Demimonde F2

Bred in the United States from Angeles City Native and Speckled Roman. We see an interesting divergence at F2. Both varieties maintain a dimpled blossom end but other than that, we have two very different tomatoes.
       One is a cherry with a slightly acidic tomato flavor. Very productive, large plants with fairly stiff regular leaf foliage.
       The other variety is a paste tomato that has almost the exact same skin and shape as Speckled Roman but is considerably firmer and instead of a protrusion at the blossom end, has a recess. Foliage is also like Speckled Roman in that the plant looks perpetually sickly with wispy, drooping leaves. Flavor is ok but this is a very dry fruit and is more appropriate for cooking as a sauce or salsa.

Jabucar

From Serbia. Large, very robust regular-leaf plants. The main stalk was very thick and the plant would hardly require staking except for the fact that it bears a medium to heavy fruitset of large beefsteaks. I am a big fan of eastern European tomatoes and Jabucar (translated as "apple") is no exception. Healthy plants, great size and meaty with a nice balanced flavor and good texture. A choice for limited space gardens.

Limachino

     From Italy. Large, robust, regular leaf plants bear a medium to heavy fruitset of large, ribbed tomatoes. Fruit contain four or more partially empty locules. Flesh is soft and taste is balanced but mild. A good, all around tomato. Its relatively dry nature makes it a good choice for salsa and sauces but it has far more flavor than the average roma or paste tomato.

......and one more gratuitous tomato porn shot....

Vesuvio

From Italy. Medium sized regular leaf plants produce a medium fruitset of elongated paste tomatoes with two locules and some empty space inside. Taste is rather bland and flesh is somewhat mealy. Prone to blossom end rot. Probably a good choice for sauces and salsa where a dry tomato is needed and there are other flavors present. I would be more likely to grow again if I didn't lose half the fruit to blossom end rot.

Tomate Garrafinha

     From Brazil. This variety produces medium sized, regular leafed plants that show moderate resistance to blight. Productivity is moderate to heavy and unlike most paste tomatoes I have grown, there was no blossom end rot. Fruits have two locules, are somewhat mealy and very acidic. I am somewhat at a loss as to how to use high acid tomatoes. While they are certainly tolerable, they don't particularly lend themselves to anything I do in the kitchen. They are pretty enough but to my tastes not really worth limited gardening space unless I was going to use them for a breeding project. 

Hungarian Cherry

   Perhaps this variety has a name but I am unaware of any. Apparently it is common in markets in Hungary. Growth habit is quite small and production is heavy, both nice attributes in a small garden. Most notable for the unusual shape, almost like a baby roma. Taste is somewhat bland and fruit are crunchy hard. Best used in a pico de gallo. Very interesting looking variety but below average taste. 

Sex F1

   Tomatoes are sometimes referred to as love apples. There is in fact some evidence that they have aphrodisiac qualities. As far as produce goes, they certainly are sexy. And so after joining male and female flower parts together I decided to call this variety Sex. This is my F1 cross of Thai Pink Egg and Filipino #2. Both parent varieties come from challenging environments characterized by heat, humidity and various pests and tomato pathogens so even a bad summer in upstate New York is a walk in the park in comparison. In 2012, Thai Pink Egg and Filipino #2 were two of my healthiest plants and so it is not a surprise that their offspring shows no signs of blight as of late September. The fun thing about F1's is how evenly they split the difference between the parents. Fruit from Thai Pink Egg are somewhat egg shaped, coral-pink and smooth. Filipino #2 produce a dark mahogany, flattened and heavily ribbed fruit. Here the fruit show a deeper pink than Thai Pink Egg, the slightest suggestion of fasciation and are just oblate enough to sit upright when placed on a flat surface. Production was also somewhere between the bountiful TPE and the more moderately productive Filipino #2. Taste is mild with just a hint of acid; a shade more assertive than TPE.

Molokai

From Ghana. Small to medium sized plants produce a very heavy fruitset of round tomatoes that are slightly larger than a golf ball. Like some heavy producers, this variety suffers from an almost complete lack of flavor. Perhaps good for a breeding project or as a curiosity but not a variety I would otherwise recommend. 

Ruffled Gimli OP

This is the other variety I grew out from my cross of Hillbilly Potato Leaf and Large Red Cherry. Plants are similar in that they are large and vigorous with dark, regular leafed foliage. However, Ruffled Gimli produces larger fruit that are fasciated, flatter and have a bolder tomato flavor. Good gel to flesh ratio makes them great slicers for sandwiches or bagels. 

Gimli OP

After five seasons, I have finally stabilized Gimli, a cross between Hillbilly Potato Leaf and Large Red Cherry. Both parent varieties are very large plants and Gimli retains this trait. Plants are vigorous with a medium to heavy fruitset of small, slightly oblate fruit. Taste is sweet and mild with a good balance of gel to flesh. Well suited for salsa or salads. Below is the namesake of the variety. Like the tomato, he is small, compact and sweet.

Pangasinan Native

From the Philippines. As noted before, there are many Filipino tomatoes that have the word "native" somewhere in their name but this does not mean they are in any way similar. Some are sweet, some are very acidic, some are red, some pink, some smooth and some ruffled. I think most are landraces, partially stabilized varieties that developed on their own in certain areas without the influence of deliberate breeding programs. This is Pangasinan Native. Seeds were kindly contributed by Kai at http://bucaio.blogspot.com/search?q=kamatis. 

Large healthy plants produced a medium to heavy fruitset of ruffled, pink tomatoes. As described Kai's blog, the fruits are thin skinned, sweet and mild. They are very soft, making them impractical for sale on a large scale. Most likely a landrace as the two plants I grew out this year had some fairly marked differences.

Tomate

From Peru. Large plants bear heavy fruitset of slightly elongated fruits with 2 partially filled locules. Mellow, sweet flavor. Most likely a marginally stabilized landrace from the part of the world where tomatoes were first cultivated. 

Ten Hung Tan Chieh

From China. Large, healthy, regular leaf plants produce a heavy fruitset of small to medium sized beefsteaks. Very nicely balanced tomato flavor with equal parts acid and sweetness. Good all purpose tomato. 

Pygmy

From Nigeria. Small, regular leaf plants bear a medium to heavy fruitset of medium sized, meaty beefsteaks. Very nice balanced flavor with a hint of pumpkin, reminiscent of Brandywine. Great for sandwiches or on a bagel with cream cheese.

Bola Chico

My first entry for the class of 2013. From Mexico. Modestly sized, regular-leaf plants bear a heavy fruitset of mostly round, golf ball sized fruit. More gel and seeds than flesh and flavor is somewhat acidic. Most likely a landrace or minimally developed cultivar.