German Pink

When Tammy and I first started gardening, we tended to rely on the tomato varieties that everyone in the Midwest tended to rely on.  Early Girl, Big Boy, Beefsteak.  Sound familiar?

They were the cultivars that nearly every nursery carried and they were names we had experienced in family gardens.  And, to be perfectly honest, Rob wasn't too worried about them as long as they grew and produced because he wasn't all that interested in eating tomatoes raw.  Tomatoes for him were good if they were cooked and in sauces.  Otherwise, it was whatever Tammy wanted was going to be fine.

Over time, we started looking at heirloom varieties.  One of the very first heirlooms we tried on the farm was the German Pink from Seed Savers Exchange (tried for the first time on our farm in 2004 - our first season here).  We ran German Pink and Wisconsin 55 against the Early Girl, Big Boy and Beefsteak trifecta.  We were already inclined to want to support seed diversity and the use of open pollinated seed, but we still needed a little convincing that these would do well enough for us if we were trying to sell tomatoes.

Making a long story short - we didn't grow Big Boy, Early Girl or Beefsteak in 2005.

The German Pink also marks the first time Rob voluntarily cut up a tomato that was meant for his own sandwich.  You see, the big, beautiful German Pinks looked TOO good.  Maybe I really was missing something?  

You know what?  I was.  But, now I'd found a tomato taste that would make me say that.

Since that time I have tasted Big Boy, Early Girl and Beefsteak tomatoes.  They are not German Pink - and I suppose I can eat them if I must.  Apparently I know what I like, and the meaty texture and slightly sweeter flavor suit me.  

And, German Pink has done well for us many years on the farm, making our Veggie Variety of the year list - #10 in 2012. 

German Pink leans towards a beefsteak style with a meaty interior that is not overly juicy.  I like a tomato on my sandwiches that doesn't soak through the bread and holds together.  I also like the idea that one slice covers the bread!

German Pink plants are a "potato-leaf" type, showing larger leaves that tend to be more solid than typical tomato plants.  You might be able to see what I mean if you look more closely at the plants shown above.  We find that the potato leaf types often produce better cover for the fruit, which reduces sun scald issues.

A healthy German Pink plant can become fairly large, reaching a height in one of our cages that is about as tall as we are.  We typically will use our heavier, taller cages for these plants, especially because they produce larger fruit.  

The transplants are often some of our sturdiest, with a very solid and prominent main stem.  They are fairly easy to prune to a main trunk early in their lives.

At our farm, German Pink plants have traditionally entered peak production starting at 77 days from transplant into the field, staying at peak production for about four weeks.  Some years, there would be a slight lull in the middle of two production peaks, but that has rarely been the case in recent years with the extremely wet Fall weather.  Like many tomatoes, they are not fond of "wet feet."

In years where the Fall harvest has not been truncated with the extremely wet weather, we could expect an average of eight marketable fruit per plant at a weight of .97 pounds each.  Yes, I could have said one pound, but I wanted to impress upon you that I do keep records and know how to calculate an average (aren't I smart?).  I am fairly certain that a gardener could get more per plant simply because they would be able to take some of the fruit that split or have small problems and bring them in to eat.  You have to remember we must be pickier when it comes to selecting fruit for marketing!

Speaking of which, German Pink fruit tend to have a very tender skin, which would be the main reason these are not good for growing and shipping.  I can't tell you how many times I've been disappointed when I nick a perfectly good fruit by bumping into a cage wire or setting it down a bit too hard.  

Well, not that disappointed.. we could eat it.  But, you can only eat so many tomatoes at a time!

That said, if a person were to grow German Pinks for market, they do pretty well if you take them off the plant a bit prior to full ripeness and let them ripen off vine the rest of the way for 24 to 48 hours.  The taste is not adversely effected and you reduce losses during the harvest period.  I would guess that you could even harvest earlier than that and not be disappointed.

I hope you enjoyed this veggie variety post and I wish for you some tasty tomatoes for those BLTs this year!  And, if you don't like tomatoes, consider growing a German Pink and see if it has the taste that shows you that you could actually like them.  If not - it's still all good - they cook down to make a great sauce too.