You might want to consider this as one of your variety selections. Wishing you lots of tomatoes this season.
Gary

BREAK O' DAY - IND (75 days) Dr. Carolyn Male, calls it "A workhorse of a tomato. producing smooth 8-12 oz. scarlet red globes in abundance. True old fashioned tangy tomato flavor. This 1923 cross between Marglobe and Marvana won't let you down in any way and great for canning. Regular Leaf.

Break OâÂÂDay �" DaveâÂÂs Garden Plant Files
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/139375/

The best large heirloom variety that I have grown is "Sojourner South American" (a.k.a. just South American), a very large oxheart-type. It produces red 10 oz.+ tomatoes in small clusters all Summer - many over 1 pound - until killed by frost. They are sweet and like most oxhearts, have few seeds. The vines are extremely vigorous & get quite large, so they require staking or a large cage.

A good mid-sized variety is "Nicoviotis Orange". As the name implies, the fruit are orange throughout. They are mostly 8-10 ounces, nearly globular, and blemish-free. Despite their size, they resemble a very meaty beefsteak in cross section. The flavor is very sweet, this is my favorite for tacos. I was quite happy with the yield, compared to other orange or yellow varieties that I have tried. The vines are more restrained, semi-determinate.

For paste, I like "Quebec 1121". This was originally bred as a commercial variety in Canada, but has since become an heirloom. The tomatoes average over 3 ounces, and are red, thick-walled, and very meaty. There was no cracking or BER. The yield was exceptional, and very early. The vines are determinate, and can be spaced more closely than most (I used 2 feet between plants).

There are any number of cherry tomatoes that yield heavily; it would unusual to find one that did not! But if you like the "grape tomatoes" sold in supermarkets, you would like "Elfin". It is another semi-determinate variety, so it does not require staking... the small tomato cages actually work for this one. It has huge branching flower sprays; it is not unusual to have 50+ flowers open at once. These are followed by enormous numbers of elongated 3/4-1" fruit; I grew mine unsupported last year, and they carpeted the ground. They are not really sweet, but are meaty (many seedless!), thin-skinned, and very flavorful.

I can't help you with sources... these were all obtained through the Seed Savers Exchange, from other members. Some are available commercially, but if you are unable to find sources, contact me through my Member Page.

If all goes well in the next few weeks, Old Brooks will give me a very good yield. It is a round, red, medium sized blemish free heirloom with an assertive flavor. It has grown vigorously this summer and has set a lot of fruit. I don't know much of that is genetic vs. culture. I seem to have done a better job of growing this year. But Old Brooks was good last year too, which is why I am growing it now.

I say, "If all goes well" because the fruit worms and, I think, pin worms are making their appearance. Ugh!

Jim

Where would I find heirloom seeds and plants. I do not have any to trade so will have to simply buy. I live in coastal SC near Charleston.
thanks,

Most of us are happy to send a few seeds without getting a trade in return. Just make it known what you want and someone is apt to offer it to you.

Are you thinking of starting seeds now, or planning for next year?

Jim

I have been the happy beneficiary of alot of generosity from gardenweb, but I also have some seed sources that I love. I really love tomatofest.com, I think they give nice descriptions and some great information. Heirloomseeds.com and sandhillpreservation.com are some of my other favorites. I'm a brand new gardener, so in some ways that makes me an expert on where to get seeds, lol. Surely some of the older folks have some better suggestions for your area?

Carolyn P.

Brian, Send me your E-mail address and I will send you a list of the heirloom tomato seeds that I have and I don't need an exchange

murfs
Pale Perfect Purple aka Perfect Purple is the most productive tomato I've ever grown. A very tasty medium size tomato
Jim

Send me your address and I`ll send you seed of the ones that are successful for me in the Atlanta area Z-7
billrogers33@bellsouth.net

I would recommend Arkansas Traveler. It is a late season variety, but is a high producer for me & does well in the South.

You might try Costoluto Genovese. Not only is it a pretty tomato, it's a workhorse as well

Trudi of tomato-growing, wintersowing fame, will send you seeds from six varieties for the cost of an SASE.

Researching the choices is almost as much fun as anticipating the seeds!

Here is a link that might be useful: YourChoiceTomatoSASE

I should try Arkansas traveler...I do live in Arkansas. Now to get a few seeds before spring to try. Thanks for the info. Tried mortgage lifters this year and wasn't to pleases with size or number of fruit but I want to stick with heirlooms.

I know this is a very old thread, but to reply to Amanda...you may want to give black krims a shot. I have 6 of them that are full size. I pick about 25-30 tomatoes a day from those plants. They are big and unruly though. Mine are over 7' tall and fill a 4' x 4' raised bed in every direction.

Here in Tn. I grew Rose this year, and while I didn't have any other heirlooms to compare, I was very happy with the yield. Very large, juicy, sweet fruits. They put out a great crop, then, like all the tomatoes in the plot, came down with septoria during the late July, early August rains. Now it's dried up, and the plants have started producing again! No complaints here. By-the-by... I don't use fungicides, nor any cides for that matter, so again, no other heirlooms to compare disease resistance.

Traveler was one of the plants I was thinking of adding. Also, since Cherokee Purple was originally gathered not too far from me, it's another I will eventually add.

Arkansas traveler did well for me this summer, produced right through August heat here in SC

"Box Car Willie" is known for this, but I'm just growing it for the first time this season. Also "Mule Team".