What would you knock off the list?

[grunt]

I posted this at TTG as well.
I have been setting seeds aside to grow out this year, as I came across the while filling out orders. Sorting through the seed bank didn't help matters any. I want to grow out 10 plants of each variety that I grow, and would like to keep the total number reasonable, someplace south of 500 plants. I'd like to grow out all of the dwarf varieties, but that would get me to 280 plants right there. I am also committed to the 13 Kozula varieties, which adds another probably 65 plants (less than 10 seeds per). So which would you prune from the list, and why?

There are 138 varieties on the list, so at least 88 have to go to keep my total to 500.

ALICANTE
ALLADIN'S LAMP
AYAS
BEAUTY KING
BEKGIAN POUNDER
BEKLGIAN FARMERS BEEFSTEAK
BELGIAN HEART
BERJEKY TIE DYE HEART
BLACK MOOR
BLACK OXHEART
BLACK OXHEART 045
BLACK PEAR
BLACK YUMYUM
BLOODY BUTCHER
BONNIE BEST 021
BOUNTY 021
BRAD'S BLACK HEART
BRADLEY 033
BRADLEY 041
BURPEE'S QUARTER CENTURY
BURSZTYN
CALLI ORANGE
CANADIAN DWARF
CHICO'S CHERRY
CLIMBING TRIP-L-CROP
COASTAL DANDY PL
COASTAL PRIDE ORANGE
COASTAL VALLEY PL
COPIA
CYNTHIA'S BLACK HEART
DACOSTA'S PORTUGUESE
DAR
DRUZBA
DUBRAVA
DWARF RED HEART
DWARF STONE
EARLY DWARF SHORT
EARLY DWARF TALL
EXTREME BUSH PL
GIANT ITALIAN PASTE
GIANT ITALIAN PL
GILDO PIETROBONI
GOAT BAG
GOLDEN DWARF
GRIT
GUERNSEY PINK BLUSH 1
GUERNSEY PINK BLUSH 3
HILLBILLY PL
JAGODKA
JAP BARLOW
JAPANESE BLACK TRIFELE
JAPANESE DWARF
JAPANESE TOMATO TREE
JOE'S PORTUGUESE
JUBILEJNYJ #261
KANG BING 1
KAVALEROVO CHINESE
KIMBERLY
KOKANEE RED
KOOTENAI
KORRAL
KOZULA #125
KOZULA #127
KOZULA #128
KOZULA #129
KOZULA #130
KOZULA #132
KOZULA #133
KOZULA #135
KOZULA #136
KOZULA #137
KOZULA #14
KOZULA #24
KOZULA #36
KRASNODAR TITANS
LARGE BARRED BOAR
LAURA'S IRISH
LETTUCE LEAF
MANITOBA
MANO
MATCHLESS
MIDGET ITALIAN TOMATO TREE
MONK
MOSKWICH
MUZARK
NEVE'S AZOREAN RED
NEW BIG DWARF
OLD GERMAN
OLD GERMAN STRIPED
ORANGE BURGOIN
ORANGE GIANT
ORANGE TREE
OSU BLUE
PERESTROIKA
PERO GIANTE
PERSIMMON
PINK BERKELY TIE DYE
POLISH DWARF
POLISH PASTEL
PRAIRIE FIRE
RED HOUSE FREE STANDING
RED PEAR CHERRY
RED PEAR ABRUZZE
RED TREE
RHOADE'S HEIRLOOM
RITA'S BLACK
RUSSIAN PERSIMMON
RUTGERS
SANFRANCISCO FOG
SCORESBY DWARF
SHIN YE ZAO HONG
SIBERIA
SIOUX
SMOKEY MOUNTAIN
STAKELESS
STICK
STUPICE
TAOS TRAIL
TENNESSEE BLACK
THE MIRACLE BPF
TRIUMPHANT
ULTRABEC
VARIEGATED
VICTORIAN DWARF
VICTORY
VILINA
WILLAMETTE
WOKOLADNYJ DARK RED
YELLOW BULL'S HEART
YELLOW CHERRY VOLUNTEER
YELLOW PYGMY
YELLOW STRIPED BOAR

Cheers
Dan

[castanea]

That is a realy nice list. Hard to find any losers in there.

I would delete the following because I have always found them to be relatively unimpressive and because they are readily available:

Stupice
Japnese Black Trifele
Neve's Azorean Red

[galina]

All the tomatoes from Wild Boar Farm are modern varieties and should be well supported by the breeder. I don't think they are endangered right at the moment. Sadly these things can change quickly, but for now:
Berkeley Tie Dye and B Tie Dye Heart, large barred boar, Pink Berkely tie dye are not endangered.
Url to Wild Boar Farm
www.wildboarfarms.com/wild-boar-farms-varieties.html

Commonly available, (but this can change), are:
Alicante, Bloody Butcher, Druzba, Hillbilly PL, japanese Black Trifele, Kootenai, Persimmon, Old German, Siberia, Stupice and a few more.

No need to lose any if you put seeds of varieties that you are not currently growing into the freezer (with rice or silica gel added to get them really dry before putting them in the freezer). They don't take up much room and you can keep all your options open for the future.

Alternatively, you could save seeds over time. Tomato seeds stay viable for a minimum of 5 years (ten years is common under reasonable storage conditions, much longer in the freezer). Say you grew ten plants (as you have planned) of your unique and rare cultivars and only 5 plants of tomatoes you are less concerned about. You could take your time and grow the other 5 plants in a year or two and combine the seeds. This way you would be able to offer fresh seeds of the rare varieties more frequently and less rare varieties every few years. This method would allow you to grow (and enjoy eating) more varieties overall.

Thank you for safeguarding rare varieties and for making seeds available to others.

[mnjrutherford]

I'm always amazed with the extensive lists of varieties some folks plant. I was wondering though, if you are growing for the purpose of supplying seed, how many plants would you grow? Just one or two plants per variety?

I truly admire and appreciate those of you who engage in this activity. I don't think I could do it. Save for myself, yes, grow for distribution... LOL I'm crazy enough as it is!

[daylilydude]

Rutgers, they are everywhere!

[extremegardener]

Well, you got me totally hooked on Bursztyn ;D, so I'd be glad to send you fresh seed from the 2011 crop. How much seed do you need? Of course, it's such a nice tomato you probably want to grow it anyway...

[grunt]

Bursztyn is one of the perpetual entries, along with Dubrava, Guido, Joes Portuguese, Vilina, and Coastal Pride Orange. After that it's anything goes.

[wildseed57]

Hi Dan, Such a nice list to have to remove anything, But If I had to remove any I
would remove the following because a lot of companies carries them.
1. Climbing Triple L crop
2. Druzba
3. Japanese Black Trifele
4. Old German
5. Red Pear Cherry
6. San Francisco Fog - I really like the flavor and it does well but I know that Tomato Growers Suply carries it.
7. Stupice
8. Rutgers
There are some I haven't even heard of, so I can't say anything for or against them
all sound like they would be great to grow . Some I will have to see about getting for myself to grow.
George W.

[grunt]

The CLIMBING TRIP-L-CROP is not the large beefsteak type that I believe is PL, but a 1"x3" never stop growing variety that I got in trade from some one in Europe in 2003 or 2004. I think it is the one that Michael Johnson has identified as Himmelsturmer, or something very like it. I always got a minimum of 12' of vine (conservative estimate). I came a cross some seeds for it recently, so I will grow it out again, give it adequate room to grow, and document with photos. That's why it is on the list.

[bev]

Dan, your Bloody Butcher seed is still viable - you sent me seeds and I planted two right away for "houseplants/patio" tomatoes. They emerged yesterday, 10 days after sowing. I plan to grow 4-6 more plants for the garden; I am very interested in this variety and will be saving seed. I would be very happy to send you some new seed if you want to skip growing them this year. If I have a disaster the seed you have will probably still be okay for next year.

[garnetmoth]

I really could lose DAYS to researching tomato varieties.... Bursztyn looks awesome. I love the look of yellow/orange tomatoes for a change, but the flavor seems to be weak- this sounds good and sweet.