I am trying a heritage tomato for the first time this year and chose Marmande. Does anyone have experience with this French indeterminate tomato? I'd appreciate your thoughts and opinions. Also any recommendations for next year's tomatoes (we generally grow four or five kinds).

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Is Marmande the only heirloom one you're growing this year?

I ask b'c yes, I've grown Marmande and while I don't know what your taste buds are like, I don't like the taste of it. It's similar to several of the older English OP's, such as Moneymaker, most of which are and have been grown in glasshouses.

Too strong/assertive a taste for me on the negative side, but you'll never know until you try it.

There are many more large red fruited varieties that I prefer over Maramande.

As for suggestions for next year, that's quite a ways away and I suggest that in the meantime you read some of the backposts here to see what others are growing. I think that might help you recognize those varieties that many are growing.

Even now if you were to read the thread on Heart shaped varieties which is on this first page you'd get some good info about those.

Another thing to do is to start looking at some good seed sources and looking at pictures/descriptions so that you get a feel for what's out there, as in now about 6K varieties available commercially.

Hope that helps.

Carolyn

i have a study about the marmande tomato growing up at tropical country (venezuela) y we have serius problems with tomatoes production, i believe that main reason for no tomato production is the temperature 30 - 40 celsius in the day and 24 to 27 celsius at night however whe've finished the estudy and I'll going to publish it.
The estudy name is "HOW TO PRODUCE 1 TON OF MARMANDE TOMATO IN A 100 SQUARE METERS"

PLEASE EXCUSEME MY ENGLISH

If you have any question please do not hesitate to cantactme.

hector castro

A warning about Marmande tomato. As with some other heritage tomatoes Marmande tomatoes require calcium in the soil or many of them will rot before they are ripe. This is not surprising since much of Europe is loaded with calcium in it's soil. That calcium being limestone. Many parts of the USA have limestone in the soil and many do not have limestone in the soil. So if you do not have limestone in your soil then you need to put some calcium in each hole before planting each tomato plant. Some people suggest using ground up calcium tablets others suggest using lime.

Keep in mind that other types of plants from Europe need calcium in the soil to have good fruit. A great example of that is European Melons rotting before they are ripe without calcium in the soil.

If you are growing this variety of tomato without calcium in the soil there is an easy fix:
Pick them when they are green enough to not have started rotting and place them in brown paper sandwich bags ...four tomatoes per bag. It should take only a few days in the bag for them to ripen enough to remove them from the bag. Then leave them on a table or in a bowl to ripen Further.

Speaking of ripening if you do not like these tomatoes fully ripe then use them approximately as ripe as they are in the following photo.

That ripe they are still the best tasting tomatoes I have ever eaten + very juicy. I have not yet tried a tomato of this variety fully ripe .................

I have found out why Marmande tomatoes are the most popular tomatoes in Europe ...When they are fully ripe they are amazing cooking tomatoes with less seeds than most other tomato varieties have.

Amazing and fast tomato sauce without needing any thickening and the taste is amazing.

Put them on pizza without any sauce.

Marmande tomatoes fully ripe with red onions are very tasty.

To enjoy them in salads, in hamburgers or to eat them by themselves they are best not fully ripe. Experiment how unripe you like them when they are not cooked, it's about preference

I am growing Marmande for the first time this year. Our favourites up to this point are Rutgers, Cherokee Purple, and Brandywine. The Marmande is a strong contender and have produced earlier this year than the others. So far it's the winner this year.

I'm growing 2 Crimson Carmello tomatoes also a Frrnch variety. CC's are very delicious and productive and I read somewhere that they are top selling in Europe also. They are very good, exquisite they call them.

This year I'm growing a type thats sold in Australia as Rouge de Marmande. Not completely sure, but I think its the same.

For the past six years I have grown Super Marmande (not Marmande, but a hybrid) from the same seed I bought that long ago. Not only does it taste great IMO but it produces pretty well both in-ground and in containers. I only wish I could get this seed again. I have had no problem with rotting on vine, although I pick at first blush and let ripen indoors as with all other varieties. Maybe the hybridization cured the rotting on vine problem. It has an assertive taste but that's what I look for both in fresh eating and cooking applications.