PlantFiles: Tomato
Lycopersicon lycopersicum 'Jersey Giant'

I ordered Jersey Giant from rareseed.com for canning for the year. I planted 18 plants that I raised from seed. Very healthy plants. But.....some plants were short/determined cherry, some were about 2-3oz pink tall plants, and two of them were very large pink, beefsteak type and very sweet. I was disappointed that I didn't get any sauce canned, but, I did sell a lot of tasty pink tomatoes to a local coffee shop. The cherry tomatoes, however, were terrible sour and I couldn't not force myself to eat them. Baker Creek said they had NO idea what happened and NO idea what was in that packet. I got 3 different types in that packet. I would LOVE to try Jersey Giant again, but see Baker Creek (rareseed.com) does not offer them this year 2013.

I also purchased seeds from Baker Creek and grew just one in my raised bed surrounded by newspapers and wood chips to retain the moisture during this brutal growing season. The Jersey Giant did OK under these circumstances and since I have never grown it before, I am at a loss to compare it with one from previous years. I learned long ago to plant more than one variety and it doesn't hurt my feelings to plant a few hybrids like Big Mamma and Nonna's Hybrid along with the heirlooms, especially my favorites the black and purple ones.

I hope that BobinCO won't be too disappointed when his Jersey Giants turn out to be an unknown variety like mine are. I also bought my seeds from rareseeds.com and ended up with something other than Jersey Giants in the packet. The tomatoes appear to be some type of pink beefsteak that does not have a whole lot of flavor. When I enquired at Baker Creek Seed (rareseeds.com) they told me that this variety turned out to be this years turkey and that they have no idea what was in the Jersey Giant packets. I am not well pleased to say the least. This was supposed to be my main sauce and paste tomato this year. I even gave my extra plants to a couple friends for the same purpose.

Got these seeds from Rare Seeds. I started them in cups and then moved them outside about 6 weeks ago. They are growing albeit slowly. The soil in Colorado is generally lousy. I've supplemented the soil with blood meal but that's it. They are currently about 24" tall and all 3- Only 3! are showing yellow flowers. They look delicious on the seed packet!