Quote:
Originally Posted by brownrexx
Modern hybrids, like Big Beef, have been bred to have a gene for uniform ripening. Older varieties do not have this gene so green shoulders are perfectly normal.
Does the green part taste ripe? I don't know since I usually don't eat that part. Someone else will have to answer that one.
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I've heard about modern hybrids that have had it bred out, but even my heirlooms rarely if ever get green shoulders. I wonder if the growing conditions also play a role, or if I've just managed to select varieties that coincidentally don't have them. What are some varieties that are definitely supposed to have green shoulders? Isn't it mostly just supposed to be the big beefsteak heirloom varieties that get them, rather than the round, medium or small ones? I have heard that Yellow Pear can have green shoulders, though. I don't remember if it had them when we grew it, but our neighbor's end of season ones two years ago seemed all yellow.
Here are some open-pollinated ones I've tried that I remember did not have any green shoulders for me (not all of these are large, heirloom beefsteaks, but some are):
* German Pink
* Pruden's Purple
* Golden King of Siberia
* Peaceful Valley's Beefsteak (it was round and small, though)
* American Seed's Beefsteak (it was round and small, though)
* Aussie
* Creole
* Thessaloniki
* Black Giant
* Black
* Mexican Yellow
* Pink Stuffer
* Yellow Ruffled
* Chapman
* Cuostralee
* George Detsikas Italian Red
* Matina (it's not supposed to have them, though)
* Medovaya Kaplya
* Glacier
* Sweet Ozark Orange
* Seek No Further Love Apple
* Missouri Pink Love Apple
* Pink Cheeks (it can have yellow shoulders, but not all of mine did)
* Giant Belgium
* Persimmon
* Black from Tula
* Aladdin's Lamp
* Big Sungold Select
* Omar's Lebanese
* Oroma
* Roma
* Zapotec
* McGee
* Ethel Watkins Best
* Napa Giant (basically Mortgage Lifter)
* etc.
Of course, Green Giant, Cherokee Green Pear and Green Pear all had green shoulders, though.
