Cowlick BW what was your experience this season so far?
 

Now that some individuals have had a chance to harvest a Cowlick BW I was wondering how well did this plant grow for you in your State?-

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCWUguUbscQ&feature=related[/url]

Mine was loaded with fruits but exteme heat caused all the blossoms to drop so I have no small fruits now. I picked last ripe fruits today. Total yield was about 15 lb.
Taste was very good, I sliced together Earl's Faux, African Queen, Aunt Ginny's Purple and Cowlick's - there were only subtle differences in taste but if had to choose one it would be Cowlick's.

Wow! How much did that bad boy actually weigh???

I grew 2 Cowlicks and 2 Sudduth plants this year. One Sudduth runted on me but still is producing. Because of this Cowlicks is far ahead in production. I actually don't see much difference except I'd say Cowlicks on average are a little rounder but each is producing rounds and gravy boats. They both taste excellent to me. I have them tied in third place this year for taste.

A really good plant and really good fruit. Great flavor on the fruit!!!!
A little smaller than suddith,s in fruit size, but more on the plant.

A not so good year weather wise here in se ohio, but Cowlicks held up.

Will plant again.

Pete

I planted one in an isolated container as I mostly wanted it for seeds. I got plenty of seeds and a few tomatoes to taste. I would rate it as very good. I will grow at least one plant in the ground next year or the year after.

loaded with fruit for 2 months , the first fruit was not sweet.

I have four plants each of Cowlicks and Sudduths in side-by-side rows, and have been keeping good records of each picking. My assessment so far is:

[B]Plants [/B]- Virtually identical from the moment the seedlings emerged; same size, shape, and disease resistance. Wouldn't be able to tell them apart if they weren't labeled.

[B]Timing [/B]- The Cowlicks started ripening about a week earlier than the Sudduths and remained slightly ahead in production until this week, when the Cowlicks slowed down and the Sudduths took the lead. From this it appears the Cowlicks are slightly earlier than Sudduths in my garden, but not by much.

[B]Size & Appearance [/B]- The largest of each variety are about the same (21 oz), and most are of comparable size, but the Cowlicks are showing more variability in tomato size, giving some ripe tomatoes smaller than a tennis ball. As a result the average weight for the Cowlicks is 9.5 oz compared to 12.3 oz for Sudduths. From a shape and blemish standpoint they are equal - gorgeous pink and mostly smooth with some longitudinal cracking.

[B]Yield [/B]- YTD the four Sudduths plants have produced 32 tomatoes totaling 24.6 lbs, and the four Cowlicks yielded 39 tomatoes totaling 23.2 lbs. These figures bounce around (last week the Cowlicks were ahead in weight) so we'll have to wait until the end of the season to see if there is any significant difference. At this point they are about equal.

[B]Taste [/B]- Both are absolutely superb - I can't tell them apart.

I'll give a final report at the end of the season.

TomNJ

Areas where Cowlicks are growing well


Germany, Denmark
Slovenia, Europe
BC
MA, NJ, DE, VA, PA, OH
South -- AL, TN,

Keep them coming in we want to know from the South if they can stand up to the heat and humidity. Thanks everyone who replies!!!

George

Growthwise both are about average compared to the other PL pink beefsteaks I'm growing. I've done several side by side taste comparisons and although the flavors are similar, Cowlicks is a bit more intense especially at the beginning when you first bite down (like eating an orange). The odd thing this year is that my BW Sudduths does not taste quite the same as I remember and I have to assume that whatever is affecting the Sudduth's is affecting the Cowlick's as well.

Believe it or not, I have not had a ripe full size tomato yet and its the middle of August. I'm guessing this is my own fault, I moved my tomatoes from where they were previously growing, and didn't realize that the bed they are now in does not get full sun til after 11am. I am growing 4 cowlick plants and 4 brandywines, and nothing is ripe at all yet. The cowlick plants have only about 5 tomatoes between them on 4 plants, but again, i do blame myself. We'll see what next year brings, as I do have more seeds left.

Alberta

I had some luck with Cowlick's this year and will try it again next year. I didn't think it was any better tasting than my Stump of the World or my Limbaugh's Legacy and it didn't produce as much nor as large a tomato. It is the first Brandywine type other than Brandy Boy that has ever made it to the ripe fruit stage for me and it also showed remarkable resistance to TSWV but not much tolerance to fusarium. It has definitely earned a spot in my garden next season and I even set one out for fall a few days ago.

I am growing Cowlick's this year, and have very few green fruits on my 6 plants. It is certainly lower yielding variety (in my garden), compared to other large beefsteaks that I grow this year (i.e. Earl's Faux)

Note that we have had a bad summer here in PNW, so everything is late and/or not producing well.

I am still hoping to get some ripe fruit from it before the summer ends here.

Tania

Fantastic, had ten plants growing all produced well and tasted fantastic

Three Cowlicks plants, 2 BW Sudduths. My family's tastebuds are saying that the difference between the two is so small that it ain't worth talking about.

Average sizes - Cowlicks = 14 ozs ...... BW Sudduths = 12 ozs
Production - Cowlicks out produced by a factor of 2 to 1. Also, the Cowlicks tomatoes seemed to tolerate both insects and ground contact extremely well, while BWS had multiple problems very quickly.

As a blind taste test, I took 12 Cowlicks and 8 BW Sudduths to the nearby assisted living center (which I have adopted to supply fresh tomatoes and peppers as long as my garden produces), and they almost unanimously (73 to 2) chose Cowlicks. These senior folks have been heirloom tomato deprived for "I-don't-know-how-long." So far, I have delivered about 7 bushels of tomatoes and 2 bushels of peppers - mostly sweet peppers.

Since they had all been eating many different varieties for a while since I started taking some down there, I feel their opinion in this matter is relevant.

Ted
(who also likes Cowlicks over BWS just a tiny bit)

I've been growing Cowlick's BW for 4 years now. Most years the major difference between it and Brandywine-Glicks and Brandywine-Sudduth's is in production. My Cowlicks have always ripened earlier than Glicks which is always earlier than Sudduth's.
Sudduth's always peters out first and Glicks follows shortly thereafter. Cowlicks has always produced right up to a killing frost, which can be a month or more after the other two have given up. Therefore, it produces much more ripe tomatoes.
This is the first year I'm seeing the Cowlicks being somewhat smaller than either the Glicks or the Sudduths. Glicks is producing some monster-sized tomatoes out there. I have 7 glicks spread between two gardens, only five Cowlicks and two Sudduth's. I also have a Cowlick's -R.L. and a Glicks -R.L. as well as a Brandywine-stumps, 5 Ed's Millenium, and a significant amount of Brandywine/Cherokee Purple crosses, like 3 Dora, 5 Bear Creek, 2 Gary O'Sena, 3 Liz Birt and a few of each of the others mentioned like Earl's Faux and Stump of the world, Limbaugh's Legacy and a Fantastic tomato called Barlow Jap.
I'd like to say that Cowlicks has been the best tasting as it has been some years, but this year it was the R.L. version which I only had one of that knocked Dana's Dusky Rose out of the #1 spot until Bear Creek came along and so far Bear Creek is holding the best of the year for taste.
Most years, Cowlicks surpasses BW-Sudduths but this year its BW-Glicks thats leading the BW's in taste and production. For those that like Cowlicks BW, be sure to check out Barlow Jap (my second year with this one), which has been fantastic this year here, as well as the 4 Brandywine/cherokee purple crosses.
I hope to do a full report on this season when it finishes (hopefully after 1st frost). Until then, ENJOY!
Camo