Wes

KOSOVO
Very tasty tomato that is aheavy producer of medium-large tomatoes.

German Red Strawberry would be my first choice.

Dave

And now I'm laughing a bit b'c so far everyone has choosen a different variety.

They're all good as I see it so let me put it this way re taste and production:

1. Danko
2. Linnie's Oxheart
3. Wes

Carolyn

by "The main consideration is taste" most hearts do have a sweet 'fruity' taste but a few have more complex flavor - what are you looking for?

most hearts do have a sweet 'fruity' taste but a few have more complex flavor

*****

Interesting comment b'c I've grown many many hearts and have yet to find one that has a sweet fruity taste. Well maybe Orange Russian #117 but that has as one parent Georgia Streak which is a gold/red bicolor which can explain that.

The reason I like hearts is b'c they don't have a sweet fruity taste, LOL, and they're very meaty. I find almost all that I've grown to date do have a non-sweet complex taste.

Now you've got me curious.

Which varieties have you grown that have , to you, a sweet fruity taste which is something I associate more with red/gold bicolors.

Carolyn

Carolyn
I should have said some - I also clump strawberry shaped with hearts - kinda close - but Faribo goldheart, Brads Black heart, yes Orange russian Orange strawberry, giant oxheart, heart of compassion, hogs heart, japanese oxheart, sometimes oxheart (from 1925) seems fruity to me, Ukrainian Heart, Homer Fike's Yellow Oxheart and Thieneman's Australian Heart-Tomato which I tried this year - again taste is as you say on the tongue of the beholder - are you ever going to do "the next 100 Heirlooms for the American Gardener" or maybe the "200 Heirlooms Updated for the 21 Century"

Which goes to once agains prove that taste is personal, sujective and has a human genetic compnent as well. ( smile)

No, there will be no Part II of that book even though I've now grown 1000 more varieties than I had when I was asked to write that book.

I no longer live where I used to live where I had so much room to grow hundreds of varieties each year, but more to the point I've been in a walker since Dec 12th, 2004 when I fell exiting a HS production of Fiddler on the Roof and severed all four quads in my right leg. So despite having two new hips, which was the reason for the fall, the right leg is not stable so I remain in the walker.

I can grow up to about 30 plants here at home in Gro bags and actually I have someone who does all my gardening for me since I can't and that means the tomatoes as well as all the perennials, the containers with summer squash, cukes, carrots, etc., and my plants are raised for me by a friend in VA and shipped up to me and another friend does most of my seed production for me.

Of late I've concentrated on growing varieties new to all or most and am always looking for new ones for my SSE listings and the seed offer that I've been doing anually at another site.

Please don't ask me which varieties I'd put in a Part II b'c that's been asked and asked and I just haven't gotten around to even thinking about that and don't want to. LOL

Carolyn

if you did tell the varieties then someone would have to grow those they haven't grown yet and write a book - really though I have thought it would be great if someone who has worked on OP and heirlooms for many years might have documented the natural resistance to various diseases of different varieties - we know some do have it or they wouldn't still be here after all these years

otherwise no one has the $$ to pay for these like the big companies who are creating hybrids for resistance -

Carolyn137
sweet or fruity
Has your tastes changed over the years? I was curious and pulled out your book and was surprized to see 10 hearts/strawberry shaped with you mentioning sweet(with other descriptions) - do they no longer taste or have hints of sweetness to you ?

I adore Kosovo but again its a matter of taste and also what climate you are growing in. Kosovo does well for me in Montana but Wes did better for me in Southern California

hmm, lots of different views here.

I'll preface this by saying that I don't know where you are located and that would make a huge difference in my recommendation.

Overall, I consider the following to do well in my climate here in the humid southeast.

Linnie's Oxheart - very nice beefy red but not a true heart for me. Many were wedge shaped, medium production
Wes - nice heart, good flavor, reasonably productive.
Kosovo - pink, mostly wedge shaped, very good flavor, high production - for a heart.

For various reasons, I do not normally grow the others. Mostly because they are not very productive.

There are a lot of other hearts available so you might consider expanding your list another year. Anna Russian is hard to beat.

DarJones

Hello again, I've just been sitting back and reading everything and waiting for the verdicts. Anyhow, let me clear some things up... I'm in zone 7a (sorry I didn't put that on my profile before). I live just south of the Northern Virginia area on a mountain (altitude of about 725') in Waterford, we have pretty hot humid summers here, and by my calculations (I used 10% probability of frost occurance dates) we have 140 light (above 32F) frost free days. Probably too much information.

I know that tastes are subjective and all, but I prefer tomatoes with a rich, complex, and meaty flavor. I really dislike 'sweet' tomatoes, and I cannot even eat cherry tomatoes... ack, too sweet! Basically, what I would love would be an all purpose tomato, although typically I only use tomatoes 2 ways: in a sandwich or in a cooked dish (more frequently cooked than sandwiched), so I'd prefer juiciness to be minimal if possible.

As far as the shape goes, honestly, I'm not really sure what a true heart shape is in a tomato, big on top or slender, tapered or not. What I think is really pretty about some of them though is how they taper to a blunt tip. Like in these photos of a kosovo (first link) and an anna russian (second link). And now thanks to fusion_power I'm considering anna russian again! :)

http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/vegetable/tomato/images/kosovo_doc.jpg

http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/vegetable/tomato/images/2002/AnnaRussian_090202.jpg

Thank you to all who answered and who have yet to answer!

I know this is kind of late, but I'm in Northern Virginia, and I grew Reif Red Heart the year before last. It's going on the to-grow list this year because it was such a trooper in the heat. The production and disease resistance was pretty good and mine got sandwiched next to a mad yellow pear and still managed to hold it's own against competing branches and roots. I highly recommend it, and it does produce pretty uniform hearts that are so tender and meaty! You'll be amazed how little seeds they have.

A Better choice would be for a beefsteak tomato called "Rose". I purchased my seeds from South Carolina Seed Foundation, Cornell University. I have found most Hearts to be rather skimpy in production values.

"Kosovo" and "Wes" are great

They offer you taste as well as looks ...

The only heart named at the beginning of this thread I have not grown is Danko. I would recommend all the others. I tried to pick one or two as my choices but like Carolyn has said before, (this may be a paraphrase), "I never grew a heart I didn't like." Danko is now on my list to try; thanks Carolyn.

I think we have had this discussion before about sweet and fruity. In my short time growing hearts, most all the thirty or so varieties I have tried, for me have been at least sweet if not sweet and fruity. Different places, different conditions, different tastebuds. If given a choice between hearts and other shapes, I choose hearts.

The only one I HAVE grown is Danko ;) And I loved it, it's the "early" on my list this year. I found it to have a wonderful, rich, full tomato flavor. I guess some might call it sweet because it wasn't terribly acidic... but very full-flavored, not "wimpy" like a yellow =)

I've grown Kosovo,German Red Strawberry and Wes. Wes was by far the best for taste, production and size. Wes gave me the biggest tomato I ever grew, almost 3 pounds.