Mountain series-flavor

[Chuck750ss]

This year I raised some Mountain Gem tomatoes. Very impressed with yields,desease resistance and flavor. Looking for some input on the other mountain series, especially flavor.

[Doffer]

Mountain rouge F1 is good tasting and have the ph2 and ph3 genes for late blight resistance

[bower]

I grew Mountain Gem and Plum Regal F1 this year.
Mt. Gem had plenty of robust classic tomato flavor, and I didn't eat the Plum Regal myself, but Mom said they were very sweet and tasty. That is after picking them green and giving them to her in a box to ripen off the vine. Too late season for me.
I know they don't have Mountain in the name, but they are Randy Gardner's work as well.

[pepperhead212]

I had good success with Mountain Rouge this season - will definitely grow again! One of the best for flavor, and one of the larger ones, though none over a lb. Not super productive, as it seems to stop, once it gets too hot (over 95° or so), like some others, but it comes back.

[Chuck750ss]

Disease resistance is important for me. Love the heirlooms, but it is a hit or miss on disease.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the flavor of the Mountain Gem. Generally the “pretty “ tomatoes don’t have much flavor.
Always a timing game here in south Arkansas beating the heat. Our hot weather held off this summer.

[friedgreen51]

Mountain Rouge is my favorite of the series based on the work of Dr. Randy Gardner of North Carolina State University.
Mountain Merit is my next favorite.

[Paulf]

For several years I grew a few of the Mountain series as they were introduced. Each new variety got a trial and each was healthy, fairly productive and nice looking tomatoes. None were more than four ounces and none had much flavor. My records are not close by so this is through memory only. I grew the first varieties out but not for the five years have the Mountains been in the gardens here. My lack of success may well be my garden and this grower.

[MissS]

I'm in agreement with @Paulf. These are more of a saladette type of tomato. I have never found a saladette that can compete with the flavor of an heirloom beefsteak. They have their place for some, but to me they are rather plain and blah. They fill in a gap until the beefsteaks kick in and then I pass them off to someone else to eat them.

[bower]

Mountain Gem was a fairly large (by my standards) beefsteak type tomato.
The flavor was not similar to heirloom beefs IMO. Very intense, tomato umami, but without the sweetness that is typical of the heirlooms I've grown. It's obvious that I've gravitated away from tomatoes that taste like tomatoes, it was a bit of a shock. I still enjoy tomatoey flavor when cooked but not for eating raw, and the MG certainly made flavorful sauce.
@Chuck750ss I'm wondering if you found these tomatoes to be very firm??
In my conditions (and or the state of ripeness when tasted) these tomatoes were extremely firm, unlike the more melting, smooth texture of an heirloom beef. I would say they are a market ready tomato, that can be shipped and handled without bruising, based on my experience.

[Chuck750ss]

I'm in agreement with @Paulf. These are more of a saladette type of tomato. I have never found a saladette that can compete with the flavor of an heirloom beefsteak. They have their place for some, but to me they are rather plain and blah. They fill in a gap until the beefsteaks kick in and then I pass them off to someone else to eat them.

Going back years ago I worked with a guy who farmed tomatoes. They raised a mountain series. And they were good for shipping tomatoes. Certainly didn’t have much taste. He did tell me that if you let them ripen all the way on the vine they were good.
The Mountain Gem that I raised have very good flavor. I am eating some now that I pulled green(beating the frost) and let ripen on their own. Flavor is pretty darn good considering that I pulled them green. Much better than any store bought tomato. The ones from summer were excellent.

[Chuck750ss]

Mountain Gem was a fairly large (by my standards) beefsteak type tomato.
The flavor was not similar to heirloom beefs IMO. Very intense, tomato umami, but without the sweetness that is typical of the heirlooms I've grown. It's obvious that I've gravitated away from tomatoes that taste like tomatoes, it was a bit of a shock. I still enjoy tomatoey flavor when cooked but not for eating raw, and the MG certainly made flavorful sauce.
@Chuck750ss I'm wondering if you found these tomatoes to be very firm??
In my conditions (and or the state of ripeness when tasted) these tomatoes were extremely firm, unlike the more melting, smooth texture of an heirloom beef. I would say they are a market ready tomato, that can be shipped and handled without bruising, based on my experience.

They are firm. Very few seeds. Almost no core. I do prefer a heirloom. But I also like having tomatoes every year. If I had depended on my heirlooms this year I wouldn’t have eaten many garden tomatoes.
The exception was some old school Tommy Toe tomatoes. They did load up.

[bower]

Mountain Gem was a fairly large (by my standards) beefsteak type tomato.
The flavor was not similar to heirloom beefs IMO. Very intense, tomato umami, but without the sweetness that is typical of the heirlooms I've grown. It's obvious that I've gravitated away from tomatoes that taste like tomatoes, it was a bit of a shock. I still enjoy tomatoey flavor when cooked but not for eating raw, and the MG certainly made flavorful sauce.
@Chuck750ss I'm wondering if you found these tomatoes to be very firm??
In my conditions (and or the state of ripeness when tasted) these tomatoes were extremely firm, unlike the more melting, smooth texture of an heirloom beef. I would say they are a market ready tomato, that can be shipped and handled without bruising, based on my experience.

They are firm. Very few seeds. Almost no core. I do prefer a heirloom. But I also like having tomatoes every year. If I had depended on my heirlooms this year I wouldn’t have eaten many garden tomatoes.
The exception was some old school Tommy Toe tomatoes. They did load up.

I hear you there!
For me it's earliness that seals the deal on getting a crop. So the major stroke against Mt.Gem and PlumRegal was being so much later than the tomatoes I've bred here. That's not a problem for crossing though, and I did do some crosses hoping to pick up disease resistant lines. But we don't have/didn't have late blight, and they weren't any more resistant to early blight than my other lines.
I am eyes out for EB/Alternaria resistant lines. The EB is very crop-lossy here if hot and humid weather persists.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

Perennial Gotchberg Gardens Fave, the Saladettesque Mountain Magic, won our Taste Test Challenge five (5) seasons running.

Another Must Plant is Mountain Merit, below ripening in the late August Iron County sun:

920176766 (3).jpg

Its flavor doesn't jump off the page, but if disease/crack resistance, and near flawless countenance are yer desires, give that one a try. And if your experience mirrors ours, it's "staying-storing power"/longevity will make it one of the last fresh Tomatoes of yer season.

When I asked a horticulturist pal-o-mine which Tomato he'd plant if he could only plant one, he'd choose Mountain Merit.

Planted Mountain Pride a coupla seasons back, and it turned out to be a smaller version of Mountain Merit, ergo, no complaints.

The Gotch

[friedgreen51]

Here are pictures of a Mountain Rouge the first year I grew them (2020). I think the taste was better than Big Beef.

Mountain Rouge Blushing 070420.jpg

Mountain Rouge Tomato 8 4 2020.jpg

[JayneR13]

This is interesting to know. I have both Mountain Merit and Magic, along with Defiant. And a few other of their disease-resistant varieties! I'm looking forward to trying them out next year.

[Uncle_Feist]

Perennial Gotchberg Gardens Fave, the Saladettesque Mountain Magic, won our Taste Test Challenge five (5) seasons running.

Another Must Plant is Mountain Merit, below ripening in the late August Iron County sun:
920176766 (3).jpg

Its flavor doesn't jump off the page, but if disease/crack resistance, and near flawless countenance are yer desires, give that one a try. And if your experience mirrors ours, it's "staying-storing power"/longevity will make it one of the last fresh Tomatoes of yer season.

When I asked a horticulturist pal-o-mine which Tomato he'd plant if he could only plant one, he'd choose Mountain Merit.

Planted Mountain Pride a coupla seasons back, and it turned out to be a smaller version of Mountain Merit, ergo, no complaints.

The Gotch

I grew Mountain Merit for the first time last year as a possible disease resistant replacement of my old favorite juicer/canner. My buddy had been growing MM for several years as a farmers market mater and its open field disease resistance impressed me.

I grew both varieties side by side in a high tunnel to limit foliar disease. Both were fed a high nutrition diet, and were planted to begin ripening mid-late season for maximum sugar and solids.

Both varieties performed well but MM didn't suit me as a canner mainly because the color wasn't as deep and the fruit was a little firmer than I like for a juicer. The sweetness and soluble solids were not what I was hoping for either. But, what MM lacked in flavor for me was sure made up for by looks and production!

Even though I didn't care for MM as a canner my little trial ended up turning out well for my buddy and me both. The crop began ripening just as my buddy was in a lull between his plantings and he needed my row of MM for market. So we struck a deal. He would do all the picking and pay me a dollar for each pound he picked.

There were 56 plants in that row of MM that yielded just over 2100 lbs. of marketable fruit from weekly pickings over a 2 month period.

Mountain Merit on the right. F10 determinate I've been messing with on the left.

2 weeks later it begins.

[Doffer]

Then try Mountain Gem instead of Mountain Merit. This contains the crimson ogc gene for extra red flesh. This variety is also said to taste better.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@Uncle_Feist Fifty Freakin' Six plants...in one row?

HeyZeus Alou! I can only shoehorn in ~61 plants in total!

Mighty healthy lookin' vines, too; must be nice to walk through yer rows and not worry about breaking anything....not that I would know.

The Gotch

[MissS]

I had my first taste of Moutain Merit from the lovely little Oriental couple at my farmer's market. It is a pretty tomato but the flavor was not there for me. Of course most people don't know what a OP home grown tomato tastes like anymore so they are very happy to spend money on these. The draw for me to these is the disease resistence.