Straw bale planted tomatoes as of May 21 - Cherokee Purple and Cherokee Green

I’ve decided that once I hit tomato #250, I will take a summer break. The weekly Off The Vine republish posts will continue, and regular garden update blogs will occur too. I will resume the seed collection tour once the garden is complete. This entry won’t be a particularly fascinating set of tomatoes. It will be just a temporary lull, as some heavy hitters will show up in the next entry.

Tomato #211 - LIllian’s Large Yellow #2 - sent to me in a second envelope by Robert Richardson in 1989. I grew it in 1990, and it grew exactly like Lillian Large Red Kansas Paste.

Tomato #212 - Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom #1 - also sent to me by Robert Richardson in 1989. - This grew exactly like Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom - the large fruited bright yellow with potato leaf foliage.

Tomato #213 - Abraham Lincoln - sent to me by Jean Crumpler in 1990. I grew it in 1990, and it was yet another disappointment - a semi determinate, medium sized round prolific red that was nothing like the description of the variety when it was released in 1923.

Tomato #214 - Ole - also sent to me by Jean Crumpler in 1990. I never did grow it. I can’t find anything about this variety aside from a listing in the Seed Savers Exchange, describing it as a red, slightly blocky 6-12 ounce tomato. It does seem to be available if I ever with to acquire the seeds and finally grow it!

Tomato #215 - Jackpot - from Ted Telsch, 1990. I didn’t grow it. It may be a no longer available hybrid - I could find nothing about it.

Tomato #216 - Macero II - purchased from Harris Seeds in 1990. I grew it in 1990, and it was essentially just like a typical Roma type - Red, medium plum, determinate, prolific - and bland. I suspect this was a Harris produced variety as an improvement on Roma.

Tomato #217 - New Hampshire Red - sent to me by B. George in 1990. I never did get around to growing it. Very obscure, couldn’t find a bit of information.

Tomato #218 - Fireball - from Barney Laman, CA, 1990 (he of Mexico Midget fame). I grew this in 1986, and was not impressed - I didn’t grow the seeds from Barney. Refer back to my very early tomato collection blogs.

Tomato #219 - Beefmaster - also from Barney in 1990 - I never did grow it. It is a large fruited scarlet red hybrid that still could be found in some catalogs.

Tomato #220 - Gurney Hy-Top F2 - yet another from Barney in 1990. I never did grow it. Odd for Gurney to release an F2 generation. Seems no longer available - suspect it was a medium red tomato, perhaps a determinate.

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So - what tomatoes from the above set are must-grows? Aside from the extra Lillian’s samples sent to me, there’s nothing worth recommending here, and I didn’t even grow many of them. At this point, I was involved in some garden magazine seed swaps, and people were sending me tomato seeds that I didn’t request - but that they clearly thought highly of.