linked below

****

C'mon Anney, my birthday was Saturday and I'm still carolyn137 and thank heavens that birthday didn't bump me up to being carolyn147. LOL

Thanks so much for finding that link b'c it adds even more including the Google Images of pink and red GC as well as my comments re both red and pink listings for it in the SSE YEarbooks.

And I was glad to see that at least I was consistent in the comments I made back in April with those I've made in this thread. LOL

So for those with an abiding interest in the variety Goose Creek do take a look at the other thread that Anney linked to.

Carolyn

Carolyn, LOL! Haven't you reached the point where you start counting backwards yet? :-) Besides, we KNOW you are not a 137 y.o.!!!!!

I think you have me beat birthday-wise by just about a month or 6 weeks! So for a memory-present, this is for you from innocent times!

FWIW

The Goose Creek tomatoes I'm growing are reds. I peeled the large one pictured above a few minutes ago that ripened, and the skin is VERY yellow, looks almost orange even when I removed as much of the tomato tissue from it as I could.

Since what I have been growing as Goose Creek are not really Goose Creek what should I call them?? I do like them whatever they are but they do not meet the description for this variety. I can't believe that for the past several years I didn't notice they were pink instead of red but they are.