Sutton's Peach Blow Tomato
Sutton's Peach Blow Tomato
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$2.95 USD
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Sutton's 'Peach Blow'
(Peach Blow Sutton)
(Peach Blow Sutton)
85 days, indeterminate — Although originally introduced by the Sutton & Sons Seed Company of Reading, England as 'Peach Blow'[1], it is now being sold by most vendors as "Peach Blow Sutton". All of this may sound confusing, for example, what is a "peach blow" or, "did they mean 'peach glow'?" Keep reading and I will explain all of this below.
The vigorous vines have regular leaf foliage that is slightly fuzzy and are quite productive. 'Peach Blow' fruit average about six ounces each and are pink in color (clear skin) mottled with hues of orange, red, and yellow. Their skins are firm, and although not fuzzy like 'Garden Peach', are interesting in that they have a dull or matte appearance; not shiny like regular tomatoes. Similar to how a nectarine looks in relation to a peach. The flavor pops out rich and sweet with a tiny bit of tartness at the finish. Definitely worthy of garden space and not merely and interesting "novelty."
Introduced in 1897 by the Sutton & Sons Seed Company, as mentioned above, 'Peach Blow' never really was carried by American seed companies and was quite obscure. Then in the late 1990s, while mining the USDA's seed bank for interesting old tomato varieties, Craig LeHoullier discovered an entry [NSSL Accession Number NSL 259719 or G 31971] that had little information other than its interesting name; "Peach Blow, Sutton."
Craig grew it out and shared it with tomato enthusiasts through the Seed Savers Exchange in the 1997. In a very quick time, the comma disappeared and twentieth century gardeners and seed companies began incorrectly referring to it as "Peach Blow Sutton." It is part of the SSE seed bank as SSE Accession Number 126422 and SSE TOMATO 5043.
So why did Sutton's call this 'Peach Blow'? It turns out that back about when this variety was introduced, there was a style of Victorian-era glassware that was quite popular. It was known for its matted, peach skin type of appearance and you guessed it, called "Peach Blow." Each packet contains approximately 20 seeds.
Although the name or description of this variety refers to a modern company's name, the seed we are offering is in no way sourced from, "owned by" or connected with that company. The name is simply the historically accurate, common name for the variety giving credit to the seedsmen that originally released it.
Informational References:
- "Plant Inventory No. 216, Plant Materials Introduced in 2007, (Nos. 644218 - 652415)," United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.
- "Peachblow Glass: Fact vs. Fiction," by Johanna S. Billings, Glass Collectors Digest.
- "100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden," Dr. Carolyn Male, Workman Publishing, 1999, pages 186-187.
- "The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World's Most Beautiful Fruit," by Amy Goldman, Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, NY, 2008, pages 59, 72, 74, 176.
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