To: LINDA MILLER
Subject: A tomato question...
LM>considered heirlooms in the family. My step-childrens grandmother
LM>saved seed year after year all her life, she died at 95 a couple
LM>years ago.  I have seen her tomatoes so big she would have to
LM>prop them up with forked twigs to keep them from tearing the
LM>stalk. She called them Abe Hall's, but my guess is that was the
LM>name of the farmer that gave her the initial seed.  She always
LM>prided herself in saying not how much her biggest tomato weighed,
LM>but that her biggest ever made three (3) quarts...imagine.  I can
  Whoah! They sound suspiciously like Texas tomatoes! :-) And they sound
  like tomatoes I would like to try. But they also sound somewhat like
  Prudden's Purple and its close relative, Brandywine, both of which I'm
  growing this summer. (PP is 10 days earlier.)  They belong to the
  potato-leaf determinate genre of tomatoes, and Brandywine, at least,
  is not very productive. But it has the reputation of being an
  excellently flavoured heirloom, and so far, taste tests with various
  people seem to bear that out.
  TYhe only thing is, I consider them a fresh eating tomato, as opposed
  to a canning tomato. They're rather mild for good saucemaking, but do
  carry few seeds. They are quite large, and 1 1/2-lb ones are fairly
  common.
LM>address if you'd like a few.  They are low-acid - mauvy redish
LM>pink in color and so meaty you have to mash the seed out.
LM>Now then, it's about 78 days to harvest.
  That's Brandywine's range, also. She may have started with Brandywine,
  because it was a real favourite 100 years ago, but after many years of
  raising it, she may have developed a strain eminently suited to her
  local conditions. That's what I wish to do.
LM>Now then, remember, if you are growing different varieties, they
LM>will cross if planted close together. (you can prevent that on
LM>some if you hand pollinate them, using a feather or soft brush
LM>going back & forth between blossoms returning to same ones over &
LM>over till you know you've passed that way several times.
  Um, Linda, that sounds like way too much work. Even scientists who
  grow out hundreds of varieties, 5 plants in a row, say that there is
  less than 2% crossing of species, especially among modern varieties;
  so they save seeds from the middle plants in the row, and rarely
  bother with hand pollination unless deliberately crossbreeding.
  Wild varieties or justmade ones with wild genes may have exposed
  pistils. If so, these must be isolated from all pollinators, including
  insects. I found the easiest way was to take a single branch, cover it
  with Reemay or other insect-excluding netting, and perform pollination
  as per your instructions. Make sure your eventual seed-bearing flowers
  , as well as the pollinator flowers, are protected from insects.
  If you merely want to save same-variety seeds of exposed pistillate
  flowers, cover them before they open, and shake the branch/plant daily
  to enhance self pollination. It's a good idea to leave the netting on
  if possible, until the tomatoes are ripe; so that you are sure of
  which are your pure seeds. Remember. too, that a mix of seeds from
  several plants is preferable, but you'll have far more seeds than you
  can use in a season from two or three tomatoes. (Of course, you could
  always dry some thoroughly and freeze them, extending their lifespan
  for years. That way, you wouldn't have to save seed every year, or
  even every other year. )
  If a sudden early frost catches your almost ripe tomatoes, don't
  discard their seeds as worthless. Research has shown that seeds of
  almost ripe tomatoes can still, after proper storage, germinate and
  grow the following year. Be aware, however, that the germination rate
  is sharply down, and the seeds don't remain viable for more than a
  year or two. This is handy to know in a rough season, since you won't
  necessarily lose your entire seed-saving year. :-)
LM>Another sincere tomato lover.
   Ditto. :-)
                           ...Sandra...
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