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‘Talent’ Tomato- An Almost Forgotten Gem

January 28, 2017 by Shannon Dillon 17 Comments

The story begins in 1958 when OSU breeder Tex Frasier sent a few trial seeds to the Hanley Farm Research Station. The seeds were a cross between a Campbell Soup and a Oxheart varieties resulting in the Medford tomato. On a summer day in the 1960s, Clarence Holdridge, a Bagley Cannery fieldman while inspecting a crop of Medford tomatoes found one plant that stood out from the rest as more vigorous with larger fruit. The resulting plants grew true to type and become known as the Talent tomato.

The popularity of this new tomato grew rapidly among local growers looking for increased yields. The rise of the ‘Talent’ tomato was a short one, however, because the cannery shut down not long afterward. With no place to sell their crop, tomato growers moved on.

The Southern Oregon Research Station continued to propagate and distribute ‘Medford’ tomato seed because it was an OSU release. But the ‘Talent’ tomato was forgotten, and over time it became just a memory to a select few.

 After 18 years, 40 shriveled up seeds were found in an envelope in  local garden writer David James’ desk with a note, “Dave, here’s the Talent tomato seed I was telling you about. Good luck, Shorty 1992.”  David was surprised to find that after all those years the seed  still yielded a 60% germination rate.  He began the process of growing the tomatoes and saving the seed.

Hope Mountain Nurseries  was able to purchase seed for ‘Talent’ this winter and are excited to be a part in bringing back this local forgotten gem!  Make sure to leave some room in your garden to try a few this year.


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Filed Under: Greenhouse News Tagged With: Talent Tomato

Comments

  1. judy baker says

    January 29, 2017 at 6:20 am

    Wow!! How exciting to be a part of bring back a little history! Hope to pick up about 6 plants this year for my own garden!! 😙

    Reply
    • Shannon Dillon says

      January 31, 2017 at 4:29 pm

      That would be super duper. I miss you!

      Reply
  2. judy baker says

    January 29, 2017 at 6:20 am

    Wow!! How exciting to be a part of bringing back a little history! Hope to pick up about 6 plants this year for my own garden!! 😙

    Reply
  3. Linda Corey says

    January 29, 2017 at 8:32 am

    I love this story and will try growing the tomatoes this year. Thanks for sharing this bit of local color!

    Reply
    • Shannon Dillon says

      January 31, 2017 at 4:29 pm

      You are welcome.

      Reply
  4. Jolene Lenahan says

    January 29, 2017 at 1:40 pm

    How cool! I want to try to grow some this year. I’ll have to come get some at your annual sale.What’s the date?

    Reply
    • Shannon Dillon says

      January 31, 2017 at 4:28 pm

      The weekend after Mother’s Day. I’ll make sure you get an invite.

      Reply
  5. Lisa Chaisson says

    April 19, 2017 at 11:44 am

    What is the flavor like and what is the poundage for each fruit approx.

    Reply
    • Shannon Dillon says

      April 19, 2017 at 12:48 pm

      The flavor is a classic tomato flavor, they are very meaty which makes them a good slicer or canner. Each fruit is 1/2lb, with an average of 24lbs per plant.

      Reply
  6. Birdie says

    February 6, 2018 at 12:16 am

    Shannon, I wish I’d seen your blog last summer. Not knowing anything else to do, I air-dried (for seed) a couple of Talent tomatoes that I grew last summer from plants grown from seed that David James supplied to Greenleaf. Can I just put the wrinkled, seed-filled carcasses in small pots and start them that way, or do I need to tease out the seeds and plant them individually. Thanks for your help. I’m clueless. On another note, I can’t wait to find some of your lovely heirloom Sweet William, sweet peas, Gaillardia, and Oriental Poppies. When will they hit the stores?

    Reply
    • Shannon Dillon says

      February 6, 2018 at 4:17 pm

      It would be best if you could get the seeds out (you don’t have to clean them up) and then plant them, otherwise you might have a big mess if you try to plant the whole sun dried tomato. The seed will come true if you you didn’t have any other variety of tomato planted nearby. If you did then the bees could have cross pollinated and it would be a guess as to what you’d get. We are making deliveries now to nurseries in Grants Pass like the Grange Co-op and Farmer’s Building Supply. I.V. Building in Cave Junction will be carrying our plants a little later in the season usually around March. Let me know if you have any other questions. Great to hear from you!
      Happy Gardening

      Reply
  7. Birdie says

    February 6, 2018 at 12:24 am

    P.S. I forgot to mention that the Talent tomatoes grew like the Energizer Rabit: they kept producing and producing and producing until the first frost.

    Reply
    • Shannon Dillon says

      February 6, 2018 at 4:08 pm

      We were so impressed with this plant, so glad you liked them!

      Reply
  8. Maura Odell says

    May 3, 2019 at 1:33 pm

    I am in a short season area. How many days to maturity for this variety?

    Reply
    • Shannon Dillon says

      May 7, 2019 at 8:28 am

      75-80 days

      Reply
  9. Sharon James says

    May 24, 2020 at 2:36 pm

    There is a prologue to the story as told by my grandparents who owned a berry farm in Ashland and grew U-Pick tomatoes from the 1930’s to the Mid 1960’s. They had developed a tomato variety that was large, meaty, did not crack at the stem or get blossom end rot. They said they took it to the local OSU extension office for review and to see if it could be marketed. They heard nothing for quite awhile, but were ultimately told that the variety had no market value. Just a few springs later the Medford tomato became available.
    Makes you think hmmm…

    Reply
    • Shannon Dillon says

      May 25, 2020 at 10:03 am

      Thanks for sharing this. It does make you wonder….

      Reply

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