@WilliamGrowsTomatoes Thanks for the offer, I’m just not sure what ones I might like to see crossed. How about I just describe what my tomatoes are at present and if you decide if you are interested in crossing any of them with whatever you think would be appropriate?
One of my favorite flavor wise (I think) is just an old heirloom called Mr. Stripy. It’s a big orange/yellow tomato, sometimes confused, name wise with a nasty little tomato called Tigerilla. It, Mr. Stripy, is on Cornell University’s short list of disease resistant heirlooms. My major complaint about it is that isn’t all that productive. I’ve grown it for twenty years or more but as far as I know it is still just an inbred heirloom.
Next is what I call Utah Heart, it came several years ago from Joseph that he had labeled “early all kinds” And survived its first season here in near 100% neglect. It never segregated so I’m not sure it was a cross when I go it, but I don’t know. Highly productive of large dark red ox-heart fruits, very meaty with few seeds.
Hoosier Rose, this came from a commercial variety called Red Rose. I don’t think Red Rose was supposed to be a hybrid, but it segregated into a normal leaf and a potato leaf type. The potato leaf was deeply lobed and tended to crack. My complaint about it is the same as Mr. Stripy, giant vines, few fruits.
Even though they are not all that productive the Mr. Stripy and Hoosier Rose keep us in fresh tomatoes all season from about a 1/2 dozen plants of each. A 1/2 dozen of the Utah Heart generally makes more than enough to can our juice and sauces for the season plus plenty for sandwiches along the way. We like the sweeter ones for slicing just to go with a meal and the more robust Utah Heart for something like on a hamburger.
I have seeds from all of the above in packs to themselves.
Then I have the little tomatoes that we just snack on and use in salads and the like. Seeds for them are just all mixed up and I only plant a few each spring, just in case none come up on their own, which actually has never happened. They are pretty much feral and even grow in the weeds outside the yard where I don’t generally harvest them because we have too many wood ticks and chiggers.
There is a big range of colors, shapes and sizes in the little ones. They are all quite sweet and delicious except the pear-shaped yellow ones which while OK they are not on par with the others, I cull them.
I know that some of the little ones are from a random cross with pimpinellifolium with pimpinellifolium being the mother side. One of the larger ones had to be the father.
Also possible in the little ones is segregations of another of Joseph’s from a long time ago that I called Captain Crunch. Captain Crunch made huge clusters of ping pong ball sized fruits that looked like yellow plastic and tasted, little at all like a tomato, more like some kind of tropical fruit. The foliage was terribly disease prone, but the fruits didn’t care, they just kept on producing even if the leaves all fell off.
And then several years ago the woman here bought some little tomatoes in the middle of winter that were grown in a greenhouse in Canada, and they were actually very good, so I saved seed and mixed them in too.
Getting a bit long winded here so in a nutshell, I have the large-fruited kinds individually saved and the little ones all mixed up. If any of these are of interest, I can send some along. I’ll leave it to you though to decide which or with what to do any crossing.
I’m not sure if I have your address so just send me private message.
