Heirloom Tomatoes

[smitty55]

I know there's a good number of gardeners here. So I've been growing these heirloom Greek tomatoes for over 30 years now and saving seeds. Best tomatoes I've ever had and that includes for canning as they are so meaty and full of flavour. They are a large tomato, over a pound is common. So I went to water them yesterday evening and found a huge one. It wasn't quite ripe yet but it was starting to look funny around the stem so I picked it. Biggest one I've had in a couple of years at 2lb 4oz. and 6" across, looks like my feeding regime this season is working well. Also included a pic of what the inside looks like.

[Terry]

Wow heirloom Greek tomatoes, I will have to look into them. They make my tomatoes look like miniatures 

[smitty55]

6 hours ago, Terry said:

Wow heirloom Greek tomatoes, I will have to look into them. They make my tomatoes look like miniatures 

I've never seen them for sale anywhere Terry. I was given ripe tomatoes from Greek immigrants back in the 80s that were part of the night cleaning staff where I worked and have been saving seeds ever since. I can't even find a variety name for them online, when I asked John Damianakos what kind they were all he said was Greek. After all these years of keeping them to myself and giving the odd plants to friends and neighbours I'm thinking I might start selling seeds. I traded some this past spring to an organic seeds seller for some heirloom German Pink seeds and while they weren't bad they still couldn't compare to the Greeks both in flavour and growth so I won't be growing them again. The tomatoes themselves aren't really marketable, they have very thin skins and don't take kindly to a lot of handling. A buddy I gave some plants to gave some to his sister a few years back who had a stand at a farmers market and she told me she sold some for $3 each. They're a high maintenance plant that need to be grown a certain way for best results but it's certainly worth it in the long run.