TOW-THE GRANDPAS 7-4-10

[darthslater]

This weeks pick is from our own Spudleaf Willie!! Spud assures me the taste will match or even beat the best Brandywines. They also have some history and I am sure Spud will come and explain and show some nice pics!! Once again, for those not familiar with some of the tomatoes mentioned, you can look them up at Tatianas Tomato Base. I try to take the blinders off of the "Brandywine" People as much as possible, with over 3 thousand Heirloom Tomatoes isnt it nice to know a little about some of the less exploited ones? Fact is, alot of those "Obscure" Tomatoes are really just because people are not aware of them, everyonce in a while a seed company will "Discover" the latest got to have, when in fact they are just bringing forth a varitey taken out of the seedsavers catalog!!! Here at TTG, we try to inform you and keep you up to date with your favorites and some new ones!!

[spudleafwillie]

Darth, heres a brief history of Grandpa Charlie and Grandpa Willie !!:

My first interest in potato leaf tomatoes began at the age of 6 when I first became aware of and began to participate in gardening with my paternal grandfather, Charles Sokolowski. “Grandpa Charlie” , as I called him, was a Polish coal miner who came to this country in 1904 as a young man and settled in Scranton, PA area (Dickson City). GC soon found work in the anthracite coal mines around Dickson City, PA.
Grandpa Charlie brought from Poland in 1904, seeds of an unnamed tomato variety with unusual smooth- edged leaves and a large flattened globe shape. The juicy, flavorful pink fruits weighed from12 to 18 ounces each. I later named this unnamed family heirloom of his “Grandpa Charlie” in his honor.

GC was an avid gardener and tomato grower who always had a large home garden to help support his growing family.
I spent many hours in the garden with my Grandpa Charlie when I was a young boy and was constantly peppering him with gardening questions. One question I remember asking was ,“Where do the smooth leaf edges come from? on the GC plant. He answered, “that’s the way god made them” .
It wasn’t until I took botany and genetics courses at Penn State in the early 1960s that I learned that these smooth edged tomato plants were a distinct variety call “potato leaf”. The smooth- edged leaves were caused by a recessive gene, “c” , on the short arm of chromosome 6 of the 12 chromosome of the tomato plant.

GC had a 50’ x100’ garden plot which took up half of a vacant lot next door. The other identical half was a garden owned by Mr. William Ottey, an English immigrant who came to southeastern PA in 1912. WO brought with him another unnamed red, globe shaped PL variety, an Ottey family heirloom from the 1870s. My second family heirloom PL tomato was named “Grandpa Willie” in GW’s honor.

WO was my adopted grandfather, and I lovingly called him “Grandpa Willie”.
I learned much about gardening from these two uneducated men who had an encyclopedia of gardening know-how and experience in their heads.

[stratcat]

Haven't tried these yet. They are on the short list.

[blane]

Up the Irons!!!
I got one....Yep one growing.....Grandpa Charlie, its been a headache babying these....Hoping to get to taste the goods this fall!