Early Girl
Encyclopedia
The Early Girl tomato
is a medium globe type F1 hybrid popular with home gardeners because of its early fruit ripening. Early Girl is an indeterminate
variety. It is tall growing and needs support as the plant grows. Fruit maturity claims range from 50 to 62 days from transplanting, which appeals to growers in climates with shorter frost-free seasons. (However, the plants of this variety are not particularly cold-tolerant.) Plants are reliable and prolific.
The ripe fruit is about the size and shape of a tennis ball
-- very much a standard tomato—and weighs 4 to 8 ounces (~130g). It has a bright color and good flavor, but is usually replaced at the table by later-producing varieties which are considered better tasting. Open-pollinated alternatives that take roughly the same amount of time as Early Girl include Matina
, Sasha's Altai, Silvery Fir Tree, and Stupice.
Early Girl VF hybrid is verticillium
and fusarium wilt
(strain I) resistant. The VFF hybrid is resistant to fusarium wilt strains I & II. The patent holder of the Early Girl variety is Monsanto Corporation following its 2005 acquisition of vegetable and fruit seed company Seminis, Inc. An open-pollinated version has also been bred, although it is not widely available.
Early Girl is well suited to a technique known as 'dryland-farming.'.
Researchers at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz
, are among those who have described the technique: not watering tomatoes after transplanting, forcing the roots to grow deeper to seek out moisture, producing more "concentrated flavor," and saving water..
Dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes have a cult following, and aficionados claim the taste of dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes rival those of the best-regarded heirloom tomatoes .
Dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes are popular in farmers markets in the San Francisco Bay Area. The variety is also popular with home gardeners in that region, where it thrives despite the area's cool and often overcast summers.
Foodies regularly debate the merits of dry-farmed Early Girl tomato farms, such as Ella Bella and Dirty Girl
Chez Panisse
founder Alice Waters
is a fan of the Early Girl tomato, telling an interviewer "[O]ne of the best tomatoes I’ve ever had was an Early Girl that was dry-farmed up in Napa at a friend’s house."
, the Early Girl was originally distributed in the United States by PetoSeed Co., a major agricultural seed supplier .
The variety was named "Early Girl" by PetoSeed boardmember Joe Howland to complement the company's popular "Better Boy" tomato. Seed catalog Burpee Seeds
struck an exclusive three-year deal for the new variety, and featured it on the cover of its 1975 Spring catalog.
In 2005, the (expired ?) patent holder of the Early Girl variety became Monsanto Corporation following its acquisition of vegetable and fruit seed company Seminis.
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
is a medium globe type F1 hybrid popular with home gardeners because of its early fruit ripening. Early Girl is an indeterminate
Indeterminate growth
In biology and especially botany, indeterminate growth refers to growth that is not terminated in contrast to determinate growth that stops once a genetically pre-determined structure has completely formed. Thus, a plant that grows and produces flowers and fruit until killed by frost or some other...
variety. It is tall growing and needs support as the plant grows. Fruit maturity claims range from 50 to 62 days from transplanting, which appeals to growers in climates with shorter frost-free seasons. (However, the plants of this variety are not particularly cold-tolerant.) Plants are reliable and prolific.
The ripe fruit is about the size and shape of a tennis ball
Tennis ball
A tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis,approximately 6.7 cm in diameter. Tennis balls are generally bright green, but in recreational play can be virtually any color. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous fluffy felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties...
-- very much a standard tomato—and weighs 4 to 8 ounces (~130g). It has a bright color and good flavor, but is usually replaced at the table by later-producing varieties which are considered better tasting. Open-pollinated alternatives that take roughly the same amount of time as Early Girl include Matina
Matina
Matina is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Bahia....
, Sasha's Altai, Silvery Fir Tree, and Stupice.
Early Girl VF hybrid is verticillium
Verticillium
Verticillium is a genus of fungi in the division Ascomycota, and are an anamorphic form of the Plectosphaerellaceae family. The genus used to include diverse groups comprising saprobes and parasites of higher plants, insects, nematodes, mollusc eggs and other fungi thus it can be seen that the...
and fusarium wilt
Fusarium wilt
Fusarium wilt is a common vascular wilt fungal disease, exhibiting symptoms similar to Verticillium wilt. The pathogen that causes Fusarium wilt is Fusarium oxysporum . The species is further divided into forma specialis based on host plant.-Hosts and symptoms:The fungal pathogen Fusarium...
(strain I) resistant. The VFF hybrid is resistant to fusarium wilt strains I & II. The patent holder of the Early Girl variety is Monsanto Corporation following its 2005 acquisition of vegetable and fruit seed company Seminis, Inc. An open-pollinated version has also been bred, although it is not widely available.
Cult Following
Researchers at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
, are among those who have described the technique: not watering tomatoes after transplanting, forcing the roots to grow deeper to seek out moisture, producing more "concentrated flavor," and saving water..
Dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes have a cult following, and aficionados claim the taste of dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes rival those of the best-regarded heirloom tomatoes .
Dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes are popular in farmers markets in the San Francisco Bay Area. The variety is also popular with home gardeners in that region, where it thrives despite the area's cool and often overcast summers.
Foodies regularly debate the merits of dry-farmed Early Girl tomato farms, such as Ella Bella and Dirty Girl
Chez Panisse
Chez Panisse
Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California restaurant known for using local, organic foods and credited as the inspiration for the style of cooking known as California cuisine. Well-known restauranteur, author, and food activist Alice Waters co-founded Chez Panisse in 1971 with film producer Paul...
founder Alice Waters
Alice Waters
Alice Louise Waters is an American chef, restaurateur, activist, and author. She is the owner of Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine.Waters opened the restaurant in 1971. It has consistently ranked...
is a fan of the Early Girl tomato, telling an interviewer "[O]ne of the best tomatoes I’ve ever had was an Early Girl that was dry-farmed up in Napa at a friend’s house."
History
Based on a short-season hybrid tomato developed in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the Early Girl was originally distributed in the United States by PetoSeed Co., a major agricultural seed supplier .
The variety was named "Early Girl" by PetoSeed boardmember Joe Howland to complement the company's popular "Better Boy" tomato. Seed catalog Burpee Seeds
Burpee Seeds
Burpee Seeds, officially W. Atlee Burpee & Co., is a seed company that was founded by Washington Atlee Burpee in 1876.-History:The company first sold garden seeds, farm supplies, tools, poultry and hogs. The direction of the company began to change with the death of its founder in 1915 when his...
struck an exclusive three-year deal for the new variety, and featured it on the cover of its 1975 Spring catalog.
In 2005, the (expired ?) patent holder of the Early Girl variety became Monsanto Corporation following its acquisition of vegetable and fruit seed company Seminis.
External links
- "The Top Tomato? - Early Girl Tomato Variety - Best Of The West," Sunset magazine, February 1993
- "Oh, Oh, Oh, Tomatoes!," Tea & Cookies, December 3, 2006
- "A Visit To Dirty Girl," Nopa, December 18, 2008
- "You Say Tomato, I Say Dry-Farmed Tomato" Laurel Miller, Oakland Tribune, August 13, 2003
- "The Tastiest Tomatoes, With The Least Water," Lauren Bonar Swezey, Sunset magazine, October 1992
- "Early Girl Tomato over 6.5 Feet Tall" Howtomakechickensoup.com Blog September 21, 2009