For the third year running, and no surprise, Stupice is the first tomato to start fruiting. This extra-early heirloom is said to be from Czecholslovakia, and its performance hasn’t been even nearly beat for earliness in the 70+ varieties, heirloom and modern hybrid, that I’ve tried over the last four years. The toms are kinda small, maybe 2-4ozs (56-112g). Taste is tart (perhaps not for those sensitive to the mildly acidic) and, um, fantastic… This year, all of the tomatoes are really ahead, with fruit appearing on at maybe two dozen early and mid-season varieties before the end of June. Mmmmm…. (Now, to finish semi-staking, or shall we sprawl?!)
If you’re a micro farmer I guess that would make us folk, who grow potted veggies in a makeshift greenhouse on our driveways, “Nano farmers”… :-)
Teri: Well, nano- if you like, but I’d say you’re micro-farmers, too! I think there’s only one useful line to draw, if we have to label things, and that’s between big, “conventional,” industrial farms, and everyone else growing food… ;)
(Sorry for bringing back post from the past … going through your blog these days, and a lots of questions are cropping up!)
Have you tried Sub-Artic Plenty and Glacier? How would they compare with Stupice in term of earliness and quality?
EtienneG: I’ve tried Sub-Arctic Plenty a couple of times, I don’t remember details right off, but it didn’t beat Stupice. Probably have a rating somewhere on a list, like Nah, OK, or Great, and it wasn’t great, either. Of course, that doesn’t mean much more than how it did here in this particular field and conditions. Stupice has always come through first, once at least with really fantastic, tart flavor, the rest just fine. The really early toms I’ve tried tend to be quite small, 2-3oz, so for market, they’re kinda specialty/novelty, unless you grow a lot! I’ll probably try SAP again this year at the new farm if I have seed left. You should try it as well, if you’re looking for super early. I haven’t heard of Glacier.
Commenting on old posts is cool, nothing’s ever dead on the Web! :)
I grew the Stupice tomato this year for the first time. Although our yard is wide, it isn’t really deep. And the yard became a lot smaller after we put a garage up to one side of the yard. My 9×9 once sunny little garden is getting shaded over by the neighbor’s cedars… so I’ve been planting a few plants along side the garage…. both warm and sunny there. But… this year, I decided to make some self watering bins and grow tomatoes on the balcony that runs clear across out house.
To see how the Stupice did, I planted one along side the garage, one on the patio, and one on the balcony. Well!!! I am very impressed with this golfball (and larger) sized tomato. It stands up to heat really well. The balcony faces south. The tomato, in all locations is producing neck in neck, the bush is the same size, healthy plants with lots of tomatoes. I am thinking that if there are about 40 or 50 nearly full sized tomatoes on the bush now and we have eaten about 35. There are lots more producing and more blooms. Only thing is we are in Regina, Saskatchewan, and frost is around the corner.
We didn’t get these tomatoes out till about the 3 week in June. Kind of late, but the self watering bins needed to be made. Next year, I should be able to put the tomatoes out the 1st of June. I am anxious to document the results over this year.
I feel that I will always grow this tomato. I was very early, even if we were late. It is tart, but not too acid. It has a nice body so that one can make salsa with them. Not too watery, not all seeds, nice flesh, grows wonderfully in self watering containers or in the garden, and they are a lovely size for a salad but a good mouthful if you pop one in your mouth. And, if has a nice flavor. For me, a great all around tomato. I’ve been enjoying it in toasted sandwiches. Excess tomatoes will be juiced… or washed and frozen for tomato sauce or soups.
A lovely tomato!!! That is my 2 cents worth.