Goose Creek seeds

[bobrarian]

Hello! Hope everyone is doing well.

I'm on the hunt for Goose Creek seeds. Looking for the original pink version. (I read there's also a red version.)

I only have a few of my own saved seeds, but I am happy to part with any of the varieties I recently received in the MMMM swap. PM me for a list. Or I'm happy to send a SASE.

This will be my #1 new variety (in terms of hopes and expectations) for next year.

Thanks,
Bobby

[ZerosMom]

Hey Bobby,

I've got some seeds to share. DM me your address and I'll send you some seeds. No trade needed. IIRC, you're in Southern CA, correct? I'm out here too, so the seeds should get to you in about 2 days max.

[bobrarian]

Hi ZerosMom,

Thank you! PM sent.

Yes, I'm also in the L.A. area - San Gabriel Valley. I'm slowly discovering which tomatoes do well here. So far this year, my best performers (in terms of health and size) are Alice's Dream, Dwarf Pink Passion, and Indian Stripe, all in containers. It'll probably be another month before the first ones ripen.

Bobby

[WoodSprite]

@bobrarian & @ZerosMom, I know this is an old post but I wanted to comment.

I've been reading up on 'Goose Creek' tomato and Jimmy Williams whose great-great-grandmother brought the seeds to America when she was forced into slavery. According to Jimmy Williams - who's family has been growing and selecting this tomato in America since then - the real/original Goose Creek produces small to medium size RED fruit. There are seeds on the market that produce larger and/or pink fruits that are not original or true Goose Creek.

I ask that if/when you share seeds that you don't call the off-type ones (pink and/or larger fruit) "Goose Creek" because it is not the original and just adds to the confusion.

Thanks.

[Tormahto]

The barn door was left open on that one, many years ago. One of the problems is that there are still likely many people that don't know the difference between a pink (clear skin) and a red (yellow skin) tomato.

[Lemonboy]

The barn door was left open on that one, many years ago. One of the problems is that there are still likely many people that don't know the difference between a pink (clear skin) and a red (yellow skin) tomato.

Including people who sell seed. It's nice to have more vendors. It would be better to have more vendors who know more about tomatoes.

If you go to a farmer's market you find out who grows their own tomatoes before you spend your money. It's not as easy when you're buying seed.

[zeuspaul]

I only grew Goose Creek once. It was the only spitter I have ever grown. It may not have been Goose Creek or perhaps a cross or ??? It was a seed I received from someone willing to share their seeds. I don't blame anyone. I grow a lot of varieties and some are better than others. I take my chances and move on to growing more tomatoes.

[WoodSprite]

The barn door was left open on that one, many years ago. One of the problems is that there are still likely many people that don't know the difference between a pink (clear skin) and a red (yellow skin) tomato.

I've been looking at photos I could find of Jimmy's original tomatoes (in his book,articles about him, interviews of him), reading descriptions from people that know Jimmy personally and buy/bought the plants directly from him and comparing those photos/descriptions to different seed vendors. A lot of what's out there don't look the same at all. I just figure if we all do our part to not call something a certain variety when it doesn't meet the original description, it would help some, even though it's just a drop in the bucket at this point. I'd love to try the original. And I wouldn't mind trying the imposters, too, just to see how similar/different they are in flavor.

[Lemonboy]

I only grew Goose Creek once. It was the only spitter I have ever grown. It may not have been Goose Creek or perhaps a cross or ??? It was a seed I received from someone willing to share their seeds. I don't blame anyone. I grow a lot of varieties and some are better than others. I take my chances and move on to growing more tomatoes.

Two seeds from the same tomato can give you very different plants. Actually, genetically identical seeds can give you different plants based on growing conditions. One of my gardens is on the site of an old slaughterhouse that was originally an ice house. It burned down in the early 70s. Anything I grow there tends to be more than I was expecting. It might be the soil or the afternoon shade or that it's smaller and easier to water.

One of the reasons family heirlooms are so hyped is that they were developed for a particular microclime over decades and were selected for taste and production. If your garden is similar to where they were developed, they should do very well for you too. But different climate or soil might alter the flavor profile.

Any gardener takes their chances and with as many varieties as there are available moving on is not a bad option. But if you don't get what you're expecting that's not proof your seed wasn't true to type.

[bobrarian]

@WoodSprite, thanks for your post and for sharing the research you did. The presumed Goose Creek tomatoes I grew did (to my eyes) look pink, so may not be the real deal?

I have an idea. I work in Santa Monica and have been to the farmer's market. Years ago, I chatted briefly with Jimmy Williams, but not about his tomato. I believe he or his son still sell here. I could buy a plant directly from him, grow it, and it should be the real deal.

Bobby

[Tormahto]

I only grew Goose Creek once. It was the only spitter I have ever grown. It may not have been Goose Creek or perhaps a cross or ??? It was a seed I received from someone willing to share their seeds. I don't blame anyone. I grow a lot of varieties and some are better than others. I take my chances and move on to growing more tomatoes.

I also grew it only once. It would have been close to a spitter, if it had any strength to the taste. It was red, but unknown if it was true seed. Being that bad, I didn't save any seed.

[WoodSprite]

@WoodSprite, thanks for your post and for sharing the research you did. The presumed Goose Creek tomatoes I grew did (to my eyes) look pink, so may not be the real deal?

I have an idea. I work in Santa Monica and have been to the farmer's market. Years ago, I chatted briefly with Jimmy Williams, but not about his tomato. I believe he or his son still sell here. I could buy a plant directly from him, grow it, and it should be the real deal.

Bobby

Oh! Since you live there, that would be the way to go. From what I read, Jimmy called the business Hayground Organic Gardening but now he co-owns the business with his son (Logan) as Logan's Gardens. The most recent interview I was was last year (or maybe earlier this year? I can't remember at the moment) and I'm pretty sure they are still selling there. If not, Logan's Gardens might have a store front. My mind is burnt out right now and I can't remember what I read for now. It might come back to me after I rest.

If you do grow it, please, save seeds even if you don't like it. I'd love to try the original and would buy, trade or send a S.A.S.E. for some. I don't know how well it would do here in the center of Pennsylvania but I'd like to find out.

[WoodSprite]

Sad to hear that some have tried it and didn't like it. I read a review of it yesterday where the person said they didn't like the flavor early in the season but it tasted better later in the season. Did you, Tormato & zeuspaul, taste it again later in the year?

[Tormahto]

I trialed it at the time that there were many reports of wrong seed. So, mine may easily have been wrong seed.

I tasted it throughout the season, and it was bad all season. What was odd about it, is that it was a red with bad flavor. Reds in my garden are almost always of two types, either very good tasting, or bland with basically no taste. The vast majority of reds (globes and beefsteaks) that I've trialed were bland.

GC, if it was GC, was fairly weak, but not completely bland.

[zeuspaul]

It was a vine ripened red tomato. I only tasted one and that was enough for me. I remember it as being very sour.

[WoodSprite]

That's very interesting, Tormato. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for your response, too, zeuspaul.

[zeuspaul]

I generally reserve judgement until I have grown a tomato at least three times. I generally don't like posting anything negative. So my experience should taken with a grain of salt.

[ZerosMom]

Old post, but I got the seeds from Bill Minkey (SSE) who got them from Glenn over at Sandhill. Sandhill has them under the, “Pink,” category. You might want to reach out to them to correct them.

True or not, I hope they worked out for you, Bobby!

[Tormahto]

Old post, but I got the seeds from Bill Minkey (SSE) who got them from Glenn over at Sandhill. Sandhill has them under the, “Pink,” category. You might want to reach out to them to correct them.

True or not, I hope they worked out for you, Bobby!

Does anyone, including the originator, know the "true" color?

Some disregard the skin, and call a darker fleshed tomato a red, and a lighter fleshed tomato a pink. That isn't accurate, for the consensus of what a red and a pink are.

A red fleshed, of any shade, dark or light, tomato is a red if the skin is yellow, and is a pink if the skin is clear.

[ZerosMom]

Jimmy Williams’ patent application is kind of all over the place with coloring.. Though it does say it ripens to a “red color,” without noting the color of the epidermis (note that it lists several colors, including pink, in another part of the application).

The color question was discussed multiple times on another forum.. so I won’t rehash it here.

Though I have to agree that it’s possible that the originator probably didn’t know the true color.