Bill Jeffers' Tomatoes

[HL2601]

I have grown two of Bill's tomatoes which I really love. Elgin Pink and Carneal Tiger are both flavorful and good producers. I think he may have done Big Cheef as well. For folks who have been here for a while, can anyone tell me others he bred that I will need to try?
TIA
Heide

[MissS]

Yes he did introduce Big Cheef. Others from Bill Jeffers are Daniel Burson, Eva Ste. Wendelll, Little Cheef and GGYS X GWR Piriform. He has bred many more but these are the ones that I can recall right now. I do have a KZU F2 from him which is quite unstable and can give pears to saladetts in a few colors. I should try them one of these days.

[PlainJane]

Daniel Burson is an excellent, excellent tomato.
I’ve also grown Wild Thyme Purple (pretty good) and Wild Thyme GWR (struggled)

[Tormahto]

The Wild Thyme/Elgin varieties are a mystery to me, as to their origins. Janet "WildThyme" Abramson appears to have had the first seeds to these lines. Bunnyhop Seeds has a short story on this.

As for me, I trialed Elgin Pink back about 2015. It was pink, I think it was potato leaf, and it was by far the sweetest pink beefsteak that I ever trialed. It tasted like a bicolor. From those saved seeds, I had a PL black beefsteak show up in 2020, the best black tomato I ever tasted. Currently, it is called Elbonian Mudslinger. I forgot to trial it this year, but one of the MMMM participants did, and is sending in seeds.

[HL2601]

Great to know. Yes Miss S you should grow it!
Thanks for the input.I haven't grown Daniel Burson or Eva Ste. Wendell yet so they will be on the next years list.
Tormato ,did the MMMM grower of your Elonian get the same results as you did?

[MissS]

@HL2601 If I recall correctly, Bill Jeffers sent most of his releases to Marianna of Marianna's Heirloom Seeds. If you look there then you will find most if not all of them. I have also heard that her site is down and that you need to go to her Facebook page.

[Paulf]

I second the thoughts on Daniel Burson...very nice.

[zendog]

Tormato ,did the MMMM grower of your Elonian get the same results as you did?

Hi @HL2601
I think I'm the EB grower Tormato mentioned, although there may have been others. I added a review of it in the Winner and Losers of MMMM 2021 thread https://www.tomatojunction.com/viewtopi ... 17&t=2743 . It was definitely a winner for me!

[zendog]

Bill definitely came up with some great tomatoes! I grew and really enjoyed Elgin Pink last year and will be bringing it back for 2021. Eva St. Wendell was in my garden this year with strong results. If I had a complaint it would be that I prefer to grow things single stem and it wasn't a tall vigorous grower like its neighbors, so it got a bit shaded out. It would be better in a cage I think. But each tomato was perfect and crack-free which is rare in my garden.

[HL2601]

@zendog Thanks for your responses! Really good info too about Eva Ste Wendell. Size matters and that means she can go a couple of different places in my garden. I am glad you liked Elbonian Mudslinger. @Tormato has some great ones. If you haven’t tried his Swoon it’s a must!

[zendog]

@HL2601 I did try swoon this year, but unfortunately only put in one plant and it was in a poor spot then got a bit stunted by a fasciated stem so I never got tomatoes from it before some diseases did it in. Poor thing had all the bad breaks. I've heard good things and look forward to trying it again next year.

[Shule]

@HL2601 If I recall correctly, Bill Jeffers sent most of his releases to Marianna of Marianna's Heirloom Seeds. If you look there then you will find most if not all of them. I have also heard that her site is down and that you need to go to her Facebook page.

Here's a link to the breeders there:
https://www.mariannasheirloomseeds.com/ ... osses.html

[MissS]

Looking at the link Shule provided, McMurray #10 was not bred by Bill Jeffers. It was bred by Dan McMurray. Perhaps it is listed as one of his because he sent her the seeds. It is a very good tomato.

[HL2601]

@shule Thank you for that link. Yes it appears the site isn't operating. I will go search out her Facebook.

[wildcat62]

I second the thoughts on Daniel Burson...very nice.

It is an excellent tomato & has been on our grow list every year for a few years now.

[MissS]

Here is a Bill Jeffers page at Vertiloom, https://www.vertiloom.com/en/tomatoes/b ... l-jeffers/

[HL2601]

Thanks Patti! I didn't realize he did Cherokee Lime Stripes!

[KarenO]

Looking at the link Shule provided, McMurray #10 was not bred by Bill Jeffers. It was bred by Dan McMurray. Perhaps it is listed as one of his because he sent her the seeds. It is a very good tomato.

McMurray#10 was a selection Dan M. did of a cross that was done by Bill Jeffers.
Just to clarify.
KO

[Gabby1]

Rosedale. Super productive Maroon Beefsteak. Absolutely Delicious. I have grown it for 3 years now. Would never be without it.

[rossomendblot]

Rosedale. Super productive Maroon Beefsteak. Absolutely Delicious. I have grown it for 3 years now. Would never be without it.

Growing this one next year, very exciting!