Interesting Twist to Flathead Monster Tomato Story

[willyswoodpile]

Please bear with me while I explain my interesting story.

I am reading a thread on the Idig forums about tomato seeds lists and whatever people are going to plant this year and I see Flathead Monster: Then my mind wonders to my family genealogy that I have been doing...I say to myself "I have relatives that moved to Flathead County, Montana". So I pull up my Family Tree Maker and sure enough, there are relatives [that I have not researched yet] that lived in Bigfork and Kalispell, Flathead County, Montana.
Then my mind wonders again and I say to myself "Big Head Todd and the Monsters"....what tomato can I cross with Flathead Monster to tie in with Big Head Todd? Okay, what tomato might cause a "head" when crossed with Flathead Monster. I found Black Elephant in the Baker Creek Catalog and read that it tasted good. I thought " Yea, I want a good-tasting mater".
-- I put it all together and came up with Big Head Elephant and the Flathead Monster. So now I just had to get the seeds to start my vision. I put the call out for Flathead Monster seeds. Someone is sending me a few of those.
-- So now today I look to see if any living descendants are still in Flathead County. I call and leave a message. She called me back about an hour ago and we talk on the phone. We discuss genealogy stuff for a while and then I tell her about my tomato vision. She then proceeds to tell me about Flathead Lake and the Flathead Monster which is akin to the Loch Ness Monster. Then I remember someone mentioning [on the forums] that the lady who named Flathead Monster did so because of the Flathead River that ran behind her house (if I remember correctly). I could go on but as you can readily see that these [facts] are an important clue to the naming of the Flathead Monster variety of tomato.
I would be interested in hearing from Carolyn as she seems to be the one with knowledge about the beginnings and provenance of a variety.
So not only did I find some long lost relatives still living in Kalispell and Bigfork, Montana; I also found an important clue to a tomato provenance. Neat huh?

[GunnarSK]

Feb 7, 2011 19:08:57 GMT -5 @willyswoodpile said:

I would be interested in hearing from Carolyn as she seems to be the one with knowledge about the beginnings and provenance of a variety.
So not only did I find some long lost relatives still living in Kalispell and Bigfork, Montana; I also found an important clue to a tomato provenance. Neat huh?

Carolyn will probably be chiming in, and her information is important, but don't expect her to write right away, because she has been occupied lately with seed distribution following her offer at TomatoVille. This is a potato leaved variety, and there is a thread already in the appropriate forum, and Darth or Spudleafwillie may answer first.

[willyswoodpile]

Feb 8, 2011 6:53:09 GMT -5 GunnarSK said:

Feb 7, 2011 19:08:57 GMT -5 @willyswoodpile said:

I would be interested in hearing from Carolyn as she seems to be the one with knowledge about the beginnings and provenance of a variety.
So not only did I find some long lost relatives still living in Kalispell and Bigfork, Montana; I also found an important clue to a tomato provenance. Neat huh?

Carolyn will probably be chiming in, and her information is important, but don't expect her to write right away, because she has been occupied lately with seed distribution following her offer at TomatoVille. This is a potato leaved variety, and there is a thread already in the appropriate forum, and Darth or Spudleafwillie may answer first.

Thanks Gunnar. Maybe I can get a Moderator to move this thread over to the Spud-Leaf Maters category.

[dld]

I moved it for you willyswoodpile. Hope it was ok, JCM?

[willyswoodpile]

Feb 8, 2011 13:26:08 GMT -5 @dld said:

I moved it for you willyswoodpile. Hope it was ok, JCM?

Awesome. Thanks DLD. I just finished reading the other Flathead Monster thread. Super interesting. It's a lot of information for a rookie to process, but I'll manage.

Now I'm ready for one of Darth's MonsterMater Subs'.

[jcm05]

Feb 8, 2011 6:53:09 GMT -5 GunnarSK said:

Carolyn will probably be chiming in, and her information is important, but don't expect her to write right away, because she has been occupied lately with seed distribution following her offer at TomatoVille.

I don't see that happening since she has not visited here in quite a while after posting multiple times daily.

[blane]

I hope someday Spudleafwillie comes back on.....

[fortyonenorth]

There was a lively conversation a few months back regarding Flathead Monster which spanned TTG and iDig. I remember there was a lot of conflicting info about its provenance. I believe the only thing that was confirmed is that it seems to have been introduced (via Seedsavers yearbook) by Dorothy Beiswanger of Minnesota. Someone said that it was named after the Flathead River (or lake??) because her family had a homestead there, but I'm not sure where that info originated. In her listing Dorothy describes it:

midseason, from seed saver who found this on a plant that also had Pruden's Purple tomatoes on it, has been true to the large yellow flat tasty tomato,

I contacted her in November to ask her to clarify where she originally obtained seeds because, from her description, I don't think it arose in her garden. Yesterday, I received some seeds from her, but unfortunately there was no reply to my question.

[GunnarSK]

Feb 15, 2011 15:33:22 GMT -5 fortyonenorth said:

In her SSE listing Dorothy Beiswenger of Minnesota describes it:

midseason, from seed saver who found this on a plant that also had Pruden's Purple tomatoes on it, has been true to the large yellow flat tasty tomato,

I think it might be good to read both here and at IDig
Maybe the best would be, if both Carolyn and Spud would write their opinions here, but I don't know when that's gonna happen.

[willyswoodpile]

Feb 16, 2011 13:55:43 GMT -5 GunnarSK said:

Feb 15, 2011 15:33:22 GMT -5 fortyonenorth said:

In her SSE listing Dorothy Beiswenger of Minnesota describes it:

midseason, from seed saver who found this on a plant that also had Pruden's Purple tomatoes on it, has been true to the large yellow flat tasty tomato,

I think it might be good to read both here and at IDig
Maybe the best would be, if both Carolyn and Spud would write their opinions here, but I don't know when that's gonna happen.

-- That's the thread I was looking for. It's the one that seems to give all the facts. Thanks Gunnar.