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Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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Posted by cleo88 6 / MA (My Page) on Sat, Jun 13, 09 at 16:33
| Wow, there are lot of "best tasting?" threads out there, but I didn't see one specifically about pear or plum shaped. There is something so beautiful and balanced about these special shapes, I'm determined to grow one next year - any suggestions?
(I think I was most inspired by a picture that catman (I think) posted - really elegant-looking.)
P.S. I don't need a really productive variety - I just want one that tastes really good! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| Pear and plums, aka paste aka sauce tomatoes (since making sauce and processing is why most grow them), aren't generally held in high regard for fresh eating. But there are a few exceptions. Opalka is one that is consistently rated very high by many here for fresh taste and we like it as well as Howard German a great deal. I have also read about a good one called Martino's (I think) that many say is great for fresh eating. Haven't tried it yet. Yellow Pear gets slammed consistently for blah taste but Red Pear gets somewhat better reviews. Various oxhearts get generally better eating reviews from what I have read. Dave |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| Try Joe's Plum, which is a huge plum about 4-5 inches by about 3" wide. JUST CUTTING IT OPEN is enough to stimulate & satisfy the senses & taste buds!!! Hope this helps! 
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RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| Japanese Black Trifele is pear shaped, and is not a paste/sauce variety. In my garden it is one of the best tasting varieties, flavor is similar to Black Krim, and a little bit meatier fruit. |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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- Posted by trudi_d 7, Long Island (My Page) on
Sat, Jun 13, 09 at 19:10
| I think Speckled Roman is just awesome. I have a friend I shared some plants with a few years back, they reseed well in her garden. Every year she tells how thrilled she is to see the new volunteers--she justs loves this tom. She does a few parties each summer and Speckled Roman is something she makes an awesome tom salad with. Yes, you certainly can cook them and they do make scrumptious sauce, but for fresh eating and its wonderful prettiness I think Speckled Roman is top notch. |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| I am still experimenting with varieties, but a favorite of ours was Giant Valentine - hybrid. I saved and grew the F2 seeds and was disappointed. I have saved the F3 seeds but have not yet grown them. My dad - a grumpy, picky dude - demands these so I have to keep buying the seeds and shipping him the plants...I must admit that they are wonderful, but I'm looking for seeds I can save... |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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Pink San Marzano
71B2
George O'Brien |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| Where can you get those 3 varieties you mentioned, mulio, I've never seen them listed? Thank you. |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| 71B2 might be hard to find but I have given seeds to several people who freely distribute seeds from places like tomatomania. It also has come early blight resistance. Pink San Marzano hasnt been listed in a seed catalog for a while. Again I gave seed out before to others who distribute. So both of these should be around. George O'Brien actually comes out of central NY. I got it from a garlic grower there. |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| Thank you, mulio, I have just planted an inground garden this year and I hope to have some decent seeds to share for next season. I'll open a thread in the next day or so to show off my new raised beds. I've been growing in EarthBoxes for the last few years which I've come to conclude do not give the best results for tomatoes. |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| I've come to conclude do not give the best results for tomatoes. 
They have their place - balconies, walnut free roots zones and disease infested soil. |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| None of the following are paste tomatoes and for me all of them have excellent taste: Matt D' Imperio, variably sized plum shapes, red
Prue, variable plum shapes, red
Kiev, bomb shaped, pink
Berwick German, bomb shaped, pink .......to name a few. I chose to list non paste types since I've found that most pear or plum shaped smaller paste varieties, of which there are many, don't have as good a taste as non-pastes of the same shape. Carolyn |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| Thank you, all! I am growing Opalka this year, and I before I started this thread I had already bought Striped Roman from Baker Creek (free shipping), which I am definitely growing next year. I put the others on my 2010 wish list. |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| I am growing Opalka this year, and I before I started this thread I had already bought Striped Roman from Baker Creek (free shipping), which I am definitely growing next year. I put the others on my 2010 wish list. ***** Cleo, had I known you really wanted paste tomatoes I would have added the ones below, but in my long time experience I don't find most paste varieties to taste that great, which is what you asked for. So I'd add: Opalka, a variety I introduced many years ago
Mama Leone, new and should be grown much more
Heidi, I also introduced, now a fave of many
Sarnowski Polish Plum, I also introduced and not known well
Martino's Roma .......and NOT b'c I introduced some of the above b'c I've grown many paste varieties other than those above. .... as varieties that DO have pretty darn good tastes. I wouldn't have added the above until I saw that you said you were growing Opalka and Striped Roman, both paste varieties. ( smile) Carolyn |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| I guess I don't really get the paste/not-paste thing... as far as I know, paste tomatoes tend to be a little dryer and meatier (with some exceptions), but I am extremely open minded, since this is my first year - all I know i that I love good tomatoes and hate what I can get at the supermarket (though the Romas there are edible). So this year I purposefully tried some red and pink, some oxheart, Opalka is my only paste, some cherry, some black, some purple, 1 orange (KBX), 1 bicolor (Rhoades Heirloom), 1 hybrid (Big Beef) - some PL, some RL, a few determinate... basicallly, I wanted to try it all. I just didn't try any green (that idea will take some getting used to). I hope to get experienced enough to know if I want to grow pastes or not! :) |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| mulio, I've seen George O'Brien listed a couple of places. Apparently it's flavor is excellent. Is the garlic grower you mentioned selling seeds, or was this just a personal favor? |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| The garlic grower was certainly willing to share seed. I gave seed to a few people as well. I don't really keep track of that either. |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| Prue is more of a high-round shape or as some call it elongated heart. But it is definitely one of the best tasting fruit in my garden of any shape. I've never cared for the taste of olpaka. I think it more of a beloved variety then one that is worth growing. |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| I was very impressed with the VB Russia this year. Nice taste and a very heavy producer. Will grow again next year. |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| Well, here we are, back from summer and the garden at the lake, and also back on the computer and the Garden Web. I agree that most paste and plum varieties would not be at the head of the parade for taste but I have found a few that would get very close. They are--
1. Franchi Plum. Available from Franchi Sementi here in the US it is a very large red pear @ 3 to 4" dia with very solid semi moist delicious flesh. It is indeterminate, shows good desease tolerance, and I plant it or the following every year.
2. Giant Plum. The description on this one pretty much is the same as above but the fruits are a bit less regular
and I think are a bit sharper in taste. I traded for this a zillion years ago and cannot remember the source.
3. Idaho Hillbilly. This one puts Opalka to shame!!!
It is a red long pointed bananna pepper shaped fruit on an indeterminate vine. Fruits (~1.5x4") actually have a bright full flavor, are very meaty without being dry, and are born in profusion. The vines are strong and regular leaf and seem to hang in there through the worst of blights though looking pretty awful at times. Many fruits, of course, will not achieve the full size noted above. Once again a trade from years ago, this one from Rosaline McArthur, in Idaho. |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| It's so interesting that several of you have listed seeds that are not readily available. It makes the decision of what to plant next year so difficult! And why are these seeds not available if they are so good? I have found "Hillbilly", and potato leaf "Hillbilly" from Ohio, but not "Idaho Hillbilly". I found a seed catalog that listed Amish Paste, AKA "Giant Plum". Is this the "Franchi Plum" you mentioned:
http://www.growitalian.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=000110&BACK=A0004A1 And then mulio listed 71B2 and George O'Brien. I did find Pink San Marzano: http://heirloomseedsmen.com/types/Tomato/Pink-San-Marzano/ So, do you all trade these seeds? If not, which are the best of the available seeds? |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| milehighgirl, 1)I recognize the website you quote so believe you have the Franchi Pear correctly identified. 2) E-mail me direct and I may be able to spare a few seeds for you. Larry |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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My favorite plum is the one I discovered growing at my house in Sacramento when I moved in, and which I named after myself, Carla's Juicy Roma. :)
It tastes just like the tomato juice you buy from the store. Since I've never heard of anything like it being grown as an heirloom anywhere, I guess I'M the only source.
E-mail me if you're interested in giving it a try and sending a SASE. Carla in Sac |
RE: Best Tasting Pear/Plum Shaped?
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| larryw....I would really like to try Idaho Hillbilly. Opalka is just about our favorite tomato, and if it is that much better....well, you just about got me foaming at the mouth!! I posted a message in the Exchanges area, if you would like to check that and see what I have to trade. If there's anything on my list that you'd be interested in, and are willing to trade, well, I guess you'd be my new best friend!! If not, don't sweat it. |
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