Start of something good

First seed catalogue has arrived - Plants of Distinction. Don't they just seem to come earlier and earlier every year.

Unusual for me, but the first thing I checked out was the veggie catalogue. They send the flower and veggie together in one envelope. Lots of tomato choices, especially heirlooms.

Oh great, that just what I need to know about - another seed company!! LOL....thanks Echoes! Really!

;)

Joanne

This is their list of Heirlooms. I need some helping picking a few good ones, so if you have tried any, please tell us how you liked them.

Rainbow Beefsteak
John Baer
Legend
Alaskan Fancy
Amish Gold
Amish Paste
Antique Roman
Ananas Noir
Austin's Red Pear
Beam's yellow Pear
Black Cherry
Black Krim
Black Prince
Back From Tula tried this one and liked it
Black Sea Man
Black Zebra
Blondkopfchen tried this one and liked it
Blue Ridge Mountain
Brown Berry
Caspian Pink
Caro Rich
Cherokee Purple tried this one and liked it
Cherry Roma
Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Currant Goldrush
Currant Sweet Pea
Czech's Bush
The Brandywine Collection - Pink (Sudduth's Strain), Red, Yellow
Czech's Excellent Yellow
Elberta's Girl
Earliana
Eva Purple Ball
Federle
Garden Peach
German Pink
German Red Strawberry
Gacier
Gold Medal
Green Grape
Green Zebra tried this one and liked it
Hill Billy Potato Leaf
Halladay's Mortgage Lifter
Italian Heirloom
Japanese Trifle Black
Jelly Bean Hybrid
Jersey Devil
Large Red Cherry
Lemon Tree
Long Tom
Manitoba grow this one most years
Marizol Gold
Mexico Midget
Moonglow
Neve's Azorean Red
New Yorker
Nyagous
Old Brooks
Opalka
Orange Banana
Oregon Spring
Peron
Pink Girl
Porter
Principle Borghese
Purple Russian
Red Fig
Red Zebra
Riesentraube
Rose
Russian Black tried this one and liked it
Silvery Fir Tree tried this one and liked it
Sioux
Speckled Roman
Tasty Evergreen
The Dutchman (1920)
Tiger Tom
Tommy Toe
Stupice
Variegated
Wapsipinicon Peach
White Tomesol
Yellow Pygmy

Then they have a few more pages of more modern and specialty tomatoes. I think I am going to have a few planted here there and everywhere next year.

Hey Joanne, its all about choice. The more the better.

I've had an heirloom yellow pear for the past couple years, they are DIVINE. Perfect salad size, sweet, sweet like candy

Don't know if they're a named variety though.

indeterminate, and this summer grew to 10' tall, lots of fruit

Yum yum I see tomatoes there! Go in on an order with you???? :)

That's a good idea, especially if we want most of the same varieties.

:D Will be letting you know. :D

Sue, think those yellow pears you like might be Beam's Yellow Pear?

I have been working on this list, looking them all up in plantfiles and making notes on my computer,,,,great idea, until it crashed about an hour ago. So I think I know some of the ones I wanted, but can't trust my memory. I was about ¾ of the way through, but this is the least of my problems. Sob.

Any suggestions from this list, or others that you've grown will be appreciated. I am interested in heirlooms mostly, but like to grow a few moderns too. All about taste, but restricted by what we can grow in our shorter season. I think I am interested in

Rainbow Beefsteak
John Baer
Legend
Ananas Noir
Back From Tula tried this one and liked it
Blue Ridge Mountain
Caspian Pink
Caro Rich
Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Czech's Bush
Czech's Excellent Yellow
Elberta's Girl
Earliana
Federle
German Red Strawberry
Gold Medal
Green Zebra tried this one and liked it
Hill Billy Potato Leaf
Opalka
Porter
Rose
Sioux

Now back to research.

Echoes, not sure of the variety, seed purchased as the Seedy Saturday in Ottawa a couple of years ago.

they are really a nice tomato sweet, sweet sweet! not acidic at all.

dmail me if you would like some seeds

Most of you probably know this, but for those of you like me that didn't, I googled Heirloom Plant.

"To be an heirloom, a plant must be "open-pollinated", meaning it will grow "true to type" and produce plants like the parents from seed. This excludes nearly every hybrid. Open pollination allows the same cultivar to be grown simply from seed for many generations.
Typically, heirlooms have adapted over time to whatever climate and soil they have grown in. Thanks to their genetics, they are often resistant to local pests, diseases, and extremes of weather."

Hi Echoes,

Do they have a website, so the rest of us can check them out.
Thanks bunches

http://www.plantsofdistinction.co.uk/acatalog/

Here you go. This is the first year that I've seen them with an on-line catalogue. Used to have to order a catalogue from their website.

I haven't ordered from Hudson lately. Will have to check them out again. Thanks.

Stokes and Vesey's are in too now. Would you like links to some more? I have a whole bunch in my diary. BRB

Dominion Seed House www.dominion-seed-house.com
Gardens North www.gardensnorth.com
Halifax Seed http://shop2.itnweb.com/halifaxseed/
McFayden (McConnell) www.mcfayden.com
OSC www.oscseeds.com
Stokes www.stokeseeds.com
Veseys www.veseys.com
William Dam Seeds www.damseeds.com
Chiltern Seeds www.edirectory.co.uk
Jelitto www.jelitto.com
Park's http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?catalogId=10066&storeId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=page1
Plants of Distinction www.podseeds.co.uk
Plant World seeds www.plant-world-seeds.com
Select Seeds www.selectseeds.com
Specialty Perennials www.hardyplants.com
Swallowtail Garden Seeds www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com
Thompson & Morgan www.thompson-morgan.com

I have a few more in my favourites, but I'm not on my own computer, and who knows whether I will still have them when it returns from the hospital. I am not endorsing these, just have them for when I want to check them out.

Now if I can just find the place I ordered tomatoes from a few years ago. Pam, where are you? I need you, Mrs. Tomato.


This message was edited Nov 30, 2007 3:53 PM

Joannabanana, thank you for posting. Have you made a name change since you joined DG?

This message was edited Dec 1, 2007 9:03 PM

I did do a name change. Had a company computer returned that I forgot to take off some personal links & thought it was best that I change the log in for security reasons. Also, the day I signed up on DG....wasn't in a very creative mode. so now I have chosen a nickname from my childhood

I like it but who were you before?

I typed a big long aswer to your spreadsheet question, backspaced for some reason and poof!

joanneogilvie

I am looking forward to your reply on the spreadsheet thing

OK, now I remember. I even remember some of your pictures.
Alright, I'll try again on the spreadsheets.

Here's my impression of ones I've grown. Very difficult to rate them since every growing season can be different and the amount of heat, type of soil and amount of water can affect their taste. Last year I had long season heirlooms (beefsteak size) ripen before most of the early and mid season varieties that other people planted at the patch (including mine but all of mine were planted much later than theirs). My heirlooms bloomed long before the high heat/humidity arrived whereas the hybird short/mid season ones bloomed when it was too hot/humid for them to be pollinated.

Black Cherry (first year growing it I wasn't impressed, 2nd year it knocked my socks off)
Cherokee Purple tried this one and liked it (Very GOOD)
The Brandywine Collection - Pink (Sudduth's Strain), Red, Yellow (I wouldn't grow these)
Eva Purple Ball (a winner)
German Red Strawberry ( Really enjoyed this one)
Halladay's Mortgage Lifter (I've grown a variety of Mortgage Lifter and really liked it....not sure if it was this one)
Japanese Trifle Black (I'm not a fan of most blacks)
Neve's Azorean Red (this one was really good)
Silvery Fir Tree tried this one and liked it (bland for me but may have been the summer....better than store bought tho)
Sioux (liked this one)
Tommy Toe (grew this one and liked it)
Stupice (heard lots of good things about this one.....I tried it and wasn't impressed but I may have over-watered it (very hot summer)

Next spring, and maybe summer, is supposed to be influenced by La Nina so the winners , to me, may be losers then. I haven't grown heirlooms in a cooler summer.

That's very helpful. Thanks Pam. I don't think I'll order too many tomatoes from POD, but since I want to order other things from them, I will include a few.