Turkey

General Info
Seed Availability
Buy Seeds from Tatiana's

Turkey
Maturity	midseason
Growth habit	indet.
Leaf type	potato
Fruit color	pink
Fruit shape	oblate
Fruit size	large
Fruit type	slicer
Variety type	open-pollinated
Country	Turkey

Tatiana Kouchnareva (B.C KO T). Turkey - ripe fruit. 2014-08-18.

B.C KO T

Indet., potato leaf. Large pink beefsteak fruits, 8-16 oz. Excellent sweet flavor. Flavor is more balanced at the beginning of the season, and gets sweeter in hot weather. (15 seeds / packet)

Seed source:

Seed Savers Heritage Farm, Decorah, Iowa (IA SSE HF) 13 / Wade Ray Wofford of Niland, California (CA WO W)

Year grown: 2014

Location: Zone 7b, PNW, Anmore, BC, Canada (760 ft above sea level)

FL OZ M

65-70 days, indeterminate, potato leaf, very productive with a very good/balanced taste and large fruits many of which weigh around and more 1 lb.

Seeds for this variety were initially donated by a Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) member, Wade Wofford of California who died in 2006, to the SSE's Heritage Farm some time between 1988 and 1998. Wade obtained the variety through a chain of seed-passing involving members. Wade noted that "A son of the family [through which the seeds were distributed in US] was traveling in Turkey and ordered a tomato slice on a sandwich in a restaurant. The slice overflowed the bread, so he saved out some seeds in a handkerchief and mailed that to his father in the USA (who loved big tomatoes)."

Turkey is especially rare because of its potato leaves, an uncommon case with Turkish tomatoes. Unfortunately, we don't have any information about the locality of this variety but my educated guess is that the seeds for it were collected somewhere in Western or Northwestern Turkey where large, pink tomatoes with complex flavors are favored. I also think that the seeds for this variety might originally have been brought to the region by Turkish immigrants who had left their motherland in Eastern Europe (most probably Bulgaria) in late 19th century or during/after Balkan Wars in early 20th century. My special thanks go to the SSE's Collection Technician (Germplasm Storage and Distribution) Aaron Burmeister who provided the information about the seed history dating post-1990s. Variety has been introduced to Turkish growers with Turkish synonym, Heybetli.

Seed source:

Seed Savers Exchange 2013

Year grown: Grown in 2014 as part of the Anatolian Heirloom Seeds Recovery Project (ANATOHUM)

Location: Tampa, Florida

TX GU R

75 days, indet., potato leaf, pink beefsteak fruit with green shoulders, 1-2 lbs., super productive, a new favorite must grow.

Seed source:

?

Year grown: 2007

Location: Pasadena, Texas

History

There are several PI accessions called 'Turkey' listed in the SSE Yearbooks. Looks like there was a seed mix up several years ago. The correct one is potato leaf.
First offered in the Seed Savers 1998 Yearbook by Seed Savers Heritage Farm, Decorah, Iowa (IA SSE HF), seeds from Wade Ray Wofford of Niland, California (CA WO W).
SSE TOMATO 2530.
From Turkey.
Seeds for this variety were initially donated by a Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) member, Wade Wofford of California who died in 2006, to the SSE's Heritage Farm some time between 1988 and 1998. Wade obtained the variety through a chain of seed-passing involving members. Wade noted that "A son of the family [through which the seeds were distributed in US] was traveling in Turkey and ordered a tomato slice on a sandwich in a restaurant. The slice overflowed the bread, so he saved out some seeds in a handkerchief and mailed that to his father in the USA (who loved big tomatoes)."
Commercially introduced by Two Seeds in a Pod .
Variety has been introduced to Turkish growers with Turkish synonym, Heybetli.

See also