More Interesting Tomatoes

The photo below includes examples of some of the interesting tomatoes developed by Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms, plus some others.  The dusky, striped little tomatoes at the top are Pink Berkeley Tie Dye.  Next, going clockwise, comes Beam's Yellow Pear.  Then come three Purple Passion,  some smaller Evans Purple Pear and then Yellow Submarine.  At the bottom are some striped Black and Red Boar specimens.  Then comes our mystery yellow pear (extra seedling with a purchased Brandy Boy plant), Haley's Purple Comet - a large oval cherry tomato, then Golden Egg, Grightmire's Pride (an oxheart  tomato - my choice today for fresh salsa) and AAA Sweet Solano - a small, oranged tomato striped yellow, with some green markings.  In the center are three Orange Russian 117 tomatoes - a bicolor oxheart cross.  

The contrast in color between "Purple Passion" and "Evan's Purple Pear is an example of the two varieties of "PURPLE" in the tomato world.  The first type, like "Purple Passion" is along the lines of a rosy pink, and comes mostly from the absence of yellow pigment in the skin of ripe tomatoes.  Famous older varieties in this category are "Pruden's Purple" and "Aunt Ginny's Purple".  The second category of purple tomatoes is a dusky type, often with some green coloration, similar to the "black" tomatoes.  It is typified by "Cherokee Purple", which I grew last year.  The coloration of "Gary O' Sena" in the photo below is similar to that of Cherokee Purple, one of its parents.  The "JD's Special C-Tex" below characterizes the "green shoulder" stage at which this type of tomato is often picked.

The second tomato photo for today includes, at the top, Brandywine OTV (my choice today for a fresh slicer);  four little Goose Creek tomatoes; a big, dusky, irregular Gary O' Sena;  smaller dusky Nyagous (note the yellower skin tone), two Marianna's Peace specimens; Three nearly-perfect Momotaro tomatoes and several Black Krim specimens of different sizes.  In the center, next to the Black Krim are two Anna Russian tomatoes, more typical oxheart shapes than the double one pictured last time.  Below them is a JD's Special C-Tex - looking more like a typical small beefsteak than the big boat-shaped specimen last time.