"Big Mystery"

[KarenO]

Thank you Carolyn, I know it's a long shot with so many varieties. It may well be that he bred it himself or it was a "family" tomato as it certainly seems to be well adapted to our northern area and I will see what else I can find out around here. I am pretty sure the skin is clear. very thin and quite transparent when you blanch and peel these for cooking. I'm just an enthusiastic home gardener, not a breeder or any sort of tomato expert but I certiainly know that you are and I admire your knowlege! I have read your book (it's in the library here) but I'm going to look for it and buy it so I can have my own copy. I'm a fan and I am actually rather amazed that you would take the time to answer some amateur Canadian's questions.
Thanks again sincerely,
Karen

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by KarenO

Thank you Carolyn, I know it's a long shot with so many varieties. It may well be that he bred it himself or it was a "family" tomato as it certainly seems to be well adapted to our northern area and I will see what else I can find out around here. I am pretty sure the skin is clear. very thin and quite transparent when you blanch and peel these for cooking. I'm just an enthusiastic home gardener, not a breeder or any sort of tomato expert but I certiainly know that you are and I admire your knowlege! I have read your book (it's in the library here) but I'm going to look for it and buy it so I can have my own copy. I'm a fan and I am actually rather amazed that you would take the time to answer some amateur Canadian's questions.
Thanks again sincerely,
Karen

Karen, I don't breed tomatoes. If I were perhaps 30 years younger I might have but back then there weren't all the home growers who now do that and it didn't even occur to me to do so.

I try to answer questions the best I can and it makes no difference to me if someone is new to tomato growing or not, you said an amateur, b'c every one of us started from the same place at one time.

What I have done is to grow one heck of a lot of different varieties over the years and since I was raised on a farm and started helping out when I was very young I have maybe 65 years of tomato experience behind me since wherever I was at a given point in time I grew tomatoes, but really grew most of them when I moved back home in 1982 and had lots of space at the old family farm.