Aunt Gertie’s Gold - variation

[MGinerie]

I grew Aunt Gertie’s Gold from seed this year for the first time in my home garden, in a new raised bed with lots of compost. it was a standout. Flavor was delicious. It was beautiful and kept well. I harvested over 15 pounds from one plant, more than any other variety grown this year. I would have gotten much more but disease, maybe late blight, killed everything quickly in October.

I planted another seedling of AGG at a school garden I volunteer at. The harvest was practically nil and really late. The other tomato varieties growing there produced although not as well as my plants in my home garden. If my only experience with AGG was this one tomato planted elsewhere, I’d never grow it again. Based on my home garden experience, I plan to grow multiple AGG plants.

Could this extreme variation be due to growing conditions or did I have seeds that didn’t breed true?

[Tormahto]

I grew Aunt Gertie’s Gold from seed this year for the first time in my home garden, in a new raised bed with lots of compost. it was a standout. Flavor was delicious. It was beautiful and kept well. I harvested over 15 pounds from one plant, more than any other variety grown this year. I would have gotten much more but disease, maybe late blight, killed everything quickly in October.

I planted another seedling of AGG at a school garden I volunteer at. The harvest was practically nil and really late. The other tomato varieties growing there produced although not as well as my plants in my home garden. If my only experience with AGG was this one tomato planted elsewhere, I’d never grow it again. Based on my home garden experience, I plan to grow multiple AGG plants.

Could this extreme variation be due to growing conditions or did I have seeds that didn’t breed true?

How do you know if the first plant was AGG, or if the second plant was AGG? My experience is that it is a late tomato. An indeterminate PL plant having gold, not yellow nor orange, fruit, with moderate production.

VERY assertive flavor, fairly tart, citrusy, slightly metallic taste, a bit of a sweet finish (its one saving grace). Eight parts puckery citrus, one part sugar, one part aluminum can, is how I call it. It looks like a baseball, run over by a car, and peed on by a dog. LOTS of stitching and misshapen fruit.

With all those negative attributes, those that love the flavor can't find it in any another variety, so it's a must in their garden. What I like most about it is that late in the season, when many tomatoes go way south in flavor, AGG mellows out just enough to where it is no longer overpowering.

[MissS]

@Tormato It's a good thing that you don't have a strong opinions about Aunt Gerties Gold.

[ddsack]

I love AGG, I wish I had grown it this summer as we did have the long hot season in which it would have had time to mature more fruit. It's very possible to have fruit in two different gardens that does not taste the same. Different types of local soil to start with, maybe the school soil was a bit depleted anyway, and the micro-nutrients from your well composted bed certainly would enhance flavor. Even in my own garden, the same varieties may taste better some years than others.

P.S. I have never had a metallic taste to AGG, but then, I can't detect any smokiness in black tomatoes either. I have had a pink bubble gum flavor in some antho/pink tomatoes, that does not appeal to me.

[Tormahto]

I love AGG, I wish I had grown it this summer as we did have the long hot season in which it would have had time to mature more fruit. It's very possible to have fruit in two different gardens that does not taste the same. Different types of local soil to start with, maybe the school soil was a bit depleted anyway, and the micro-nutrients from your well composted bed certainly would enhance flavor. Even in my own garden, the same varieties may taste better some years than others.

P.S. I have never had a metallic taste to AGG, but then, I can't detect any smokiness in black tomatoes either. I have had a pink bubble gum flavor in some antho/pink tomatoes, that does not appeal to me.

I can detect the smokiness and earthiness, even the spoiled fishiness, just not the saltiness that some talk about.

[mama_lor]

If color, shape and leaf shape were similar than it probably was the same tomato. I have said it many times, imo, the plant nutrition is often more important than the variety. It is however very difficult to know if you have reached the potential of a certain tomato, so changing the variety is easier, you can't change your soil all that much, and those balances in the soil will ultimately dictate how well a certain variety will do, some are used to high Mg soils for example, and need it to reach their potential.

For ma, AGG was also on the sour side, and quite catfaced, but great texture.