Hearts good all rounder.

[Nematode]

First year growing hearts, Fish Lake and Kosovo.
lm still a bit of a noob but they are stand outs as an all 'rounder.
High solids so they dont need excessive reduction to make sauce.
Good flavor for me.
Early enough to get good yield in massachusetts.
They don't fall apart if you are chunking them. This is great in salsa, salads, and soups if you like texture.
Firmness of flesh is also good for slicing.
I like the way the gel is in small pockets evenly distributed through the meat.
Thanks t-villians, never would have tried them without you!

[taboule]

Nematode, correct on all counts. It is one of my favorites too.

I've been adding a heart variety each past couple of years. Now I have FLO, Coeur de boeuf (=oxheart, seeds from France) and Gritmire (sp) Pride. The CDB yielded by biggest tom this summer at ~1.2 kilos.

Whereabouts in Mass are you approximately?

[Nematode]

Originally Posted by taboule

Nematode, correct on all counts. It is one of my favorites too.

I've been adding a heart variety each past couple of years. Now I have FLO, Coeur de boeuf (=oxheart, seeds from France) and Gritmire (sp) Pride. The CDB yielded by biggest tom this summer at ~1.2 kilos.

Whereabouts in Mass are you approximately?

Gloucester

[Worth1]

Some like it some dont, I love it.
Orange Russian.
I had one come up volunteer one year under a tree at the end of my driveway in November.
The thing survived me parking the tuck over it that winter and was one of my best producers the next summer.
Worth
http://www.tomatogrowers.com/ORANGE-...ductinfo/5539/

[luigiwu]

Fish Lake is a favorite of mine. I have to get seeds to try Kosovo.

[Gardenboy]

I have tons of Kosovo seeds if you need some. It was a great producer last 2014 season.

[Gerardo]

I believe we have a heart convert. They are versatile and tasty. If only they would stop "crying in their beer" as another tomatovillian put it.

Brad's BK Heart, Shannon, Belize P, DanKo, Wes, nicKy crain, Cour di Bue, Orange MinsK, I'm swimming in them this season and loving it. I second the thank you Tomatoville.

For some strange reason, my OR117 plants have all met and untimely demise (3 so far, mostly due to canines). Ran out of seeds, so I'll have to wait on this particular heart. I hear great things about it and am hoping the 4th time's a charm.

Grow some more nematode, you won't regret it. Great day to all.

[carolyn137]

I have always been a heart lover pretty much from the get go/ I think it was two years ago year in one of many threads here all about hearts that someone asked how many a person had grown.

I went to tania's list of hearts and copied down the ones I'd grown, added a few she didn't yet have listed and just found that info in my data book. Counted them and there were 66 varieties.

Most of you know I can no longer grow my own tomatoes, my job is to find new varieties of all kinds of tomatoes for my seed offers here at Tville. Then I send the seeds to my seed producers for seed production/ All of those folks have been with me for many years and by now I know if they rave about a new heart, I would as well. And one of them sends me pictures.

All to say that there's lots of new hearts comingup in my now late 2015 seed offer and many many more for my 2016 one coming up in Jan 2016, but fingers still crossed on the hearts for 2016 since weather was a real problem for two of my seed producers and one of them had first choice, I rotate that every year, and he got what I call some of the best ones.

And just saying that all my tomato friends do not use paste varieties to make sauce, salsa, etc., they use hearts if they have enough of them, or use any great tasting variety for sauce/salsa.

Carolyn

[Gardeneer]

I've got heart too
This one has no name, as the seeds have come fro store bought OP/heirloom.
The flesh is the same brown color. It is meaty but not dry like some heart.
The taste is as good as CP.

First picture is green one.
Second picture is couple of almost ripe ones.

No name. No Fame , but thats not a Shame !

[Gardenboy]

Why is it that most "heart" or "oxheart" tomato foliage is wispy?

[TomNJ]

Kosovo is my primary tomato every year for all the reasons stated. It is usually my first to ripen and always my top producer. Since I make and can salsa and sauces from 90% of my crop I like the fact that they are solid and less juicy than beefsteaks, and the large size easily fills a sandwich. They also have no cat-facing, very little core, and virtually no blossom end scabs, so trimming before canning is easier and gives better yields.

TomNJ/VA

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Gardenboy

Why is it that most "heart" or "oxheart" tomato foliage is wispy?

For the same reason that most true Dwarf varieties have rugose foliage and most large beefsteak shaped fruits are usually the most susceptible to BER, etc.,that it, it's in the genes, and genes rule.

And I guess I'll add that many I know, including myself, have found that the longevity of seeds is the least amongst most other varieties.

Carolyn

[KarenO]

Most of my favourite tomatoes are hearts as well. I'm at F4 with several potato leaf heart lines that do not have that wispy characteristic. Lots of work to do yet but they are coming along as I was hoping.
KarenO

[Father'sDaughter]

I resisted hearts for a long time. I'm slowly becoming a convert. The earlier ones I tried didn't have much flavor according to my taste buds, so I crossed all hearts off the list. This year Cuor Di Buie and Russian 117 changed my mind.

[taboule]

Here's a pic of the 1.2 kilo CDB. (~2.6 lb)
CDB-1,2k.jpg