That sounds amazing!
Big Beef is a fine tomato.
But, heirloom, it is not.
Correct… Big Beef is a hybrid for sure.
It is funny how one tomato can do so well for some and not for others. Location, Location, Location.
My location is good for Big Beef. Very happy with them.
Below is the youtube vid that turned me on to their production potential… and I see that same just awesome production in my garden. Others may not… I think they do a little better for MHP Gardner than they do for me.
TNHunter
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I have sold Big Beef tomato plants for the last 20 years. The local Co-op was losing so many sales that they begged their plant provider to get Big Beef.
Jerry Brown was a locally famous potter in Hamilton. He grew Better Boy tomatoes every year. About 2005, I told him I would give him a tray of 48 plants if he would grow and compare. A few months later, I went to his home and he wanted to show me something. He set out 24 of the Big Beef plants and had about 50 Better Boy plants. What he wanted to show me was 9 buckets of tomatoes sitting in his carport, all Big Beef. He was getting that many tomatoes per day from the Big Beef tomatoes. If he was lucky, he got 3 or 4 from the Better Boy plants. Every year after that, I traded him a few trays of Big Beef plants for some of his pottery. I have a nice churn, a pitcher and bowl, another pitcher, a few moonshine jugs, and a large bowl with lid among others. The last time I checked, they were worth something over $1000 if I wanted to sell them. He was a good friend and is sorely missed after passing a few years ago.
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The thing with tomatoes is the same with nearly everything. That is, the industrial necessary look, consistency, and shelf life results in nice looking and not so great tomatoes.
Those of us who know better realize that a green vein or a non symmetrical appearance has nothing to do with the quality and taste.
Ditto apples, persimmons, pawpaws, you name it…
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