Yep. Take a 1-1/4 lb Kellog's Breakfast, cut a 1" slab out of the middle, put it on a plate, add a little salt and then eat it like a steak. I'm drooling on my keyboard. Great texture and sublime flavor.

I love reading these posts. This is my first year growing from seed, and up until this point all I've grown has come from local nurseries that don't carry the wonderful heirloom varieties. I'm growing both the Kellogg's Breakfast and the Black Krim this year and I can't wait to try them. Some of the other's I'm growing came directly from recommendations made by many on this board, and I salivate just thinking about the treats I'll (hopefully) have in store for me this summer. Aunt Gertie's Gold,Aunt Ruby's German Green, Aker's West Virginia, Opalka, Kosovo, Mortgage Lifter, Neve's Azorean Red, Marianna's Peace, Brandywine (Sudduth strain), Black Cherry,Principe Borghese, and Sungold. Hopefully next year I'll be able to constructively add to your thread by telling you which one I can't live without! :)

Stacie

Aunt Ruby's German Green.

Oh, when that rosy star starts so show on the blossom end and the green has turned to the first shade of gold, I know that I am approaching tomato bliss. Nothing tastes like that tomato, and I will never be without it.

Glad to hear about the Black Krim -- I am growing it for the first time this year.

Oh yah! Kellogg's Breakfast and Aunt Gertie's Gold for starters. ;) We take a pass on the greens but many of the pinks are right up there too.

Dave

I think they were the best tomatoes I've ever eaten, though I can't find a local source for seedlings this year, or even the seed. 8-(

Cherokee Purple does it for me. JD's Special C-Tex is also very good, maybe as good. Growing them both this spring for comparison.

Ardent learner- Sounds like you've got plenty of room for all those varieties. Like yourself I'm growing Neves Azorean Red and Black Cherry from seed, both for the first time. That's all I have room for and am really hoping we have a good summer. Best of luck with your tomatoes.

I'm taking notes for the future - get seeds for Kellog's, Aunt Gertie's or Ruby's, Cherokee purple and black cherry - all the black tomatoes appeal to me. For this summer I'll be trying favourites from last year plus a few seeds sent by a friend: garden Peach, red and yellow pear, purple plum, and Matt (?) wild cherry. These are the names handwritten on the packets, anyway.

Geez, would you guys get a throwaway email address at Yahoo or some other place and use it for Gardenweb? I wanted to reply privately to 2 people in this thread and can't because you are too private or misinformed about the way GW shares information. My GW nic is linked to a Yahoo mail address and I don't get any spam on it. Or if I do Yahoo has great spam filters, so who cares? And it's not my real email address so who cares? It would really be nice to communicate privately with people who post here. Sorry about the rant, y'all.

Sioux is the variety that "does it" for me. It is not mentioned much here at GW, but it does have a few fans. I grew it the first year I tried heirlooms, along with many of the "highly mentioned" varieties (Cherokee Purple, All the Brandywines, Kellogs, Anna Russian, Mariannas Peace, just to name a few....) and its flavor was the best of ALL.

I think it loses a little street cred because its not a big plant with big fruits like the more popular beefsteak varieties....

Anyhow, I can't wait for late July, when I will be sinking my teeth into a little Sioux's BIG flavor...

Troy

Troy,
Thanks for sharing. I'm glad I decided to order Sioux at the spur of the moment. It does get some very good reviews......but it isn't real popular yet, it seems. I grew it several years ago, and recall eating one...it was quite good indeed(the rest may have ended up in the canner). I hope to eat many fresh Sioux this year, and see how they rate.

I never intend to be without Earl's Faux and Lucky Cross. Pruden's Purple has been with me for at least 15 years.

ok for me prudens purple and kellogs breakfast, sungold
were out standing. after growing a lot of hybrids like better boy witch on some years were very goods. limited experience with brandywine very very tastey but low production evas purple ball not much luck, omars lebonese, tastey but few toms cherokee purple a flop for me this was, though, one years effort before i moved from r.i.

Eva's Purple Ball disappointed me, too. Tough, a little bit sweet, mild to bland taste. I would never grow it again, although I know, from the forums, that some people rave about it.

Amigo--

The tastiest Black tomato I have ever grown is Black from Tula. Cherokee Purple burns up in the summer heat, but has a terrific taste for its brief season. Try Lucky Cross for a completely different taste that you will love and is my tomato favorite. Your first heirloom was Black Krim, and you will always hold a special place in your heart for that tomato. I can remember asking the same question about Mortgage Lifter.

I really loved the few Cuostralee that my plant produced. Extremely tasty. (i had reduced sun exposure where i was allowed to plant last year.) The other tomato that really blew me away last season was a bred variety by a local tomato company, Magalia Rosa - a small narrow cherry sized variety. http://baianicchia.blogspot.com/2007/02/new-in-2007-maglia-rosa_20.html

The tomatoes were not large as stated on their page, rather they were mainly 1 inch to 2 inches long but narrow, and their light pink hue on the outside disguised the deep darker sweet insides. An awesome variety, my most anticipated variety this year. As the plant was prolific producing out of a 5 gallon container.

This is a local heirloom/cross breed tomato operation in the SF Bay Area that I just really enjoy buying plants from.

in the darkness
before the dawn
as the crickets chirp
and the night birds sing
I wake to walk in the greenhouse
among the thousands of tomato seedlings
and the aroma of the leaves is a poignant reminder
that spring is here and it is time to plant my tomatoes

I will grow Kellogg's Breakfast and J.D.'s Special C-Tex and Green Giant and Yoder's German Yellow and Daniels and Druzba and Cuostralee and Aunt Gertie's Gold and Cherokee Purple. I will slice them on a plate together to make a tomato rainbow and dash a bit of salt and pepper on them before dining on their lusciousness.

yes, I'd say I have found life after Black Krim.

DarJones

Did find a local source for seedlings -- at $2.99 each:

Green Acres, formerly Matsuda's.

Not only did they have Black Krim, but a very large variety of other heirlooms, some cheaper.