Tomato Addict

Goose Creek

I thought I might start posting individual posts about the tomatoes that are on my All-star list. These would be tomatoes that score a 9 or 10 out of 10 (according to my taste buds of course). Every year I plant new varieties and only the best make the all-star list and those get planted every season. To start out with we will go with Goose Creek. There is some controversy surrounding this one. Usually when there is some disagreement over a tomato it has to do with the history and some of the mater heads have informed me that they do not believe the history on this one is accurate. Here is a copy/paste from Laurel's page:

"This family treasure comes to us from edible landscape expert, Jimmy Williams, owner of Hayground Organic Gardening in California whose home garden we found to be an enchanting escape. Jimmy, born in 1942, and his Native Island Gullah-Geechee family aredescendants of slaves brought in bondage from The Caribbean to the coastal islands of the Southern United States to grow rice for plantation owners.

The Gullah are still keepers of a fascinating culture of food, language and beloved traditions--a most extraordinary and delightful people.

The seeds of this sublime fruit have been passed down through generations since the 1800's when Jimmy's great-great grandmother, a young Caribbean slave, smuggled them with her aboard ship. When the ship docked at Charleston near Goose Creek, South Carolina, she had the treasured seeds with her, hidden deep in her skirt pocket and planted them that first spring. Jimmy's grandmother, Elouise Watson, shared this precious heirloom with him more than 45 years ago, assuring Goose Creek 's place in his family's garden for generations to come. Among its extraordinary qualities: A very high fruit yield and very few seeds.

Along with being very heat tolerant, it shows remarkable cold-tolerance along the cooler coastal areas where the fruits continue to set and ripen through November and December. It is a wonderful choice for growing in containers."

Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes

Okay, I have no idea if it really came from slaves or not. But when a tomato is great, it's great no matter what the history is. Grew this one last season ( '07). The fruit wasn't big and I wasn't expecting much as far as taste. Wow! I couldn't have been more wrong. It is amazing. Out of 50 plants, this one stood out for taste alone.

I had a counter full of tomatoes last year and twice I had someone in the family say " what was the little red one you had in the back because it was great".

Jacques and Lydia personally requested this one by name for '08.