Re: [tomato] Thick Skin Tomatoes
Doreen Howard (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Thu, 22 Jun 2000 12:39:22 -0500
Some varieties are bred for thick skins--makes them easier to ship for the
commercial market. Big Beef is one. My observations are based on heirloom
tomatoes, which have not had their genes tinkered with, except by natural
adaptation. Brandywine, Schimmeig Stoo, Green Zebra, Garden Peach, Tom's
Sausage, Striped German, Mortgage Lifter, Black Krim and Black Prince, to
name a few, had markedly thicker skins when I grew them along the Texas Gulf
Coast were the heat and humidity were oppressive. Now that I'm gardening in
very temperate climates, seeds saved from these Texas tomatoes are producing
thin skinned fruits.
Doreen Howard
-----Original Message-----
From: DannoMusic@aol.com <DannoMusic@aol.com>
To: Tomato@GlobalGarden.com <Tomato@GlobalGarden.com>
Date: Thursday, June 22, 2000 11:30 AM
Subject: Re: [tomato] Thick Skin Tomatoes
>I wasn't aware that there was a difference in skin thickness with climate.
>Are the tomatoes in the north more prone to cracking or vice versa?
> (The alleged "Big Beefs" had by far the thickest skins I've ever seen
on
>a home grown tomato, in fact thicker than even any store bought one I can
>think of. We ended up using them for fried green tomatoes after it was
>obvious that nothing good was going to come from the plant.)
>
>In a message dated 6/21/00 10:01:37 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>doreenh@ticon.net writes:
>
>> Karen,
>> Yes, it's true that tomatoes grown in hot, southern climates develop
>thicker
>> skins--no matter the variety. It's a natural defense against
evaporation.
>> Doreen Howard
>> Zone 4b, where the toms have thin skins; formerly of Zone 9b, where you
had
>> to peel the toms, because the skins were so thick!
>