I'm wondering if there aren't a few strains of this Amish Paste floating around. I bought them one year (forget where) because I had been seeing them described different places as ox-heart shaped and being quite large with wonderful flavor. The ones I grew were smaller and square-ish shaped and the flavor was unimpressive.

I've bought a membership to Seed Savers Exchange and will give Amish Paste one more try from this place.

Huh ... Mine was fine last season, even though it threw out one really large odd fruit ~ I thought the flav was good ... huh ...

~ Tom

Here is a link that might be useful:

Wow, Tom where do you get your seed from may I ask? Those look nothing like the ones I grew but they look like the ones I have read about, very nice btw! :)

the amish paste i grew was not from seed...but i bought it in a four inch pot from the nursery.

the strange thing was...it was BRIGHT orange when ripe? the pics i saw of amish paste tomatoes on google were NOT orange.

this same nursery...gave me a "costoluto genovese" that looks nothing like the pics i've googled either.

just more reason why i will start from seed next year!!!

Sounds like you got some mislabeled plants. ;) I grow Amish Paste every year as it is a great sauce tomato for canning. Tho they will produce several different shapes on the same plant, if this one was orange then it wasn't ripe yet (orangeish early on but turn red as they ripen) or wasn't Amish Paste.

Hope you have better luck with your CG plant - another great canning tomato! ;)

Dave

There aren't any strains of Amish Paste.

And most of the reputable seed sources carry the correct seed.

And i think that's why it's good to always start your own plants from seed if you can, instead of buying plants at a nursery or big box store where errors can be and are made.

(I've bought a membership to Seed Savers Exchange and will give Amish Paste one more try from this place.)

Sunsi, I don't know if you mean you want to buy those seeds from the catalog, or online catalog, or request them from SSE members who list that variety.

As a long time Life Time member of SSE and one who for many years proofed the tomato offerings in the catalog I can tell you that the seeds offered by SSE commercially have a pretty good reputation for seed purity, but they offer only about 40 varieties.

Seed sources such as Sandhill Preservation offer over 400 varieties and a much lower cost with many more seeds/pack. TGS also has an excellent reputation for seed purity and offers several hunfred. And don't over look Victory Seed either.

But NO seed source is perfect when it comes to OP seed.

If you request seeds from members that's no assurance that you'll always get what you want b'c there's a huge range of folks who are listed members, and their expertise as to bagging blossoms or using geographic isloation for seed purity varys widely.

While i strongly support SSE and their mission I've usually suggested to folks who are relatively new to heirloom tomato growing to get their seeds elsehwere and I've mentioned a few above. And when they've grown the most common ones, such as Amish Paste, then go to the SSE Yearbook for the rare and different ones not offered commercially.

But I encourage anyone to join SSE, even if not intending to be a listed member, just so their membership monies can support the SSE efforts at seed preservation.

Carolyn

"Tho they will produce several different shapes on the same plant, if this one was orange then it wasn't ripe yet (orangeish early on but turn red as they ripen) or wasn't Amish Paste."

it was ripe alright...slightly soft to the touch and everything. there was no way it was going to turn red...if anything it turned more brightly orange...just think of deer hunting gear...THAT orange!!! ha!

this nursery...it's "the good nursery" in town has been letting me down lately with mis-labled plants (not just tomatoes.) like i said, my costoluto genovese (so they say) looks like a store bought red tomato!!! it has no deep grooves and it tastes SO sugary!!!

oh well...maybe i'll try the amish paste from seed next year because i was looking forward to a GOOD paste tomato...i really wanted to make sauce this year. :(

Andrea,

When you get your Amish Paste seeds and plant them, look for a floppy vine with elongated tomatoes of various sizes and generally fat, elongated, pointy, incipid tasting fruit with too much gel and seeds to be considered a really good paste tomato.

Then ... think O-P-A-L-K-A ... for a truly great tasting, thin skinned, high solid, sparsely seeded sauce tomato on a healthy, productive vine.

Bill

andreajp Quote:
"oh well...maybe i'll try the amish paste from seed next year because i was looking forward to a GOOD paste tomato...i really wanted to make sauce this year. :( "

Andrea, sorry for your disappointment like you I love a good paste and want to recommend a few names for you to try next year. "Opalka", "Rocky" and "Jersey Devil". I have personally tried Opalka and Rocky but have heard very good things about Jersey Devil and will be trying that for the first time next year.

The reason I like these particular varieties is because first is taste and second because they are rather on the large size. That's important because preparing 10 large ones compared to 20 small ones cuts down on work/time it seems, lol :P

Thank you, Dr. Carolyn I have recieved SSE catalog but I thought I could get a bigger selection with membership. Now I understand better how it works and that's fine because I want access to the other vegetables too like beans, melons and squash.

I have Sandhill Preservation bookmarked for next year and looked over their website. I am very pleased with all they offer (boggling) especially since they have full time jobs besides. Between them and Selected Plants I should have all my favorites next year.

I don't remember where I got my seeds from (maybe someone in MA) but yeah -
I'd have to agree with Bill that Opalka is a great tasting paste tomato ...

Here is a picture of the one random large fruited Amish Paste that came off the vine ...
Plant sure did produce for us all summer; no complaints ~

Tom

Here is a link that might be useful:

My suggestions for paste tomatoes are

Heidi, loved by many
Opalka, ditto
Martino's Roma, should be better known

And yes I've grown Jersey Devil, introduced by the Tomato Seed Co, originally of Metuchen, NJ and now out of business.

I've also grown Howard German and several other long reds and all the Costolutos you can name. ( smile)

I have never seen Amish Paste as a paste tomato b'c it's too juicy. Just my opinion, and it's not the only variety that's called a paste but isn't.

And now getting on my soapbox. LOL

Most folks I know prefer to use any meaty great tasting variety for sauce instead of paste tomatoes. Lots of reasons but paste tomatoes as a group have some of the lousiest tastes around and are also highly susceptible to Early Blight ( A. solani) and also are highly susceptible to BER.

You just cook down the sauce a bit more to the desired consistency.

Carolyn

andreajp:
Sadly, in my Sacramento garden the pastes as a whole do not do well at all. I think it's the nematodes. I have tried and failed with several, including Opalka and Jersey Devil. I got one or two tomatoes at best from them. I loved the Opalkas I did get, but eventually gave up trying after a few years. Amish Paste is one of the better ones at dealing with nematodes, as is Heidi, and both of them are nice tasting, and I am growing this year.
If your tomato is bright orange, my guess it is either Orange Banana or Italian Gold, neither of which I would call yummy but I do still grow because they both make a nice orange sauce!
Carla in Sac

Well, I don't make cooked sauce ... I buy it. But I use a whole lotta tomatoes for fresh salsa, chopped salads, pico de gallo, etc. And ... I freeze the tomatoes for using over the winter.

I found Opalka is much better for freezing than other tomatoes. Yesterday I thawed three quarts of halved tomatoes to make some pico. The skin just slid off the Opalkas like silk and they held their shape perfectly for a fine dice ... beautiful!!! Tasted great!

The Heidi went to mush. The Polish Pastel did okay. But the Opalka was the best by far. JMO ... Polski-Maters!!!

Bill